Back in the late 1960's, I owned and operated a small, local retail shop. Like so many small businesses, I managed to make a living and sort of survive from week to week.

By 1986, I owned and operated a number of businesses in publishing, banking, manufacturing, marketing, and distribution. I lived in a luxurious home with a swimming pool in the house (not a covered pool); I flew around in a Jet Commander airplane; and drove a Zimmer Golden Spirit automobile.

I'm not going to lie to you and tell you I made it all "overnight" after discovering some mystical secret of success. I didn't. I've worked long and hard to get to where I am today and I still do!

So how did I get there?

Well it all started when a young man walked into my retail shop with a list of merchandise for sale. I was absolutely amazed.

The merchandise on his list was the same as what I had on my shelves but the prices were only one fourth (1/4) of what I was paying for the same stuff. He explained that the merchandise was a closeout.

Needless to say, I bought a bunch of my best sellers from him. Each time I sold one of those items; instead of making the usual 33% to 50%, I made 75% to 90% profit. I was making twice the profits on the same amount of sales.

Of course not being a complete dummy, I called the young man to see if he could get me any more closeout merchandise.

The next day, he came by to see me with lists of merchandise ranging from Cashew Nuts to Bulldozers but nothing I could use in my business. That's when he told me he was a "finder" and if I would give him a list of what I wanted, he would be happy to fine it for a fee.

Since I had been a "finder" myself (and made some pretty healthy bucks doing it), I gave him a list of what I wanted and at the same time, I help him locate buyers for some of the other things he had available (we split the finder's fees.)

Although I had been a "finder" for years, I was absolutely amazed at the variety and volume of deals this young man had available. Everything from Sundry Goods to Machinery and Equipment and a list of Financing Sources (for every kind of financing imaginable) that knocked my socks off.

Every time I asked him where he got all this "good stuff," he would only smile and say, "I've got my sources."

We worked together for almost a year - him providing the leads and sources - me buying merchandise for my retail shop at super discounted prices and "finding" buyers and sellers for the stuff he had available and wanted. (We both made a bundle of money.)

Then he dropped a bombshell of me. Although I knew he was a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army, I wasn't really prepared for it when he told me he had just received his orders to go to Vietnam. But before he left he gave me a bunch of copies of the source he had kept secret throughout our association.

It was a newsletter.

When I first saw it I was not impressed. It was just three or four sheets of paper with typewritten lists of business opportunities divided under various headings - both "s" and "Wanteds" but it sure did product exceptional results.

There were companies offering financing - business and personal - of every kind you could imagine and people and businesses seeking financing; from "loans" to "venture capital" wanted.

There were businesses (of every kind) for sale and a list of people wanting to buy specific kinds of businesses.

There were sales organizations and independent sales people looking for products to sell and companies look for sales people and distributors.

There were closeouts, liquidations, and odd lots of all kinds of goods and merchandise available and people looking for specific closeout merchandise. (I even found the listing placed by the Lieutenant for the products I wanted.)

There were also miscellaneous columns both "available" and "wanted" that listed almost anything and everything you could imagine for and from the business community.

And on the back page of each issue was a "Free Advertising" form so the subscribers could send in their own "available" or "Wanted" listings. The list of those listings were then published "FREE" in the next issue.

Each and every issue was a hot, fresh list of opportunities. When new, exciting opportunities just waiting to be turned into cold, hard cash and many offered "Finder's Fee's right in their listings.

I was in hog-heaven. I ordered my own personal subscription that day and began placing my own listings.

My ads ran for "free" and the money I made from the leads those listings generated were phenomenal. I became a "real" millionaire.

Of course, when you make a bunch of money, people start asking, "How did you do it?" So in my spare time I began writing articles and report about some of the things I had done to make money. Not textbook stuff. Just my own personal experiences.

In no time at all, I was publishing my own little "how to" newsletter and making another fortune doing it because business people really liked reading my experiences and using that information to make money themselves.

But since I was still making money from the leads and contacts in the business opportunities newsletter, I really wanted a newsletter like it.

As a matter of fact, I even told the published that I wanted a newsletter like his but I didn't want to be just another copycat. There were already a variety of copycats on the market (still are). I wanted to own the "real thing."

In 1975, I got my wish. The publisher decided to retire and called to ask if I was still interested. Boy, I was thrilled. I was on a plane to see him the next day. On January 1, 1976, I officially became the editor and publisher.

After I bought it, I cleaned up its physical appearance by using modern typesetting equipment but I didn't change the content one little but; it is still what every real entrepreneur dreams of.

And I kept the "Free Advertising" for the subscribers, too. It gives every subscriber a chance to offer what they have available, or request what they want at NO COST because that's what makes us a "reader's publication".

Now the "WorldWide Business Exchange" is America's Leading Business Opportunities Newsletter.

Last modified on Monday, January 12, 1998