It’s Baaaaack… (This Blog, That Is)
Over the last couple of weeks I have learned a good bit about myself.
I learned, I like the one-to-one interaction of working with people as they start their investing journey or expand and enhance their efforts.
I guess I kind of already knew that which is one reason I was trying for several months to broaden the experience level at the Field Guide for Investors. That turned out to be an exercise in frustration and futility.
While it has lots of members, they are very fragmented and segmented and trying to pull them together to interact with newer and sometimes uninvited members just did not work. Unfortunately, there is way too much momentum.
The SMEs (Subject Matter Experts) often use their memberships for very specific things. For example, several of them are certified financial planners and they use their private groups at the Field Guide to serve their clients. All in all, I guess I don’t really have a problem with it, after all the membership fees are paid.
So, since I want to work on a more one-to-one basis, I am going to follow their lead. This weekend some changes are happening at the Field Guide so that things are much more segmented. I am going to be much less accessible to the other groups and focus more on my own. This will allow me to do virtual mentoring with my group.
In addition to that, I am resuming active coaching. I haven’t done any private coaching in about a year because of taking care of Ann and everything since her death last August. But, I really enjoyed it and it is a great rush to work with someone to accelerate their journey and help them improve their business. Because, at the end of the day, all investors are in business and the successful ones know it, embrace it and use sound business practices and processes to their advantage.
Oh yeah, so why is the blog back?
Coaching by its nature is a non-public activity and the Field Guide for Investors is back to an invitation only site. So, this blog gives me an opportunity to share a little with new investors who are not ready for the Field Guide. They may be in need of coaching but they may not know it or there may be other factors preventing them from being a good candidate for coaching. Yes, that will be the subject of posts here from time to time.
Can you explain a bit more about the Field Guide for Investors? I have only seen one other reference to it before and that was a rather obtuse one that best.
Rather curious and it is not something that you can just go and browse.
Thanks in advance.
In case it matters, I am an experienced RE investor (20+ years; multiple states and countries; living in London). I really just want to hear a bit more so I can make more sense of the blog entry above.
Hi, John.
The Field Guide for Investors started as a printed newsletter way back in the early 1990’s. It eventually grew to an online site to deliver the newsletter material. From there it grew into a virtual networking site and knowledge repository. Prior to 2005 the site was accessed by ip address only and new members were brought in by invitation of existing members. While my company technically “owns” the rights to the site the real value exists in the community and as such the community controls most aspects of the site.
In 2006 and 2007 I was looking for ways of extending the very successful model we built with the Field Guide into something helpful to less experienced investors. It did not extend in that direction very well.
What is the Field Guide for Investors? It is different things to different people. For some, they use it to keep in touch with their financial planning clients. Others use it as a learning center and knowledge repository. Others use it as a network to find partners on deals. Still others use it to build and support a network of private money. Some members are very well known in business and entertainment circles while others are just ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
I use it for three purposes. The first is as a knowledge repository. The Field Guide has a full time research staff available for use by the members. This staff of 8 is responsible for any research project assigned to them. I use them often and the results of their research are available to all members.
The second way I use it is to support virtual mentoring of members there. There is a forum called the Bon Fire where members can ask a question on any subject and get actionable advice and suggestions. Yes, there are lots of forums on the web but the difference with the Bon Fire is everyone is a known quantity. There is no anonymity and the advice and suggestions given are constantly vetted by the other members. If there is a question as to the accuracy or completeness of a suggestion, the research staff stand ready to dig into the details. Therefore, when someone asks something like, “How do a get around a due on sale clause?” you won’t get the typical guru answer of throw it into a trust.
The last way I use the Field Guide, in combination with another site, is to support my coaching clients. I used to coach and as my wife’s health declined I was forced to reduce my time spent on many things, coaching was one of those. Until recently, I didn’t know how much I missed working with someone one-on-one as they grew from excited newbie to knowledgeable expert. I certainly don’t want to coach 100% of my available time, but I am ramping back up. Last week I picked up a very promising client after a bit of a search on my part. I think you will enjoy reading as Reese blogs about his journey deep into the investing world.
Hopefully, this has answered the questions you have. If not, let me know.
Tim,
A very complete answer. It sounds like the site/group is rather well thought out.
I was a member of TTI/Vanguard for a number of years. The annual fee was $40,000. The focus is on technology and some of the key contributors to most of the major events in computing over the last 30 or so years are members or part of the advisory board. The first person on the internet (node 1 when the first hardware was turned on) and the person credited with many of the things we now think of as windows or the Mac interface are two examples.
It was a richer environment when the group discussions took place as everyone knew everyone else. The meetings were held physically 5 times a year for 3 days in different locations in the US and Europe. There would be guest speakers and everyone in the audience had a microphone so the questions flowed. The presenter was given a 10 minute head start before the questions kicked in.
The idea that there are 8 researcher behind the group must really help sort out questions that appear to be incompletely answered.
Thanks for taking the time to explain.
Thanks for the explanations on this topic. Very interesting. I browsed around and there is some good info here. I agree on the time situation, I do a mentor class and have some serious time issues on some weeks, but it is one of the most rewarding things that I do in my business. I, like you like to see new investors actually become successful at investing. Good luck, getting back in the swing and sorry to hear about the circumstances regarding your return to this. I to dealt with a wife with a serious illness, she did not pass however, and it put a lot of things into perspective. We now enjoy life a lot more than ever before, too bad it took a serious illness to make us realize that.
Thanks, Steve. She fought it for 10 1/2 years and since we knew the ultimate outcome we made sure we never wasted a second. Sure, looking back there are some regrets, we could’ve fit this trip in, we could’ve done that. But, at the end of it all our love for each other is all that really mattered. Every night when I go to bed and every morning when I wake up I remember the last words I said to her seconds before her last breath and I can assure you there weren’t any would’ve, should’ve could’ve words to it.
Now, the page has turned. It has been almost nine months and it gets easier as time goes by.
Since she was the reason the newsletter started that lead to the site and my coaching and mentoring, it is only fitting I get back into it.
John Corey commented further about the Field Guide on another site, I felt it only fair I share my response there to his post.
How moronically presumptive!
Golly, John Corey, I find it a bit surprising I never ran across you before you came here, considering how long you have been investing.
Rolf, that is funny. Maybe he is disappointed no one he knows ever invited him.
Dan, you hate posting on other forums and often talk about it being a complete waste of effort and time. Why are you posting there?
The forum there is hard to navigate. I can’t figure out whose forum software they are using. Maybe they rolled their own and it is still a work in progress.
Oh how cute! They let the posters grade each other. I bet that never degrades into childishness. NOT!
As I mentioned to TrustGuy, when you copy a reply from one site to a second site the reply ends up being out of context. The responses following the TrustGuy’s paste sound like proof that quotes out of context can be misunderstood.
TrustGuy (Dan?) has posted a number of comments on the REI site. A number of them have been rather helpful replies to questions raised by others. He started at about the same time Tim was posting on the site. Rather than be a waste of time his comments have made a positive contribution. Some people like to give a little back or help out.
I started posting there after Tim was there for some time. I posted because it was obvious he had powned you and others there.
It has always facinated me that many self-proclaimed experts have a problem with Tim’s posts in forums. The funny thing is if anyone takes the time to research and verify what he posts they find he is correct far more often than not.
It has also facinated me that the ones most often targeting Tim and accusing him of a hidden agenda are in fact the ones with the agenda.
Peter, I had minor surgery recently, I can’t play golf, so I’m playing with them.
John Corey posted this on the other site and now the thread is closed. Therefore, I can’t reply there, so I will do it here.
John, go back and read the posts after the one I copied here. They weren’t offended. They were laughing at you! They were laughing at your comment about being surprised you had never heard of the field guide.
Now it appears John is going through the realestateinvestor.com site looking for questions asked of Tim he did not answer and making comments like, “Elvis has left the building”.
How childish!
I am glad to see this return!
John Corey, the Field Guide is incredible. I am out of the country at the moment but I will be back in a couple of weeks if you want to contact me directly with questions. I have been a member there for a while and I have never been disappointed in the answers I got to questions. The activity comes and goes but when someone asks a tough question or one covering new territory the SMEs and reasearch group really shine.