Written by Jeffrey R. Armstrong – President/Owner of Armstrong Capital
Your favorite Master Note Buyer – Straightforward, Honest, Fair…
Back in 1991 I received a flyer in the mail. On it in big bold letters it said “Make $10,000 a Month for the Rest of Your Life!” That sounded really great back then and it still sounds really good today. I attended a free two hour workshop that explained in general how the business worked and showed me the potential of the note business (now referred to as the Cash Flow Industry). I was extremely excited about the prospect of working from home and having control over my life. At that point if I wanted to learn the business I was invited to a 5 Day Boot Camp. No question about it, I definitely wanted to do this business. I paid my tuition and the next week spent five days learning about one income stream, private mortgage notes. When the five days were over I received my certificate as a CMI (Certified Mortgage Investor) and I was off and running.
Working part-time at first, with little to no support and no funding source directory I spent the first eight months after the class looking for a funding source that would be willing to work with me. I finally found a funding source that was willing to work with me and soon after one and did my first transaction, nine months after completing the course. Still working the night job, I would put my daytime efforts into my business. After many obstacles and hurdles, countless testing and many trials and errors I finally was able to quit my night job at Ralph’s nineteen months from the time I started my business. There were no member advisors, master brokers, mentors or coaches. There were no websites (the internet was just starting up), no documents guide and no funding source directory. I learned mostly through the school of hard knocks and put an enormous amount of time into making this business work for me because I knew deep down that I could do it and that the business itself was solid.
Jump forward now to the present, the year 2005, what has changed in our industry in the last fourteen years? Well, you probably did not get a flyer in the mail rather you might have seen an informative infomercial on the TV to introduce you to the business and invite you to a free workshop. At the free workshop it was explained to you that the Cash Flow Industry isn’t just about one income stream anymore but that we can use over 60 different income streams to keep your business thriving. In addition to teaching you the business in a three day course you would also have a support network behind you when you complete the course. Your title and the end of the training class would now be CCFC, or Certified Cash Flow Consultant. The instructors that speak and present the materials and disseminate the information to you are individuals that are actually in the business and have a vested interest in your success.
In addition, the American Cash Flow Association has developed a multitude of tools to ensure the success of the attendee’s and students that put forth the effort to make their business a success. The Training Workbook and Resource manual are packed full of more information than you will ever need and it is tops in the industry. During the intensive three day training you are given a taped course on CD so that you can refer back to sections that you want to refresh yourself with. You are given a video library of three videos to assist you with role playing scenarios, marketing and conversion strategies. You are also given a complete set of all of the worksheets and documents you will ever need to run your business on a disk and in printed form. Instead of searching for funding sources to work with you are given the very valuable funding source directory, which alone will save you a tremendous amount of time and effort. Not to mention the monthly American Cash Flow Journal, a network of local American Cash Flow Chapters and the annual Cash Flow Convention. As an optional tool for your business is the Web Partner Program that was created for consultant’s that requested a turn key cash flow website that they have control over. And last but definitely not least is the entire support network that has been built up over the years which includes member advisors, Master Brokers and even the funding sources themselves.
Back in the early days I only had one income stream to start with, the prices given for notes were much lower and it could take 6-8 weeks to get a private mortgage note transaction closed. Today I can work with several different income streams if I choose, the competition between the funding sources had made the prices given for notes much more desirable and I can get a normal private mortgage note transaction closed in 2-4 weeks! Wow, what a difference fourteen years makes!
If you are one of the graduates that has taken the course in the last few years the business is basically handed to you. All you need to do is to have the desire to make it work and put in the time and effort necessary to make your business a success. With all of the advantages given to consultants today you are given a much better chance of success than were the graduates of the past. Put all of these advantages to work for you, don’t give up, be persistent and eventually you will be successful.