Every now and then I am asked the question, “how do I raise money?” Everywhere you look there are people suggesting to buy this or invest there. Not everybody has an extra stack of cash stored somewhere, so how can somebody start their own business or begin investing with very little of their own money?

I’m sure everybody has heard the sayings “its not what you know but who you know” or “its not what you do but who does it for you.” Contrary to what many people may think, most of the successful people you hear about today got to that level because of their great networking skills. Do you think they all started with a million dollars in the bank?

Six Degrees of Seperation

Thats all fine and dandy but how does one person go about finding money? If you don’t have it, then what is the likelihood someone around you will, right? WRONG! There a idea called six degrees of separation, and it really does work.

You’d be pretty surprised if you took the time to see who knows who. Some of my best connections include:

• Two degrees to Ambani family
• Two degrees to court-side seats at a Lakers game (which I plan to capitalize in the near future)
• Three degrees to Britney Spears (it seemed awesome a couple years ago)

and they don’t end there. When I really break it down, the amount of different CEO’s and moneymakers I could connect with seem pretty vast.

It Only Takes One

Now think if you could manage to get a hold of that one person. The man/woman who doesn’t back away from giving somebody a chance. After all, if you have a great skill, idea, or business to invest in, then hopefully you are able to sell the greatness to him.

If you are able to drag that person in, then imagine what other connections they have. Before you know it, you could have a huge chain of investors lining up to help you out.

Help doesn’t always have to come in the form of money. It can be advice, connections, and/or resources.

What kind of connections are you able to dig up?

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One of the hardest thing to do for many start-ups is raising money. Lets face it. Nobody wants to give money to an unproven commodity, especially in these current economy conditions. So how can we go about getting money?

One way could be through TheFunded.com. According to their front page:

TheFunded.com is an online community of entrepreneurs to research, rate, and review funding sources worldwide. In addition, TheFunded.com allows entrepreneurs to view and share term sheets, to assist one other finding good investors, and to discuss the many facets of operating a business.

Essentially it is a community for people looking to raise some funding for their company, service, or whatever it is. Think about it as your local contracting ratings. On TheFunded.com, people can rate and review different funding sources.

Membership is FREE for CEOs and Founders. Senior executives, advisors, lawyers, and consultants must contribute a Membership fee that starts at $200 for 6 months of access, if approved.

You can also see a video of what membership, on their site.

Besides just rating funding sources, members can also post job positions or what they are looking for. There are also discussions boards where information and comments can be shared.

Overall it seems like an interesting resource for those looking to get money for their company or even find those who need it (if you are fortunate enough to be in that position). http://www.thefunded.com/

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As labor prices rise and communication tools over the internet increase, it is becoming easier and easier to telecommute; however, it is also becoming easier for people to begin their own type of business.

Over the last couple of years, it has become increasingly popular for people to make money from home, so why should you be left out? You don’t always have to create your own product.

Many times small companies are looking for people to do those small tasks that essentially get in the way of growing their own business. So why not help those companies out and offer to do it for them (for a price of course). The following are a few steps for you to get started creating your own business with emphasis on assisting services.

Step One: What is(are) your service(s)

“First thing first,” says entrepreneur Simon Slade, “what are you good at or what can you offer?” Maybe you have had experience with a successful start-up, so why not try and consult small businesses on how to expand, although, if that was the case, then you probably don’t need advice on how to start your own business.

Why not become a virtual assistant? Often times companies, need some help in sending out letters, creating presentations, and things like that. They may not want to or have the expenses to hire somebody full-time to assist them, so they look to outsourcing this type of work.

If none of these interest you, then what about planning event, such as conferences or meetings? Still not satisfied? What about becoming a supplier of office supplies?

Whatever type of service your plan to offer, create a detailed list of everything you plan to do and a basic outline of what it takes to perform these tasks. This list will prove to help you with step three.

Step Two: Choose your target customers

“There is no point in starting a business if there are no potential customers out there,” says Slade. For most of these outsourcing type jobs, your prime candidate would be those small businesses with just a few employees.

Unlike big companies that hire some full time staff on-site to take care of these jobs, smaller companies don’t necessarily have the money, space, and/or demand to bring on full time assistants. That is where you will come in and help them out.

Step Three: Figure out the start-up costs

Still have that list? Find out what supplies and resources are required to finish projects efficiently and PROFESSIONALLY. You should generally have good printer, scanner, and fax machine. That would bring in phone line for the fax.

You will probably also want a dedicated phone line. How many clients do you think will stay aboard when they hear a little kid on the answering machine saying they reached the Doe Family?

What will you do about all the accounting and collecting of the payments? A shredder is probably a must as well.

Many times you may already have some the supplies you need, such as a a computer and internet access, although you should make sure these things are good enough to get the job done.

At the same time, don’t feel like you have to buy everything at once. Start out with the essentials to get the job done and eventually you’ll see what you need. Research should also go into finding what kind of prices you can charge for services. After all you want to see if you will be making the type of money you want.

Once you calculate what all you will need, DON’T BUY ANYTHING YET. The goal of this step is just to make sure your business is feasible. If it is, then move on to step four.

Step Four: Legally create your business

So now you know what you are offering, operating expenses, and who are your potential clients. It is time to become legit. There are several different ways to go about doing this, and that is for a different day.

Perhaps the easiest yet most expensive way, is to hire a lawyers; however, tt may save you in cost down the line.

Once you are finally a registered business, it is finally time to set it all up. Set-up a website online (look at step five) and get your office/workspace in order. If you completed all of the steps prior, then there should be no surprises here.

You can find many documents to help you over at docstoc.

Step Five: Seek out clients

The saying “if you build it, they will come” works for almost nothing. Just because you registered a domain name or are a legalized business that doesn’t mean work will come rolling in.

You need to ACTIVELY go out and find the demand. Whether it be e-mailing, poster’s, signs, or brochures, do something that lets you start making money.

There is no step by step guide finding work otherwise no business would ever fail. At the same time don’t waste time marketing to people you know won’t want the service.

Try going to suite offices and see the different the business there. Many they consist of only a handful of employees, so they make perfect candidates for need of virtual assistants. Create a professional looking website that list your services, prices, and some of your most prestigious clients. Maybe you can even get some testimonials. If you want to put a little more effort into it, see if you can have clients order directly from the site.

You goal is to make it look like it will be an effortless process or, in other words, like you are actually part of the business.

Step Six: Put YOUR business into action

Pretty self explanatory. Do it with efficiency and professionalism. You want to make sure it isn’t the last time a client uses you. Also, for every client there is a potential referral.

Hopefully, one day you will be able to outsource to some other up and comer or sell your business for a great payday.

Key factors to consider

It is important to remember that you won’t necessarily make money when you first start, especially if you can’t find any clients. If you don’t work, then you won’t be making money.

You should also like doing what you do. Since you will be essentially working on your own, you need to be able to stay motivated. On the other hand, if you ever have problems with that just turn on the news and listen to the traffic report.

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I remember long back in my junior year of high school, when students were forced to have a student-parent-counselor meeting. All together we were going to sit down and decide the rest of my future, or so they thought. We even had to fill out a questionnaire before attending the meeting. It looked like print out from a “Counseling for Dummies” book; nonetheless, I humored the people.

One of the questions that was asked was to list 5-7 things that you enjoy doing. Considering that I was pretty boring, I could only manage to squeak out five: organizing, video games, music (producing), medicine, sports. At the time, I wasn’t really into the stock market yet. Once we got to the meeting, the counselor proceeded to explain what the purpose of this question was. In his words (kind of.. its been quite some time):

“Every year different and unique jobs are springing up. What you might do in the future, might not really exist right now. So by making you fill this pointless questionnaire, we feel that you could possibly become a video game organizer who produces music for sports medicine”

So he didn’t really use those exact words, but, wow, I finally found my calling. There was just one problem, they don’t exactly have a major that fills all of those needs. So I did what any great prospect would do and majored in Economics. Now I am a chump who plays in the stock market, while dabbling in real estate, and running a highly regarded web site (so I like to think).

However, now I finally understand what my counselor was finally trying to tell me. If you can stay diligent with what you like to do and keep persisting, then you can essentially be successful with anything. I don’t know why he couldn’t just say that, but now I am still thinking about him all these years (sneaky little man).

But that is whats so great about this country and even the world, if there is a service somebody will pay for it. If you told me a couple years ago that there would be several successful dog waste picker uppers, then I would of told you that you’re mad, but now I have one coming every Thursday.

Just take a look at some of these jobs:

• Master Sniffer - This guy’s job is to smell anything that might go on space missions and determine its suitability. Some missions have been grounded by disgusting smells.
• Dog Food Tester - Taste and analyze dog food samples and write reviews on the results.
• Geese Chaser - These guys sit back, while their dogs do all the dirty work. Essentially the dog’s job is to chase geese of property, and the humans make the money.
• Ring Tone Creator - These people make a living off of 30 second sound bites.

I could go on and on, but I am pretty sure you got the point. Basically if you can think of it, then there is a chance of making it successful. Did you stick to your plan? Are you doing what you thought you would be after college (or high school)? Is life great?

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There will be days, weeks, or even months when the amount of money off trading may not be sufficient to live off of. Sure you can always get a job, but maybe that is not your cup of tea. If you have got something interesting to share, then perhaps try writing a book.

Now many people are probably thinking that there is no way they can write more than a couple page on a single topic, but if you really choose something you are interested it can all just flow out.

Anyways, I first decided to do a little research when I read an article that outlined current Democratic hopeful, Barack Obama. In an attempt to help boost his status, Obama released his tax returns for the last couple of years. Apparently in 2004 and 2006 Obama and family brought in about $1,000,000. My first thought was how could somebody in the government be making that much money. I mean the President only makes like $200,000 or something like that, so what was Obama doing? I kept reading the article, and to my surprise much of Obama’s income came from the royalties off his two books. Both books brought in about $600k - $900k.

The first book basically covers his “unusual” life, while the second one is about the broken connection between the Government and the people. How exhilarating. Now granted Obama had somewhat of a greater sense of importance for people to want to read his book, but they both came out before the presidential race had begun and honestly I would never want to read them.

If you have an idea/pitch for a book, then you can either find an agent to help get your book published or some people even proposed that it was more profitable to do it yourself. Popular author Tom Clancy got his first book published without an agent. When a contract is being drafted many publishers will offer a non-refundable advance. It could be anywhere from $100-1 million. It all depends on how well they think your book will do. Further payments will come from royalties such as 8-11% per book.

Sure not all books will bring in a millions of dollars, but if you got something to say, then why not give it a try? Many bloggers have been able to make it their career because they have gotten book deals out of the whole ordeal. Who thought a book about some teenager wizard on a broom would be interesting? Now the author is a billionaire.

I heard about this a while back, but nothing really ever materialized for me, until now. The Hydropolis will be the world’s first luxury underwater hotel, and, if successful, probably not the last. There will be three parts for this frontier: the land station/reception area, a connecting tunnel where a train will transport people to the main hotel area, and the 220 suites within the complex. The entire project will be one of the largest constructions projects in the world.

The developer’s, Joachim Hauser, futuristic vision will take shape 66 feet below the surface of the Arabian Gulf for roughly $500 million. There will be conference rooms, theaters, restaurants, and many different ways to enjoy the surrounding marine life. The structure will even have its own missile defense system along with the ability to seal of areas in case of leaks.

The amount of businesses and innovative ideas that have been developed in Dubai and surrounding areas are astounding. Indoor skiing, man-made beaches, amazing golf course, huge towering architectural feats, and much much more, it is not surprising that something like an underwater hotel will occur. The Hydropolis was suppose to open at the end of 2007; however, the date has been pushed back to 2009. Hopefully the whole idea will “stay afloat.”

Well now that Real Estate print magazine has gone online. The positive aspect about going online is that now more people have access to what is for sale in other parts of the country, such as Atlanta Real Estate, or even internationality. No longer are you subjected just to local properties.

Moreover, they have tied the print and online together by being able to enter the ID of a house from the book into the online edition. In reverse fashion, you can have a print edition shipped directly to your house.

Another plus of the site, is the ability to find foreclosed houses. You can see if they are in pre-foreclosure, auction, bank owned, or government owned. Users are also able to see how much other houses in the area are worth and different type of financing options available to people.

Overall RealEstateBook.com is a great resource for a person looking to make money in the real estate market, or just have a good time researching whats for sale.

The Dilemma

I bring this topic up because lately I have seen many people consistently fail at making money off their own ideas (e.g. real estate, stock market, business), and it is not because they necessarily did anything wrong, but they just weren’t patient enough and didn’t want to put in the time that they weren’t getting paid for.

To some, that whole notion of putting in the work doesn’t automatically click in people’s head. They wonder if I put a house on the market, then how come nobody is coming to see it? If I created a website, then how come nobody is coming? If I invested money in the market, then how come I am not seeing any returns?

The Solution

You have to put in the time, you have to stay dedicated, and you have to be prepared to make pennies or possibly even lose money. You just have to. “You build it, they will come.” That statement is 95% false. You can build it, but then you have got to change it and change it until you get something that works.

If you are selling a house, then you might need to adjust the prices, renovations, and whatever else until someone puts in a offer. If you created a website, then you will have to change the design, alter marketing techniques, and play around with the monetizing schemes. If you invested money in the stock market, then you may have to come up with new trading techniques, create different alerts, and so on.

The one key aspect that many wishful entrepreneurs seem to forget, is that if it was so easy, then everybody would be doing it. Eventually if you are lucky to break out, then you can live one of those glamorous lifestyles aspiring entrepreneurs think they can easily have to; however, until then, you just have to.

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Make sure to also check out some Prepaid Credit Cards.

Apparently the cost comes into play because people are able to sue for almost anything. There are countless stories of consumers suing for insanely outrageous demands and companies required to take every little precaution. On top of that there are tons of taxes that must be paid every year that help pay for some really weird stuff.

When it comes to breaking down the reasons the ranking does seem justified. Anyways I thought I would share this tid bit of information. It took my by surprise, so I thought I would share with others that were unaware of this “phenomenon.”

What do think of this situation?

Before you can borrow or lend you must have your driver’s license, social security system, and bank account information. There are options for personal and business loans. It is a pretty cool idea because you do not necessarily have to rely on 1 person to give you your entire loan. Many desired amounts are filled on several little contributions. You can also see the history of user’s past loans and each person is given a credit grade. The whole profile is pretty well laid out.

There are also some interesting request for why people need money. It ranges from people wanted to open up their own business, go on vacations, or just pay off some debt.

Prosper also has tons of great information and tutorials on how it all works.

• How to borrow: Click here for video
• How to lend: Click here for tutorial

So give it a look and start that business you always wanted to or bring out the generous lender within yourself. Go to Prosper now.