Quote: (07-13-2013 11:50 PM)worldwidetraveler Wrote:
You guys had to send in an application in order to give them your money?
Yes we did.
Some of us are also doing it for Dynamite Circle as well.
And if the price was double I'd pay it.
It sounds like you've never been part of a paid membership community before. In my personal experience, the connections, partnerships, concentrated amount of information and advice, and ability to have serious conversations without all the trolls and idiots is worth the cash.
97 dollars every three months averages to $388 USD per year.
I am confident that in that same period of time I am going to make money from a deal that is worth at least $10,000 USD as a result of being part of that community. Investing in this community was a no brainer for me.
My contacts in the Pearl River Delta region are particularly weak compared to those in Shanghai, Beijing, and other parts of Asia. Basically just a bunch of salaryman engineers and investment bankers who are useless to me in the context of business.
In order to build up contacts there I'd have to go physically spend time in Guangzhou/Shenzhen and also spend the money in order to go there and build these connections. The financial cost of flying there alone and paying for a hotel would be least the cost as the $388 USD of a one year annual subscription. As I am exploring more export opportunities out of China I want to be able to leverage networks that I haven't built myself. Sometimes you have to pay cash to save time.
Instead I can drop in and immediately have a social and business network that I've been discussing opportunities with in a quiet and professional environment.
If I need to source tablets/phones/bibles/cosmetics to export to Colombia and Africa then instead of sifting through crap tons of Alibaba sources for marked up prices I can ask these guys if they can get me a good source on the ground and then compare those costs to the Alibaba ones. There is a level of accountability. Again, this is a time versus cash issue.
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I personally designed, built, hosted, and am managing the websites and the mobile apps for the alumni associations for my university in East Africa, Singapore, London, and Beijing.
The reason I am spending my time, hard earned cash, and energy on doing this is because as someone who is adding value and making an investment I am building social capital and favors that will someday be returned to me when I need to call a favor upon them.
I don't know specifically what that'll be yet but I know that
when it happens I am going to get what I want.
In this case they didn't ask me - I volunteered to be the one to do it and they approved after considering it. As a result, they tacitly understand that they owe me a debt of gratitude and will have to repay me in some intangible way in the future.
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