Welcome to my blog!

I've worn many hats during my entrepreneurial journey, including writing and creating whiteboard videos, marketing, investor relations (Blurbeo), owning and managing my own vapor pen brand (TouchESubject), servicing the real estate market and other clients as the CEO of Puget Sound Field Inspections, founded CLV Investments LLC, and currently holding a position with Byte Me LLC as a Digital Marketing Consultant.

This blog was originally started as a way for me to track my progress in trading stocks, but it's has since morphed into much more. I now use it as a window into what I'm doing to reach my goal of financial freedom. You're going to see what I'm doing to create multiple streams of income, articles and interviews that are business related or featuring other entrepreneurs, and most importantly you're going to get to know me and hopefully I can inspire you to pursue your own dreams

I'm a very driven individual with a passion for customer service and improving our communities.

Please feel free to connect. I'd love to do business with you.


Tuesday, August 1, 2017

Brain Pennies: We Are All Weird



This book was a little... weird... although I'm sure that is what the author was going for given the title, cover art, and clever marketing in the title with the word "Weird" being flipped the other way.

But that said, Seth Godin, did a great job writing a book that has a lot of hidden gems for those in the marketing world and sales world.

Don't know who Seth Godin is? He's the founder of Squidoo.com, author of thirteen bestselling books, and according to a quick search has an estimated net worth of about $50 million... so yeah, worth listening to.

A Few Gems I Took Note of:

Pg. 21

"Force three: Marketing is far more efficient at reaching the weird.

It's easier then ever to reach particular pockets of weird people with stuff they're obsessed with. That makes it far easier to be obsessed, because marketers are willing to go along with your desires, instead of forcing you to do only what they want.

Don't underestimate the power of marketing to make things happen..."

To me, this book boiled down to finding a niche to market to. You can blast an advertisement to the general population and snag a few leads, but if you focus on a niche or even a hyper-niche you're advertising to a group that is already interested in what you are selling... naturally, you're going to see better results.

"If you want to sell $900 handmade rifles to obsessive collectors, the easiest way to grow your sales is to grow the market of obsessive rifle collectors. That means that marketers evangelize this particular weirdness to those who might be entranced by it. And then, as the market grows, they go further, pushing the envelope, making ever lighter and more desired rifles... which means further pushing the edge of what it means to be obsessed. More choices, less mass."

Two words to highlight what Seth was getting at here... Social Media. Think about it. Find a successful product and you'll find a loyal following on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. The company is finding a niche and then building a loyal community of obsessed weirdos who not only want to buy their product but market said product for the company for free to other weirdos lol.

There are plenty of other gems in this small book, but these two stood out the most to me.

Bottom line? No matter if you are creating a business or marketing for a business... Find a niche (or a hyper-niche if you can) and then build a loyal community of weirdos who will give you money!

Brain Pennies: Make Money Not Excuses



Overall this book has some good information on saving and explains several ways that the average person can lean out their budgets and increase their amount to invest. But the area I found most useful was chapter 3 which covers a tough area for many couples... family finances and the joint account vs separate account debate.

Admittedly this is an area that I'm needing improvement on since I've been the sole money handler in our family with bills, investments, and in the last few years the sole income provider. Then there is also the deeply planted seed of what a "traditional" family should look like, which I'm not so sure works in today's culture. The situation has definitely cause some stress between my wife and I, some trust issues, and is holding us back.

Trust me... this area is being worked on for many reasons!

Key Parts of chapter 3:

"Getting Over Money Battles" pg. 73 - 76