Monetizing a website

Posted on November 6, 2013 by Aunty

Chad Lamothe of Goodfella Marketing did Aunty a HUGE service when he reviewed Aunty’s old website and totally blasted it. Not only did he revamp it and task me with re-formats that took weeks (Aunty works slow), he also taught me about how to monetize the site.

Monetize? I told him that I don’t like sites that have screaming ads or force people to put their contact info in to get a peak at something they may not need. He assured me that it can be done without being overbearing.

CJ.com, so so

First thing he had me do was sign up for an account with Commission Junction (CJ.com), so Aunty did.

Commission Junction has thousands of advertisers, some of them, like Brian Tracy, will take ANYone and EVERYone who wants to be an affiliate. I did add him, but later deleted because of the multitude of ads that he offers, clogging up my viewing on the cj.com account. Some advertisers, like 4imprint and Credit Karma pick and choose, and Aunty is sad to say that they didn’t choose Aunty (boohoo but Aunty will try again later). So far, the ONLY advertiser that Aunty made affiliate commissions from was Hawaiian Airlines – if people click on the Hawaiian Airlines ad on my pages, and then book their flights or vacations to/from Hawaii and the world, Aunty makes 1.5% commission, woohoo!

Amazon.com affliliate, so, so

Aunty also has affiliate ads with Amazon with random ads for Aunty’s website viewers to click on. Aunty likes Amazon, even has her own Amazon seller account (honolulu aunty) for selling books. This Amazon affiliate program is stand alone and different from an Amazon seller account and works a lot like Google adsense. So far, to date, Aunty hasn’t made any commissions, but then, it hasn’t cost Aunty anything, either.

Google adsense, pretty awesome

Favorite (and only) son walked me through the process of setting up a Google Adsense account. This one is the easiest one of all – it is on autopilot because Google drops ads into a designated place on the web page and every click on it makes Aunty a penny or so. Of course, Aunty is not supposed to tell you to click on the ads so Aunty is not saying to click on ads that randomly change on her site……

Aunty uses the “Text” widget (on WordPress theme, found as subheading under “Appearance”) and copies and pastes the Google adsense ad of choice. This Google adsense ad is embedded with Aunty’s affiliate code so it is just a matter of choosing ad size, copying, and pasting.

To confirm Aunty’s bank account, Google deposited 71¢ into the account. They never took it back out, the way that Paypal does, so hats off to Google for taking that leap of faith with Aunty!

Money on the plate

For the entire start to date, (October 2013), Aunty has made from Google adsense….. drum roll, please ………. $27.48!!!

Okay, that’s not enough to throw a party for or retire on, but it IS a start. Some days Aunty makes 0¢, sometimes Aunty makes 2¢, one day last month, Aunty made $2.61! Aunty won’t get any of her commissions until it reaches the Google threshold of $100, but Aunty is okay with that, because one of these days, Aunty will reach $100.

Aunty did make $39 one day from someone who booked their Hawaiian Airlines flight using the Hawaiian Airlines ad link on the right. Don’t know who that was, but much mahalo for that!!!

No harm in trying

Aunty takes heart from other website people that say to just keep writing content and don’t worry about the cash flow. In any case, Aunty’s intention for this website is to share knowledge, so any income from it is just like delicious gravy that someone else whips up and serves on Aunty’s plate.

Aunty’s advice to ANYONE starting off his or her website, write, write, write, and get on the Google Adsense gravy train as soon as you begin because you never know where it will take you. Even if it takes you nowhere, it doesn’t cost you anything except a little space on the top, right, left, or bottom of your website.

Let Aunty know

If you do have affiliate or google ads, please let Aunty know how you are doing. Aunty is niele (nosy) sometimes.

Like Heaven on Water

Posted on October 28, 2013 by Aunty

Aunty’s pal Sandy has a fantastic picture on her wall of a photo she snapped with her camera one day from her lanai. It was a cumulus filled red, gold and indigo sunrise sky taken during those days when our Hawaii sunrise and sunsets were unbelievably beautiful because of the dust in the air from an erupting volcano in the Philippines. Mount Pinatubo in 1991. It is a picture that stops Aunty in her tracks. It’s a WOWza.

This shot was taken 2 weeks ago with Aunty’s iPhone5 (let’s hear it for Apple!) at Kuliouou Beach Park. Aunty edited it with the iPhoto’s “Straighten” tool because the horizon was a bit off with the original shot.

Aunty is a sky and earth kind of person, Uncle is a water person. Uncle was far out in the water during low tide while Aunty waited on a grassy shore.

Uncle loves it, Aunty thinks this one is a WOWza, too.

Thai Valley Cuisine Review, Kalama Valley

Posted on October 25, 2013 by Aunty

Aunty’s next dream car is Uncle’s nightmare. It is a sweet little SUV made by Mercedes Benz, the GLK350. Each time I see one on the road, I go, “Oooh, there it is!” and Uncle’s face puckers up as if he was sucking on a lemon. Uncle does not like Mercedes Benz. He likes Toyota, period.

Well, one day while parking at Costco Hawaii Kai, a black GLK350 pulls into the stall next to us, and Uncle hurries into Costco. Aunty, on the other hand, pauses to speak to the GLK’s owner, and asks how she likes the vehicle. Turns out she loves it, has owned several Mercedes Benz,and buys the full warranty package so she doesn’t pay for any repairs or maintenance. She then hands me her business card – Carole Thirakoun, owner of Thai Valley Cuisine in the Kalama Valley Center, 501 Kealahou Street, phone 395-9746.

Recently, Hot Deals Hawaii had a coupon special deal – $10 off $20 worth of food for lunch at Thai Valley Cuisine. That was as good a reason as any to take my Thai friend, Ahlin there for lunch. We arrived around 1:30 pm on a Friday, the lunch hour ends at 2:00.

The Kalama Valley Shopping Center is not a bustling place. Most businesses try, but fail because of the lack of traffic. The Thai Valley Cuisine restaurant has survived for 20 years! – a testament that they must be pretty good.

The restaurant is located on the Diamond Head corner of a sprawling shopping center. When we arrived, there were only 4 cars in the rather large parking lot. One of them was Carole’s sweet little black GLK!

A menu and some reviews are pasted on the plate glass windows. The interior is rather small and L-shaped. Only one table was occupied so we sat in a corner by ourselves. Thai pictures, figurines, knicknacks, and souvenirs abound on shelves, tables, and walls. Huge vases of tall lucky bamboo stalks added color and more visuals. Walking into this place felt like stepping into a funky Thai hole in the wall, with a touch of class. Pink linens on white china were folded into bird of paradise shapes – reminding Aunty of her old Pan Am days when we would fold first class napkins to house the silverware on our passengers’ tables.

Our table had a view of the kitchen, and I saw Carole in the kitchen, preparing entrees – so! the owner is the head chef who actually works in the kitchen! A rather pleasant surprise, since Carole does not look the part of a chef, with her nice car(s), stylish clothes and beautiful jewelry. (Note to Aunty: if you have nice jewelry, wear it!)

The menu seemed to have the standard Thai fare, broken into standard sections: appetizers, salads, soups, entrees, noodles, house specials, drinks, and desserts. It took us a long time to decide what to eat because many of the dishes did not have typical Thai names, rather a combination of English with a sprinkling of Thai with detailed ingredients. What made it even more difficult for us was that the font was difficult to read – rather fancy, almost Arabian or Egyptian type.

We ordered Pad Thai with shrimp, Beef Larb, medium spicy, and crispy fried fish fillet in ginger sauce, along with iced coffees and Thai iced tea. The tea was delicious, the coffee a bit too sweet, in Aunty’s opinion (iAo).

The Pad Thai was absolutely delicious. The flat noodles were seasoned delicately, not too dry, not too oily, cooked to perfection, surrounded with about 8-10 good sized succulent shrimp, and topped with a very thin sheet of egg.

The beef Larb, ordered medium spicy, was not spicy enough for Aunty, so a chili sauce (made with vinegar, fish sauce, chilis and garlic) was requested. We filled cabbage leaves with a spoonful of the ground veal Larb (Carole does not use hamburger – says it is too fatty). The Larb has been stir fried with mint leaves and something else – a touch of lemon or lime. Very subtle, delightful taste!

The crispy fried fish fillet with ginger sauce came to the table, and was not what we expected. It looked like the fish fillets were curled and drowned in soup with a hill of vegetables. This is one of those cases where you have to try it and put away your judgements. Turns out, it was SO ono!! Flavors bursting, slightly spicy, aromatic.

We also ordered Thai sticky rice, and it was purple! Ahlin said that was really good rice, and she knows her Thai rice. It was not as skinny and dry as the white sticky rice that I am used to – and at first glance and touch, it seemed like it would be hard, but it really was great rice, and one serving was more than enough for two people.

Since we arrived so late for lunch, the restaurant soon became empty except for us, and Carole came by to talk. She remembered meeting me at Costco after I asked about her SUV and we talked about cars (she knows a lot about cars) for awhile and then about food.

Carole is Laotian, and a plant and food connoisseur. Ahlin is also a plant and food connoisseur. They had a lively conversation about cooking, herbs, growing tips, culture, and news. Carole makes everything from scratch, from the best ingredients and plants that she can get. Carole shared a tubful of her special base of homemade shrimp paste with Ahlin, and we went out to view her herb and vegetable garden.

She cut off a stalk of pandan for Ahlin to plant, which made Ahlin very happy. It is used while cooking rice or noodles, imparting a nice scent to the food. Carole’s kaffir lime trees were short and full of branches and leaves, and Aunty’s tree is very scrawny and sparse in comparison. Tips for better growing were shared, and Aunty now needs to go to City Mill to buy insect and bug control as well as some super soil to top the ground.

Carole had bushes of basil, chili peppers, ginger, orange turmeric, papayas, and many other vegetables and herbs thriving in her garden bordering the sidewalk. She picks what she needs as she cooks. No wonder her food tastes so fresh!

Aunty’s ears perked up while Carole showed off her pots and pots of lemon grass. She said that lemon grass plants don’t have flowers – only very very rarely. Really?!? Aunty’s lemon grass plants flower all the time – they look like wheat flowers which later turn into seeds that start sprouting wherever they fall. Aunty used to think that they were a bit humbug (though easy to pull out), until Carole said that those with flowers bring good luck to the owner. That was a very nice thought…

Aunty and Ahlin drove home very happy, both of us with warm memories, leftovers, and lessons from the gracious Carole.

As we parted with a hug, Carole said to Aunty, “Life is too short to not have what you want.” She was referring to the car of Aunty’s dreams. Hmmm. Maybe one day – one day when Uncle is willing to hang up his nightmares and appreciate the smell of fine leather, a luxury ride, and realize that his fishing poles and fishing bucket can just as easily be accommodated in the cargo area of a GLK as it can in the bed of a Toyota truck. Until then, Aunty will wait. (This time, tell Uncle :))

Lessons from a Flipper

Posted on October 20, 2013 by Aunty

Being part of HiREI has many benefits, and one of them is being part of the women’s group, Hawaii Women Real Estate Investors (HiWIRE for short).

The October HiWIRE meeting was sparsely attended with Gary DeBose as the featured speaker. Gary has done hundreds, if not thousands of deals, most of them using other people’s money and other people’s talents to find/purchase/fix great real estate buys, and sell at large profit margins.

Gary’s style of presentation borders on insulting, and he admits that from the very start. You may decide to bolt out the door, but Aunty sat her butt down and stayed put. It was a good decision even though Aunty’s strategy and long term goal is buy and hold, cash flow rental income from real estate.

Aunty’s notes were very sparse because he talked a mile a minute and his figures, calculations, and projections were presented in rapid fire. The gist of it all was that you could make excellent money buying low, fixing and/or repurposing, and then selling high.

Cash flowing rental real estate is not his goal

His goal is to buy, fix, sell – quickly, cheaply, for as much profit as possible.

One current deal that Gary is working on is a hotel complex – Holiday Inn in a semi rural area on the mainland near a freeway. This Holiday Inn was losing money because of poor occupancy. Using $3,000,000 of investors’ money, Gary secured the title wrapping around the seller’s mortgage (strategy that Aunty has never done), is in the process of renovating the entire complex into a resident care facility (senior citizen home), renting out units until fully occupied and cash flowing at $64,000 per month, and then selling it for $23,000,000. This will net his investors more than double of their money, and a very tidy profit for himself.

This was Wowza. Very Wowza.

Gary has the vision, know how, and fortitude to max out profit, and he does it with a set of formulas and street smarts to get it done.

However, this was NOT a case of, “if he can do it, anybody can do it.”

No, because Gary lives, breathes, and consumes real estate. He puts in a lot of time, talk, and non stop thinking, planning, negotiating, implementing, teaching, growing, presenting, traveling, and juggling. He has a team of hundreds working with him. He is a bulldozer. A very admirable, somewhat abrasive, brilliant bulldozer.

Two ways to join

One of the ways to join Gary’s team is to be a finder of deals. This means you are doing a lot of research, knocking on doors, finding distressed situations, running numbers. If it turns out to be an acceptable property that turns a profit, you get paid a nice fat fee after the property is sold.

Another way is to put money in Gary’s hands (via escrow) and ride behind the bulldozer with him. Results are not guaranteed, but you do get to pick your deal. In some cases, you get paid your portion back plus a tidy return in weeks. In some cases, it may take a couple of years (the Holiday Inn example).

Aunty in the wrong strategy?

After hearing Gary’s presentation, Aunty’s world felt a little knocked over. It seemed to make so much more sense to flip real estate rather than rent and hold. The ROI (return on investment) can be SO much higher doing flips rather than rentals. Why buy and hold for returns of 8%, when you could buy and flip and get returns of 20%, 50%, 200% or more?!

Aunty found herself in a quandary – a state of uncertainty. Not a good feeling for Aunty. Should we be flipping instead of going for cash flow? Aiyaayaa (pronounced eye – yah – yah) – aiyaayaa!

The very next day, as if the sound of angels’ harps strummed through the air, a calmness came over Aunty, and her world was righted back to square. It came after reading a quote in one of the many (many) newsletters that come into my email inbox last night:

“Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.” – Marcus Aurelius

Aunty can buy/hold/rent and be okay. Gary can buy/fix/flip and be awesome. That was a very nice A-ha moment.

Stick to your guns, even if they are slow

There are several pros and cons for flipping or renting for real estate. [note to Aunty (and please remind Aunty if she forgets..) – write a more detailed post on those pros and cons.]

Most of the speakers that have programs or a call to action for you to join are flippers. Flipping is a rush. It is exciting to buy low and sell high. It is fast money – you get a return of you money PLUS a nice sized profit in a short period of time. It works beautifully, until it doesn’t. Robert Kiyosaki (Rich Dad, Poor Dad fame) calls it linear income – you do a deal, make money, and in order to make money again, you have to do another deal.

Buy and hold income, on the other hand, is not fast. It is slow, but steady. Successful rental real estate will continue to pay you with rental income month after month, year after year, whether the value of the property goes up or down. It’s not exciting, but having cash flowing rental real estate in the right places helps you sleep at night.

Aunty learned not to share what she does with flippers

The reason is that experts who do short term flips can poke enormous holes in Aunty’s and Uncle’s portfolio and strategy. They would be absolutely right in their analysis for their own intentions. They would be not right for ours.

Besides Robert Kiyosaki’s sage advice, Aunty also pays attention to Jeff Brown of BawldGuy.com. He builds a blueprint for clients ($3,000) – even for clients that don’t always follow his advice (ahem, perhaps Aunty needs to learn to listen to him better). Please read an article he wrote for Bigger Pockets back in May 2012, “What’s your End Game?” This was an excellent article about investing to grow funds rather quickly in order to be able to slow down later.

Flip to make money

Does Aunty ever do flips herself or with others in joint ventures? Yup, you betcha. The best way Aunty has found to do short term flips is in a checkbook Roth IRA because of $0 taxes, and zero tax filing requirements. Zero!!!

We sometimes flip in joint ventures by forming an LLC in Hawaii (cheap – lucky we live Hawaii). Our Hawaii LLC goes into a contract as a partner, or sometimes just as a lender, the controlling partner does all the wheeling, dealing, arranging, paperwork, etc. and at the escrow closing or other agreed upon time, we get our investment back plus profit or dividend (for which we file on our tax return and pay taxes). Gary DuBose could be someone that we would invest money with – if and when we have enough to do so with. His minimum investment criteria is $100,000 with potentially awesome returns.

What Aunty learned

Gary DuBose is a certifiable and proven expert that knows how to make a ton of money flipping real estate. He flips for his income, we do not. Regardless, Aunty is grateful for the information that he shared with us at the HiWIRE meeting.

Of great value to Aunty are a couple of tools for evaluation that he gave to us:

bestplaces.net is a website that is free and very useful. Enter the zip code of the area that you want info on in order to see tables listing by population overview, statistics, and info galore. For real estate purposes, select the “Housing” link. Make note of the information given for the average household size (HS) and average household income (HI). These numbers are specific to the zip code that you input.

Apply these numbers to Gary’s formula of HI/HS x 1.85 x .31. In human talk, that is Household size, divided by Household income, multiplied by 1.85, and then multiplied by .31. Divide this number by 12 to get a monthly figure. This monthly figure is what you could expect to get as monthly rental for an average 3 bedroom house.

Next, go to rentometer.com. Enter the zip code or address of the property you are researching and input that number (expected monthly rental) into the rent/mo box and the number of bedrooms of the unit. This website will compare your property to others in the same neighborhood and show if it is too low, too high, or just right.

Another great and very simple tool to find out what your mortgage payment will look like for any loan amount at a specific interest rate is Karl’s Mortgage Calculator. This is an easy way to find out what your mortgage principle and interest payment will be – taxes and insurance are not included.

Mahalo to Gary and HiWIRE

Aunty did not go this month’s HiWIRE meeting with any expectations other than meeting up with Martha to give her a book (The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson), and to socialize with the other wonderful ladies. It turned out to be a powerhouse meeting that had me wired (oboy) for hours after because of SO much information from Gary.

Gary does have a website: thedealfunders.com with his contact info and upcoming events.

Aunty is very glad that she set herself down, put on her listening ears, and came away with much more than when she arrived. Gary even sang his latest marketing jingle – what a great voice!

In retrospect, Gary sorta kinda looks like Honolulu Bulls head coach, Phil Neddo. Both are bulldozers, both are fearless, both are sons of preachers. Hmmmm. I wonder if Phil can sing?

Gary the deal funder

Phil the soccer coach

Lipstick, lipstick on the lips

Posted on October 13, 2013 by Aunty

Korean dramas on DramaFever.com now have a LOT of commercials nowadays unless one subscribes to their Premium service for $9.95/month. No thank you, since Aunty uses those commercial breaks to get water to drink or restack a pile of papers that needs attention.

Anywho, one of the commercials was about long lasting lipstick by Revlon.

Okay, guys, this really isn’t a post for you. However, it reminds me of an incident at my favorite Bank of Hawaii branch (favorite banker Iz) while making a deposit and talking to a female teller. We were talking about men and how they still looked good if they gained weight, or when their hair becomes grey. It is a bit unfair, we agreed. “But,” Aunty said, “they envy us our underwear.”

That was like an AHAAA moment, don’tcha think? So now this has become a 2 parter for the beauty tips.

The first tip is to go out and treat yourself to some nice undies. Lacy, frilly, sexy, luxurious – and use it rather than put it in a drawer for “one of these days”. Nobody (or maybe not) will know how pretty you are under your clothes, but you will know, so enjoy!

The second tip is to go to Longs and look through the colors of Revlon’s Color Stay Ultimate Suede lipstick and see. Aunty bought #065 – Catwalk, a medium dark bright brownish burgundy color. It was $9.99 and not on sale. To Aunty, this was cheap because other long lasting lipsticks from Mac cost twice that amount and have 2 part applicators that are hard to control. Those also tend to dry up the lips and cake or flake after awhile (yuck when it does).

Aunty used the Revlon Color Stay last night before going to play some friendly hands of Texas Hold ’em poker with friends, using a lip liner pencil to outline. The color was less intense than what Aunty usually uses – but Aunty liked it! Easy to apply, not drying, one step, just like regular lipstick.

Aunty ate a plateful of ono food provided by poker pals (mahalo poker pals!), played 2 games of poker (one humiliating, one victorious), and came home to bocha (bathe) and sleep. The color was still on Aunty’s lips! That was a nice surprise!

This next morning, Aunty’s lips still had color, and lips felt nice – not all dried up the way those 2 applicator long lasting lipsticks feel after a few hours. (see picture on left of Aunty’s morning lips.)

Using makeup remover, Aunty removed all vestiges of the lipstick, just because. I don’t know if it is a lipstick to use every day, but for those special occasions when Aunty wants her lips to look nice with color, Revlon Color Stay will be Aunty’s choice.

Apologies in advance to the male audience – this was girl talk. Aunty feels rather smug now. Aunty is also wondering, do guys envy our underwear AND our makeup? Life is as fair and wonderful as we think it to be.

If you like Stairway to Heaven…..

Posted on October 9, 2013 by Aunty

On December 2, 1012, the remaining members of the Led Zeppelin band were honored at the Kennedy Center. Heart performed for the 3 remaining members, which brought them to tears.
“There’s a lady who’s sure, all that glitters is gold…….” Classic, timeless, beautiful. Click play, then pause to let it load, and Enjoy!

CashFlow Game Review

Posted on October 6, 2013 by Aunty

Aunty first played Robert Kiyosaki’s CashFlow game at a 3 day Rich Dad Education seminar in Las Vegas. Boy, was it fun! All of Aunty’s competitive juices kicked in, and everyone couldn’t wait for their turn to toss the dice and impatiently waited while people did the changes on their Income Statements.

Bam! Already, a lesson in accounting was built in, the kind of accounting that each of us really needs to do for our own circumstances. These income statement worksheets are available in each game box or a more scrutinizing one can be accessed online at RichDad.com/resources page. Career cards are shuffled and picked, each person having an occupation such as doctor, lawyer, teacher, truck driver, etc. with their own corresponding income and expenses. The goal of the game is to acquire enough passive income (income that your investments kick off) to cover ALL your expenses, thus eliminating the need for a job.

The game is played by taking turns rolling the dice and either landing on Opportunity, Market, Pay Check, or Doodad spaces. You then draw cards that correspond to those categories, and either buy, sell, trade, collect, or pay. Income Statement adjustments are constantly being made, with the goal of the game being out of the rat race of working to collect a pay check and using that pay check to pay for your expenses.

This game is something like Monopoly – on steroids. Usually it is limited to 90 minutes of play, otherwise people will want to keep playing and playing.

More lessons are learned when one loses than when one wins. People’s personalities and tendencies become very evident. That is perhaps the biggest lesson to be learned, your own tendencies, inhibitions, and faults.

Aunty HIGHLY recommends that everyone, no matter their age, to play the CashFlow game. It will change players’ mindset from self limits to what is possible.

One of the most dramatic changes Aunty saw was with Uncle. Uncle is like a rock. Solid, stable, careful, hardworking. When we purchased our Kaimuki house in 1985, it was to be our one and only personal abode. We weren’t ever going to move.

However, after the 2nd time of playing, it was as if a lightning bolt zinged through Uncle’s mind. ZAPPP!!! “Hey,” he says to me, “maybe we should sell our house…” WHAAAAT?? I was shocked. Uncle had done a 180 degree turn, willing to use our main asset (our house) as a vehicle to get better results for our future well being. THAT was progress, and all it took was a few rolls of the dice and some changes on a paper play sheet.

CashFlow games are played with friends, sometimes local organizations sponsor games (google search Cashflow game and your city), and now you can even play online. Play to learn. Learn in order to change. Change in order to grow and improve.

We haven’t sold our house – yet. However, we have used the maximum amount of equity that we had built up over the years in order to invest. Was it scary? You betcha, but it is turning out to be a great decision, building our passive income slowly and steadily until one day soon, Uncle can retire and get out of the rat race with enough perpetual passive income to support our lifestyle together.

Aunty has already used the CashFlow concept to purchase her latest (but not last) car.

Mahalo to Robert and Kim Kiyosaki for inventing this great way of teaching us in a really fun way.

Review of Bug Free Mind (in progress)

Posted on October 6, 2013 by Aunty

Many subscription based businesses present in Power Point fashion and read from the text – VERY boring stuff, even if the copy and content are excellent. Bug Free Mind has the best promo video* with state of the art elements that I have ever seen. Having someone voice the point first, and then having the text follow is a very pleasant learning and enforcing experience, and it was also very effective, since Aunty signed up after an enjoyable 12+ minutes of presentation. [*to view without entering any of your contact info, go to the sign up page, do not enter any info, and close the window, as if you were exiting the page. A window will then appear, “Are you sure you want to leave the page?” Click on “Stay on Page” and you will see the promo videos without signing up. The 2nd 12 minute one is a killer video!]

1st free lesson

The first free exercise is called “No mind” – in a 4 minute video. However, the exercise is not taught in this – according to the comments section, it will come in the 4th part. ??? I am a bit confused, but will stick it out and wait for the unfolding. Do not click on the “download” below the video because it doesn’t work – purposefully and unharmfully by the developers.

2nd free lesson

2013-10-06_13-35-02 Soon after, another video was sent via email “Tap the Magical Power of your Subconscious on Demand”. This was a 9 minute video about how our subconscious intuitive mind has slowly been discounted to the point of being unimportant. This is due to society, our environment, training, life in general. Thus, our thinking process tends to only listen to our mind, not our intuition. Our minds speak to us with words, our intuition whispers to us with feelings.

The homework or exercise to allow our subconscious magical powers was to look at a problem or dilemma, and ask for a solution, decision, choice; then forget about it. Our subconscious mind will be mulling this over, and the answer will come to us at some point in time. The best time to ask our question is just before falling asleep. Upon awakening the next morning, do not get up right away. Instead, drift between being asleep and being awake. Relax and allow your subconscious to speak to you in feelings.

Interesting – worth a try, don’t you think?

[note: each video will have an aggresive call to action to order, sign up, etc. Very compelling, but Aunty hasn’t signed up to join – yet.]

3rd free lesson

This one is entitled, “The ABC Guide to living a legendary life”, and is 12 minutes long. The secret to this is 1) figure out what you want, and 2) just work on that project until you succeed. It is important that you spend enough time designing what you want BEFORE you begin building it. This is important – figuring out what you want first. This rather long lesson ended with a sales pitch to reserve the books.

Rich Dads say, so Aunty listens

Posted on October 4, 2013 by Aunty

Aunty’s favorite Rich Dad is Robert Kiyosaki. He had this to say about the recent US government shutdown:

“The U.S. Government, due to partisan finger pointing and squabbling, has shut down. Neither side could reach an agreement on a spending plan for the government. Mail will still be delivered, the military will still be active, Congress will still get paid, but there are those many other services that will stop, affecting over 800,000 Americans – who will be out of work. Focusing on what will or won’t change with the shutdown will not matter. Instead, learn the lesson and message that lies within this mess.

This Government shutdown should ultimately remind us that we are in charge of our own financial future and we can’t depend on any government to take care of us. Even if the shutdown is only temporary, even when they are “open for business,” the Government will still be faced with a mess, one that they created. Their limiting solutions are: a) pay the national debt, b) default on the debt, or c) continue with “Quantitative Easing” by printing more money. The problem is that any of these options will eventually lead to an economic crash.

And here lies the lesson that many can’t—or won’t—see:

Looking to the Government for financial solutions is like closing your eyes in traffic and hoping you don’t get hit. You want to make sure that you and your family are prepared regardless of what happens with our economy or our government. Understand what the rich already know and do what they do. It’s never too late to get started.”

Many people have their eyes closed and have not gotten hit – yet. I truly hope they never do. I hope that government subsidies for the needy never ends, that retirement benefits continue to be paid, that we do not encounter an economic crash, hyper-inflation, deflation, etc.

But, what if it does happen?

Are you doing what you need to do to safeguard, grow, be independent? Aunty may not recommend that you run out and sign up for Rich Dad classes (see Aunty’s review), but if you do take control and start to save, invest, protect, and grow your own financial picture of well being, you will be better off – even if you count on your company’s or the government’s programs for retirement. Start learning in chunks, little pieces, whatever way you can. Robert Kiyosaki even has his own Rich Dad blog – highly recommended, and it’s free!

Do, or don’t?

Jeff Olson, in an audio recording for Nerium distributors, talks about the price of neglect. “The price of neglect is far more painful than the price of discipline.”

Please take the time to really think about this quote and actually weigh the consequences of inaction over action. Candy Crush Saga or taking a seminar?

I consider Jeff Olson a Rich Dad because of his leadership, success, and his heart. His book, The Slight Edge, has 10 simple rules that anyone can incorporate in their lives, to better their lives.

“Whether you think you can, or think you can’t – you’re right.” Henry Ford

From time to time, I listen to words of wisdom from Bob Procter. He also learns from “Rich Dads”, one of them being Napoleon Hill. To quote Bob Procter:

In his best selling book, Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill wrote, “You will never have a definite purpose in life; you will never have self confidence; you will never have initiative and leadership unless you first create these qualities in your imagination and see yourself in possession of them.” He went on to say that, “… imagination is the most marvelous, miraculous, inconceivably powerful force the world has ever known.”

Have you ever thought of what your perfect life would be like? Just that thought is the start of the process and fulfillment. Write it down, draw it, dream board it, or post it here in a comment! Brick by brick, step by step, build that perfect life.

Think it, learn it, do it

Sounds simple? It really is.

Thinking it is the easiest part of it. What does your ideal life look like? Dream big. Dream ENORMOUS! Dream for real – do you REALLY want to have 15 cars that you won’t drive in a huge mansion that you get lost in? Is your dream a nice little small house near a beach park with cash flowing rental real estate and a dividend paying stock portfolio with someone else who cooks and cleans for you? (ahem, that’s also Aunty’s dream…)

Learning it means turning off the tv or limiting Candy Crush saga and picking up a book, a course, a seminar. Be careful how much you pay – even though coaching gurus will tell you that they are worth every cent. The world wide web has made it possible to advance your knowledge at your speed, whenever you want, however you want it, for free or for a fee. Learn, digest, learn, digest.

Doing it – now this is what takes focus, commitment, and not listening to those who care about you. I don’t know if Einstein would be considered a Rich Dad, but his definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Walk a different path. It will not be an easy one (price of discipline), but it sure beats going nowhere (price of neglect).

Mahalo Robert, Jeff, Henry, Bob, Napoleon, Albert

To all the Rich Dads that I know, and even the ones that I have yet to discover, mahalo. If you know of any others, please share it with us in the comments section along with what a summary of what you have learned from them. Also, please share your dreams – if not with Aunty, with somebody else. Build your brick house just in case the straw houses crash.

Broke da ALS Team and the Magic Slate

Posted on September 24, 2013 by Aunty

Less than half the team, just before clean-up

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or ALS, is more commonly known as the Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Our friend Gary, aka “Black”, was diagnosed with ALS last year after he had slow speech pattern and difficulty swallowing. Aunty and his wife are friends from hanabata days (hanabata days = long long time ago). This weekend was the very 1st annual ALS walk in Hawaii, and over 300 people gathered at Kapiolani Park, to donate and walk for ALS awareness and research. We were part of Black’s “Broke da ALS” team.

ALS shows up in different ways. Some people are wheelchair bound, some cannot move their arms. Black looks good, still very mobile, and is always busy with chores, surfing and going on snowboarding trips. He doesn’t talk anymore, so he communicates by writing on his iPad, taking it out of his bag whenever he has something to say. Black was always on the quiet side, especially since his wife talks enough for 10 people and he hardly had a chance to be heard anyway. The iPad is now his voice and his most useful assistant.

Black had google searched for an iPad app that he could use, since typing took too long and was also too small to read. Googling “etch a sketch” brought him to find a French developer’s free app, Magic Slate. What a great find that was! The entire iPad screen looks like a used blackboard, and your fingers become the chalk. It is so easy to write out any message for anyone to read. Shaking will clear the board so that a new message can be written and shared. Black has become very adept at writing, clearing the iPad board with a shake, and then writing more, making for good and easy conversation.

Towards the end of the event, after the walk was over and tents and tables were being broken down, a good looking woman from another group came to Black and gave him a box of poi malasadas from Kamehameha Bakery (yum, yum, yum) and I asked him who she was. Black whips out his iPad and writes, “her husband has ALS” and points to a group.

I looked over to where he was pointing and saw a man in a wheelchair, so I asked if he cannot walk. “He just tired” was Black’s answer. I asked about his condition, and Black writes, “he cannot lift his arms anymore.” He adds, “he also used to surf.”

Then, with a chuckle, Black writes, “He said he like challenge me – to karaoke!” That was pretty funny.

Black then clears the board with a shake and writes, “So I told him I like challenge him – to arm wrestling!” Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk! That was really funny!

Becoming part of Black’s support team is not only rewarding and appreciated by Black and his family, it is also rewarding and appreciated by us. Seeing old friends, meeting new ones, talking story, and coming together as an impressive group with a common desire of beating this affliction felt good. There is hope, and magic happens every day.

We all have magic in our lives, every second, with every heartbeat, with every sunrise, with every person we meet. It is just a matter of realizing it, that our lives are transformed from humdrum to wondrous.

Black can attest to having magic every day. Every time he goes out to surf, he is living life to the fullest and ALS doesn’t exist in those instants of feeling the power of the wave take over under his board. Mingling with each of us, giving and receiving bear hugs, knowing how much love is shared – that’s magic.

Every message written on his iPad is limited only by the speed of his fingers. For the first time in his married life, he can convey what he wants to say, regardless of his wife’s nonstop talking mouth. That, too ……… is magic.

Cookie and Black

by Aunty

a lot of stuff about almost everything

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