In the Land of Millionaires the Wannabe is King

Just back from the UK Entrepreneurs' Convention at London Heathrow, organised by serial entrepreneur Steve Foley, where we mixed and mingled with the stars of the show in the intervals and during the evening, and even over breakfast.

One thing soon becomes very clear at these events: most of the stars are nothing of the sort, and most very successful people are just people who've been very successful.

(Actually, that's not quite true and doesn't do them justice. There is a characteristic that all the most successful people share, and which I don't think has ever been isolated before - but I'm not about to reveal it here!

In fact, I'm going to study the subject, test the hypothesis, and then write and publish a book on it...)

But what these people are not is 'starry'.

Anyway, there we were, chatting happily with these millionaires, multi millionaires and soon-to-be millionares, and one other characteristic revealed itself as being applicable to most of them, if not all.

Remember, we've met and made friends with most of them previously, so we're relaxed and comfortable chatting with them - but they're mostly quite happy to spend a bit of time with anyone who'll listen, and even to accept advice and opinions on their presentations and even their business ideas.

But what most of them seem to share is a desire to spread the word, to help those who want to follow their example, to advise people on their own ideas and to see more and more people gain the financial independence that they've attained.

In short, for them, the wannabe really is king.

That's because they understand what so many less wealthy people don't seem to understand - that there's plenty of wealth to go round. Your becoming wealthier won't make them less wealthy and whatever you achieve they can continue to make as much money as ever. In fact, they can still make as much as they want.

Plus, just helping other people can be a tremendous reward in itself.

So we were really pleased to see our friend Paul Gunter of http://www.domainprofitguide.com/ do so well with his presentation, just as we were pleased to meet Ron Holland, David Anderson and fellow copywriter Michael Silk for the first time. Long chats in the bar with Gary Vurnum, DJ Ray and other delegates were equally fascinating. A few wise words from Andy Shaw and Greg Ballard over coffee were invaluable.

But perhaps the best thing about events like the UK Entrpreneurs' Convention is to be surrounded by positive people for eighteen hours a day for three days. That's not positive in the 'Rah-rah, fake optimism, everyone say "Yeah!"' kind of way, but in the quieter 'can-do' or, even better, the 'am doing' sense.

Everyone is there to learn and to share the secrets of success, to share ideas and maybe to find new business partners and it's a gently intoxicating mix, which I'll be writing more about in the coming days. Meanwhile, you can read a speaker's eye view on the event on Paul Gunter's blog.

Roy Everitt, Writing For Results

PS It's easy to forget sometimes that business is done between people not corporations. The fact that we can meet and get to know some great people with whom we might share a business plan and make a lot of money gives us a head start on those who stay away and try to make it alone. Plus, it's great fun.

So the next time you get a chance to network at any level, but especially at this level, take it!