Matt Damon on SUCCESS, July 2013

Until recently only the elites atop corporate ivory towers had the keys to the vault of the world’s wealth.

Power, thus wealth, was controlled by access—access to knowledge, technology, capital, resources and distribution through print publications, broadcasting, cable and store shelves.

Now the vault door has been blown off, and everyone has direct and unlimited access to all the wealth they want by becoming entrepreneurs.

I co-founded an Internet company in early 2000. We raised several million dollars to get started. Building the website, the software to run it and servers to deliver it cost nearly $1 million.

Today that website could be built for less than $5,000. We spent the other millions to hire experienced tech talent (we paid a high price because of limited supply) and on marketing in the days before Google AdWords, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.

The business failed. Do you know how many times I could have launched with the same effort, time and money today? Guess. read more »

I was in Manhattan to meet with the publisher who was taking the message of my book The Compound Effect to the masses. I was escorted to a conference room where shelves filled
with best-sellers lined the walls. The marketing team pointed to a spot on the wall where mine would be.

Marketing staffers began the strategy discussion by saying they reached out to mainstream media and received great response: radio interviews, a few TV appearances and some online article requests. “We even got a request from CNN, wanting you to write an article for its website,” the web media publicist said. She practically giggled with glee as she said the letters C-N-N.

I laughed out loud. “You’re kidding, right?” Her startled eyes indicated she wasn’t. “Clearly they haven’t read the book,” I said. An awkward silence filled the room. “Even if they read only the introduction, they’d know they—along with all sensational news media—are my mortal enemy.” By seeing the confused faces, I knew I needed to give an explanation (and a rally cry).

“News media have become a competitive blood sport for our attention,” I said. “Their focus is on finding the half-dozen most violent, tragic, scandalous and read more »

Let me acknowledge something:
It can be tough out there!

Every day we’re bombarded with scary, ugly, scandalous and tragic news.

Being an election year, the political rhetoric is at epic levels, with repeated messages of how broken, corrupt and terrible everything and everyone is.

Even your own friends, family and colleagues are parroting these sentiments around water coolers, in hallway conversations and at cocktail parties.

Over time you might even find these attitudes echoed in the voice in your own head. It can become maddening.

What do you do? Where do you turn?
How do you break this self-perpetuating cycle of fear, worry and negativity?

THAT is why we’re here. That’s the purpose of SUCCESS.

Through the fog of all the negative, fearful and worrisome messages that continually swirl around us, we are here to be your beacon of light and hope—a resource you can turn to for inspiration, optimism and to find out what’s right with the world.

We also show you what’s possible for you; if you take the wheel of your ship and captain your own destiny, we will be the wind in your sails. We will provide you the map needed to chart a course toward your long-held goals, dreams and ambitions, and to finally make them real.

These are times of the greatest opportunities in all human history. Don’t let anyone or anything convince you otherwise. There has never been a better time for the individual—the entrepreneur—to take control of his or her financial future.

Unlike any other time in history, you now have the entire globe as your marketplace literally right at your fingertips. And at SUCCESS magazine we are here to support, encourage and help you accomplish your entrepreneurial dreams.

Our empowering message is one thing that sets SUCCESS apart from other publications. Another thing that distinguishes SUCCESS is the CD enclosed in each issue, which has become the heart and soul of our experience together. This is a feature not available in any other national newsstand publication today or at anytime in publishing past. This is done at great expense and considerable additional effort. We think it’s worth it.

Why do we do it? read more »

I was reading an article recently from Peter Corning, Ph.D., former professor at Stanford

University, titled The Value of Trust.

He outlines how our entire economic free-enterprise system is built on the value of TRUST.

He says, in fact, that smoothly operating markets DEPEND on trust.

We can understand our complex modern economy as simply a vast network of cooperation and mutually beneficial exchanges of goods and services between people. And TRUST is the lubricant that makes it all work.

While economists will measure the outcome of the economy in dollars and cents, it is trust, or distrust, that will greatly influence that outcome.

In my opinion and experience, the fastest way to gain someone’s trust is through a bridge of someone who already trusts you. I call this trust transference.

I will give you a for instance.

Inside the December issue of SUCCESS (on newsstands now), on the CD you will hear me interview David Horsager. David tried several times to get me to review his book and include him in SUCCESS.

But I didn’t trust David. I didn’t know David.

David approached me at an event I was speaking at and gave me his book. He later sent me his book (several times). He emailed my office, he emailed my assistant and he found a way to email me. But it all got lost in the noise of everyday solicitations.

But then I got a call from Harvey Mackay on my personal cellphone. He asked if I knew David or if I had read his book. I replied with “no” (as I didn’t remember David or his book).

Harvey told me how much he liked David’s book and asked if I would give it a quick read, as a favor to him.

For Harvey? Of course.

He said he would overnight me a copy of his book to my home (it wasn’t until later that I discovered I already had three other copies).

Key point here: read more »