Even though there were about 200 people on Friday morning (that number dwindled significantly by Sunday afternoon), it was really high-energy and informative. We started out with a self-assessment to determine what we already knew, which was pretty little. Mark and I were both excited to see this because it's the same technique, called Learning Gain, that we used when we were corporate trainers. (We always collected the beginning and ending self-assessments and performed a calculation so we could show management how much the students had learned. They didn't do this step. I suspect they gauge their success by the amount of money they made.) Anyway, as a course developer and an instructor, I know how difficult it can be to keep a group that size engaged and energized, but Ry-Guy and his team did a great job.
But it wasn't just about high-energy. We learned stuff! We learned how to look for distressed properties. We learned how to determine an offer price for a property. We learned where and how to find private lenders. We learned some new internet marketing techniques and got some automation ideas to boost productivity. We also learned about some tax strategies - we can't use them, but they're good to know. And we learned about some useful apps and online resources we weren't aware of before, like "neat" for managing receipts using your cellphone.
On the downside (there is almost always a downside), they spent a bit too much time flogging their mentoring and coaching program, which involves making a "decision" to "invest" anywhere between $15K to $30K to jump start your business. We knew going in that this was never going to be our primary business so that effort was pretty much wasted on us.
There were a couple of other things that set me on edge.
- Ry-Guy lumped Baby Boomers into a group that is considered technologically inept. Really? I don't want to say "You didn't build that", but innovators like Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg built on previous technology. The internet was already there. I admit that I don't keep up with technology the way I did when I worked for Sun Microsystems, but I'm far from inept.
- Ry-Guy set the expectation for people that a real estate inspection should cost between $200 and $400. For anyone who doesn't know, Mark and I own an inspection company - Yellow Hat Inspections. (Check us out here.) Our minimum price is $390, pretty close to the top of Ry-Guy's range, and we are competitive. But I'm thinking that we'd rather get our clients from Angie's List than from Ry-Guy. (Actually, we'd be delighted to have Ry-Guy's inspections. I just don't want to have to negotiate with him because I sense that he doesn't really value what other people do.) I already have to deal with realtors setting similar expectations. I've had some call me up to ask me "why is it so high?". High? It's nowhere close to six percent.
But back to the seminar - it was crawling with philanthropists. Everyone on Ry-Guy's team seemed to be starting a non-profit to make the world a better place. It got a lot of applause. It impressed people. It had me wondering about the tax advantages of starting a non-profit because there are so many wonderful charities that you can donate to without starting your own. And just for the record, you don't need to make a million dollars before you start giving back.
It may be our suspicious natures, or just a bad habit, but Mark and I often question why people do what they do. We wondered why these folks are delivering training if they're making a fortune in real estate. We also wondered why they are spending time promoting ebooks for $20 a pop if there is so much money to be made flipping houses. Wouldn't you focus your time and effort where you made the most money? But then again, I suppose if you saw a $20 bill on the sidewalk, you'd probably pick it up. The bottom line is that we learned things we didn't know, were reminded of things we did know and had forgotten, networked with people who have similar interests, and feel like we more than got our money's worth.
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