MILLIONAIRE

THE MILLIONAIRE

When I was a kid there was a Television show called “The Millionaire”. The premise of the show was that a very wealthy benefactor would give away a million dollars to a perfect stranger with the provision that the recipient never divulged the source of the money.

Although I’m not in a position to give perfect strangers such a large sum of money, I thought it would be cool if I could do the same sort of thing, just on a smaller basis. (Ok… A much smaller basis) I figured I might as well get a jump on this whole “Redistribution of Wealth” concept that the government seems so bent on. (don’t that call that Socialism ?).

Well, in keeping with the whole “take from the rich and give to the poor concept”, I formulated a plan of action. I mean, why wait until the government taxes me; puts a cap on my wages, or just plain confiscates my savings (now that they own the banks and all). I might as well get some joy and personal satisfaction out of giving away my own hard earned money.

It turns out, I had to scale down the whole program to a certain degree. In the original show, the rich guy hired representatives to do his good bidding for him. Since I found myself on a much tighter budget, I decided to do the actual awarding of funds on my own.

Well, it seems people are not quite as trusting as they once were. In fact, the first few people I tried to befriend, with cash in hand, slowly backed away from me while threatening to call the cops. After that experience I decided to take things a little slower and offer a little more in the way of explanation before I got to the “show me the money” part of the script.

Well it turns out this whole, let me help my neighbor succeed concept, is not as easy as one might assume. Over the course of the next few attempts I was threatened, robbed, beaten, and reported to the local authorities as some kind of nut case. Maybe this is why the original Mark Antony guy used proxies in neat black suits (they must have been more socially believable than me in my jeans and wife beater T-shirt.)

Not to be a quitter, I decided that I had better refine my approach, and perhaps do a little more research on my selected recipients before waltzing in with the cashola. Perhaps some of the people I selected, just didn’t need the money, were too proud, or maybe they just didn’t believe in charity. After careful study I decided to select a guy that seemed rather down on his luck, that I ascertained by virtue of the “will work for food” sign he was holding at the side of the highway.

I approached the fella with outstretched arms and told him that good fortune was smiling down on him today. I thought I would be brief and get the business disclaimer part of my offer out of the way, and began explaining the part about how he could never disclose the source of his good fortune only to find him fast asleep before he could acknowledge his part of the deal. In disgust, I left him 20 dollars in his make shift collection plate and moved on with a renewed sense of purpose. (I had determined that I would not be denied my ‘warm and fuzzy feeling” of giving away my money)




Tired but undaunted I spent the next day devising a sure fire plan to give away some money to those in need, thereby fulfilling my social, patriotic, and philanthropic instincts. A quick trip to the bank in the morning served the purpose of turning in all my cash and withdrawing the same amount of funds in a great number of certified bank checks.

I now set about my day randomly selecting worthy looking recipients and with very little fanfare I handed each of them one of the bank checks. I handed out checks to people in front of the hospital (my answer to Universal health care), I handed out checks to students gathered in front of the local college ( leave no student behind), and I handed out checks at the old folks home (my answer to social security) The plan worked perfectly because each one of them (both rich and poor) to a man simply looked down at the check then smiled as they put the check in their pocket, wallet, or purse.

With a great deal of satisfaction I finished the day after having exhausted my supply of checks and money. I was now broke and in fact quite destitute but rewarded by the fact that I had so diligently and completely accomplished my quest. I was feeling quite noble, but in a more pensive moment, I had cause to question my own actions. Did I actually help the economy, or did I just give money to strangers, that I may have personally spent to better purpose. (perhaps creating long lasting jobs)

You also might ask, how I so totally overcame the natural resistance of most Americans to put aside their pride and take handout money from a perfect stranger…..Actually it was quite simple. (I just borrowed a lesson from the Federal Government) I simply added one line of explanation to the bottom of each check…..

“Stimulus Check”

Please feel free to contact me at: pooritalianboy@gmail.com

P.I.B.

GET RICH QUICK

GET RICH QUICK !
“Millionaire Businessmen and Investor wants to share his secrets of success”
I’ve always been enamored with the newest fads of “Get Rich Quick” schemes. Frankly I’ve had enough trouble using the “get rich very slowly and painfully” method. To me, its kind’a like a weight loss program, everyone wants the results, but we all want them right now, without putting in the effort and time. Sure, someone in the world has lost weight by just eating Subway sandwiches, but that doesn’t mean it will work for me.
In my experience, the only ones that get rich quick, are the fella’s selling the rest of us poor slobs the “secret programs, books, seminars, home based business programs, and C.D.’s”. I have to hand it to most of them, they are astute marketers. These guys know exactly what buttons to push in their advertising and info-mercials to get “Joe Average” to the point where he is willing to forgo a cold case of beer for their “secret advice”. They follow a time tested formula to reach and entice Mr. Average, who is sitting up channel surfing at 2:15 in the morning, to whip out his credit card and order.
The advertising, web sites, and promotional materials are usually well designed to get your attention, and entice you to act quickly. Most offer a minimum of facts and details until after you commit. The offer is also usually for a limited time, or only for limited number of lucky applicants. (Remember, these guys are often master marketers, snake oil salesmen, and pitchmen). In many cases you still have all your warning lights and buzzers going off, however its not hard to convince yourself that “its worth a try” (its almost like Las Vegas gambling ..you know you will probably loose, but the chance of winning draws you in like a moth to a flame).
The rich/ultra successful guy, television spots are replete with fancy cars, boats, beautiful people, and mansions. The underlying message is: Just send me your $99.95 and you will have all this great stuff also. They will interview a few alumni from their course that have made it big, as if to infer; if this guy can do it, so can you. (and you can accomplish this all in only 10 or 12 hours a week, working from home in your jammies).
These get rich quick guru’s seem to be predominant in real estate, stock, and direct marketing. (aka pyramid scheme). The truth is they have a very willing audience to pitch to. The average “ham and egger”, gets up early every day and puts in his average 40 to 50 hour work week and brings home a pay check every Friday. At the end of the month, when he is done paying bills, there never seems to be much left to save or spend freely. Everyone secretly desires to get off the subway and onto the “gravy train”.
Deep in every American’s heart, is the desire to strike off on his own, to be an entrepreneur, to shed the bonds of an hourly pay check, to achieve the American dream.(and to be honest with you, I think every one should at least take one turn at bat and swing for the fences).
Every one sends in their money or 3 equal payments of $119.95 and then waits anxiously by the mailbox for their package to come in. Meanwhile, our mindset is that we might as well turn in our two weeks notice at work because everyone on the commercial said they were able to leave their full time jobs with all the easy money that this new system would bring in.
We figure we can’t go wrong because there is a satisfaction guarantee. When it does arrive we can hardly wait to tear open the box and begin reviewing the C.D’s and printed material. Some of the material is instructional and some motivational. (like a placebo).
The truth of the matter is that some of the people who try the program actually do succeed to one level or another. Unfortunately the “Top Earners” are usually the first ones that get in, or those that have the largest down line organization. (friends and acquaintances)
The basic concept is that almost everyone can sell their family members, do a few presentations or house parties, and close a few friends, and then they quickly loose interest. In many cases each new “associate” makes a few sales but also had to purchase a small level of stock inventory that usually ends up in the garage covered with cob webs. With each new associate that churns thru the revolving door, the parent company makes money.
In closing, I would say that it’s almost always worth being curious and taking time to investigating a new opportunity. I would recommend that you thoroughly do your research and ask for references of people who have succeeded in the organization. (not just the few trophy examples on the web site) Bottom line is that there are some great new opportunities out there that can generate significant wealth, but there are also a lot of scams. So, I wouldn’t rush to quit your day job until you are convinced that you have a viable and long term business opportunity in place first.
Please feel free to contact me at: pooritalianboy@gmail.com
P.I.B.