The future is here

Over a decade ago i concluded that the business model used by our partner company was ahead of its time. This conclusion was based on my study of business books that described new trends in business. Some of my current top team members became business partners on the basis of these writings. Now i believe – the future is here. 

And here is an example, another mainstream conventional business product distribution shifting to our way of business. One of the first was computers, with Michael Dell’s direct to the customer model. Now read what’s happening in cars sales and distribution – and not just bottom end cars – this article is about the top end of the brand options.

"How about a car dealership with, er, no cars. Audi’s virtual showroom in London is hailed as the future of automobile retailing. ‘Audio City is revolutionizing the future of retailing by combining digital product presentation and personal contact with dealers’, says Interbrand, which annually rates the value of global car companies. Other makers, including BMW and Infiniti, are working on similar products.” (1)

That’s what we do. We offer personal relationships to consumer, using virtual displays and a small amount of hard product, and arrange distribution from the manufacturer to the consumer. We even offer customization at a level not yet achieved by any other in our industry.

Make no mistake – the future is here. It’s time to stop thinking and living in the past. That’s going to be tough for many who do not embrace change, and who cling to the mind-set of the masses. But then being left behind economically and in standard of living – the price you will pay for failing to keep up and change – is not going to be very easy either. And that ‘un-ease’will be experienced by more than yourself. It will be experienced by all those who depend on you – you partner, your off-spring, your relatives and any others you influence. There is one saying that will always apply – the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Your decision in embracing new models of commerce will in a significant way determine if you are part of the poor getting poorer equation.

Yes, the future is here. I embraced it over a decade ago and have been paving the way for thousands who have followed my lead. Are you still living in the past? If so, and i expect that would be the honest answer, you probably have a collection of vinyl records also...

Want to learn more? Email info@dreamti.com. 

(1) Duff, Craig, 2012, Soft sell via the hard drive, The Saturday Mail, Brisbane, p. 3 of the Cars Guide lift-out.

The fiscal cliff

I write this article specifically for my American brothers and sisters. I have been flying in and out of the US for about 23 years now, so I feel adequately positioned to share my observations. Since 2001 I have noted a significant contraction of the US economy. Sure there have been occasional rallies, but overall the pattern has been decidedly down. In contrast to many other economies, including the Asia Pacific ones, America has been declining now for at least a decade, and some would say longer.

It’s been enough to have people like martial artist turned movie star Chuck Norris publicly express their concern for the US economy, for the US way of life, for the future of the country. I believe Americans should be very concerned. In my opinion, this once great nation stands to experience the greatest contrast in economic fortunes and quality of life for its citizens than any other country.

Yes, I know you hear over-riding chatter about Greece and other struggling European countries. I suggest that is a smoke screen. Yes, Greece is in trouble. However should Greece fail, it makes relatively little difference to the global economy. Should the US fail in the same way that most fear for Greece – that is a different story.

The concerns for US are now so apparent, at least outside of the US, that I am seeing reference in global media to the ‘financial cliff’ faced by the US economy post election.

Why post election? Because most economists openly recognize that the US economy ‘coincidently’ looks above the trend in the pre-election year. I will leave you to figure out how that happens.

I believe that if the mainstream media have picked up on it, it must be glaringly obvious. However I sense that many of my American brothers and sisters have their heads in the sand. Hoping that the next government will save them. I am sure they have had these same hopes ever four years for the past few presidential cycles. I suggest they will be seriously disappointed. Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats, in my opinion, can save them.

So yes, you can view my theories on the economy as being outside of my field of expertise. However I know you will ultimately jump on board at some stage down the track when the trend spotters, who criticise today, and copy tomorrow, being teaching these same ideas. When ‘most people’ are either doing them or happy to accept them. And what the blind masses, like sheep to the slaughter, wait until this point to participate. You don’t have to. You can act now. And I strongly suggest you should.

Mark my words – this is an economically led social revolution which will occur in the next few years that will change you life forever. Should you fail to prepare for it, it will most likely be a change that will leave you gasping for air, one that you may struggle to recover from. I recommend you take this more seriously than you do a training theory. Your income, your standard of living, and that of your family, depend on this.

I am not alone in believing that your once great nation is heading towards a significant economic milestone, one that will have significant ‘challenging’ repercussions for every American. I am not the one who coined the term ‘economic cliff’. I endorse the concept, and have been calling this for nearly a decade now. 

The opportunity to prepare for the greatest economic change in the 80 year generational cycle is upon us.

Every day really does matter. This is sink or swim time. Your country is a ship in serious trouble. And this has serious implications for the world economy.

It's hard

For over a decade now I have been training and mentoring people in the journey to developing leveraged and passive income, using the same business model. An email I received recently encouraged me to reflect on this experience.

To give some background, I like to use Robert Kiyosaki’s ‘cash flow quadrant’, where on the left hand side of the quadrant you have ‘E’ for employee and ‘S’ for self-employed. The Es have no control over their work or leverage income. The S have control over their work but no leverage. On the right hand side you find ‘B’ for business people, and ‘I’ for investors. They both have leverage, however the ‘I’s have passive or residual income. The great divide is leverage. On the left hand side there is no leverage. On the right hand side there is leverage.

So what’s so important about leverage? Your income is not limited to your personal exertion!

I know it’s not easy for humans to change, and moving from the left to the right hand side of this quadrant is change. In the last decade plus I have watched thousands put up their hand to ‘cross-over’ the entrepreneurial divide. They don’t all make it. That’s life. That’s human nature.

Yes, it can be hard work – developing new skills, new habits, and new beliefs. However let me share what I think is really hard.

Having a fixed income and watching cost of living rise. I think that’s hard.
Having little ability to raise your income and receiving unexpected large bills come in. I think that’s hard.

Having to turn up for work at times and places determined but other people – I think that’s hard.
Having to work with people you don’t necessarily like – I think that’s hard.

Not receiving income when you don’t turn up for work – I think that’s hard.
Worrying about the fact that if you miss days of work you will not receive income – I think that’s hard.

Falling behind on the bills because you did take some days off work – I think that’s hard.

Having to go to work knowing you are doing little more than paying the bills – I think that’s hard.

Spending more time with strangers in the work environment than with your kids or those you would prefer to spend time with – I think that’s hard.

Living with the regret you were not there at the crucial times for your kids when they were growing up because you had to go to work – I think that’s hard.

Realizing that if something were to happen to you your family would not be financially looked after because you can no longer go to work – I think that’s hard.

Getting older and realizing you will not be able to work for as long as you are alive, and wondering how you are going to support yourself and or your family in your ‘golden years’ – I think that’s hard.

Living in poverty during the final 10-30 years of your life because you can no longer work in the way you spent your life working and now there is no income – I think that’s hard.

Waking up one day to realize your adult life to date has been built on a flawed economic model – I think that’s hard.

I have also concluded that it would be lot easier to simply give seminars on how to become an entrepreneur and walk away after the 2-5 days course. After all, most do this, and the majority are conditioned to believe that this is the way to go. They go to a course on ‘business development’, and walk away with ‘all the information’ they need to succeed.

I note with interest listening to John C. Maxwell (US business leader, speaker and author) in a live presentation recently agree with my conclusions on this point – that staying with people until they achieve their success is a lot harder than giving them a course in how to do it for a few days and then walking away.

However the short term gains of taking someone’s money for a few day entrepreneur / business seminar are outweighed by the long term success of sharing the true financial success of your student.

So yes, I find some things hard also. However like most things in life hard is on a continuum. And I find ‘working for a living’, ‘working for money’, harder than creating a purpose based life for yourself and your family through entrepreneurial development which includes guiding others to share your entrepreneurial breakthroughs.

Park bench income

It was Saturday morning and I was sitting on a park bench. My youngest kids were playing at on the equipment at the park near to me, as we waited for my older child’s sporting game to commence. I checked my business turnover for my international distribution division using the web based online business manager software provided by my partner company, using my cell phone. Then I called a business partner in my country and talked shop for about five minutes. When I got off that call I checked my business management software again – my income had risen $300. A transaction in another country, by someone else.

Now that to some may be a little bit of money, to others a lot. To me it was appreciated money. That’s an annualized $15,000 – while sitting on a park bench on a Saturday morning involved in family activities.

Sure, I did work in the past to generate this leverage. That’s the whole idea of leverage. Do some work, get paid for it multiples times into the future.

That kind of income would take most people in my physical preparation industry a few hours to generate and they would be locked in with clients. I was sitting on a park bench with engaged in family activities. That’s the difference.

Reminds me of the saying – ‘If you are willing to do what most aren’t you can receive what most won’t!’

11.11.11 and what this might mean to you

As the US moves into the date of the 11th day of the 11th month in the year, 2011, and most other countries are now in that date, you may find value in relfecting on what this date means to you.

Accoring to our 'in-house' shaman, it is the beginning of a period of time that spans through to 21 Dec 2012, and this significant November 11th date is the commencement of this period fo preparing for the Age of Aquarius and departing from the Age of Pisces.

However you perceive this date, we believe it will be great for you and your business!

Don't you love it when they suggest it's a pyramid with the top people getting paid all the money

I was speaking with a friend and colleague recently and I was taken back by their inference that direct selling involved the people 'at the top' getting paid all the money and the people 'at the bottom' getting very little of the money.  Now this was a well-educated person, however they felt the industry needed to change to 'fix this'. I didn't debate or challenge this person, because I respect their interpretation.  Their inference, like many, is that conventional main-stream business models are better because apparently, the people at the top don't make all the money, and the people at the bottom share more equally in the distribution of wealth. Now that's something I don't see the rationale of...considering the below:

Average Compensation of CEOs of 367 US Firms

2004 - $11.8 million*
2003 - $8.1 million
1990 - $2.0 million

The 590% increase in CEO compensation from 1990 to 2004 far outstripped the increase in performance in the stock market, inflation, employee wages or the minimum wage.


*This average rises considerably when then number of top corporations is reduced to say the top 100 corporations.


According to United for a Fair Economy and Institute for Policy Studies (2007): "If the minimum wage had risen as fast as CEO pay since 1990, the lowest paid workers in the US would be earning $23.03 an hour today (2006), not $5.15 an hour."


The Ratio of Average CEO compensation and Minimum Wage Worker in the US 1965-2005


2005 - 821:1 (Worker- Minimum wage $5.15/hr plus benefits)
2004 - 725:1
2003 - 540:1
2002 - 416:1
2001 - 668:1
2000 - 815:1
1992 - 319:1
1989 - 207:1
1978 - 78:1
1965 - 51:1

Source: Mercer Survey of 350 large industrial and service firms conducted for the Wall Street Journal

Examples of Large Executive Compensation in the US


On January 3, 2007, chairman and CEO of Home Depot Inc. Bob Nardelli's severance package was $210 million.


InterActive Corporation (IAC) chairman and CEO Barry Diller's 2006 compensation was $295 million. (Also see our article CEO calls Corporate Governance Researchers Birdbrains!)

David H. Brooks, chairman and CEO of DHB Industries made over $250 million as DHB profited from supplying bullet-proof vests to US Marines in Iraq despite 5,000 vests being returned as ineffective in May 2005. His base salary of $70 million in 2004 was 13,000% more than his 2001 compensation of $525,000. In 2004, Brooks sold company stock worth about $186 million, initiating a drop in DHB’s share price from more than $22 to $6.50, after which he was put on "administrative leave".


Exxon Mobil's chairman and CEO, Lee Raymond's 2006 retirement package was about $400 million.

The CEOs in the examples above also held the position of chairman of the board of directors, a board which must according to fundamental corporate governance principles - and often by law - fulfill their fiduciary duties, monitor the performance of the CEO, hold the CEO accountable, represent the interests of the shareholders in the boardroom, and act in the best interests of the corporation's shareholders.

Lucian Bebchuk and Yaniv Grinstein of the Harvard Law School write in their paper The Growth of Executive Pay that during the period 1993-2003, executive pay "has grown much beyond the increase that could be explained by changes in firm size, performance and industry classification."

Who's the 'pyramid' now?

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