I learned this lesson a long time ago by being an idiot and have since disciplined myself tremendously with regards to negotiating any business deal. My mistake was having the mindset of what I was comfortable paying and presenting that as the first offer to seller. The problem with this technique (as I soon discovered) is that sellers almost always assume that you are going to give them your lowest offer first for which they in return will give you a substantially higher one, assuming that you will be more than happy to meet in the middle at a realistic (to them at least) price. This particular deal involved buying a share of a restaurant and was not a small amount of money by any means, but I somehow managed to put myself in a position where there was no way I was going to get what I wanted because I had exposed my maximum offer waaay to early in the game.

This is a very important skill for entrepreneurs and something that everyone should take pretty seriously. It is just so important in business to be a good negotiator, understand how the game works and if it is worth playing or not. Here are some basic tips that I have personally learned throughout life:

1. Always find out the motivation for the deal (works both ways whether you are the buyer or seller). This information can be very beneficial if you uncover something that can swing the deal in your favour.

2. Due diligence will keep you from making bad decisions. Make sure that you thoroughly research the product, deal, service or whatever it is in detail before making an offer and make sure you know what the value of the deal is (compare similar deals, industries, products, whatever).

3. DO NOT START WITH YOUR HIGHEST OFFER (Learn from me)

4. Be respectful but confident and serious, you want to come off as a professional who knows their stuff and is ready to make a deal if the terms are right.

5. Lastly, modesty can save you thousands of dollars. Even if you have found the best deal on something you have wanted your whole life, do not say a thing. Leading on to a seller/buyer that you really need something is a sure way to lose some extra money.

Follow these simple steps and you will be a little closer to being a super business negotiator. If you want to read more about business negotiation I would suggest this article which deals with negotiation for start-ups with no revenue.

You have heard about them and probably read them, “Make Money Online” blogs seem to be the new trend in the web space these days. I know a lot of people may not agree with this post but I do have to say that a lot of these blogs really annoy me, it is almost like everyone is blind.

Look at the two kingpins of make money blogging on the internet today otherwise known as ShoeMoney and JohnChow. No doubt, these guys are online ballers and have accumulated super riches from their internet savvy, but their blogs in reality are just another tool that they make money for themselves with. Too often I will go to one of these blogs (yes I do read them, I am a hypocrit) and see a post about how ShoeMoney just had a route canal or have to hear about a steak dinner that John Chow had with his cyber buddies last week. What in the world does this have to do with making money online? Absolutely Nothing!

Now I am not hating on these guys, I actually respect them as businesmen, but I am just surprised when I go through their posts to see that the majority of content that they write about does not relate to how to make money online. The fact is this really should not surprise anyone. Let’s say for example you figured out a unique way to make $5000 per day on the internet with little competition or knowledge from other webmasters. What are the chances you are going to post about it on a blog with tens of thousands of readers…..slim to none is my bet. The tricks and insights that these bloggers tell you with the supposed hopes of making money are in reality over exploited markets or niches with huge barriers to entry and little to no chance for most people to make money in. So I guess the question is why are they so popular?

Sometimes selling a dream is better then selling a real or legitimate product. If you have undeniable talent and succes, other people want to be like you, it’s just a fact. Where I will give the major bloggers money is they are damn good at pitching, marketing and monetizing the dream…for themselves off course. I know that these guys work hard on their blogs but let’s be honest for just one second and take these things for what they are.

If you really want to make money online CLICK HERE, open an account and play.

Make money online blog rant officially over!

I started this blog for a lot of different reasons but mainly I just really like writing and business. I am 23 (soon to be 24) years old and have been making a living for myself through entrepreneurship for the past 4 years through many different businesses. My primary business is a catering company based in Toronto called The Food Dudes Catering which my business partner and I started four years ago while in school. Together, we both grew the company and today have done over 500 different events for hundreds of clients. I have also been somewhat active as a webmaster over the past 2 years but must confess that I have yet to stick with one particular project for more than a few months (impatience I guess). I got into the webmaster game promoting online poker and learned everything I now know about that market from Poker Affiliate World, a forum for poker affiliates run by Jeremy Enke who is one of the pioneers in the industry.

So back to this blog…what is it all about, why did I decide to write it and why would you care to read it? All good questions. This is not another “make money online” blog that promises you instariches and the new secrets to Google Adsense. I don’t want this blog to be about that…so please assume that you will not make a dime from reading this blog. What you can expect from this blog is a lot of useful information on entrepreneurship, business strategy and of course some snippets of my life (I drink and party a lot). As for the motivation behind starting this blog, in truth there are three reasons.

1. I want to prove to myself that I can stick with an online project for an extended period of time.

2. I like talking about business, analyzing it and presenting it to people.

3. I truly enjoy writing and have wanted to do more of it recently.

So we have covered questions one and two, on to the tough one…why read this blog? You should read this blog if you enjoy the ins and outs of business both online and off. You should read this blog if you want to learn from my mistakes. You should read this blog if you like hot women, parties and money. Lastly, you should read this blog because you can, it’s free and the only thing you have to lose is time, which I may be able to sell back to you for the right price

So there you have it, no more justifications or rants, thank you for coming by and I hope you become a loyal reader.

John