Different Ways to Make Money

Recently I was speaking with a friend who has made millions of dollars and leads a wonderful life of leisure now. He owns several sports cars, a yacht, and a restaurant that serves buffalo. He likes to go mountain biking and pays some of the best riders around to accompany him on multiple day excursions. He has never gotten married and settled down, yet doesn't seem to have any problems attracting the ladies. He gives generously to charity and is friends with professional athletes and celebrities alike.

Yet it wasn't always like this for him. Growing up, he didn't do very well in school. The only thing he liked to do was listen to music. He knew all the hot bands and who was playing where. He dropped out of school before his senior year and bought a vacant lot on the outskirts of the city. Everyone thought he was nuts, but he had a plan.

He built a cheap concert hall and invited local bands to come play. Soon, Friday nights at the "lot" became the number one event for hundreds of people. He started charging four dollars a ticket and people kept coming. He took the money from ticket sales and then hired bigger, more famous bands to perform. Every time he got a more famous band to come, he would raise the ticket prices. Then, when he had steady weekly income, he invested in the hall. He put in better seating, air conditioning, and a bar. The people kept coming.

Before he turned eighteen, he had made two hundred thousand dollars. Then, he used the internet to find cheap properties in a few more cities. He build more concert halls. When he didn't have concerts, he rented them out for conventions, weddings, you name it. By the time he was thirty, he was making millions every year and hanging out with the hottest music acts.

All you need is guts and a little vision.

George Clooney heads a stellar cast in the remake of the 1960s classic "Oceans Eleven." Clooney plays Danny Ocean, a con man with big ideas. He's recently released from prison and meets up with fellow partner, Rusty (Brad Pitt). Ocean has come up with a heist and needs Rusty's help as well as team of eight, highly specialized experts to pull it off. They plan to rob the bank vault of three Las Vegas casinos owned by Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia). Besides the lucrative payoff to pull off this big job, Ocean wants to win back his ex-wife, Tess, who is now Benedict's girlfriend. With an incredibly elaborate plan to penetrate the security system and stage the robbery, you see this impressive group of men go into action. That's what makes this movie work. You've heard the cliched term on-screen chemistry used over and over again. But in this case it really exists, and you can't avoid it. Clooney and Pitt look so natural working together; it doesn't look forced. The banter is great. Even though Ocean's gang are technically breaking the law, you end up rooting for them. Benedict is really the bad guy in this movie, not Ocean and his friends. You want them to stick it to Benedict and "acquire" the $150 million payoff. One of the great scenes of the movie is rounding up the gang as well as recruiting the new guy, Matt Damon who's a skilled pickpocket. They gather together as Ocean explains the level of security surrounding the vault. Of course it's tighter than Fort Knox, but Ocean and Rusty are cool as cucumbers and confident that it's doable. It doesn't matter that it's highly improbable to pull off a heist such as theirs. You spend money on a ticket to be entertained, and this movie does the job in spades!

Can you guess what is the most common investment of the world's billionaires? It is not high tech, entertainment, or retail. What the world's richest people have in common is that most of them based their fortunes on owning land and buildings -- the fast moving world of commercial real estate.

What most people don't realize is that it is relatively easily to get into the business of commercial real estate. All you need to find is a few good agents and access to some capital to get started. Once you start renting out properties, you can repay the initial investors and then just rely on your own profits.

How does it work? Simple. First, drive downtown and find some property that looks a bit dilapidated. No matter what condition it is, if the location is good you can make very nice money. There are always building that do not see their potential because the builders are not giving the building or the tenants the attention they both need. Buildings that have a lot of vacancy can often be bought for far less than their market value.

As soon as you have the title get a team of contractors in to clean up the place. Stick in a gym and a coffee shop and start marketing. Don't expect businesses to find you, go to them. Look for stable clients like well established law firms and offer to pay all their moving expenses and give all the partners free gym membership. You will make back all the money you spend very quickly in rent.

Just remember, all you have to do is listen to your clients. Keep them happy and they will keep you happy. Sometime all it takes is a monthly free lunch to get people to feel great that they are your tenants. Of course, don't sit still. As soon as you have enough capital for another building go for it. The more commercial real estate you own, the more you can control the market.