This Issue: Why Starting a Business Is Your First Step toward Staggering Wealth

If you take a look at the Forbes 400 List of Wealthiest Americans,you will see that virtually every person on the list got there by being an entrepreneur. From Bill Gates to Warren Buffet to Michael Dell to our own Donald J. Trump, the truth is self-evident. People get rich by starting their own businesses. Some of the people on the list started companies when they were young, some started them when they were a little older. But nearly all of them took that first step toward monumental wealth by starting a company.

More and more people today know that they can't get rich by working for someone else. In fact, a survey conducted jointly by the credit card firm Capital One and Consumer Action reports that 40 percent of all Americans dream of starting their own businesses.

Forty percent - that's an impressive statistic. The top reasons those people wanted to start companies were:

• "To do what I want to do"
• "To be my own boss"

But that survey also contains one troubling finding:

Fully 55 percent of the people who wanted to start a business stated that they didn't know what was involved in "getting a small business off the ground."

They said they didn't know enough about:

• Taxes and legal issues
• Writing a business plan
• Finding the support and information they needed to be successful

So what should you do if you have that entrepreneurial hunger to start a company, yet fear that you will blow it because of critical holes in your knowledge?

Well, you have to talk to people who have succeeded, read everything you can, learn everything you can and acquire critical skills. I'd like to assure you, you've found the right learning community in Trump University. Be sure to check out our many offerings that can give you critical entrepreneurial skills fast, such as our powerhouse Entrepreneurship Mastery Program.

Out there, maybe in the year 2015 or so, there's a blank spot available on the Forbes 400 List of Wealthiest Americans. They're holding it for you and you can start to write your name there today, by acquiring the critical knowledge you need to succeed.

Michael Sexton is President of Trump University.

I really want to have sympathy for Britney Spears. And I hate to give the impression that I'm picking on her. But not long ago Britney went on television with Matt Lauer on NBC's "Dateline," pleading for her privacy.

She admitted that she was an emotional wreck but the interview ended up being an incredible train wreck. First, Britney looked terrible. Her skirt was too short. Her makeup was messy. When she opened her mouth, it only got worse. She blamed the paparazzi for her bad image. She didn't admit that she made a mistake by driving with her baby on her lap.

And even though she described her marriage to her husband as awesome, somehow Kevin never managed to show up for the interview. Now I have a problem criticizing Kevin because he goes around and tells people that Donald Trump is his hero. The fact is, it is a pretty strange relationship.

During that interview, Britney complained about all the media attention and tearfully begged to be left alone. I almost bought it.

Until I saw her posing nude - and very pregnant - on the cover of the most recent issue of Harper's Bazaar. She has absolutely nothing to promote - no new record, no movie, no book. So, to a lot of people, it sounds like the only possible thing she could be doing is trying to keep her name in the news.

Inside the magazine, the layout includes a photo of Britney in a backless evening gown carrying her son...and another shot of her lying down on a fur coat wearing nothing but a G-string.

Britney has seen better days. She performed four or five years ago at the Trump Taj Mahal and she was great. Now it seems as if everything's slipping away from her. Britney, don't let that happen. Don't let it slip away. Keep your head on straight.

Donald J. Trump is Chairman of Trump University

Bedrock marketing insights from the author of Trump University Marketing 101

When I was growing up, my family had a business installing water systems for country clubs, farms and housing developments. Whenever I went and worked alongside my father at those places, I could see how much people respected him for his honesty and integrity. He delivered what he promised. If a system failed at any time of the day or night, his customers knew they could call him and he would arrive promptly to fix the problem.

At that time, I had no idea what marketing was. I certainly had no idea that my father, through his honesty and integrity, was actually marketing on a very high level. But he was - and as effectively as any Fortune 500 company.

Today, I teach state-of-the-art marketing techniques at Columbia University and Trump University. But even the most advanced marketing approaches are closely tied to what my father was doing. Through his actions, he told the world that he had something special to offer.

Stop for a moment and think about the businesses in your area. There are dry cleaners, hardware stores and the rest. But are some of them known for doing something special? Is a certain dry cleaner known for its ability to get a spot out of any kind of fabric? Is a certain hardware store known for having experts on staff who patiently answer questions from do-it-yourselfers? Local merchants who differentiate themselves in that way are miles ahead of other businesses that just open their doors and wait for customers to arrive.

That ability to be special, which I learned from my father, is actually the bedrock of good marketing. Effective marketing does not live or die on clever ads or databases. It hinges on your ability to tell customers that you have something to sell that makes you different. It is a way of telling the world what you have to offer, and who you really are.

Don Sexton, PhD, is Trump University's faculty member in marketing and sales. He is also Professor of Business at Columbia University and President of The Arrow Group, a leading marketing consulting group. This blog entry is drawn from Dr. Sexton's book Trump University Marketing 101, published by John Wiley & Sons. Trump University Marketing 101 is available at bookstores nationwide and through online booksellers.