Generally speaking, based on its basic definition as the way people comprehend the word, investment is the process of putting money into a business or an organization to earn money in return. It is one of the most popular methods of increasing your finances in a very easy way. In fact, as many people projects it, investing is always better than saving or depositing your money in the bank as investing can acquire less tax and higher revenue.

The process of investment starts with the different investment resources, especially for people. The money collected is processed to work or move on a specific business to earn. The investments may give a certain position or share in the company where the returns or the revenues are given back to the investors depending on some their investments. That means that if you invested a higher amount, then the returns are higher than others.

What is good in investing is that you don’t have to work to earn. All you have to do is to invest, and wait for the earnings to come. Good examples of investment methods or practices are a stock market and cooperatives.

There are several factors you need to consider when investing. These factors are important to ensure best results on your investment. Check the following factors below.

Company Background

The first important factor is to check the company background where you want to invest your money. The company should have a strong foundation and stable income with a forecast to exist in the next 20 years.

Investment Resources

You have to make sure and be certain that you have the right and accurate investment resources to invest. Do not put all your money on the investment. This consideration will give you security if there are problems that will arise.

Always Observe

The last factor is to be observant. Earnings may be easy with no efforts, but you have to observe the amount that you earn, and the rate of its earning. This consideration will help you decide if you have to continue the investment or back it out immediately.

Conclusion

Investing may be an easy way to be successful, isn’t it. But before putting your resources, you have to be knowledgeable about what are the pros and cons of investments. If you fail to do so might lead to a waste of money, time, and effort. The question is, are you ready to make investments now?

If you tried to think of people involved in product creation, who would come to mind? You may think of Edison, Franklin, or maybe Henry Ford. Would you ever think of yourself as someone who can create a quality product? Product creation is actually relatively easy and product launching is not that tough either! If you follow a few easy to understand steps, you could be starting the product creation and product launching process sooner than you think.

The first step in creating your information product is to know and understand your market. This can be very time-consuming, especially if you are unsure of what to do or where to look to know your market. Studying your niche market and understanding the buzz words and buying patterns can ease the process dramatically. Personally, I would recommend networking with someone who has had success in the niche market you are considering and learn from their results. If they are into product creation and not very business savvy expect some hesitation. If they only sell products and have nothing to do with product launching or product creation you may your first affiliate (sales person)! Something else you can use to find hot trends is with the Google Trends tool.

The second step is the product creation process. Take your niche market and brainstorm ideas and topics relating to it. There are a lot of product launching contests going on recently relating to a newly created internet marketing tool. There are so many aspects to the mentioned niche that literally, and unfortunately, anything can be considered an Internet Marketing tool. The reason that anyone can basically create an Internet Marketing tool is because of something called Private Label Rights products.

What I use private label rights products for, and highly recommend them in this specific manner, is to cure writer’s block especially when it is lingering. Many people base their entire product creation and product launching on a private label rights product. This is where you can start to shine and build a strong brand for yourself. If you set goals for yourself, short-term goals to be exact, you can see your product creation come into being much faster and there is a good chance with less revision needed. If you keep hitting time restraint road blocks; however there is nothing wrong with a slow and steady approach, you can consider outsourcing portions of your project. Outsourcing can be an extremely huge benefit or just as great of a disaster.

You can find someone to outsource work to at a freelance site such as Guru.com or eLance.com. When reviewing proposals it is almost mandatory you perform a background check on them as you are in essence hiring them. Doing a background check on freelancers is as easy as asking for samples of their work and reviewing feedback on the freelance site from previous customers. Depending on the size and requirements of your project this can add up to a decent sized investment, so caution is very important. One tip I always recommend to people looking to hire an individual is to ask them what they can provide you that no one else can. This simple question gives them a chance to “toot their own horn” and acknowledge where they feel most competent as far as their skill set.

The final portion of the product creation and product launching formula is the launch. This can literally make or break the effort, time, and maybe (if you invested) money you put in to your project. There are numerous aspects to product launching and although their relevance is debated in terms to their effect, experts agree all must be followed. The person in your field who you asked for product advice from can help you substantially if you have kept in touch. If not, the first thing you need to do is to create a visually appealing website with flawless design work.

I also mentioned outsourcing before, this is one aspect of product launching I have little strength in and I always outsource this portion. The website does not have to be large however the content (ad copy in Internet Marketing) must be stellar and as perfect as possible. This is where advertising knowledge or experience is beneficial. When the site is set up you now put a lead capture form on your website.

I put two lead capture pages on all products I create on the internet and is one of the best methods of getting a solid start when you are in the product launching stage. When you gain information from a prospect or someone looking to get paid for referring sales you are able to provide them updates or specials. Many people abuse their prospect or affiliate lists by in turn emailing them with a new product daily and I find the recommendations to be totally unrelated to their original need, problem, or interest.

Another stage in the product launching stage is creating a free report or demo version of your product to entice the product to sign up to your email list. Using proper follow up with this can help generate numerous sales for you. One thing you need to ensure is that your free product completely relates to your main product that you are looking to sell.

You are now ready to advertise your product launching to customers as well as the opportunity to sell for affiliates. This is the single aspect that many product creations and launches fail on. It is actually not entirely difficult. One thing you can do is write articles (and a good amount of them) on topics relating to your product. I am a huge advocate of giving a solution in forums. When you join a forum you are normally offered the opportunity to create a signature. In your signature, you should enter the link to your opt-in or lead capture page. When you respond to posts, you are advertising your opportunity.

It is not impossible to create a product and it does not have to take a long time. You need to setup a plan and stick to it. If you get stuck, look at similar and successful products to your own and try and see how they did it. When you sit down and brainstorm you will be surprised with what you can imagine.

“Business, that’s easily defined – it’s other people’s money.” — Peter Drucker

“It’s tangible, it’s solid, it’s beautiful. It’s artistic, from my standpoint, and I just love real estate.” — Donald Trump

“A simple rule dictates my buying: Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful.” — Warren Buffett

Investing in real estate is about using other people’s money to increase one’s own personal wealth. It is not hard to hear a well-known business figure wax poetic about real estate. Robert Kiyosaki has said that he loves real estate because it is dumb as dirt. Meaning real estate is easy to understand and that anyone can master the fundamentals and build wealth using real estate.

The tax advantages alone make real estate a worthwhile addition to anyone’s wealth portfolio. Imagine having a property that pays you $6000 per year positive cashflow and imagine that that income is tax-free. What if you had 5 such properties? What about ten?

If these things are true, why do so many personal finance blogs steer clear of the topic of real estate investing while extolling the virtues of long-term investing in the stock market? And why have so many investors lost their investments through foreclosure because of this most recent real estate bust?

There are a myriad of ways to invest in real estate from mortgage-backed securities to REITs to tax liens. As a single investor, partner or part of a syndicate. Through properties bought for appreciation or cash flow. There are so many ways to interact with a property or group of properties for profit that the individual investor can get lost in the quagmire of information, courses and advice and end up going out with the tide, pushing up financial daisies or suffering any of the other terms used to describe financial catastrophes in today’s economy.

Because investing in real estate is a lot like specializing in a particular branch of medicine, this article is geared to the person who wants to own a tangible piece of property for investment purposes.

The Risks of Real Estate:

The risks of real estate are the same as any business and they are 1) liability 2) under capitalization 3) economies of scale 4) economic down turn 5) unknown exit strategy

Liability:

Unfortunately in America legal action is considered one of the acceptable ways for people to increase their wealth. If a property carries a mortgage, the bank will insist that the property owner carry liability insurance, but it doesn’t stop there. The savvy investor will explore the options of legal entities, LLCs and limited partnerships, before investing in even that first property.

Under Capitalization:

The most common reason that businesses fail is the lack of capital. Too many real estate investors are looking for the “no money down deal” which too many people take to mean free, free real estate. Whether or not an investor is able to acquire a property with no money down, that investor should have sufficient access to funds to cover taxes, insurance, 6 months of mortgage payments and repair costs.

Economies of scale:

Real estate investing can be and often is a capital intensive business and the costs are fixed. What this means is that a small investor must spread fixed costs over a few units and a large investor must spread fixed costs over a larger number of units. Vacancies, repairs, tenant damage that exceeds usual repair costs will affect a smaller investor to a much greater extent than a large investor. How do smaller investors become large? By systematically acquiring more properties, trading up and by partnering with other like-minded investors.

Economic down turn:

Factors precipitating an economic decline are outside of the control of an individual investor, yet an economic decline affects real estate exit strategies and affects the ROI of properties purchased for cashflow.

Unknown Exit Strategy:

The majority of people who purchase real estate buy with one strategy in mind: to resell the property quickly in an appreciating market. What if the market does not appreciate and you get stuck with a property? Is the cashflow sufficient to allow you to hold the property until the property turns around or will you have to let your property go in a fire sale at the same time others are doing the same?

The following are simple strategies that will allow you to break into real estate, keep your shirt and avoid the hoosegow.

1) Invest for cashflow
2) use legal entities to hold your properties
3) carry appropriate liability insurance
4) know when to buy
5) develop partners on the ground

Invest for Cashflow:

Cashflow will allow you to weather the storms of appreciation and devaluation. Additionally most of your cashflow will be tax-free. Simple rule of thumb for quickly analyzing properties:

a) Buy oven numbered plexes beginning with the number 4. Two units cover rents, one expenses and one goes in your pocket. With an 8 plex, 4 cover rents, two cover expenses and 2 goes in the pocket.
b) A property is worth roughly 100 times the monthly cashflow

Use legal entities:

Unfortunately America is the land of litigation and litigation is considered a socially acceptable way to make money. Proper use of legal entities can contain risk to one property and protect personal and private assets.

Carry appropriate liability insurance:

This one is self-explanatory.

Know when to buy:

Remember Buffett’s rule. It is time to sell when everyone is buying. When you buy for cashflow you won’t overpay for a property and when everyone is buying it is time to sell your underperforming properties. Keep your winners until you can trade your winners in for larger, performing properties.

Develop partners on the ground:

Developing your team is crucial to success. Property managers, mortgage brokers, and attorneys should be part of your team. If you are buying in a market you are unfamiliar with, ground partners become critical to your investment success. Don’t assume that because you live near a community you want to invest in, you are familiar with the dynamics of that community enough to safely invest. Develop your partners first.

Real estate is an essential part of any investment portfolio. Investing in a tangible piece of property is simple but team building, planning your exit strategy before you buy, and timing your purchases are part of the essential strategies for success. Forgetting the risks and ignoring the simple success strategies will wash many a would-be investor up on the shore or land him in the jail of failure.