Archive View (July 2007)

Just last week, Yale University announced that it will offer classes on the Internet. There’s no doubt about it. When an institution as traditional as Yale moves toward Internet learning, the walls of the traditional classroom are beginning to tumble down. It’s just another step in the revolution that was predicted by Alvin Toffler as long ago as 1991 when he wrote his visionary book Powershift: Knowledge, Wealth, and Power at the Edge of the 21st Century. “We live at a moment when the entire structure of power that held the world together is now disintegrating,” Toffler wrote. “A radically different structure of power more...

The taller you are, the more powerful you are. At least that’s how it appears. A professor at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business has studied executives and how they achieve status. One of the things she found is that they use their height - or the appearance of height - to their advantage. Taller people are perceived to be more powerful than shorter people. They really increase their edge by doing things like speaking loudly in a deep voice, putting their hands on the shoulders of shorter adversaries, and - for women, wearing heels. Several studies have found that taller men are more...

“When I started out, I spent a lot of time researching very detail pertinent to the deal. I still do the same today.”  - Gary W. Eldred, PhD  Savvy entrepreneurs search beyond conventional wisdom, “facts,” opinions and fanciful dodges or assertions. They know that quality facts provide the ingredients for quality decisions. As you move forward in real estate (and life), use multiple data points and sources of information. Interpret, think, analyze, and verify. Avoid a rush to judgment. The world overflows with GIGO (garbage in, garbage out) decision making. But with verified facts on your side, you can outperform the crowd. Say more...

I can't stress enough the importance of choosing partners wisely. I've had eight business partners over the course of my various professional ventures, some of whom I brought to the table and some of whom others brought to the table. Every partner was a friend of an existing partner. Everyone was a known quantity. Nevertheless, not everyone worked out. Sometimes people didn't pull their weight; in a few instances, partners didn't bring in contract opportunities when they had an equity stake in the company that required them to land new business. At other times, individuals had other priorities and were unable to more...

Learning how to say no is crucial. We are faced with a barrage of requests each and every day - for time, for money, and for favors. We have to learn to say no most of the time, occasionally to some worthy causes and some great opportunities. When it comes to saying no in the context of a deal, I learned a valuable lesson from one of my lawyers: Distill the information presented to you. Lawyers are pros at distilling complex information, and it’s a skill worth cultivating. As you read over the terms of a deal or a contract, translate the more...

Enrollments are soaring at Trump University. New faculty members are coming on board. We’re developing and offering a broad range of terrific new courses. So today seems like a good time to highlight some of the new ways that Trump University can help you build your success. Check out our new Live Events.Trump University now offers you dynamic live events, held across the country. Whether you want to buy foreclosed properties or protect the assets you have worked so hard to build, our events teach you everything you need to know - in one short day of intensive learning. Subscribe to the new and expanded Inside more...

So much for the belief that the customer is always right. Sprint-Nextel has cut more than one thousand customers for being too high-maintenance. Apparently, these clients call customer service too often and make what the company says are “unreasonable requests.” While the average subscriber calls customer service less than once a month, these 1,200 subscribers getting released by the company call 40 to 50 times more frequently. All the excessive complaining has frustrated management to the point that the business just isn’t worth it anymore. Sprint says they’ve done what they can to try to resolve the issue but, because the complaints keep coming more...

When I first began buying rental houses and apartment buildings, I could easily find properties that offered net unleveraged rental yields* of 10 to 16 percent. In some areas of the country, such as the Midwest, you can still achieve such favorable results. More typically, today’s rental properties yield four to eight percent. You might tell me that four to eight percent doesn’t seem like a great rate of return. But relative to stocks and bonds, properties win hands down. Let me explain why. Why Rental Properties Outperform Stocks At present, the annual dividend (income) yield on the S&P 500 stock index barely reaches more...

Ernest Hemingway, George Bernard Shaw, John Marquand and Stephen Vincent all tried their hands at it and gave up. And even Aldous Huxley said it was easier to write a decent sonnet than an effective ad. Writing good marketing copy is no easy, breezy walk in the park. And there are plenty of people who have tried to spin great marketing tales and failed miserably. Oh sure, there are plenty of people who call themselves copywriters, but that doesn’t mean they are any good at it. Marketing writing is a specialized skill. One that requires the talent to stop prospects dead in their more...

 When it comes to the job outlook these days, it always seems like business forecasters are preaching doom and gloom. But it appears as if things are looking good for employees and job hunters this summer and early this fall. According to a new online job survey, the vast majority of American companies don’t expect to fire any of their employees. In fact, more than one-third of managers said they actually planned to do some hiring. More than half even expect to give raises to their loyal employees later this year. They say that a tight labor market makes it difficult for them to more...

A new book, The Number, by has some pretty unsettling news for people who didn’t get a massive inheritance from their parents. The eye-opening news is that $1 million, $5 million, $8 million or more might not be enough to assure you a comfortable retirement. A chronic illness can wipe out $1 million a year. Even a common extravagant lifestyle, like owning one house more than you really should, can quickly reduce that $8 million to a puddle if you have no new money coming in. You are getting the idea. If you fly blind into retirement without working the numbers - and often, without more...

Recently, I read some very surprising money news. As many as 28 million Americans don’t have bank accounts. It’s because they don’t trust banks, or because of language and cultural barriers, or simply because they just don’t think they make enough money to use a bank. When these people need to cash checks or pay bills, they use retailers and check-cashing businesses and often end up paying huge fees. In addition, they carry around lots of cash, making them a target for crime. About one in 12 American families doesn’t have a bank account. And these families are estimated to earn hundreds of billions more...

I have to admit that I made up that number of vacuum cleaner engineers that I have never heard of - 5,992 is just a figure I invented. But then there’s the one vacuum cleaner engineer I have heard of. And you know about him too. He’s James Dyson, the guy who decided that working for someone else’s vacuum cleaner company wasn’t going to get him the kind of life, or the kind of success, that he wanted. So he started his own company, because that is what people do when they decide it is time to stop giving their best ideas away more...

Who are the ideal buyers for your properties? Who are the ideal renters? You may have heard other real estate investors divide their prospects into housing segments such as empty-nesters, yuppies, first-time home buyers, move-up buyers, the age 55+ market, and, more recently, the Hispanic market, the Asian market, and even the Islamic market. Although any or all of these labels might stimulate your thinking, never let them determine your market segmentation strategy. I learned that lesson during the 1990s while I was conducting my Stop Renting Now! Seminars throughout the country. My seminar attendees fit no specific demographic. Their ages ranged from 25 to more...

Sorry, parents. Just when you thought the kids were out of the nest, a lot of them are coming home. With the rise of housing costs and with jobs harder to find, more than half of all college graduates are returning home to Mom and Dad, moving back into their childhood bedrooms. Just last year, more than one million families had young adults back at home. That’s an increase of more than 28% from just two years earlier. Sure, letting the kids move back in for awhile will help them get on their feet financially, but make sure it’s not a long-term solution. My more...

A real estate developer I know said something interesting to me last week. “Virtually all the foreclosed properties out there are single-family homes or condos,” he said. “If you can find me more than a handful of foreclosed multi-unit properties, I’ll eat my shirt. It’s because people almost always make money in multi-units, so they don't go into foreclosure.” An interesting statement, for sure. So I started searching online for statistics about multi-family foreclosures. What percentage of all currently foreclosed properties are multi-units? I had no luck finding out. But then I went to a popular online foreclosure listing service, Foreclosurewarehouse.com. Sure enough, I found multi-unit properties more...

I’ve been building the Trump brand for several decades. But from time to time, landmarks do come along. Several months ago my son Eric joined us. So my three eldest children are now with the Trump Organization, helping to expand our brand. Don Jr, Ivanka and Eric are all here now. They are my real Apprentices, and they’re doing a great job. They know that I’m demanding, but they are disciplined and very hard workers, so they are a good fit with the Trump Organization.  Having a quality brand is very much like having a good reputation. It’s important to consider that fact, even when you more...

Brand-Building Wisdeom from Bud Bilanich, The Common Sense Guy As a small business owner whose brand is me, I recognize the importance of personal branding. I am a keynote speaker, executive coach, organization effectiveness consultant, and author. I am my business; therefore, my brand needs to speak for me. When I decided to brand myself, I began by asking everybody I know a simple question. “When you think of me, what is the first thing that comes to mind?” An overwhelming number of people said, “Your common sense approach to business and life.” My first reaction was, “Uh oh, common sense doesn’t make for much more...

The more risks you take in your career, the greater the likelihood that you will suffer a setback someday. Maybe you will be accused of incompetence after one of your  high-stakes projects fails. Or perhaps your accounting firm will be implicated in some kind of malfeasance and your company’s good name will get smeared in the press. If you suffer a devastating setback, you can’t sit back and wait for the problem to go away. Here’s a five-part strategy to recover quickly and get back on the road to success: Fight, not flight. Face up to the reality of the situation. Distinguish battles that more...

As President of Trump University, I meet often with our Chairman, Donald J. Trump. I never forget that just about every businessperson in the world would envy that opportunity. Who wouldn’t want to sit down with Donald J. Trump to get his expert advice on building an enterprise? This morning, I’d like to share some of the insights I have gained in those meetings. I’ll call them the Seven Critical Traits of Entrepreneurs, because they are business-building themes that Mr. Trump stresses often and energetically. 1.       Have passion - Mr. Trump has never said to me, “Be passionate!” Yet it’s at the core more...

Most teenagers apparently aren’t working very hard this summer. For the first time since 1948 when the U.S. Labor Department started keeping records, fewer teens are working or looking for work. They’re foregoing the traditional summer jobs as lifeguards or camp counselors or working at fast food restaurants. This year, only about 48 percent of teens ages 16 to 19 were working or looking for jobs, which is a steady decline over the past several years. But the drop in summer employment doesn’t mean teenagers are slacking. Some companies are only hiring adults. With household income on the rise, some parents are giving their more...