Here is a paid advertisement for two Ecuador properties for sale in Quito and Otavalo.

Hacienda Bougainvillea is an expansive estate in world-famous Otavalo, Ecuador.

This 8-bedroom, 7-bath property is an excellent investment as a bed and breakfast, weekend get-a-way for family gatherings and special events, or as a full-time executive home.

Located one hour north of the new Marsical Sucre International Airport in Quito, Hacienda Bougainvillea is a 5-minute drive from South America’s world-renowned Otavalo Market, and is within 20 minutes of Cotacachi. The property is surrounded by the tranquil Rio Blanco River and overlooks Mount Imbabura, one of Ecuador’s most spectacular sights.

Complete with a horse barn and stables, immaculate gardens and administrator and service quarters, Hacienda Bougainvillea features a large restaurant-style kitchen fully equipped for serving dozens of guests.

List price for this property is $875,000.

A greater collection of Hacienda Bougainvillea photos can be viewed at www.proecuadormarketing.com

Serious inquiries about this property may be directed to steve@proecuadormarketing.com

*******

Also for sale is this exquisite 2-BR, 2-BA condominium located in one of Quito’s most desireable areas.

Private parking and 24-hour security are added benefits to this, 1,750 square-foot listing. Enjoy the view overlooking the mountains, or take advantage of all there is to offer in the fully custom kitchen complete with restaurant style gas range, refrigerator and microwave.

Listed at $180,00, this condo unit is within minutes of some of Quito’s nicest conveniences and attractions.

Additional photos may be viewed at www.proecuadormarketing.com and inquiries may be sent to steve@proecuadormarketing.com

**********

We DO NOT investigate properties when they are advertised so be sure to complete your due diligence and always use an independent Ecuador attorney who represents you (not the seller) when you buy real estate in Ecuador. Also we want to be sure that you check the claims of the developer/seller and make sure that you are satisfied. We also recommend that you rent before you buy and become familiar with Ecuador.

Learn how to write to sell.

Writers & Publishers Course

Profits can be kindled with this question… which would you rather have… 12% of $10 or 70% of $3?

The math to this question brings an obvious answer and creates a business opportunity.

Merri and I have loved our Kindles since they day they became available. Now you’ll see why we love them even more and how that passion can create profit and opportunity for you!

Plus you don’t even have to own a Kindle to take advantage of these profits and opportunities!

Growing numbers of “indies” (short for independent) writers are using Kindle to sell their publications.

There is a great story about a 26 year old who is cutting out BIG publishers by publishing direct to the  Kindle.

She is writing vampire stories and is one of the top selling “indie” writers on the Kindle store.

This means she does not have a publishing deal. This allows her to keep 70% of her book sales.  According to one article I read she is selling up to 100,000 electronic books a month.

That is impressive when you consider that  it only takes a few tens of thousands of book sales at launch to get on the New York Times bestselling list.

The heck with lists! How about just writing and publishing?  Her formula is to lower her sales price to between $.99 to $3.00.  This compares to the typically $9.99 to $12.99 for other books on Kindle.

The lower price increases volume…. plus this cuts out a publisher, distributor and book store who normally absorb up to 88% of the income created by a book.

There are no printing costs, no shelf space, no inventory, no postal delivery.  Most of the publishing expenses are eliminated.

The writer keeps 70%.

Amazon keeps 30%.

A typical writer earning 12% of the book sales makes about $1.20 per $9.99 book sale.  A Kindle writer makes $2.10 on a $3 sale.

Working as a group home worker she wrote novels in her spare time.

In 2010, she began self-publishing them as e-books.  Within a year she sold over a a million copies and earned two million dollars.

This captured the attention of St. Martin’s Press and she received a conventional publishing contract for four books, at a price of two million dollars.

Previously one of the best selling Kindle writers was J.A. Konrath, but it was assumed he was popular because he previously had a publishing deal and so already had notoriety. That was not the case with this girl (her name is Amanda Hocking), who published stories on her blog before turning to Kindle. In fact, out of the top 25 best-selling indie Kindle writers, only 6 were previously affiliated with a publishing house.

Imagine this… 26 year Amanda Hocking… a 100,000 sales at $2 average brings in $200,000 a month and her earnings are $140,000 a month.

That is a great income.

Hocking did all this from the small town of Austin, Minnesota. 2010 population 24,017 people.

Not every writer will do that well.  Most of us don’t need to!

This is a new exciting era for writers.  This is exciting news for those of us living in small towns.  This is not so good for the big city publishers and big bookstores who do not adapt.

However like small bookstores, small publishers have great opportunity as well.

Smart… publishers who use this technology gain the following benefits.

* Printing, shipping and disposal (of unsold books) costs eliminated.

* Shelf space unlimited and almost free with no capital costs.

* There is increased sales volume. Kindle owners buy more books than print readers and will spend weekly to get new chapters rather than entire books.

There are three keys to success in this type of writing and publishing.  We have repeatedly stressed them at our websites and in our business courses.  Focus…. focus…. focus.

Buyers of books fall into niches.

Those who succeed are those who focus on a niche and create trust with those readers.

Take Merri’s and my publishing business as an example.   Our readers know that the site content is about leading edge ideas related to fighting inflation, global investing, having micro businesses and being free to live anywhere.

These websites create a community of like minded souls around this niche.

Once a writer has become branded and has a list of readers,  it is easy to expand by adding authors and related topics, and editing the books of other authors, knowing that they can help them sell their books.

Some amazing websites and businesses will be built and Kindle will be the search engine… the jumping off point is finding the original readers who will become the core of your list!

I plan to also take advantage of Kindle publishing and have a great head start (our list) want to share what I learn in the process with you.

Technology especially favors small publishers today. Portable computers, the internet, wireless access, on demand printing smart phones and electronic readers all create enormous new potential for small publishers.

Let me share an example created by the nuclear events created by the Tsunami in Japan.  Merri and I had unfortunately been near Chernobyl when it melted down. We suffered from radiation exposure and have been in the past two decades learning how to cure ourselves.  We know numerous ways to help readers protect against excessive radiation.

The day of the nuclear event I spent the entire day writing and by the second day of Japan’s disaster had already published the report  “7 Steps to Protect Against Radiation Poisoning“.   My publication was the first to help in the this way and was available on Kindle just one day after the nuclear disaster. No big publisher could close to even thinking up a publication… much less publishing a valid report that fast.

This is why I am making one last special offer for our self publishing course.  When I announced this opportunity a large publisher wanted to put this course online. That deal  was concluded and they felt the existing price was too low so ask me to raise the course fee from $299 to $499.

I have not yet made that increase but shortly plan for the price to rise to $499.

You can save $597 and $200 extra… with this special offer.

Self Fulfilled Special $299

If you take advantage of this offer there is one more benefit… you’ll also receive Self Publishing 202… How to Publish on Kindle.

As shown above I have already started learning the ropes on how to publish via Amazon.com and Kindle.   I’ll have been adding additions to our self publishing course… Self “Publishing 202… Tidbits on Kindle.”

Those who take advantage of the special offer below will receive this new addition at no extra charge.

See below a special offer that save $597 normally… $200 extra now through the end of this week and get the Kindle course all for $299.

Gary

Embrace the Predictions of Disaster Zone.

Do less… Gain more as global trouble unfolds.

Online Writers and Publishers Course  “Self Fulfilled – How to be a Self Publisher”

Self Fulfilled Special $299

The last few years have seen the evaporation of many dreams. The global recession… rising gas prices…  massive home foreclosures… a weakened, falling US dollar and rising unemployment wiped out many hopes, ambitions and plans.

Who knows what could come next.   A double dip recessions, stagflation… massive job layoffs… more federal, state, county and city debt and government burdens on our lives. Demolished Medicare and health benefits. Rampant inflation.

Despite these disasters and the risk of more, one exclusive group of small businesses have prospered. They will continue to do so, regardless of the unexpected, abroad or at home.

In fact these businesses will do even better… gain higher respect and earn more profit as they help ease disasters… because these business are small publishers who can help their readers deal with global and local problems as they unfold.

Small self publishers are in a win – win situation for many reasons.

The massive expansion of information is overwhelming the world. There is so much new data coming in that the public cannot keep pace.   This forces us all  to be more discriminating… which is the worst thing that can happen to big publishers who rely on broadband where its best to send one message to huge groups.

The huge inflow of new knowledge favors broadband which works best sending many different messages to much smaller groups.

Self publishers have also gained an advantage as most of the big booksellers are going broke or in a slump. Barnes & Noble has had enormous challenges. 2010 Books-A-Million comparable store sales dropped nearly 5 percent and net income fell 35 percent. Borders has filed for bankruptcy and shut down along with 798 B. Dalton mall outlet bookstores and over 180 of the Waldenbook units. They are gone.  This vacuum creates a special opportunity for small self publishers.

This is why you should see three case studies below to help you be free, secure and fulfilled as a Self Publisher.

After these stories see how to get a second course worth $299 plus three bonuses when you enroll in our course “Self -Fulfilled – How to be a Self Publisher” on how to develop your own specific publishing business that can bring you  everlasting wealth.

Save $597 total. Self Fulfilled Special $299

Here are the three stories that show how the rise of the small self publisher began.   This knowledge can bring you secure income for the rest of your life. More importantly these stories can help you be happy and fulfilled and safe in this ever changing world.   With these case studies you help make the world a better place… in a small way perhaps… but better as you gain everlasting wealth.

Lets share how to create a fortune  in a rewarding career.

The first of these three stories contains the seeds of prosperity, richness, freedom and satisfaction for you.

The story begins with an excerpt from the December 16, 2010 Economist Article entitled “Rise of the image men” begins: (bolds are mine) that says:  As they prepared to face their second big strike in four years, America’s coal-mining bosses knew they had to do something about the newspapers. It was 1906—a time of rising resentment against robber-baron capitalism and the heyday of muckraking “yellow journalism”. During the previous strike the trade unions had fostered good relations with newspapermen and won themselves a sympathetic press. To help put their side of the story, the mining bosses turned to a former journalist, Ivy Lee.   Lee was to pioneer new methods—and, in the process, create a new industry.

Lee observed that the rise of national newspaper chains and syndicated journalism in America since the 1880s, combined with the extension of the franchise, had profoundly changed society. Now, for the first time, there was something that could accurately be called “public opinion”, a shared consciousness and conversation across the country—and it was to be feared. Lee noted how the emerging mass media were acting as the conduit for the anti-capitalist message of Progressivism, the liberalising reform movement that peaked in America in the early 20th century. He realized not only that it was essential for businesses to counter this message, but that the same conduit could be used to spread pro-business sentiment.

His idea, blindingly obvious now but a novelty then, was to send newsdesks a stream of statements putting the mining bosses’ case and rebutting allegations against them.

The seeds in this story, are rich with potential for your prosperity and are so simple. Lee observed that the rise of national newspaper chains and syndicated journalism in America since the 1880s, combined with the extension of the franchise, had profoundly changed society. Now, for the first time, there was something that could accurately be called “public opinion”, a shared consciousness and conversation across the country—and it was to be feared.  This is obvious now but was a novelty then.

The real seed is that a coincidence of many technologies changed the world (in the form of the newspaper)… at the turn of the 20th century. One technology was the ability to make newsprint… the paper of newspapers.  Paper was two thousand years old, but cheap newsprint, paper from wood pulp, did not come along until 1838 when Charles Fenerty of Halifax made the first newsprint while helping a local paper mill maintain an adequate supply of rags to make paper.  He succeeded in making paper from the wood pulp itself.

Plus technologies in transportation and communication then allowed… everyone, reporters to paperboys, to create public opinion through the power of the word.

This leads us to the second story that tells of another global transformation from broadcast to broad band… from large publishing to Self Publishing and how you can have so many good things you desire… freedom… material wealth…adventure… security… fulfillment… friendships…. status and fun as a Self Publisher.

Perhaps what Merri and I are most proud of this second story because it tells the tale of a student who used our publishing course “Self Fulfilled How to be a Self Publisher” to build a career.

David Cross was a meditation teacher in Edinburgh Scotland who taught our son Jake the art of meditating when Jake was at university there.   We meet David there and after talking he ordered our “Self Fulfilled – How to be a Self Publisher” course then in print… (now its online) and published a report.   One reader of the report had a new internet server business and was so impressed that he hired David to work for him in Sweden.   In the process of rising to become the managing director of that firm… David started our website (and is still our webmaster as well as business partner now).  During one business meeting in London, David met our daughter Cinda. ‘Love at First Sight.”

David Cross and Cinda Scott-Cross DVM.

David also met executives of International Living and went on to become Chief internet consultant for Agora Inc. one of the largest online marketing companies in the world.

David has since built an unparalleled, hands-on marketing experience that spans 25 years in 22 countries for companies and charities large and small. He’s guided many businesses and individuals to success in their business and helped them achieve their marketing goals, both online and offline.

As Senior Internet Consultant to Agora Inc. in Baltimore, MD, David worked closely with Agora’s publishers and marketers and over an 8-year period helped to propel Agora’s online revenues to over $300 Million in 2009.

Myles Norin, the CEO of Agoras wrote: ”I have found David’s knowledge and experience unmatched in the industry. Without David’s expertise and guidance for the past 7 years, we would not be nearly as successful as we are.”

David hails from England and now lives on a small farm close to Mount Hood in Oregon with our daughter, a veterinarian, their five children and a menagerie of animals. When not marketing or brainstorming you’ll find David following a dream of self-sufficiency for food, power and water within 10 years, tending the land and caring for the farm and animals. Not surprisingly, David is an engaging and knowledgeable speaker with many amusing anecdotes from his work and travels over the years.

Such is the power that Self Publishing brings.

The third story is of my wife Merri and me.

Merri became involved in self publishing over 40 years ago… first helping a veterinarian publish a book on a very specific market… animal acupuncture. Then she showed a needle point artist how to sell more books to an even more specific audience… “needle point enthusiasts”  about her needle point work to an audience larger than the population of the city she lived in.  This led Merri to eventually become Executive Editor of an award winning magazine in Florida.

My story allowed me to work and live from Hong Kong to London to Europe to Eastern Europe, then the Caribbean and then Ecuador… making millions in the process of following my adventures and having fun… while helping a large readership adapt to a rapidly changing world.

Self Publishing has created exactly the lifestyle I desire with a farm in North Carolina, orange groves and home in Florida… hotel and condos in Ecuador working at what I love and enjoy.

Hard at work in Florida during the winter.

Working during the summer on our North Carolina farm.

A shot from my work station  in Ecuador overlooking the Pacific.

Merri’s and my story also reflects how Self Publishing can enhance relationship.  Merri and I have not spent a night apart since we began publishing together over 30 years go.

Merri and I heading up to a seminar hall at our Blue Ridge farm to speak with a group about Self Publishing.

Self Publishing has entered a new era as a new business art form and we want to share with you how to start your own  self publishing business now.

Learn how to develop your publishing skills to turn your passion into profit!  If you can’t write… publish instead!

Whatever your passion, you can immerse yourself in it AND even create a six-figure income. This could be your direct ticket to the kind of fulfillment you’ve always wanted in life. Whether you want to travel the world or live as a recluse, work 12 hours a day or not work at all, learn more about golf or feeding the hungry… it can be yours if you’re willing to learn.

Self Fulfilled: How to be a Self Publisher will teach you our proprietary step-by-step plan for getting your publishing business going… full or part-time… right away.

How you can start with a very small amount of money and eventually work only four hours a day (if you are operating full-time).

11 steps to creating the perfect product, including how to review ideas, test focus, and aim at markets.

How to gain 1,000% returns on some of your publications.

How to choose a format—book, newsletter, list, audio or video—that suits you and your audience.

Frequently committed marketing mistakes and how to avoid them (plus, you’ll get samples of winning marketing pieces to study).

Personally, I like to write. And through publishing and writing, I have become wealthy beyond my dreams!

My wife, Merri, and I became multi-millionaires within 10 years of starting our self-publishing business. Today, we have more cars than we can drive, five homes and numerous cabins in North Carolina and Ecuador.  We have a beautiful lake front home on 16 acres (with an orange grove to boot).  We have no mortgages, not a penny of debt, and plenty of money in the bank.

But more important than the money, I enjoy the bliss of each and every day, doing what I love and hoping I can do it forever.

And why wouldn’t I? I often start my work days at 5:00 a.m. and wrap up by 9:00 a.m. That leaves the rest of the day to do mostly as I feel. If the kids are home, we’ll play. Other days, I just putter. Some days I take out a canvas and paint or concentrate on playing my flute. Other days, I just sit in the sun and read.

But even though my day’s work is often finished by the time many people are just getting started, I will still be thousands of dollars richer by the end of the day!

Of course I don’t always work just four hours a day. Some days I stay at the keyboard seven, eight, even 12 hours. But the thing is I love every minute of it, because I’m involved in projects that excite me!

Not only am I learning, writing, and publishing about things that I love, but I’m also making myself and the world a better place in the process. This life is as perfect as any I could ask for.

It Doesn’t Take Long to Start Making Serious Money

When I started my publishing business, I made a 380% return on my initial investment within a month. And it just got better from there.

Of course, no business is without its pitfalls. In fact, I’ve identified 17 pitfalls of publishing and they are covered in the course. It took me more than a decade of struggle to learn how to avoid them all, but I did it.

You see, back in 1974, I had what I thought was a good business, but to be honest, I could never get ahead. I was almost penniless, in debt and living from hand to mouth. Then I discovered the secrets to avoiding the pitfalls. Since then, our publishing business has brought in millions.

Now, Merri and I have packed over 40 years of global publishing and business experience into our course on how to have Self Publishing business.

Before I tell you how this program can help you create your ideal lifestyle, I want to make an important point. I’m not promising that this program will make you rich overnight or that you’ll wake up tomorrow with a more satisfying life. If you’re looking for a way to get rich while you sleep, you should stop reading right now.

But if you’re willing to invest a reasonable amount of time and effort into learning and applying this simple system, it will put you squarely on the road to becoming a wealthy and fulfilled publishing entrepreneur.

Through this in-depth program, I will share, teach, and guide you on everything you need to find a fulfilling path and start making good money right away.

I’ve structured the program to make it as easy as possible for you to implement. You’ll know precisely what to do from the very first day till the day you have a thriving publishing business.

You can start part-time with any dream, passion, and budget. Once you’ve created a product, you’ll enjoy the “multiple effect” of producing profits over and over again.

So the question is… What do you love to do?

What’s Your Passion:  Helping People Who Are in Pain?

Thirty years ago, a client of Merri’s developed a series of pamphlets explaining various chiropractic disorders in very simple terms.  For example: “What Is Whip Lash?”

The pamphlets contained solid information, but were simple 5″ x 7″ brochures with drawings and explanations. He sold them with a rack to chiropractors, who put them in their offices for patients to read.  These little self-published items have sold year in and year out for three decades.

There are thousands of ideas of this sort that can lead to big business. It’s just a matter of figuring out and then acting on your passion.

Although I can work when I please and go where I wish, for me the most important reason for being a publisher is the satisfaction it brings. I love the projects I take on, so work doesn’t feel like, well… work.

I’m passionate about investing, so I publish about that. But what matters is what do you love?

If you love golf, then you can publish things about golf.  Love travel, fishing, dogs, dolls, or art?  Publish about those things.

Are you concerned about crime, war, poverty or environmental issues? You can publish information products that help wipe them out.

Would you like to help the world be a more spiritual place? Publish a newsletter, write a book (or hire someone to write it for you), record a tape… do something that enlightens people.

Whatever your passion, you can immerse yourself in it and make a fortune by publishing CDs, lists, books, or any format you choose.

How to Build a Million-Dollar Business in Seven Years

The first time I exposed others to the secrets in Self Publishing: Your Complete Business Plan for Creating a Life Without Borders, it was in a weekend seminar. People from all walks of life attended—chiropractors, businessmen, investors, doctors, realtors, inventors, airline pilots, engineers, and housewives.

Merri and I were so overwhelmed by the response to the seminar, we decided to make it available to a larger audience.

Unlike programs that are put together by “experts” who have never actually done what their program promotes, this program is not theoretical. It describes step-by-step how Merri and I built a million-dollar international business in just seven years.

Another thing that is unique about us is that Merri and I decided to do the whole business by ourselves. Though we have tens of thousands of buyers and have made millions, we still work at home and do not employ a single person. You’ll be able to do the same—if you wish—because I’ve included everything we did—explained in vivid detail—in the program.

The program is also full of practical publishing ideas and case studies…

For example, you’ll learn about a pilot who published a book on the best airport cafés (suddenly all his flying became tax-deductible!)… how one couple who loved an island wrote a guide on the place and made enough money to buy a home on the beach there… and how another couple made millions with a simple legal idea.

What’s Your Passion: Travel and Tourism?

A client of ours amassed a fortune by starting travel guides for cities. He started with Sarasota, Florida, publishing a simple booklet with attractions, restaurants, etc. and plenty of advertising. Then he moved onto Naples, and on and on,until the whole state of Florida was done.

He didn’t have to put much work into the booklets as he could carry over plenty of generic information from booklet to booklet. But there were plenty of advertisers and plenty of people who wanted to obtain these booklets.

Finally, he franchised the whole operation.

* How to set up a computerized fulfillment center even if you’re computer illiterate.

* How to turn advertising dollars into a fortune by creating winning ads, direct mail pieces, and getting thousands of dollars in free publicity.

* Which printers to avoid and how to cut your printing bill in half by asking for quotes differently.

* How to use your computer and the internet to save hundreds of thousands of dollars in printing and postage.

* How to control inventory, check ad results, and keep overhead down.

* 11 financial hazards to avoid and tricks to stay profitable without a daily accountant.

* My secret pricing strategies that will help you sell more units of your product.

* Plus much, much more that I don’t have space for here!

Why This Unique System Is Guaranteed to Put You on the Road to Publishing Success

In Self Fulfilled – How to be a Self Publisher Merri and I give away every publishing secret we know and expect those who use this powerful program to reap a fortune and change their whole life for the better.

Why we’ll add the Self Published Kindle addition free.

If you’re wondering what a program like this can do for you, just take a look at how much my seminar on publishing helped the participants. Here’s what some of the folks had to say about what they learned:

“The course fulfilled all my expectations providing all the details necessary to start a publishing business from creating the idea, through marketing including the systems necessary to implement our ideas.” — B. C., Chiropractor  California

“Gary, your system is jam packed with vital information. My head is spinning. Thank goodness this is all backed up by your manual. This is a true and cherished gift. Your tips are a blessing! Thank you once again. The value far exceeds the price.”  — B. K., Investor Pennsylvania

“The course was excellent covering all the facets of publishing. The philosophy of keeping small with no employees alone made the course invaluable. Gary and Merri, you were excellent!” — S. K., Businessman
Georgia

“Your program gave me insight on what to do with widening my client base.”
– M.E., Real Estate Broker Florida

“We found the course interesting and informative. We were inspired to start work on a booklet. When we came down, we had no idea what to publish.”
– Employed couple from New York

“Your publishing course is outstanding! Just two hours of study on Sunday alone were worth more than the course price.”
– A publisher from California

“The course helped me in three ways. #1: To realize that it is not only OK but preferable to start small. #2: A small point but with big implications was Merri’s description of how she is going to make Gary an expert in the sport’s field. #3: I feel I have a workable program to have a newsletter — my own passion!”  – T. B., Professional Washington

These are just a few of the many comments I’ve received from people I’ve personally trained at my seminars to turn their passions into profits through publishing.

What’s Your Passion:  Expand Your Current Business?

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel with your publishing business. You can use publishing to expand your current business. That’s what I did — and it’s what the owners of a consulting firm in California did, too.

These business owners decided to write and publish books to establish credibility and attract new customers — and it worked like a charm.

Over the past 10 years, they have written two books, both aimed at establishing their company as the go-to source for customer service training. They credit the books with bringing in more than $1 million in new business!

Writing and books have turned into such a bonanza that they’ve recently added a new service to their business — coaching small business owners on the ins and outs of book publishing.

This brand-new home study version of the program is designed only for people who are serious about making a six- or seven-figure income, controlling their own destiny, or otherwise improving the quality of their life by publishing information products. It is not for idle curiosity.

Here’s How to Start Living a More Fulfilled Life As a Self-Publisher

With this hot-off-the-presses home study version of my self-publishing program, you get all the same information as people who attended that first seminar—but at a fraction of the cost.

They paid $2,000 to gain access to this information, but you can get the entire Self Fulfilled – How to be a Self Publisher for only $499!

That’s a real bargain considering that you will save thousands on printing and advertising alone. And you couldn’t duplicate the computer and internet knowledge you’ll gain for $20,000. For starters, you’ll learn:

* How to use the internet to publish

* How to define and target your internet market, and start getting visits

* How to develop your website

* The top 10 internet tips to use and the top 10 traps to avoid

I can tell you this: at $499, this program may very well be the best bargain and best investment you’ll ever make.

To this end, I have created a special offer… our course on how to be a self publisher, our course on how to use the internet and a website in your business  and three bonuses for you.

Bonus #1: Get the 50 minute Video Workshop worth $99 “How to Start Your Own Internet Business” presented by our webmaster David Cross,

This video is brand new and the first reader to read it wrote:  Muchas Gracias Gary, Just watched David’s video. It Was SUPER!  Thanks Again. Bill

Bonus #2: Get FREE, the $299 online course “The Tangled Webs We Weave – How to Have an Internet Business”.  To read more  about this course click here.

Bonus #3: Our Super Thinking Workshop in an MP3 file so you can listen on your computer, burn a disk or listen on you Ipod or in your car. This workshop was conducted and recorded last February 2011 and is a $199 value.

Bonus #4: A special report only available to those who enroll in “Self Fulfilled” entitled  “Three Secrets for Creating Publishing Ideas”.

Save $597 total.Self Fulfilled Special $299 + PLUS $200 more.

GUARANTEED. We’ll Accept All the Risk!

We completely guarantee the program.

Order Self Publishing: Your Complete Business Plan for becoming a self publisher and take a full 30 days to put it through its paces. That way you can follow my simple process and start seeing the results for yourself.

If you’re not completely convinced that this information is so powerful it will make you a six- or seven-figure self-publisher—all you have to do is let us know and  you’ll receive a complete refund of every penny of your investment.

Fair enough?

Despite predictions of disaster, the Great American Dream Still Exists!

Our publishing business has brought us more wealth, satisfaction, fun and friendship than we ever imagined possible. And now we want to share our knowledge and secrets with anyone who has a desire to experience this way of life.

Whether you are an engineer, doctor, housewife, business owner, or retiree… self-publishing offers a way to make a six- or seven-figure income by turning your passion into profit.

Don’t miss this special opportunity. Order Self Fulfilled How to be a Self Publisher today if you want to cash in on the satisfying, profitable and exciting lifestyle that publishing can bring despite and in fact because of trouble in the world.

Sincerely,

Gary Scott

Specific-Publisher and Author

Order Today!

Save $597 total. Self Fulfilled Special $299 Plus save $200 more until the price is increased to $499.

See “Self-published novelist Amanda Hocking makes millions from Kindle sales” at www.kindleboards.com

Read Business Insider 26-Year-Old Is Making Millions Cutting Out Traditional Publishers With Amazon Kindle

 

 

See three Ecuador hotel solutions for arrivals at the New Quito Airport.

Tomorrow is the last day to order fresh Ecuador Valentine roses.

Order Ecuador Valentine Roses here.

Around February 20, 2013… the new Quito airport goes into operation.   All Quito flights will automatically shift there.

Numerous locals have sent me a warning… traffic into Quito will be a mess so leave yourself a lot of time getting in, from and back out to the airport.

Ecuador Living has created three solutions for getting to and from the new Quito Airport.

La Marmite

New Quito Airport Solution #1: Stay within 10 minutes of the airport at La Marmite Hotel & Restaurant.   Chef Pierre Mordasini has created a hotel, rental and housing community about 20 miles from Quito  (45 minute drive) and eight minutes from the new airport.

The property is in a Swiss chalet style on over 10 acres of grounds so it is quiet and peaceful.  The chef offers French/Swiss food in his kitchen.

Make reservations at Familia Mordasini marmite@uio.satnet.net

See below how to get a discount at La Marmite as an Ecuador Living Club member.

New Quito  Airport Solution #2:  Avoid Quito at Inn Land of the Sun in Cotacachi.  The new airport is north of Quito and much closer to Cotacachi… so much so that with the traffic difference… the Inn is almost as close in time as Quito hotels.   Meet and greet at the airport by a Cotacachi driver, low cost ($45).  This is an alternative to avoid Quito.  Overnight in Cotacahi and if you have a day enjoy the Crafts Trail:  leather village of Cotacachi,  the Otavalo markets, the weavings of Peguche.

Sunrise at Inn Land of the Sun.

Inn Land of the Sun (formerly Meson de las Flores) is the center of Cotacachi.

The hotel was donated to Land of the Sun Foundation by Gary & Merri Scott, Joe Cox to help promote the economy of Cotacachi and Ecuador and the new name reflects this connection.

All profits from the hotel are used to expand the economy in Ecuador or to provide scholarships to youth in Ecuador.

Inn Land of the Sun courtyard.

There are many pleasures  at Inn Land of the Sun in Cotacachi.

The colonial architecture charms and welcomes you.

Other Inn Land of the Sun amenities include:

• Free broadband internet.
• Free calls to the USA, Canada and Europe.
• Free served full breakfast.

Plus a warm, welcoming, caring staff who really do want to look after you.

Room rates at Inn Land of the Sun in Cotacachi begin at only $59 (for two) a night (including a wonderful breakfast) plus 22% service and tax.

Enjoy the beauty of Cotacachi. Here is the Cotacachi Cathedral next door to the hotel

Inn Land of the Sun by night.

By day.

Inn Land of the Sun is Cotacachi’s oldest hotel located in a 180 year old colonial building with open air court yard just off Cotacachi’s main plaza and next to Cotacachi’s largest Cathedral. Here is the hotel.

Here are some snapshots of the Inn Land of the Sun.

The entrance of the hotel in Cotacachi is 56 steps to a magnificent cathedral and park.

Here’s the park on a misty morn.

The village is quiet and peaceful and once inside Inn Land of the Sun you feel the flavor of its colonial past….and it is the Leather Village on the Crafts Trail.

Here is one of the renovated rooms.

Rooms run between $39.99 (single) and $79 a night plus 22% service and tax. This price includes a full served breakfast.

Here is…

a view from Inn Land of the Sun’s…

large suite that features…

king size canopy bed, plus…

sitting room and…

bath and shower, plus…

all hardwood closets and trim and…

balcony dining with a view.

Meet expats at the Inn. Each Friday and Saturday night there is a Cotacachi expat dinner. Expats meet in the fireplace room, enjoy a meal and talk about Ecuador news.

The menu for Friday February 8, 2013,  will Filet Mingon with Puffed Potatoes

Including a glass of white or red wine $5.00 including service and tax.

Or Pizza (vegetarian, beef, chicken or pepperoni) plus desert. $5.00 including service and tax.

The menus for Saturday February 9, 2013 is Pasta with Chicken and Albhaca Sauce

Including a glass of white or red wine.  $5.00 including service and tax.

Or Pizza (vegetarian, beef, chicken or pepperoni) plus desert. $5.00 including service and tax.

Beer $1.50 – Sparkling Mineral Water  $1.00 – Popcorn FREE

Telephone.  (593) 06-2916-009 – Telephone from US 336 – 792 – 4767 – Address: García Moreno 13-67 y sucre.

New Quito airport solution #3: Receive a discount in Quito at Stubel Suites & Café.

If you need to go into Quito, the Quito Stubel Suites & Cafe is located in La Florestra, one of Merri’s and my favorite parts of Quito. This is an excellent residential area filled with charming cafes and  restaurants.  The cafe has a really incredible view.

When we lived in Quito, this was the area where we found to be the most desirable to live.

This hotel  has a cafe with one of the best views in Quito and..

great rooms.

Additional services are
• Jacuzzi
• Desk tables
• Exquisite beds
• Bathtubs/luxury bathrooms
• Reception  24 horas
• Sofas
• Bilingual Personnel
• Left Baggage Arrangements
• Free Internet
• Business Center
• Sauna & Massage Room
• Gymnasium

• Meeting Room

The hotel has  25 rooms, including 7 suites, 4 of the suites have the valley view.

Deluxe Single
$115 Regular Rate
$55  Special rate for Ecuador Living Readers

Deluxe Doubles
$125
$65  Special rate for Ecuador Living Readers

Premium Single
$130 Regular Rate
$60  Special rate for Ecuador Living Readers

Premium Double
$140 Regular Rate
$70  Special rate for Ecuador Living Readers

Suite Single
$155  Regular Rate
$80  Special rate for Ecuador Living Readers

Suite Double
$165  Regular Rate
$90   Special rate for Ecuador Living Readers

Ecuador Living Club members receive a discount of almost 50%. (rates do not include 22% Ecuadorian tax).

See how to enroll as a club member here.

Writers’ Camp… write to sell.

Positive Community Magazine Training. Turn $499 into $142,020.

Super Learning + Spanish. Learn Spanish in Three Days.

See our new all in one March Mt. Dora one week Super Learning Series.

Here are ideas about micro businesses in Chocolate provided by our Super Thinking + Spanish teacher, Glenn Sterling.

The Chocolate Tour

We were on an Ecuador export tour in Quito, Ecuador.

We came, we saw, we ate.

I liked it.

One of our visits was to Kallari, Republic de Cacao a shop with many Chocolate products.

The menu at Kallari has a lot of chocolate.

There are people on the planet who don’t like chocolate.  I’ve met them, but they’re rare.  More commonly, there’s a shuffle, a queue, a line up, a wait because most of us love chocolate.  It contains the “love drug” – the chemical released when we are in love – so it’s popular and elevates our mood.

What started out as an import/export tour in Ecuador grew – some days later into an Amazon tour – including chocolate.  My mood was rising.

We rode the Napo River.  We were in the Ecuadorian Amazon where cocoa is grown.

There are various percentages of cacao content in chocolate.  Percentages varies from 10% cocoa up to 100% [usually 99%].  85% is usually the greatest percentage used for eating.  After 85% the bitterness of the chocolate is too great.   Bitter chocolate may still be used for baking however – up to 100%.

Great Chocolate is Created, not Born.

What makes a great chocolate?   Chocolate is made with two of the three magic ingredients – sugar and fat and of course chocolate.  But where does the chocolate come from?  From packages of course!   One’s mind rarely delves beyond the package.  But there is a life before the package that goes something like this:

Chocolate begins its life in a pod/husk full of seeds.  These seeds become the beans.  The raw seeds themselves are slimy although tasty (lemony sweet) but this alone doesn’t create chocolate.  While the majority of the world’s seeds/beans originate in Africa, the quality product often originates in countries such as Ecuador  (which in Spanish means Equator) and they then make their way worldwide.  Cocoa beans grow only within 20 degrees north or south of the Equator.

The process of making Chocolate is something like this:

Cocoa is grown and the cocoa bean is harvested.  It grows as a seed in pods/husks.  The harvest occurs most of the year (often 11 of 12 months) making for a very long ‘season.’
The beans or seeds from inside the husk are fermented for 2-8 days.  The husk is thrown away.  Fermentation changes the sugars in the beans to an acid, activates the enzymes in them to improve the color and flavor and increases their temperature to around 125 degrees F/51-52 degrees C.

The fermented beans are dried to prevent molding.

The dried cocoa beans (they were seeds) are bagged, labelled and when needed, ground after roasting.

The ground cocoa may be used as a powder or further may be processed into cocoa liquor, cocoa butter or cocoa fat.

The powder and/or the cocoa liquor/fat is mixed with sugar and other ingredients (like vanilla or milk for milk chocolate) in the correct ratios.

The resulting liquid is molded into bars, Easter bunnies, Santa Claus et al, balls, truffles or other forms and is packaged accordingly.

Chocolate can be made into a butter or a fat/liquor (all similar).  This liquor has no alcohol although you can also obtain Creme de Cacao which is a liqueur containing chocolate.

You purchase the package not realizing the cocoa has traversed the globe and many steps have finally resulted in your purchase.  Cheaper quality chocolate companies often fill their product with inexpensive edible waxes and disguise their flavor with sugar/sweeteners and flavorings whereas expensive chocolate is often organic, its fermentation, drying, storage, shipping, roasting, grinding and mixing with other ingredients, remaining a closely guarded secret.  Your final price is often determined by these factors.

The end result of of chocolate manufacturing can be this expression:

My tip is to pay a bit more and receive the better quality product.

Glenn

Turn your passion into profit

There are many ways to turn your passion into profit… but always try to make your choice one that is unique and suited to you.

Take Chocolate for example. Don’t just import chocolate bars.  There is way too much competition. Chocolate is a commodity and the only way to compete with a commodity is by lowering price. This destroys margins and the key to a financially successful micro business is a good margin.   This means that  a non unique commodity business is likely to be marginal.

If one plans to sell chocolate… make it unique in some way… so it attracts a premium.

Reader Craig McCarty  sent a December 26, 2011 article at the Speculaist website (see a link to the entire article below) entitled ” In the Future Everything Will Be A Coffee Shop” by Stephen Gordon that says (bolds are mine):  Universities Will Become Coffee Shops

We’re faced with an education bubble. Tuition and other costs associated with a college education have been outpacing inflation for decades. It’s a trend that simply cannot continue. It has continued, so far, because the demand for education has proven to be somewhat inelastic. If you want a good job (the thinking went) there really wasn’t much of a choice. You went and you paid whatever price they put in front of you.

But what’s the advantage of a good job if the salary difference between that job and a non-college-level job is lost servicing student debt? It’s a reasonable question that has become more pressing as the amount of student debt required to get an education has risen.

At the same time several universities with world renown branding have begun offering online courses for free. MIT has been the pioneering institution in this. They were first to make practically all classes available online. Now they are beginning to offer some level of credential for completion of online courses through a new program they’re calling MITx.

Imagine a personnel manager at a mid-sized industrial corporation in Kansas who’s looking for a candidate with a particular set of knowledge. There are two candidates: one from the local state school with an appropriate college degree, a second with relevant MITx certificates of completion.

Let’s say all other things between the candidates are equal. Which should be chosen? It’s true that an online education is not the same as the college experience. The candidate who went to college probably enjoyed his experience more, but how much is that experience worth to a potential employer? Unless he’s a member of the same fraternity, probably not as much as the college candidate would hope.

And here’s the reality: the student debt of the college candidate controls, to some extent, his salary requirements. Since the MITx candidate appears to have the knowledge required, and has no student debt, he probably can be hired cheaper.  There is a tendency to go with the college candidate because: “that’s the way its always been done.” But cheaper ultimately wins. Repeat that story a million times over the next few years and you begin to see how the local colleges – which already are overcharging for their product – begin to suffer in favor of free programs like MITx.

Eventually you could have local campuses becoming places where MITx students seek tutoring, network, and socialize – reclaiming some of the college experience they’d otherwise have lost.

Phil thought this sounded like college as a giant coffee shop. I agree. Every education would be ad hoc. It would be student-directed toward the job market she’s aiming for.

This trend toward… coffeeshopification… is changing more than just colleges:

Book Stores Will Shrink to Coffee Shops

Ebooks are coming of age – for many reasons. You can keep your library in your pocket. You can annotate and share your thoughts within social networks. Writers can publish more directly to their audience. Once completed, the unit cost of each ebook sold is essentially $0. Those savings can (and sometimes are) passed on to the customer. Also, an ebook doesn’t have to be limited to the written word. An ebook can incorporate video, audio and other methods of presentation. Your book store is always with you and has every book ready to sell. Nothing ever goes out of print because there are no print runs.

Compare that with your local Barnes and Nobel. Those stores are huge but can accommodate only a small fraction of the titles available in the Kindle store. They require expensive real estate, buildings, and employees.

If you don’t like reading from an ereader, there are new on-demand printing options like the Espresso Book Machine that can print a book within minutes.

Between ebooks and print-on-demand, Barnes and Nobel sized stores shrink down to just their coffee shops – or maybe Starbucks takes over their business. Either way, customers keep the experience of reading with coffee and those big comfortable chairs.

The Coffee Shop Will Displace Most Retail Shops

My Christmas shopping this year was 90% through Amazon Prime. Not having to fight the crowds and having it delivered free of charge to my home is a big plus, but as with the Kindle store, the online retail selection is much better that even the largest retail outlet.

Which is more enjoyable: Starbucks or Walmart?  For the sane: Starbucks.  So if you can accomplish your Walmart shopping at Starbucks, why do it any other way?
Also, imagine the 3D print shop of the future. You put in your order, probably from your smart phone, and then go pick it up. What does the lobby of such a business look like?  Again: a coffee shop.

Offices Become Coffee Shops… Again

We’re going back to the future: the modern office was birthed in 17th century coffee shops. Steven Johnson has argued that coffee fueled the enlightenment. It was certainly a more enlightening beverage than the previous choice of alcohol.

The need for offices grew as the equipment for mental work was developed starting in the late 19th centuries. That need appears to have peaked about 1980.

It was a rare person who could afford the computers, printers, fax machines, and mailing/shipping equipment of that time.

Now a single person with $500 can duplicate most of those functions with a single laptop computer.  So the remaining function of the office is to be that place that clients know to find you… and that kids and the other distractions of home can’t.

I have long believed in this concept and wrote back in the early 2000s:

There is a Micro Business Magic in Trends

We can get clues about investing trends and business trends by watching what everyone reads. Best selling book lists are like a window into a nation’s soul. This is why two authors who have had special, phenomenal success in recent years can lead us to greater investing and business returns. In fact the clues you will read from these authors is so powerful you could say they are like magic.

See why we created out own mountain cafe atmosphere so we could get small groups of readers together to discuss writing, publishing and micro business philosophy.

One of the fundamental rules you can use to spot trends is that people always want what they have lost and no longer have.

Once the building trade had perfected clean, low cost efficient central heating, the trend that everyone wanted a fireplace began. Is it smoke and ashes and the labor involved in building a fire that mankind misses? Probably not. Perhaps instead they lost romance.

Once America created a smooth highway system so anyone can drive anywhere without hardship or bumps, four wheel drive off road SUVs became the most popular form of transportation. Did we long for the sweat of replacing blown out tires ruined by potholes?

I doubt it. But I’ll buy that we had lost the our sense of adventure.

Get the drift? 

The growing trend is for the purchase of immaterial goods, such as sports, entertainment, health, communication and spirituality. Togetherness is a key motivator for emotional fulfillment. Many wealthy consumers have learned that just acquiring stuff is not enough. More and more things don’t satisfy much or for long. At some point our material excesses turn into junk, worthless burdens that cost us to store, clean and insure. Successful companies in the future will learn to attach symbols of love and togetherness to their products and services.

There will be a growing business in ties that bond people together.

Coffee houses and similar places of gathering will continue to boom. Clubs will grow. Restaurants which offer a place for people to be together will thrive.

Read more about Cafe Philos

Join us for our Writer’s Camp and deep woods cafe.   We’ll even show how to use chocolate to write better.

Gary

Writer’s Camps

Start a one year writing project.  Be cool. Attend our summer Writer’s Camp in Blue Ridge Mountains.   Start with our online course Self Fulfilled – How to be a Self Publisher FREE right away. ($299 value).

Delegates at previous summer writer’s camp in the Blue Ridge.

Our Writer’s Camps help learn writing to sell… the business of writing and how to publish.

Our summer and autumn writer’s camps in North Carolina fill up quickly. Our winter writer’s camp was totally filled.

Join us Friday, Saturday and Sunday June 14, 15, 16 Super Thinking Writer’s Camp, Ashe County, NC.

Join us Saturday, Sunday and Monday August 31- Sept 1-2 Super Thinking Writer’s Camp, Ashe County, NC.

Single $799

Couple $999

Please indicate which camp you’ll attend in the comments section.

My wife, Merri, and I have possibly the smallest… yet one of the highest earning… self publishing company in the world.

Our high earnings come from writing, self publishing secrets we learned and refined over the past 45 years of writing to sell.  These secrets have worked so well they have earned extra millions for Merri and me and we share them at our writer’s camps..

Our goal at the camps are to help you “Get Started”… but to “Start Small” and maybe like us stay that way… small… tightly focus but highly profitable.

There I said it flying in the face of society hammering us to “Think Big”. This is the era where small is beautiful in a very big way.

At the camps we dive into this idea of smallness for profit.

I am stuck with this horrible fear of being broke. You know unfilled promises… tight finances… money worries…even costly groceries and bill collector stuff. I had all that decades ago and even though 40 years have passed it’s not forgotten.

I hate this for anybody. No money. No future prospects. Worry about the kids. Not knowing how to retire… or where to turn.

45 years ago I started writing because I was broke.  These problems over 40 years ago affected me for life.  In fact I am so hung up on this that that Merri and I (we are so thankful that we can) give away money to help create jobs… we have now donated close to a million dollars in our quest to reduce joblessness.

Merri and I are writers and self publishers. We have earned as much as $20,000 for a single day’s work… and have earned consistently year in and year out… while we do what we love… because of a few secrets.

We want to share these secrets with you so you can make six and even seven figure income each year in a matter that suits you.

There is more good news than the money.  The secrets we share make working fun. You are your own boss. You gain respect so your ideas are listened to.

Most important you can be self fulfilled as you make the world a better place by writing.

Merri and I invite you to share a writer’s camp we’ll conduct in 2013?   This will be a retreat high in the Blue Ridge for a select few that can help you create you own publications for profit.

Believe me… we will be relentless about three facts… serve well… be gratified… make good profits.

The retreat will be conducted in the seclusion of a forest.  We’ll meet in June  or August… but we want the work on your publication to begin right away…. tomorrow even.  I’ll explain how you can begin right away in a moment.

At the camp we teach super thinking as well as how to write and publish.  This secret “little system” creates a crack in the creative process… so you’ll not have just one idea for a business but many.  You may be flooded with ideas!  In fact a big part of the workshop narrows you down to deciding what to write first.

Merri and I are living proof.  We can’t open the darn paper without getting a new idea.

First, let me repeat…Start Small!

The camp by the way is called “Self Fulfilled – How to Write and Self Publishing”.   I am thinking of renaming it “Start Small but Earn Millions”.

Writers who earn the most are writers, like Merri and myself, who also publish.   We always make an annual six figure income but some years we net seven figures…over a million dollars. That’s because we figured out that the lion’s share of income earned from writing goes to the publisher. The publishing part of writing can be outrageously profitable.

One case study we’ll look at in the course reviews the book. “Who Moved My Cheese.” It’s so small! I love it!  The publisher had to push just to make it look like a book, yet 17 million copies in the first two years of release. No one is laughing. If the normal price is $19.95 a book, that’s $339,155 million in sales. If the author received a normal 12% royalty (on the wholesale price) he made a cool $20,346,500 (and much more as the book has continued to sell for years).

Pretty good, huh?

The $20 million plus will pay for quite a few groceries. Almost anyone would love to have this much income until they realize that this leaves the publisher with the other $300 million to spread around.

The neat thing about being a small, self publisher is that virtually all this money (the other 88%) is yours! (Sometimes the 12% too.) In other words, it could be all yours.

Merri and I began publishing with no money and little background. We started small! As already mentioned, I was bust and had no background in writing. I did not finish college.

Before we share the exact schedule of this exciting camp, let me outline a few of the benefits that self publishing has brought to Merri and me.

If you accept our invitation, we will hammer, even bombard you with the absolute, vital importance of starting small. We live in the era of epublishing that makes small “big”.   This plays perfectly into the hands of small businesses and copywriters as we just happened to have a perfect advantage right now in the marketplace.

Let’s begin to understand this with that old rule… follow the money. Our self publishing business has brought us millions. We own four houses, a farmhouse, six cabins and over 1,000 acres of land. Plus more money than we can spend, in the bank… safe, secure bonds and shares… no mortgages… no credit card bills and zero debt!

Now let’s get to the important stuff.  Our life is less stressed (not stress free – every business has stress) but Self Publishing can be a low stress business… no commuting… choose your own hours… immersed in your own passions with like minded souls. Work at home. How refreshing!

Here I am at our Florida home… at work?

You can have fun every day doing what you love as you accomplish goals that are important… to you… and are a service to your community.

Merri and I, for example, love helping people get jobs.  So we used self publishing to create a foundation (Land of the Sun Foundation) to help the indigenous learn how to get work. The foundation has donated nearly a million dollars in Ecuador to create jobs.

What do you love? Why not make the kinds of money I’ve just mentioned publishing your passion and do something good for the world at the same time?

Your passion and self publishing create…magic, wealth, happiness.

Three other things you gain.

#1: Respect. If you are not a recluse like Merri and me, you’ll find yourself the center of attention at social events and with your friends and in business because publishing is highly respected.

#2: Power. Everyone wants publishers to distribute good information about them. And everyone fears publishers a bit. The pen IS mightier than the sword!

#3: Protection. Writers are protected by the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. You do not need a license to publish. There is no government watchdog nor do you have bureaucratic red tape involved in publishing. Publishers enjoy almost more freedom than any other occupation because of the Freedom of the Press. This is so powerful because the first amendment is actually a part of the Bill of Rights. Just in case you missed this in school (as most students did including me) here are the exact words of this amendment:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

You become the press and you are set free. You cannot get more protection than that.

Shall we get back to the money and lifestyle? What can self publishing do financially for you?

Merri and I love nature so our home in Florida is set amidst and orange grove… just far enough from busy parts of the state that we enjoy wonderful peace and quiet. This makes a perfect place to study.  This is a winter shot from the front yard of our Florida home looking over our orange grove and lake…  that we bought with cash from our self published writing.

This is only where we live in the winter.

The Blue Ridge is our summer home.  That name is a slight misnomer for a large part of the year.  Correctly named in the winter, these mountains would be called “White Ridge”. The white comes from snow which begins with S as does South which is where we head around November…to Florida or Ecuador .

While it’s freezing in the North Carolina mountains, we worry about sunburn sometimes.

The Ecuador hotel, by the way, is one of the most satisfying parts of our self publishing business. We bought it from bankruptcy because a dozen wonderful people (with babies and kids and worries about education, medical bills and yes groceries) were about to lose their jobs.

Mostly right now… due to a elderly mom and many wonderful new grand kids we spend winters at our in Florida and visit family in Oregon and England.  So for your convenience (and ours) the next two writers camp will be conducted near our Ashe County North Carolina farm.

Why attend this camp?  Self publishing can easily fulfill all of your material needs.  More importantly it throws you together with fantastically interesting people from all walks of life.   You all share a common goal… to write… to sell… to earn.  This create magic for all.
You can enjoy this wonderful lifestyle.  Married, single, rich, poor, in good and bad health, educated and not, travelers and those who want to just stay at home. This is who self publishing works for… those who want a gradual part time improvement in life and those who want to make big enhancements now.

This workshop appeals to anyone who would like to write or publish or both.  We will look at how published products can include compilations, catalogues, CDS, interviews. Plus we’ll look at how to develop treks, tours, visits, products and services.

For example, you’ll see below how one delegate who attended the workshop used her publication to sell real estate.

This course is for individuals and couples. We include those who want their own publishing system together as a family business.

Self employed, retired, professionals and those who are employed who want to add extra income or who want to change their life entirely will benefit. Previous course delegates have included investors, chiropractors, doctors, dentists, lawyers, architects, other professionals and those who already own their own business and of course retirees.

This workshop is not theory. Merri and I share our real time experiences. We start at the beginning over 40 years ago but mainly look at how we earn hundreds of thousands and even millions a year in our exciting lifestyle…right now.

Let’s get our noses to the grindstone. The workshop provides a Path called the seven Ps. They provide a simple, small and easy path for starting your own publishing business.

The workshop has one focused, refined and relentless goal. To prepare you to start your first publication the day after the workshop ends!

May I add that this workshop has done a pretty good job already?  Here are a few examples of small self publishing businesses that started after attending this workshop.

Barry Weinhold who attended our Writers Camp wrote:   My first book sold over 200,000 copies in print. After attending your course I have published another book at Amazon.com.
Thanks for helping get the word out.   The First free download of Book One had about 900 downloads and we have sold about 90 books since then. I did get some great reviews on Book One. Now book two is ready.

You can order Barry’s second book ($2.99) on Amazon.com by clicking here. “Breaking Family Patterns: How To Change Your Family Patterns!“

Nicki Goff  who attended our writer’s camp wrote shortly after that she completed her first book “Easy Quinoa Recipes” with 13 quinoa recipes.

She had 10,000 downloads of the book in five days and obtained dozens of good reviews!

She wrote:  Hi, Gary,  Book sales are actually going well, and I’m having a lot of fun with this. I’m so grateful to you and Merri  for pushing me to get some action going!

The free promos really get things going, and seem to reignite sales.

Two more in the works – both on gardening topics.  Best wishes for 2013 to you and Merri.   Love, Nicki

What a joy seeing how helping and connecting people helps all create their own special success.  How beautiful to see friends turn their passions into profit!

You can get 13 more great quinoa recipes in Nicki Goff’s book at the links below.

You can order Nicki’s first book at Amazon.com.

Nicki learned at the camp that getting these downloads is step three in a seven step process. We (and others) have been helping Nicki and our delegates walk through these steps so they can earn income through writing and publishing again and again.

Nicki is now well on her way to wonderful self publishing success.   She just completed her fourth book, “Under Cover Gardening”

The Writer’s Camp helps people of all ages from their teens to their 80s!

The father of the family of four wrote:  Hi Gary and Merri:  Just thought y’all would like to know that today Doss published his first book.  It is called College Confidential and it is currently listed at number 42 on amazon. com.  He would not have done it but for our experience this summer at your Writer’s Camp.

So, here is thanking you both very much.

Bill Winter

This book is written by a student, for students, College Confidential: An Insider’s Guide to Success written by Doss Winter is filled with practical tips and insider information addressing everything from Academics to getting your Zzzzs.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/garyascott/8428575086/in/photostream

Order College Confidential at Amazon.com here.

The writer’s camp refines both Merri’s and my 40 years of experience into its most essential points. All of us will have to work intensely to cram everything into three days.

This workshop is being conducted by Merri and me. We will be hosting the event near our North Carolina farm.   These camps are intimate which allows us to personally work with each delegate to assure that all who attend can create their own publication.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/garyascott/8029808357/

On Friday, at 9 a.m. sharp, we get to work.

What will you write?  Some of you know what you want to do…that’s great.  We’ll work on that.  Some of you just feel that you can succeed in this field…we’ll hone that and work on that.  We’ll create our own niches.

Your product? Your goals?  This is why we are inviting you to enroll in the camp now. This is a long term program and we’ll help you create your own product now that we can work on at the camp.

Here is where product development gets interesting. Your product will be safe.

Our camp uses three highly successful strategies… #1: personal attention from Merri and me… #2: peer review and #3: anonymity.  Reasons for the personal attention is obvious. The peer review is a proven way to get extra insights into your publication. Look at the acknowledgements of any successful writer. They thank many people who helped make their book correct.   The anonymity is our unique touch… so no one needs to be worried.  I could say more but just believe me this makes all the difference.   This is a unique part of our system that has evolved from decades of helping others write and publish products!

In the afternoon, we’ll dive into the 7 Ps of self publishing. Passion, Problem, Person, profitably priced Product, pathways to Prospects, Promise and Presentation.

Then we get down to brass tacks by placing the ideas you have fractured under the first magnifying glasses of Passion, Problem and Person. This is the beginning of your first perfect product so you can become your own perfect client.

I’ll talk about how your passions, your current knowledge bring you to your own niche create the stories.  We’ll look at the all powerful “Golden Rule of Simplicity…Your Passions Represent Markets”.

Merri and I will both show you how to follow your passion to the market and use your passion to find “Prospecting Pathways” and “Presentation Templates” that are the drivers of your business.

Merri’s publishing skills and history, by the way, far exceed mine. She began her own import business selling products form Italy , Germany and Mexico through her own advertisements she wrote in the New Yorker, Sunday NY Times, Smithsonian, House & Garden, House Beautiful, and other magazines. Then with her ad agency edited and published hundreds of books, brought a bankrupt magazine to award winning status as executive editor to Gulf Shore Life (which later sold to the Robb Reports for $22+ million dollars), has edited over 1400 writers and was even offered the top editor (the only female) at the National Enquirer working directly with Generoso Pope (which she politely turned down).  She lectured at Magazine Conferences throughout the South to help others bring their own publishing ventures to awarding winning and financial success.

We’ll then return to and chip away at your fractured writing and publishing ideas to refine the most valuable asset you have in your business armory… your imagination.

Finally around 5 pm, we’ll stop working as one large group. However, that is not the end of the educational, evolutionary process that will by now be whirling away. You’ll have enough momentum and information to refine your publication.  That’s what you’ll be assigned to do.

We won’t want you to work too late though.  We still have a lot to do on Sunday and Monday.

Saturday, I already know what will happen. You’ll all be sitting around with others buzzing over your ideas. I’ll have to force you back to group work at 9 a.m. because you’ll have such a head of steam you won’t want to stop talking. However, I hope that you have followed Merri’s and my example and had a good night’s sleep. Experience suggests that some of you in your excitement, will have worked through the night. You might not get to sleep now because today we’re going to accomplish three days work in a day!

We’ll start with a review of your assignments. No red marks or stars by the way… just feedback and a gentle coaxing toward the ways to create winning writing and self publishing ventures.

Then we’ll get into how to turn your thoughts/desires/energies into reality with:

#1: Stories with authenticity, meaning and roots.

#2: Stories true to the heart.

#3: Stories with conflict.

#4: Stories with passion.

The “why” of these four qualities is fascinating and so impossibly important, yet simple, that knowing it is worth the entire investment you make in the workshop. Here it is quick, down and dirty… knowledge worth millions.

There are three main demographic subgroups in the Western World. One is dying out. One controls everything but the third is rapidly rising… growing so fast that it can take down even a big organization like Starbucks (which it did in England) if ignored. Yet this third group (whom you will write and publish for) is at least partially ignored by every large corporation in the world. They all make the same cheesy error and this huge mistake creates fracturing opportunities for you… which will be the tiny, but immensely profitable small publisher.

We go on to our next Story Review about small niches that Merri and I have fractured. How we beat a publisher that’s 1,500 times larger in this niche.

We’ll break for lunch. Then at 2 pm it’s back to work:

In the afternoon, Merri and I look at how to match your passion to the National Psyche by studying the NY Times & USA Today best seller lists. We’ll see how new indie epublishers are creating top selling books and provide magical clues that lead to successful products, stories and marketing.

We’ll work on epublishing…how it is virtually free of expense to start/continue/succeed.  Only things necessary:  inspiration, desire, hard work and follow through…actual cost?  Zero.

Then we’ll review how to use Twitter to develop viral marketing and… what’s next!

Getting your reports, books or simply ideas on the epublishing parade…that’s through Kindle, Book Nook, etc.

The excitement that builds by this time of the camp often interferes with the dream process.  Ideas for reports, publishing ideas, businesses, stories, new lifestyles and bigger profits come rushing forth even though you are trying for sheep.

Regardless, on Sunday, – as before, we’ll start at 9 a.m. sharp and remain intensely focused until mid afternoon.

Before Merri and I wrap up the entire process, we’ll outline our how we’ll continue to assist you for the rest of the year.

Let’s end this with a summary:  Merri and I will begin to help you develop your publishing, writing idea the minute you enroll.  Our goal is to help you create your own product so you can fine tune it in July.  The workshop will help you come up with new ideas… but we want you to start one now. Merri and I will be glad to help you with it.

Okay, how about your cash investment? The cost of the workshop.

As I said earlier, Merri and I have been self publishing for 40 years. This invitation provides access to information we share with only a very limited group.

The cost of the camp is  $799 or $999 for a couple. Travel, your accommodations and other meals are your responsibility.

Registration is severely limited due to the personal attention we provide.   We expect to be full.

Here is how to register immediately.

Click below:

Join us Friday, Saturday and Sunday June 14, 15, 16 Super Thinking Writer’s Camp, Ashe County, NC.

Join us Saturday, Sunday and Monday August 31- Sept 1-2 Super Thinking Writer’s Camp, Ashe County, NC.

Single $799

Couple $999

Please note which camp you’ll attend in the comments section.

We’ll send you an email giving you details and your preparatory assignments for the camp, travel, etc.

We’ll set up our line of communications as well as deliver our online Self Publishing course.

We’ll send you what you need to get started. We’re going to be learning from the first minute, and we want you to be ready.

Get started and work with us and the online course until the camp begins.

Best regards,

Gary

P.S. This is a chance to experience the dream life of a writer and self publisher.

We are going to work hard the entire time from now until the camp but the effects of this retreat won’t end on that Sunday. They’ll just begin.

One of the finest benefits you gain will be new like-minded friends. Our previous workshop delegates have stuck together…formed support groups and helped each other develop, grow and profit. This is called an “old boys network” in some places. Every major university and educational system has one…this invisible power because “who you know”, not just “what you know” works. We’ll encourage this so your alumni group can enhance your efforts whenever required.

May I share three final examples of how big, your little self publishing business can become from our workshop?

A long time friend, who had just retired from a 30 year career in the oil industry joined our program. His passion was to learn more about health and looking at the deep, more spiritual aspects of life since he had ended a financially successful career. He has gone on to publishing the leading healthy living magazine where he lives.

Not only does he publish 20,000 copies of a 48-64 page magazine on healthy living every month, he has been able to meet and work with leading health and spiritual leaders like Deepak Chopra, Dr. Wayne Dwyer and even the Dali Llama. What a thrill.

Michelle Toole, an at home mother, made a fateful decision… to attend our self publishing course.

Michelle was disabled when she took the “Self Fulfilled – How to be a Self Publisher” camp.

She took what she learned from our publishing courses and created her own successful global micro website.

Michelle wrote:  “I have some great news, my web site  http://healthy-holistic-living.com is now getting on average 2,000 visitors a day! Yup my little one man show web site now gets close to 60,000 visitors each month!  The power of the internet is amazing as well as the opportunities.  We have said it before but it deserves saying again the internet is truly the great equalizer.

“My web site is at a point now that it is growing without much effort and produces a nice passive income allowing me to continue working on my second site http://home-remedies-and-natural-cures.com and to get my third site up and running.  I am also working on various joint ventures with other web sites focusing on helping others start their own web business. I am doing monthly webinars helping disabled individuals start their own business on the Internet and will be starting a coaching club in the new year.  The opportunities are only limited by one’s imagination.

“Again I can not thank you and Merri enough, I look forward to many great adventures and new experiences in the coming years!”

Another successful self publisher who attended our workshop wrote :

“MY HEAD IS STILL SPINNING from all of the valuable input I received. Out in the boonies, 2 + hours from the airport in Charlotte , North Carolina it was not your typical setting for a business seminar.

“It was presented by a fascinating guy with an interesting career history. Gary Scott and his wife, Merri, split their time between their idyllic farm in North Carolina and their property in the mountains of Ecuador . I first heard about Gary through my interest in Ecuador .

“By his own admission, Gary is often ‘a bit ahead of the curve’ which is part of what makes his material interesting. You sense the authenticity of what he is saying but it has not caught on in the mainstream media or pop-culture.

“The input is that is already affecting my life was not just from the instructor, but from other participants. The small group, less than twenty, seemed to be intimately bonded as soon as the seminar started. People from all walks of life and all parts of the country gained insights from the information that was geared to create a ‘life of your choosing more so than just a successful business. A very simple but powerful concept. Why do we want the money in the first place?

“The lifestyle aspect of the course was taught by example. We, as a group, were temporarily inserted directly into the lifestyle led by Gary and Merri. No better way to learn than by doing.

“The course content suited my needs very nicely. It addressed issues pertinent to FilmTrips and my marketing company, MJ Media. New life has been injected into several FilmTrips projects that had been languishing on a back burner for quite some time. Gary talks about being open to ‘connect the dots’ and take advantage of distortions or discrepancies between economies and countries. I am in a very good position to do that. Telephone and Internet technology has certainly arrived to help make it happen. I will keep you posted!”

In the workshop we learn how to use the “Business Evolutionary Process.” Start with a small idea. Let the idea build enthusiasm. Let the enthusiasm lead you to an education. Let the education create action. The action will bring, deeper ideas…so you can start small and grow.

This is what so many others who have accepted Merri’s and my invitation have done and are doing now….as are we. A never ending process for all.

We hope you will join this growth process with us. If you do, this letter…the invitation and the workshop will be fateful and fun.  Register today!

Join us Friday, Saturday and Sunday June 14, 15, 16 Super Thinking Writer’s Camp, Ashe County, NC.

Join us Saturday, Sunday and Monday August 31- Sept 1-2 Super Thinking Writer’s Camp, Ashe County, NC.

Single $799

Couple $999

Please note which camp you’ll attend in the comments section.

Delegates from our last camp wrote:  My daughter and I had a fantastic time at the Writer’s Camp this past weekend.  We both felt we gained a tremendous amount of knowledge on “how to make money with our writing skills”!  Thank you.
 
Yours and Merri’s expertise on transmitting knowledge to others is phenomenal.  The warm, personal feel of being with you both along with the great people in the class was great!
 
Thank you again for all the added information gained in all areas of life and what I consider gourmet meals served to us all.
 
Donna/Jeanna

Another wrote: Have just returned from the writing seminar conducted at your farm in Ashe County, North Carolina, I thought I’d give you my take on what I experienced. To suggest that the location, hosts, seminar content, and accommodations were adequate would be an understatement.

This was my introductory visit to the northwestern corner of North Carolina and it appears, from looking at the map, that this area could be considered the “foothills” of the Appalachian Mountain Range. Remote? You bet! But a beautiful place for retreating when life or weather calls for relocation.

Corresponding as we have for the past two years was simply a forerunner to our one on two meeting and I am so pleased that we found this opportunity.  You are both most personable with dynamic and pleasing personalities. I was extremely comfortable the entire weekend and thank you for making that possible.

The seminar itself opened a whole new world that I hope to explore in the coming months. I drove away from your farm with a well inflated right rear tire and a wealth of information that could catapult me into a whole new profession should I opt to go that route. I still have a number of professional business ideas that I intend to pursue, however, the concepts and ideas conveyed in your seminar will serve to enhance whatever I undertake going forward.

But if there was one underlying common denominator that I recognized, it was the fact that you are both so well qualified to present in this field of communication. Probably my most prolific observation was how well read and knowledgeable you are. The breadth and depth of knowledge on so many diverse yet associated subjects kept my unswerving attention. It also opened my mind to a variety of fields that, heretofore, I would not have considered relevant to my interests. And as a presenter, Gary is prolific. I drove away knowing that not only did the seminar give me my money’s worth but I was introduced to some very valuable contacts.

The bottom line is your seminar was both eye opening and entertaining. I came, I saw, I learned, and I even ate healthy. Thanks for everything. John

The son of a father son team sent this note:  Hi Merri!  I just attended your writers camp with my dad this past weekend.  I didn’t get to express how much I appreciated all that you and Gary did for us this weekend because we were in a hurry to get to the airport. Letting us stay in your cottage and having us for your writers camp was an experience that I will remember for the rest of my life! Gary and Merri’s stories of adventure, success, your lessons, and advice are truly priceless!!

This camp has inspired me. Writing has always come naturally for me but I never was able to view it as a business opportunity.

This camp has shown me not only that writing can be profitable, but HOW to make it profitable! Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom with me. In my lifetime, I could only hope to see the success that you and Gary have achieved.

I not have only signed up for your newsletter, but I can’t stop spreading the word to my friends about my experience. Thanks again for your amazing hospitality,  Mitchell

Join us Friday, Saturday and Sunday June 14, 15, 16 Super Thinking Writer’s Camp, Ashe County, NC.

Join us Saturday, Sunday and Monday August 31- Sept 1-2 Super Thinking Writer’s Camp, Ashe County, NC.

Single $799

Couple $999

Please note which camp you’ll attend in the comments section.

We share a David Cross video at the camp.

David has an unparalleled, hands-on marketing experience spanning 25 years in 22 countries for companies and charities large and small. He’s guided many companies and individuals to success in business and helped them achieve their marketing goals, both online and offline.   He started working with the internet from the getgo and we have been lucky that he helped us start our website in the 1990s.  He was also Senior Internet Consultant to Agora Inc. in Baltimore, MD.  David worked closely with Agora’s publishers and marketers and over an 8-year period helped to propel Agora’s online revenues to over $300 Million in 2009 until he came to work with Merri and me full time.

More who have written about the Writer’s Camp.

From Sandra, a restaurant owner:  “Dear Gary and Merri, Yes I did it! Without you and your wonderful writing class I would not have been able to see my potential!! I THANK YOU BOTH! You told me to write about what I know and I did. Thank you for all the encouragement. Starting today, we are taking orders and I wanted you to be the first to know! So here goes…..I have some exciting news to share! I have just written my first book and very much appreciate your help. This book would make a great gift for any bride-to-be or even the parents of the bride (especially if they’re paying the bill)! Please check it out. I genuinely appreciate you helping me spread the word! Thank you!! Sandra”

From Jerusha, an anthropologist:  “Hello Gary and Merri. I am the first in the class to publish! I published a calendar on www.lulu.com!

From Todd, a wedding photographer:  “Thanks, Gary and Merri name recognition is beginning. Here is my new photoletter that your program helped me develop. I’m getting more clear about my own marketing now, so I may be able to better advantage of it. I am planning now to send out an email once a week showcasing new photos and creating awareness for my products and services. By mid July, I will place my first greeting card order (with a printing company Merri recommended in Cotacachi). So, I will soon have an inexpensive product to offer along with the more expensive prints that I sell. So far, I’ve got 60 opt-on subscribers to my email list, and I am telling everyone I know about it, so it’s starting to grow nicely. My first goal is to have 1000 readers. I’ll see how quickly I can accomplish it. Take care, Todd”

From Micky, a real estate broker:  “I want to say thank you for the inspiration and encouragement that I received through your publishing program. I recently published a 28 page booklet” Naples is Priceless “. This FREE booklet is being distributed through the Chamber of Commerce, banks, hotels, etc. With over 25 years as a Realtor I can now let potential real estate buyers gain knowledge and inside tidbits about this beautiful area. Again, thank you for helping me develop my potential. Micky”

Meet other successful writers.

Mike Herron who atteded our camp and is now on his second book just wrote:   Hello Gary, I wanted to thank you and Merri for once again providing a wonderful and motivating experience at the Writer’s Camp last month.  As with your other workshops I’ve attended, it inspired me to return home and finish my second book and get it published.

I’m pleased to announce that Appalachian Gold is now completed and available for people to purchase and read.  It is available on Amazon in either e-book format or as a print-on-demand hard copy.

Unlike my first novel, Black Diamonds, the first book in the Colors of Alaska trilogy which takes place in Homer, Alaska, Appalachian Gold is set in the North Georgia Mountains.  As is my style, I interweave local legends with love and bring them to contemporary life.

Susan and I both hope to attend more of your workshops at your North Carolina camps, perhaps we can manage to get up to one this summer.  Maybe we can even work in a book signing at a nearby winery to help spread the word about Appalachian Gold.

Now I will turn my attention to completing the second book in my Alaskan trilogy. It will be called Blue Ice.  Susan and I will be visiting Alaska in May and June doing research for the book, enjoying the majestic scenery, and visiting our son.

If any of your readers are aspiring authors who have yet to be published I would strongly encourage them to sign up for one of your writing camps at the first opportunity.  I know the experience will provide them with the skills, knowledge and perhaps more importantly, the motivation, to return home and turn their dream into reality.

Best wishes always and we look forward to seeing you again soon. Mike

Our online course “Self Fulfilled -  How to be a Self Publisher” is normally $299.  See more here.

Save the $299 and receive this online course FREE now.

Join us Friday, Saturday and Sunday June 14, 15, 16 Super Thinking Writer’s Camp, Ashe County, NC.

Join us Saturday, Sunday and Monday August 31- Sept 1-2 Super Thinking Writer’s Camp, Ashe County, NC.

Single $799

Couple $999

Read “In the Future Everything Will Be A Coffee Shop”

Quito Ecuador Real estate for Sale:

Golf in Ecuador is not easily available so all of you golfers will be very interested in this gated community house with golfing.

This two bedroom, two bathroom house is located  in Los Chillos Valley a suburb of Quito, Ecuador, 30 Minutes from the city center.

The property which is located in Valle de los Chillos, in La Merced village, includes the main house and a caretaker’s cottage. It is surrounded by trees and flowers all year. It has a fireplace-oven in the living-dining area, a fireplace in the master bedroom, breath taking views of the mountains.

Membership at a nearby country club allow guests to golf. 
  
A path built within the property to reach the river or just to stroll, a terrace, an outdoor Jacuzzi, and a barbecue area.

The river at the base of the property is lined with 150 foot tall giant eucalyptus trees and makes a lovely spot for a picnic.  A caretaker currently lives in the small cottage, providing 24 hour security as well as his assistance in any way.   There is a water supply cistern and city of Quito water, electricity, garbage collection and telephone service.

First Floor

An ample sitting area with exit and view to the garden and mountains, integrates to the dining and kitchen areas. There is a very cozy fireplace-oven that gives a warm, seductive atmosphere.

The kitchen is equipped with modern appliances & an island with 4 stools and a good size pantry.

The second bedroom has two bunk beds, ample storage space and window views to the garden. A good size bathroom with a shower complements this bedroom.

Second Floor

Glass double doors lead to the terrace from which you see 350 degrees of spectacular mountain view. This level includes an wide open master suite with sitting area in front of the cozy fireplace and a balcony. 

The windows have spectacular views of the mountains and gardens as well. The tastefully decorated master bathroom has an antique soaking tub, and his and hers sinks.

This is a fully fenced property, 9000 meters (90,000 square feet) in total.

The property features outdoor Jacuzzi, river on property.

The seller is asking $199,000.

For details contact Maria Garcia at mtgarciasosa@gmail.com

There are limited golf facilities in Ecuador.

Ecuador is not a great golfing destination as there are only a handful of private clubs near Quito, Guayaquil, or Cuenca, with 18-hole courses.

These limited opportunities for playing golf in Ecuador however do include some excellent golf courses. 

This house is near one of the best, The Los Chillos Golf Club.

Los Chillos Golf Club is outside Quito and is one of the more exclusive clubs.

Club Los Chillos was founded in 1979 and offers a par 72 with a course rating of 34.5.  The club is about 20 miles from Quito with 11 lakes, a driving range and mountain and forest scenery.  The golf course is almost 8,000 feet above sea level and  has good weather and spectacular views.  This golf club has clay tennis courts, racket facilities, squash courts, soccer fields, volley ball facilities, swimming pools and horse riding.  There is also a  sauna, hairdressing salon, cafeteria, bar and Turkish bath.  People with babies are welcome.

Colonial Quito view apartment for rent or for sale.

Learn how to place Ecuador rental advertising

Learn how to place Ecuador real estate for sale ads

This penthouse, is at San Juan (Centro Historico), Galpagos and Garcia Moreno, just above the Basilica.

The building has 4 floors and was built in 1986. This Quito apartment penthouse has…

views all around day and night.

The size is 140 square meters (1507 square feet).

The interior decor is Swiss.

On the first level you have: a big living room, a chimney, a kitchen and a place to put your washing and dryer machines. Also 1 master bedroom with a bathroom, dresser and two closets, plus a balcony and interior plants.

On the second level there is space for a small library or study.

This Colonial Quito penthouse also has:

* Phone line
* Cable TV
* Storage room

The building has full security and two parking spaces for the penthouse. The neighborhood is quiet, not much traffic and is secure.

colonial charm.

The monthly maintenance fee is just $18.00.

The asking price for sale is USD $170.000.
The asking price for renting is USD $800.00.

See more details here.

Upcoming project near the new Quito Airport offering potential for businesses developing real estate.

One of our good Ecuador contacts sent us this note. Gary, a friend of mine is building a neat complex by the new airport, he already has a few buildings and a restaurant with two Chalets plus a Pesebrera (for horses). He is working on making this a Hosteria with more buildings and a Swiss style to it. The place is really big and he will be selling houses there. The place is really beautiful and he plans on building many things there.

Views… space and… many buildings are…

already up plus a hosteria with many facilities inside and out.

See more photos and details here

2013-2014 Super Thinking + Spanish – Writing to Sell Business Course Schedule

Schedule 2013-2014  Super Thinking + Spanish  – Writing to Sell Business Courses.

Here are photos I took of Mt. Dora…

Golf in Ecuador is not easily available so all of you golfers will be very interested in this gated community house with golfing.

This two bedroom, two bathroom house is located  in Los Chillos Valley a suburb of Quito, Ecuador, 30 Minutes from the city center.

The property which is located in Valle de los Chillos, in La Merced village, includes the main house and a caretaker’s cottage. It is surrounded by trees and flowers all year. It has a fireplace-oven in the living-dining area, a fireplace in the master bedroom, breath taking views of the mountains.

Membership at a nearby country club allow guests to golf. 
  
A path built within the property to reach the river or just to stroll, a terrace, an outdoor Jacuzzi, and a barbecue area.

The river at the base of the property is lined with 150 foot tall giant eucalyptus trees and makes a lovely spot for a picnic.  A caretaker currently lives in the small cottage, providing 24 hour security as well as his assistance in any way.   There is a water supply cistern and city of Quito water, electricity, garbage collection and telephone service.

First Floor

An ample sitting area with exit and view to the garden and mountains, integrates to the dining and kitchen areas. There is a very cozy fireplace-oven that gives a warm, seductive atmosphere.

The kitchen is equipped with modern appliances & an island with 4 stools and a good size pantry.

The second bedroom has two bunk beds, ample storage space and window views to the garden. A good size bathroom with a shower complements this bedroom.

Second Floor

Glass double doors lead to the terrace from which you see 350 degrees of spectacular mountain view. This level includes an wide open master suite with sitting area in front of the cozy fireplace and a balcony. 

The windows have spectacular views of the mountains and gardens as well. The tastefully decorated master bathroom has an antique soaking tub, and his and hers sinks.

This is a fully fenced property, 9000 meters (90,000 square feet) in total.

The property features outdoor Jacuzzi, river on property.

The seller is asking $199,000.

For details contact Maria Garcia at mtgarciasosa@gmail.com

There are limited golf facilities in Ecuador.

Ecuador is not a great golfing destination as there are only a handful of private clubs near Quito, Guayaquil, or Cuenca, with 18-hole courses.

These limited opportunities for playing golf in Ecuador however do include some excellent golf courses.  This house is near one of the best, The Los Chillos Golf Club.

Los Chillos Golf Club is outside Quito and is one of the more exclusive clubs.

Club Los Chillos was founded in 1979 and offers a par 72 with a course rating of 34.5.  The club is about 20 miles from Quito with 11 lakes, a driving range and mountain and forest scenery.  The golf course is almost 8,000 feet above sea level and  has good weather and spectacular views.  This golf club has clay tennis courts, racket facilities, squash courts, soccer fields, volley ball facilities, swimming pools and horse riding.  There is also a  sauna, hairdressing salon, cafeteria, bar and Turkish bath.  People with babies are welcome.

Gary

2013-2014 Super Thinking + Spanish – Writing to Sell Business Course Schedule

Schedule 2013-2014  Super Thinking + Spanish  – Writing to Sell Business Courses.

Here are photos I took of Mt. Dora…

 

See how Latin America’s growing importance makes this Colonial Quito Penthouse Opportunity special now.

This penthouse is at San Juan (Centro Historico), Galapagos and Garcia Moreno, just above the Basilica.

The key to prospering in times of change is to get ahead of the new path of progress and Latin America is growing in world importance.

This excerpt from the September 24, 2011 Economist article entitledCanning’s ghost – The government is newly enamoured of Latin Americashows why:  AS IT slips down the league table of world power, it has become customary in recent years for Britain to close diplomatic outposts. So it bucks the trend that next spring the British embassy in El Salvador will reopen after an interval of nine years. Around the same time, a new consulate will open in Recife, serving Brazil’s fast developing north-east. And up to ten extra diplomats will be assigned to embassies in the capitals of some of the bigger Latin American countries. “Britain’s retreat from the region is over,” William Hague, the foreign secretary, declared in a lecture last year that signalled the new policy.

This is part of a broader effort by the coalition government to pay more attention to fast-growing emerging economies.

In the case of Latin America, Britain has been there before. George Canning, foreign secretary in the 1820s, exaggerated when he boasted “I have called the New World into existence, to redress the balance of the Old”. But Britain did play an important role in Latin America’s independence struggles, only to ignore the region for much of the 20th century—so much so that Argentina’s invasion of the Falkland Islands in 1982 came as a surprise.

After a decade of fast growth, Latin America now accounts for almost 9% of the world economy. But it is the destination for only 1.5% of British exports (down from two-fifths in 1808). And Britain supplies only 1% of the region’s imports.

The past year has seen a flurry of ministerial visits to Latin America.

This site focuses on ways of helping beat stagflation by moving to a lifestyle of lower cost living such as Ecuador… plus investing in high value and emerging countries and… high value real estate.

This is why Quito real estate makes extra sense.  Quito is the capital city of the country that is in the center of the Americas.

Imagine owning a penthouse like this in Washington DC or Paris or London.  The cost would be astronomical… yet here in this zone of expansion and growth prices are still at pennies on the dollar level.

Prices remain low compared to other capitals as this Quito penthouse shows.

The building has 4 floors and was built in 1986. This Quito apartment penthouse has…

views all around…

day and night.

The size is 140 square meters (1507 square feet).

The interior decor is Swiss.

On the first level you have: a big living room, a chimney, a kitchen and a place to put your washing and dryer machines. Also 1 master bedroom with a bathroom, dresser and two closets, plus a balcony and interior plants.

On the second level there is space for a small library or study.

This Colonial Quito penthouse also has:

* Phone line
* Cable TV
* Storage room

The building has full security and two parking spaces for the penthouse. The neighborhood is quiet, not much traffic and is secure.

The property has been renovated to reflect…

Quito’s

history and…

colonial charm.

The monthly maintenance fee is just $18.

The asking price for sale is USD $170.000.
The asking price for renting is USD $800.

Gary

We DO NOT investigate properties when they are advertised so be sure to complete your due diligence and always use an independent Ecuador attorney who represents you (not the seller) when you buy real estate in Ecuador. We also recommend that you rent before you buy and become familiar with Ecuador.

The Ecuador Living Club has a list of Ecuador attorneys who have helped subscribers to our Ecuador Living Club.

See how to get an Ecuador Living Club password here.

2013-2014 Super Thinking + Spanish – Writing to Sell Business Course Schedule

Schedule 2013-2014  Super Thinking + Spanish  – Writing to Sell Business Courses.

Here are photos I took of Mt. Dora…

Learn how to place Ecuador rental advertising

Learn how to place Ecuador real estate for sale ads

Read the Economist article  Canning’s ghost – The government is newly enamoured of Latin America

There is a Mindo cloud forest opportunity for the next .

Merri’s and my Hacienda Rosaspamba is 962 exquisite acres of Ecuador cloud forest near Mindo.

This is why I am happy to send this advertisement and a special offer for the next phase of the Aboretto cloud forest gated community near our Ecuador hacienda from Swen Lorenz who writes:.

A first-come opportunity limited to just 5 readers

The insider story set in one of Ecuador’s “secret” tourism locations,
on the brink of being discovered.

Become the neighbor (quite literally) of an international investment expert who bets his own money that Ecuador will be the next investment red hot destination ….

… and get in at a $3,500 discount (first come first served).

“Until November 15th 2010, an unbelievable 100% refund offer applies if you are not delighted with your purchase (visit by 15 Feb 2011).”

-    The project is located in a National Park that is “one of the best kept secrets in Ecuador” (Travel Monthly).

-    Managed by a developer who has a proven track record for quality.

-    The homes are approved by a US construction expert with 25 years of hands-on experience, and are built to international standards.

Dear Reader,

My name is Swen Lorenz, I am an international investor and author of two investment books. I have been writing about international investing since 2004, with published articles in more than 40 publications in 7 countries. Some of you might have come across my investment blog, www.undervalued-shares.com.

On the surface of it you would probably expect me to live in New York, London, or Hong Kong – or some other major financial capital where banks, hedge funds and investment firms keep their headquarters.

Indeed, I have lived in two of these major capitals and set up a successful fund management company in the third one. Besides that, I have spent my life traveling extensively and have been lucky enough to tick many of the world’s best-known tourist destinations off my list. The Ginza district of Tokyo, the Victoria Falls in Zambia and the amazing landscapes of Patagonia – been there, done that.

Yet, despite all the glitzy destinations that I have often frequented, I’ve lost my heart to a small country in Latin America.  Ecuador.

It’s a place that most people would have a hard time finding on a map. Certainly, this isn’t the country that your average investor would look at. Too remote, too small, and not enough available information. And how would one possibly find local people that you know you can trust to do a good job for you?

These perceptions are going to change over the coming years, driven by developments such as the new international airport in Quito, the unstoppable growth of eco tourism, and the growing affluence among Ecuador’s 12 million people. Ecuador is gradually becoming a credible and attractive place to do business in. As a matter of fact, a friend of a friend has just now started to build a new $10m hotel in Ecuador. He is so confident about Ecuador’s prospects that he is literally betting the farm on it.

The difference between how the country is still perceived by most and what I experience on the ground, couldn’t be any bigger. E.g., the outside world still believes that Ecuador is a risky country to even set foot in (let alone invest in!). Yes, there is the occasional wobbly moment, such as the recent police riot when President Correa dared to cut the pay of over-paid public servants. Yet, these instances are simply a part of a country maturing and the foreign press makes it look like a much bigger deal than it really is – the whole thing was over within a day. I have more than 15 years of experience of investing into emerging markets, and Ecuador is a safer bet than most countries that are peddled by the mainstream investment media. Gary also recently wrote an interesting piece why now is the time to buy in Ecuador.

There are many factors that make Ecuador an interesting investment location to investigate. I have invested quite heavily into the country already, but unusually, I’ve also made this particular investment area my home.

You are probably wondering how this all came about?

What took me to Ecuador?

A few years ago, I came here on holiday. And instead of lazing away on the beach, I ended up starting a school project over here. We entrepreneurs just never stop thinking!

The school was a charity project that since then has helped dozens of Ecuadorian youngsters to improve their job qualifications. We have even had a visit from the UK’s BBC TV. The education arm of the United Nations once sent a representative to inspect the school and they called it “the best such program (they have seen) in Latin America.”

Initially, because of the school project, I came back over and over again.

Every time I came back, I grew to love it more. Now I am essentially ready to not even leave anymore. I have so many friends over here, that the country truly feels like home (and that’s despite me still not being properly fluent in Spanish because it’s so easy to get through with “Spanglish”).

Having traveled the globe, I’ve found Ecuador to be one of the world’s best places to settle in. The people are amazing and quite different from other countries in Latin America (they are the friendliest I have encountered in any country). Prices for day-to-day living are low. That’s on top of the fact that real estate offers great value. And it took me just 21 minutes to get the application for my residency papers done – so Ecuador makes for an easy transition, too.

The strange thing is that few people would have even heard of Ecuador – unlike Costa Rica, Belize or Croatia – countries that were also once considered too remote and too ‘exotic’ (or risky). However property prices in these places soon spiraled upwards because of American and European investors moving in. It’s for that very reason that you can still invest in Ecuador right now for a price that is just so much more attractive than investing elsewhere.

So if you have ever wondered if it’s worth owning a piece of land in Ecuador, then keep reading. Here you’ll get the insider’s view of someone who has actually done it, using his own money, and who is savoring living the life of an expat in Ecuador. Welcome to my life.

Why you, too, should consider Ecuador

It’s a fact that Ecuador is one of the world’s most biologically diverse countries. Personally, it makes little difference to me whether a country has 100 or 1,000 different species of butterflies, birds or orchids. There is a point where you can have biodiversity coming out of your ears.

But what I do appreciate about Ecuador is:

-    Clean fresh air, with lots of birds, wildlife, and green spaces all around.

-    High standard of local and international cuisine and tasty, nutritious and diverse fruits and vegetables galore. A feast to the eye and palate, and eating healthily extends your life, too.

-    Owning a bit of land that makes you feel you have a small bit of paradise to yourself, and to do so at a price that by American or European standards is cheap.

-    The opportunity to learn a new language by simply going about everyday life and picking it up (and one day I definitely WILL be fluent!).

-    The chance to make friends from all over the world.

-    Extremely cheap labor, e.g. having a maid for $300 a month.

-    A place to set up a new business without being dragged down by silly, out-of-control regulation (and a community within the property development who can provide all manner of helpful tips – including those you can get from myself)

-    The option to build a house just how you like it, i.e. lots of useful features that blend in with the environment, but without bureaucrats telling how you have to do it.

-    Making an investment that is so attractively priced to begin with, that its value can literally only go up.

-    And the list goes on and on and on….

You know about Ecuador already, and you are looking for a specific opportunity to make an investment and (potentially) create a new life for yourself.

And this is usually, where the difficulty starts.

The stuff that glossy brochures do not tell you about

I don’t even want to imagine how many foreigners (Americans, Europeans, Australians, etc) have come to Ecuador (and other places), put down money for a piece of land or even a house – and ended up utterly disappointed, with their dreams in shatters and their money partially or completely lost.

It must not be forgotten that Ecuador is also a developing country, a place where you need to know your way around or else you’ll end up in the hands of shady operators. I know, because I have seen it happening.

As a matter of fact, in some way I have even been affected by it myself. Not because someone did a runner with my money. But the developers that I hired to build my own house ended up running into liquidity problems when the banking crisis hit.

I set up my first business when I was 15 and have never been employed in my entire life, which is why I know that too much success can also kill a company. Over-expansion at too early a stage is a killer for thousands of young ventures every year. Stretch yourself too thin, and as soon as some unexpected external event happens, you end up finding yourself in hot water financially.

There I was, having chosen a developer who:

-    Delivered the architectural plans on time and just as I had wanted them (I only had to do very minor tweaks).

-    Finished construction on time and 10% below the budgeted costs (I got money back at the end – unheard of!).

-    Created a house for me that during the first one and a half years of using it, has had only very minor problems that all got fixed as soon as I pointed them out.

And still, I had to watch this developer run into deep financial problems. These were the people that I had wanted to hire for my future real estate investments in Ecuador, and instead they faced going bust.

Luckily, in every problem also lies an opportunity.

Instead of hiring the developer for future projects, I simply bought out one of the partners, injected the necessary cash myself, and instigated a restructuring aimed at putting the company back on the road – with a view to eventually making it bigger and better than ever before, and with the ambition to turn it into the best eco home developer in all of Ecuador.

It’s because of me having stepped in to save this high quality, but cash-strapped developer from the brink, that I can today offer you an extraordinary opportunity. It’s one that I guarantee will not be repeated once the first 5 investors have signed up.

Read on if you want to find out how to be one of those 5 insider early birds.

Buy at a price from where it can virtually only go up

There are a couple of fundamental truths that I believe in when it comes to investing.

One is, that pristine nature will only ever get scarcer on this planet (therefore prices can only go up).

Secondly, tourism is the world’s largest industry and it will only keep growing. Make sure that your property investments benefit from tourism! And tying in with my first point, ideally invest into property that benefits from eco tourism. The World Tourism Organization estimates that ‘nature tourism’ is growing at 10-30 per cent growth per year. That’s much faster than any other part of the global tourism industry.

Combine increasing scarcity and increasing demand, and you get:

-    Rising capital values.

-    Great rental potential.

-    Joy of ownership (it comes thrown in as a bonus).

That’s why I took notice when I was first told some details about this particular area. It was an eye opener. Here was a place that was just destined to take off as a tourism destination.  On top of that, this particular development is set within a national park!

As the San Jose Mercury News put it into their 2 May 2010 edition:

“Mindo is an easy-access epicenter of biodiversity in northwestern Ecuador teeming with hundreds of orchid and bird species, all framed by spectacular Andean scenery in a cool, temperate climate. …. Mindo is well-known in birder circles.“

Once you look at it in detail, the Mindo opportunity immediately makes sense. This is a project that will appeal to a large audience, not just to the bird watchers who were the original pioneering tourists in this area.

-    The right mix of being remote enough to be a real get-away-from-it-all, while still being easy to access. From Quito it is only a 50-mile drive on a high quality road, with restaurants and shops along the way.

Map of Mindo and its surrounding areas.

-    Set within the Mindo-Nambillo Forest Reserve, a visually stunning protected area that has been featured on the Discovery Channel.

-    A fast growing local tourism sector. To speak of this place growing by leaps and bounds is no pipe dream, it’s already happening. That includes both Ecuadorian tourists and international visitors.

-    The number of activities available to you locally is increasing rapidly. Bird watching is what Mindo first became famous for, but it’s now becoming an eco and adventure holiday haven, with clean rivers to swim in, fresh food in restaurants where you can watch hummingbirds from your table, trails for hiking and trekking, rivers for tubing, and countryside lanes for biking. You can go horseback riding, treat yourself to some time in a Spa, visit butterfly farms, enjoy fresh trout in hosterias or go for walks to study flora such as orchids. You can also volunteer and participate in the local community; for example, one of the residents of Arboretto teaches English in the local school. Families, retirees, adventurers, writers looking for a quiet place, and anyone looking for a better lifestyle – Mindo suits many needs.

-    It’s a tucked away location that offers the opportunity to own a piece of land and build a house in a place that is quite simply a little bit like paradise on earth.

Set within this gem of an area, it is a project that is probably best described by simply showing you a couple of photos:

Arboretto Reserve Valley

And this one…

San Antonio River

And another one….

Mindo is one of the leading bird areas in the world.

Can you already picture yourself here?

This is a valley that has its own small stream running through it. To the back, there is the nature reserve (= off limits for development) of an award winning eco lodge. To the side, there is 5 km (3.5 miles) stream, the San Antonio River, which is born from the junction of several underground sources within the nature reserve (no industrial farming or agriculture to pollute its waters).  It’s a 15-minute drive from the town of Mindo, the small but growing hub for tourism in the Mindo area.

Mindo withstands a thorough investigation of the usual key facts:

-    The benign climate is virtually the same year-round; a comfortable range of 60ºF – 75ºF (15ºC – 24ºC )

-    You don’t have to fear nasty stuff like malaria. It doesn’t exist in this area because of Mindo’s altitude, which does not allow Malaria-transmitting mosquitoes to thrive.

-    There are local doctors, and for anything more serious you can easily get to first world medical services in Quito (at third world prices).

-    The authors of the Ecuador.com website put it like this: “The village of Mindo has a fairly large population and a well-developed infrastructure, including electricity, drinking water, sewerage, telephone lines and a small health center. It is a great place to spend time whilst exploring the surrounding cloud forest.”

-    Mindo offers you the chance to be creative when it comes to living your life, e.g. you could volunteer at a local school, start a workout program to get really fit, or simply pursue your hobbies while not spending more than $5 on a lunch in a local restaurant (and for $20 you can eat in a top class hotel restaurant).

Nestled in this valley is a high quality unpaved road that offers access to a total of 36 lots. The project was from the very beginning planned as a high-end eco haven, a place where foreign investors can purchase a piece of land and have a local developer take care of …

-    Maintenance of land (for those who like to own it as an investment and a potential retreat for later).

-    The construction of houses (for those who want to strike while the iron’s hot).

-    The local management of the entire project (to make sure everything remains in order for the community of owners).

When I first visited, this project was already well beyond the mere planning stage. With a road there, the construction of the first model house well underway, and meticulous planning for the all the various details drawn up, it seemed like nothing could potentially stop this project.

Nothing, except for the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the biggest banking and credit crisis of living memory!

That’s the one thing that no one had seen coming.

In early 2009, the too fast expansion caught up with this particular property developer. Work in the project slowed down, and the company needed a restructuring of its funding sources. And that’s exactly the kind of work that I like to do.

Fund raising, structuring corporate transactions and helping with turnarounds is just my area of expertise for the last decade.

E.g., back in 2008, I helped restructure a failed consumer goods company in a developing country that had also expanded too fast and ran into liquidity problems. Under my stewardship, the company reduced staff by more than 50% and cut away a lot of slack. Today, the operation is not only 4 times bigger than it was before it got into trouble, but is now on a firm footing too.

This project in Mindo simply deserved to get a fresh start, which is why I decided to step in. I simply bought into the company so as to help make things happen.

Introducing a company that is now fully equipped to help foreign investors to realize their dream

ADVENTO S.A. is the property developer behind the Mindo project. Compared to other restructuring cases that I have been involved with, ADVENTO was actually a fairly simple case. All the papers and accounts were in pristine condition. The plans for the projects were top notch. And the day-to-day management team is led by the best manager that I could possibly imagine for a company like this (more about him later). The primary issue was a lack of liquidity during the banking crisis. Demand from investors had dried up just as much as the availability of funding had also became extremely restricted. This required putting fresh capital into the company and paying off some loans and debts.

Today, newly positioned ADVENTO is in perfect shape:

-    The company does not owe any money to suppliers, clients or other outsiders. A lot of financially instable fly-by-night real estate operators faltered during the crisis. We are a solid partner, full stop.

-    I have reviewed all the plans and projects, and what little tweaking there had to be done to get the projects up to scratch, has been done.

-    We have an experienced, US based construction expert on board who advises ADVENTO using his decades worth of insights into construction.

With all this being in order, I am now more than happy to stick my neck out and personally throw my weight and name behind the Mindo project.

Here is how it will work…

Not just a piece of land, but a package for a new life (and a good investment thrown in for good measure)

We have polished the “Mindo Arboretto” project (Arboretto comes from the word “Arboretum”, or a botanical garden). We have thought of every single angle that there is to think of.

We can now offer a choice of 6 different villa models, on a choice of three types of lot.

- The lots choices are:

- Riverside view (set beside the San Antonio river).

- Canopy view (set high up in the valley so as to benefit from a view).

- Base lots set lower in the valley offer a great budget conscious choice and all that set in pristine nature.

There is not a single lot that isn’t desirable, they are simply different in what they offer and those who come in early have all the choice in the world.

The available villas range from 2 bedrooms/1 bathroom as the smallest (and most popular) option. Here are computer renderings of…

the two…

bedroom house for $97,576.

Homes range up to a…

full-fledged 4 bedrooms…

3 bathroom…

house that leaves absolutely nothing to be desired as this computer generated rendering shows.

We named our villas after local flora and fauna:

- Bromelia (Bromeliad) and Quinde (Tree Frog) are single story options.

- Helecho (Fern), Orquidea (Orchid), Colibri (Hummingbird) and Mariposa (Butterfly) have 2 storeys.

The lowest-price option is $97,576 for a 2 bedroom / 1 bathroom villa including a base lot. For quality construction set within such a professionally developed project, you’ll be hard pressed to find a comparable offer.

If you want to look at the other end of the scale, for a price of $222,311 you get the 4 bedroom / 3 bathroom Mariposa villa including a plum riverside lot.

What ever you choose, the homes provide a suitable option for most needs  – as well as great value with peace of mind quality. The interiors are…

modern and first…

class as…

well as shown in these computer generated renderings.

Additionally, all of the houses can be tweaked and customized so as to accommodate individual preferences.

On a like-for-like basis, you will be hard pressed to find such quality construction at this price in Ecuador.

These prices will be adjusted upwards, as the project consolidates with further building.

Further details can be found on the website: www.Arboretto-Mindo.com

We invite you to come to the project to see and experience for yourself.

All the other factors necessary for a successful property development are either already in place or have been planned out and will be built within the space of the coming 12 to 18 months:

- Access roads (two thirds of them are already built)

-    Electric grid (already in place for a part of the lots)

-    Hiking trails on the land of the development

-    Garbage classification facilities (for recycling)

-    Water distribution grid

-    A shared parking space

-    Public lighting

-    Landscaping of the communal areas

There even is an initial, fully furnished home that has been finished already and which anyone who wants to get a feeling for spending time in Mindo can have a closer look at. The other house-types offered will be quite distinct from this model house, so you truly are spoilt for choice – and you can get a first-hand impression of the quality of materials and craftsmanship by visiting the project’s model house.

This project is already well advanced, and our recent tweaking has turned it into a proposition that I am so convinced of, that I have bought a lot for myself. As one of my associates said when inspecting the project before I bought into the company: “How many quality developments can there be in the world that are set within a protected National Park!”

Needless to say, we have virtually everything in place already to make this work for you. I believe in efficiency, and we have already done 99% of the planning that is necessary for a seamless project. Provided of course, this kind of “haven set within pristine nature” is what you are looking for.

All the lots come with a set of covenants that are registered to the land, and that only allow for development that is in tune with the surroundings. This in turn protects those who buy into the project for its stunning features.

And to be frank, if you absolutely don’t like the overall concept of an eco community of internationally minded home-owners in a nature reserve, then please simply look else where. I am convinced of the overall concept as it stands now, and I don’t want to see brash condo buildings in an area where I believe small individual nature-respecting houses are the way forward.

There is already a clear vision in place, and it’s one that I believe will appeal to a discerning audience. Obviously, if you like inner city apartments, then Mindo Arboretto is not for you. If you don’t like Spanish-speaking countries, it’s not for you either. And if you believe that a rural community in Ecuador has to have a McDonald’s, then please for heaven’s sake stay where you are! We prefer home-made Patacones to food from chain restaurants owned by anonymous corporations.

Everyone else who has so far found this interesting, keep reading!

A clear deal with a clear deadline (and QUALITY written all over it)

Since I am putting my (carefully built) reputation on the line, I want this project to become a success for its owners and investors.

For me, Mindo is the best opportunity to propel ADVENTO (the development company) into the next league. If Mindo Arboretto goes well, ADVENTO will have the gates wide open to expand into other areas in Ecuador and become a premier provider of real estate services to a demanding foreign clientele. For you, this means that you will benefit from being part of a standard-setting development.

I’d even like to underline just how much this is thought out to be a project for a clientele that is asking for quality. A rare commodity in Ecuador.

You can easily find a dozen other projects in Ecuador that will look like a bargain on the surface.

Someone might offer you that beachfront lot for $5,000 (and a three-course lunch with French wine for $1.50), and others will promise you a full set of infrastructure for a bargain price that sounds too good to be true. But remember, if it sounds too good to be true, then it usually is (and there is a long list of failed projects in Ecuador and elsewhere in Latin and Central America).

Again, I can back these claims up with more than just words and promises. There is a tangible track record.

ADVENTO has been hired by a large investor into Ecuadorian property – to help them sort out the mess that their inexperienced local partners had caused. This is because ADVENTO has the inside view of what can go wrong. When you’re working with a company that other developers come to,  you can be confident that you’re in experienced hands. That’s why I can ensure that you won’t have to deal with the problems that so often blight other projects in Latin America.

How much will you save on maintenance costs if you don’t have the road washed away the first time you get a bit more rain than usual? Or how about tripping up on electrical cables that commonly run along the ground? That international standard of work and materials in Arboretto Mindo, ultimately increases the value of your investment and it maximizes your rental potential. In the end, spending some money on quality right at the beginning is cheaper (and a better investment) than having to deal with problems later on.

High quality infrastructure development – ranging from functioning water supply to a reliable electric grid and finishing off with communal facilities such as a pool – simply come at a certain price. ADVENTO has experience in sourcing the best value solution available on the Ecuadorian market, balancing quality and durability with price. The company researches thoroughly and negotiates tough with suppliers. But still, a quality project done with careful planning and designed to deliver what it promises, can’t be done for the price that sometimes you might see advertised elsewhere. I don’t want to mention names, but just looking at some of these offers I can tell you straight away that who ever falls for them, will end up disappointed and feeling defrauded.

Again, I have experience with this as I am myself living in a house that ADVENTO built. The house was more expensive than what I would have paid in other developments. In the meantime, I have learned just how much it increases your quality of life if you don’t have to deal with all sorts of constant problems that we in the U.S and Europe just don’t expect, but are the norm in Ecuador. In the end, spending some money on quality right at the beginning is cheaper (and a better investment) than having to deal with problems later on.

And what I offer today specifically, is this:

Take the first pick of the available base lots in Mindo Arboretto, and purchase one for $24,500 (instead of the $27,000 that they will cost after the initial launch). This price will include the costs for the deeding process. It will take approximately six weeks to get your deed delivered (in the meantime, your funds will stay in a lawyer’s escrow account). Getting the deeding done is an extra $1,000 in value. You can choose any one of the available base lots and you get $2,500 off.

And not forgetting our no risk, 100% refund offer if you are not delighted with your purchase. You have until 15th Feb 2011 to visit Arboretto-Mindo after your purchase, and if you decide it is not for you, you will receive a no-quibble refund within 2 weeks. This offer applies for purchases until and including Nov 15th 2010 only.

To give you a yet clearer idea of what exactly you can buy into, I have prepared a number of documents to be ready for you:

-    Photo Brochure about the Mindo Arboretto Project, including renderings of house types.

-    Layout of project, lot numbers and available lots (incl. prices)

-    Map of the Mindo area

-    Quick overview of the process how to buy and sell these lots, and information about the future management of the project’s communal parts.

-    An English translation of the real estate registry deed that you are going to receive.

-    An English translation of the covenants that are attached to each lot so as to make sure all lots will stay in line with the project’s overall spirit, e.g. restrictions on not being able to build more than 2 storys.

-    Purchase Form to order your lot

You might also want to check out the following two websites:

-    ADVENTO corporate website, www.advento-sa.com

-    Mindo Arboretto project website, www.arboretto-mindo.com (This website gives full details of all the lot types and villa models).

You can see how we have put a lot of effort into getting this right – not the least as I want to demonstrate that investing in Latin America does not necessarily mean having to deal with delays and problems.

None of this would be possible, by the way, without the work of ADVENTO’s general manager, Carlos Tobar. I am a little proud of having Carlos as manager, which is why I just wanted to share his CV with you:

“Carlos is a suma cum laude with an MBA from George Washington University. He worked for over 7 years at Sumitomo Corporation del Ecuador S.A., where he held the position of Business Development Manager. He also worked for over two years at Citibank N.A., where he held the position of Financial Institutions Relationship Manager and Financial Information Manager. At ADVENTO, Carlos is the Managing Director. He oversees and manages each ADVENTO development, as well as those of our partner contractors. Carlos is in charge of contracting, purchasing, controlling and implementing the different phases of the communal development, as well as communications with all lot owners.“

Carlos Tobar

In other words, he is a guy who is used to managing such tasks – and besides that, he is also an extremely friendly chap that I am sure you will enjoy working with. Besides, he speaks perfect English (and if you like, you can converse in French with him as he grew up in Geneva as the son of a diplomat).

If you have any questions left, you can simply email me (swen.lorenz@undervalued-shares.com) or our general manager in Quito (carlos.tobar@advento-sa.com).

Both of us will be happy to share our entire knowledge with you, not just about Mindo but also about all other aspects of living in Ecuador.

Speaking of which, you might be interested to hear that a good part of the infrastructure for the project is actually already in place. Most lots already have road access. The road has been built in such a way that it is protected against the run-off of rain, and the bit of the road that leads along the stream is specially protected against a river swell. As you can see, this project isn’t the kind of pipe dream that other developers are peddling. It’s already happening, and it’s all been carefully planned so that there are no nasty surprises with maintenance at a later stage.

Of course, there are some problems that we cannot solve. The bumps in the public road leading to the project. The fact that when going to Quito, you currently still have to go through the old airport. And personally, I find it terribly annoying that the news stands in Quito aren’t capable of providing a crisp copy of the Financial Times every morning.

But that’s all part of the deal. If it wasn’t like this, Ecuador would already be priced like Costa Rica or Croatia. And actually, for most of these small problems I can already see the solution on the horizon. The new airport in Quito is now on schedule for a November 2011 opening. The Financial Times is luckily enough available as a pdf version for download. And some day, the Municipality of Mindo will have the funds to upgrade the local road system – something that will in turn help them increase their tourism revenue.

By that time, land prices are likely to have risen further. That’s why I believe now is as good a time as has ever been, to gain a foothold in Ecuador. And to do so in one of the natural reserve treasures of the country, where tourism is bound to continue to grow by leaps and bounds. In a way, you will even contribute yourself to keeping this area pristine. Part of the project is a 95 acres private reserve that will stay protected for eternity, and which you as a lot owner will always have on your doorstep.

All this comes together to form a package that I believe, provides for a perfect start into a better, healthier and happier life. There is no better time to embark on a journey to such a new life than now. All you need to do, is drop us an email to get the ball rolling.

For everything else, you can count on us as your local support team.

With best wishes from Ecuador,

Swen Lorenz

P.S.: Would you like to meet me personally to discuss this opportunity? I am regularly in Quito and Guayaquil, and can often be found passing through the US and several European capitals. Feel free to drop me a note and see if our paths cross! I have a hectic schedule but I making a real effort to turn Mindo into a community of interesting and diverse people, and I always strive to make time for a coffee or for lunch with like-minded investors.

P.P.S.  There is a time limit to reserve! The $3,500 discount is available to the first five buyers who send their deposit.  This offer expires in three weeks…  November  9, 2010.

Deal not final until you come and see. You then have until February 15, 2011 to visit the project. Upon your visit by this date you can cancel the reservation for a full refund.

Special note from Gary Scott:

The global economy is entering into phase II of the biggest economic shift in the history of mankind. This evolution in trade and productivity will hugely benefit real estate in Ecuador as well as the US. See part II in a series on why here.

See the Mindo property and learn more about life in the cloud forest  at the NEW tours created by Jean Marie Butterlin.

Jan. 29-30    Mindo Exploration of Life in a Cloud Forest  ($249 or $299 for two).

See how to attend this tour and 50 more free.

Let’s share Mass Wisdom in our Saturday Q&A.

We can see the wisdom of the masses everywhere so we devote our Saturday message to comments and questions from our readers. With over 21,000 readers we have a lot to share!

At our seminars… after the lessons, we pay a lot of attention to the social get-togethers because these informal sessions help everyone add depth and experience to what they formally learn.  Here are delegates sitting round a bonfire at the wine and cheese reception at the New River Organic Winery hosted by Thomas Fischer.

This Saturday see below:

#1: Questions on forex… risk and Hong Kong dollar investments.

#2: Questions on our global investment syllabus.

#3: Questions on Guayaquil hotels and tourist attractions.

#4: Questions about the International Club and Club Ecuador.

#5: Ecuador Rose comments.

#6:  Comments on a 10 acre Ecuador organic farm on top of the mountain with avocado (four varieties), and lemons, oranges, tangerines, limes and yucca.

#7: A Blue Ridge Geography lesson. Do you know the Stone Mountains?

At our seminars (see our 2011 schedule here) we get everyone together for social occasions. Here are delegates at our last course having lunch at our house.

#1: Questions on forex… risk and Hong Kong dollar investments.

Here is the first question that came from that seminar: Dear Gary,  I am planning on relocating to Ecuador and I have been reading and enjoying your newsletters and articles for some time now. I have learned a lot from you about life in Ecuador and I’m trying to make sense of the financial information you have provided.

I am looking at opportunities for safe investments. However, I understand you when you say that there are always risks associated with any investments. If I may, I have a few questions for you and I would really appreciate and hope you have the time to reply.

1. Your October 9th letter mentioned having a small percentage of one’s porfolio in forex; what percentage do you recommend? What kind of returns can one expect from JYSKE / forex trading? What are the risks of putting all your assets with JYSKE and having them take care of the management? It is my understanding that with forex trading my original capital investment will be safe and won’t lose value as the U.S. dollar is falling.

2. Do you have any information about the German Solar company that is paying 15% interest on investments? (I read about this in International Living Magazine / seminars)

3. Is it a good idea to convert money to Hong Kong dollars and/or the Brazilian currency because it seems to hold value against the U.S. Dollar?

Reply: First… embrace risk at this time.  The seemingly safest investments now may be the riskiest. History suggests that the light at the end of the tunnel will show up in 2012 or 2013. Until then bonds considered safe provide really low returns and are at risk.

The amount of forex depends on your profile… low…medium or high risk and how much you can afford to lose or how long you can wait out a reversed position.   If you are a US resident or citizen, review this with Thomas Fischer at Jyske Global Asset Management fischer@jgam.com If you are a non US investor, contact Rene Mathys at Jyske Private Bank mathys@jbpb.dk

Re solar power and 15%. Solar power is good but a ways off.  15% this must be very risky.  Risk is not bad if the return is high enough but read my FREE report “3% Solution to determine Risk versus Risk Premium.

My report “Running Risk” shows how to earn 22% without great risk.

I view holding Hong Kong, Singapore dollars or Brazilian reals a good forex investment… when you can get a decent return… such as with Suntec REIT a real estate investment trust. This Asian company was  established with the objective of investing in income-producing real estate properties in Singapore which are used primarily for retail and office purposes.

We love the social aspect of our seminars but afterwards, we get away into peace and quiet to reflect and absorb what has been shared.  The day after our October course I hiked up to…

our labyrinth and did my meditation there.  See Buddha whom we have added behind that maple tree.

Although I was brought up as a Quaker, I like the story of Buddha because his father was a king and he possessed everything that he could want or need….but he felt that material wealth was not life’s ultimate goal…his left his life in the palace and started teaching merchants.  He traveled and taught for 45 years on how to lead a balanced life.  Whenever I finish a seminar that has had a lot of focus on money, business and profits; I like to go out into nature and remind myself that these are just by products of a good life spent in giving in service.

#2: Questions on our global investment syllabus.

Readers Question; Hello, Can you tell me what is covered in your International Business Made EZ and Intl. Investing Made EZ courses? Do you have a syllabus or outline you can send?

Also, does the price of $499 include accommodations and meals? If not, how much are those, or are they on your own?  Thanks.

My reply: Jeff,  Thanks for asking.  We have an extensive course syllabus here.

I have a good client in Germany that is bringing his family to the Galapogos over their Xmas vacation and all of the arrangements have been made thru their tour company.  Just prior to returning to Germany they want to stay two nights in Guayaquil or Bogota.  (their return flight home is out of Bogota)  I am real uneasy about Columbia and think that staying in Ecuador would be a better option from a safety standpoint.  I have two questions: 1.  Can you recommend a high-end hotel in Guayaquil?

2.  They will have a full day in Guayaquil-Are there some “must see” things while they are there?

Warm regards to you and Merri.

My Reply: In Guayaquil there is the old Oro Verde Hotel  town(our choice) and the modern Hilton by the airport.  Years ago, the Swiss built the Oro Verde and it is a premier hotel with the best breakfast in the world….and safe.  Things are better in Guayaquil than they were in the past, but caution is always advised.  I would only go to a hotel which sent a driver or shuttle to the hotel for me.

It seems that things we could do explore and do years ago are better but of course it might be best to take a driver and guide with you.

In Guayaquil a walk along the Malecon stretches for several miles along the Guayas River.  This is a beautiful boardwalk, well-patrolled day and night and features small food stands, other eateries and a blend of historic and modern buildings.

Directly north of the Malecon is Cerro Santa Ana a colorful neighborhood with shops,  restaurants and bars lining the 400+ step staircase.

Once you get to the top, you can visit a small church and lighthouse. The views of Guayaquil are excellent.

Museum Casa de la Cultura has prehistoric gold work collection belonging mostly to the ancient inhabitants of the coast. The ceremonial pots, snake-shaped bracelets, nose rings, gold pieces that were used on the lips and cheeks, elaborated pins used to fasten clothing, chest shields, ceremonial masks and earrings are interesting.

The Museo Municipal, located at the corner of Pedro Carbo and Sucre has four divisions: Archeology, History, Colonial Art and Modern Art.

However, they would enjoy Quito more and there are flights from Quito to Galapagos as well as Guayaquil.  Quito is the Heritage City of the World and offers a lot of sights and of course Colonial Quito…there I would stay only in Colonial Quito or in La Floresta…such as the Suisse Hotel or if one preferred a smaller boutique hotel, the Mansion del Angel, owned by our friends at La Mirage.  This hotel is remarkable…and Quito assures one of the views/the beauty/the heritage and is really a taste of Ecuador wheras Guayaquil is not.

I wanted to thank Jeff & Linn Neal, readers who are also Ashe County real estate brokers. They attended our October seminar and answered questions about real estate here.  Linn gave us this wonderful bouquet  of roses from her garden (enhanced by a couple of fresh Ecuador roses). She taught us a great idea. The bouquet was garnished with herbs… basil… parsley, cilantro and mint. Vision and aroma combined!

#4: Questions about the International Club and Club Ecuador.

Question: Dear Gary,  I have been researching Ecuador and following your news there for several years now. I would very much like to participate in the many courses here in the States and also in Ecuador. I feel the time is right for me to move forward with my ambitions in this regard. The International Club appears to be a great deal of a lifetime!

Could you please elaborate further. Does the club fee include the seminars/courses in Ecuador, as well as North Carolina and Florida? I am unclear on exactly what is included. I understand the air fare and accommodations are the responsible of the individual. What other costs would be incurred in the trip to Ecuador? Also, I would prefer to bring someone with me, perhaps my sister or brother. I understand that the cost to bring someone along would be free. Is this correct? I just want to make sure I am getting it all clear before I proceed. Please advise. Thank you very much!

Reply: Merri’s and my mission is to serve our readers by sharing our 42 years of global experience in ways that help them live better in these changing times.  We do this through seven areas:

#1: Investing Globally.
#2: Having an International Micro Business.
#3: Gaining From Small Town USA.
#4: Everlasting Quantum Wealth.
#5: Getting and Staying in the Zone with Quantum Thinking.
#6: Saving Fortunes and Adding Years of Energy, Good Health and Comfort with Alternative Health Ideas.
#7: Living in Ecuador.

Ecuador is just one part of what the nine seminars Merri and I conduct cover.  We personally have not conducted the Ecuador real estate, shamanic or export tours for a number of years. These Ecuador tours, which are sponsored by Jean Marie Butterlin, are not included in the International Club.

The nine seminars included for our International Club members are in the USA and they include a lot of Ecuador content provided by Jean Marie Butterlin and Bonnie Keough who conduct the Ecuador tours we advertise at our site.  They have been conducting these tours for some time…and offer superb services and experiences.

Jean Marie speaks at our seminars about Ecuador real estate. Bonnie Keogh who conducts the Ecuador export tours speaks at our seminars about Ecuador exporting and exhibits Ecuador products at our seminars… plus Merri and I share our 14+ years of Ecuador experience.

All the Ecuador tours advertised at our site are conducted by the tour company, Morya Ecuador Discovery SA, which was formed by Jean Marie Butterlin and is run by him and our former staff.

Jean Marie is offering Club Ecuador which he advertises at our Ecuador Living site.   He offers over 50 tours in the remainder of 2010 and 2011 and the fee ranges from $499 for one person to attend one tour up to $3,199 as many of the tours through 2010 and all of 2011 as you wish.

Merri’s and my International Club seminars are all conducted in the USA. They help you learn Spanish and gain experience and expertise in the other seven areas mentioned above. You can enroll here.

#5: Ecuador Rose Comments.

My Comment: Don’t forget to order your fresh Ecuador roses for the holiday. During our seminar last weekend we  shared 100 of these beautiful orange Halloween and Thaksgiving roses.

This is one of five bouquets we made from them. Order fresh Ecuador roses here.

#6:  Comments on a 10 acre Ecuador organic farm on top of the mountain avocado of four varieties, and lemons, oranges, tangerines, limes and yucca.

Ecuador Comments:  Gary and Merri, Thanks for you assistance! Your advice and website information has allowed us to purchase a small organic farm in Ecuador. There were challenges, especially since we don’t speak Spanish, but your staff and contacts kept us on the right path. Taking a step of faith to pursue and purchase out of the USA can be attributed to your website info and guidance.

We would like to thank Peggy and Lee Carper, Bonnie Keough and the staff of The Land of the Sun hotel, Roberto Moreno and Santiago Andrade- the attorneys, and many others. A special thanks to Omar Pinto who drove me around and translated for me for several days of negotiations and educated me on the culture. He and his family were the highlight of the trip!

The farm we purchased is off the beaten path in the Rio Intag area about a 2 hour public bus ride that costs $2.00 or about a 1 1/2 hour drive by a car from Otavalo. The ride is difficult but when you arrive it’s completely forgotten. There are 4 hectares, about 10 acres, on top of the mountain overlooking the village of Apuela and it faces the legendary “Face of the Intag” mountain. There are many mature fruit trees that are primarily avocado with four varieties, and lemons, oranges, tangerines, limes and yucca with over 70 trees. The caretaker has planted many herbs for medicine and teas, mints, herba luisa  and many others along with many types of vegetables. Everything is organic!

We are very appreciative of your efforts and those of your staff to provide the great information compiled on your website. Without this information we would have never taken the plunge to purchase in Ecuador. Thanks.

We love our home in the Blue Ridge… the beauty and nature. Here is a flock of turkeys we stirred up ambling yesterday through the autumnal woods. They had little fear. Oops!  Maybe  we have not been living where we thought… in the Blue Ridge. See why in the comments below.

#7: Comments on geography.

Comments: Just a quick note on geography.  We are on the eastern slope of the Stone Mountains.  The Blue Ridge is just east of us, over toward the Parkway.  Just thought you might like to know.  I’m sure it doesn’t mean much to those from far away but I like accuracy so very much.  Take care this winter on your journeys.

Be sure to send your comments & questions.

Gary

Belong to the International Club

Please join Merri and me.  Spread an epidemic of success… in health… wealth…. service to the community and personal fulfillment.   Be infected with positive purpose…. enthusiasm… fulfillment… extra income, profits and fun.

I invite you to join the International Club 2013-2014.  Save as much as $7,239 for as little as $177 a month.

As a club member you gain $7,792 of seminars, courses, online courses plus Spanish lessons and Ecuador tour discounts.

Join Merri and me  for seven courses and seminars that we’ll conduct in 2013 FREE.  Gain positive solutions to economic, financial and lifestyle developments.

Here are the courses you can attend at no cost.

June 14-15-16 Super Thinking Writer’s Camp, West Jefferson, NC.

August 31- Sept 1-2 Super Thinking Writer’s Camp West Jefferson, NC.

October 4-5-6 Super Thinking Writer’s Camp, West Jefferson, NC.

November 15-16-17 Super Thinking Writer’s Camp, Mt. Dora, Fl.

January 10-11-12, 2014 Super Thinking + Spanish, Mt. Dora, Fl.

February 14-15-16, 2014  Super Thinking Writer’s Camp, Mt. Dora Fl.

In addition members receive discounts on Ecuador farm tours and Spanish courses conducted by our Ateam Ecuador and Super Spanish teachers.  For example Super Spanish courses that are normally $699 are $175.  Ecuador real estate tours are reduced 20%.

Part of the courses we conduct are held on the New River in Ashe County, North Carolina.

New River

We’ll conduct three of the courses either at our farm or in this forest lodge.

50 delegates joined us.

The seminar in action.

After the seminar, International Club members join us at our home to talk with the speakers.

International Club members meeting in our home after a North Carolina seminar.

Four courses are in historic Mt. Dora, Florida.

Please join us this year through in Florida, and North Carolina FREE as an international club member… plus gain access to the agricultural tours and Spanish courses conducted by the Ateam Ecuador at a discount.

Super Thinking Spanish course at the historic train station in Mt. Dora.

There are many benefits of membership.

You (and a guest of your choice) can attend all eight of the seminars we have already set for 2013 plus any others we decide to conduct in the year ahead FREE.

As a club member you also receive seven online reports, courses and workshops worth $1,246 FREE.

The first of these seven online courses is “Tangled Web – How to Have an Internet Business,” normally sold at $299.

The second is our online course “Self Fulfilled – How to be a Self Publisher”, which has a $299 value. I am sending you this extra course free as I think it will help you have greater success. This is an extra $299 savings.

The third is our online course “International Business Made EZ” sold at $299.

You also receive fourth the 50 minute video by our webmaster David Cross on “How to Get Your Web Business Started”.

Your fifth course is the 50+ lesson course “How to Create your Own Website Using Sitesell” by Michelle Toole. (We are proud that this course was written by a student of our courses showing how well the 43 years of knowledge that Merri and I have accumulated and put into these programs can help you start your own global micro business.)

Sixth, you become a beta member in our newest online course “Event – Full Business – How to have a Seminar and Tour Business” currently offered at $349.

When you enroll, we’ll send you a password that makes the online courses easy to access at the Club website.  You can reserve as many seminars as you desire.

Five Positive Steps

Join Merri and me as we look at positive ways to prosper during 2013. Here are five ways to gain from the forces of change that can raise havoc with many.

#1: Having your own micro business for extra earnings, freedom, fulfillment and fun.

#2: Living and prospering in lower cost countries or small towns.

#3: Multi currency investing through US brokers and bankers abroad.

#4: Commodities that rise with inflation.

#5: Good value real estate…. especially multi dimensional and agricultural property.

We have specialized for over four decades in helping our readers excel in these five inflation beating opportunities.

The big benefits of belonging to the International Club are the power of repetition, updates and international friendships.  As a club member, you become friends with other members as you meet again and again.

Your first saving is on waived seminar fees for the seminars over the next year.

As you will see above and below you can attend Florida & North Carolina seminars.  If you attend just two of these seminars, the $1,799 membership fee will have already created a savings for you.

Yet there is more.  Much more.

International Club members meeting in West Jefferson for a reception after the North Carolina seminar.

Enough…. Enough with the Bad News.

Our 2013 mantra is BE POSITIVE in this negative world.  There is nothing as valuable as rarity but we need to remember that bad news sells. This means the mainstream media has slipped into offering information with an adrenaline rush.  Mayhem, murder and natural disasters.   These negative events will happen…. globally. We cannot do much about this.  Dwelling on insolvable negativity is not good for our health or wealth.

A recent quote from the Abraham Hicks website explains why nicely.

Continuing to tell stories of shortage only continues to contradict your desire for abundance, and you cannot have it both ways: You cannot focus upon unwanted and receive wanted. You cannot focus upon stories about money that make you feel uncomfortable and allow into your experience what makes you feel comfortable. A different story will bring different results: My thoughts are the basis for the attraction of all things that I consider to be good, which includes enough money, and health, for my comfort and joy.

Make 2013 Your Best Year Ever

What we can do is make ourselves Friendlier, More Compassionate, Happier, Stronger, More Energetic with greater intellect.  The way to start is to surround ourselves with successful, friendly, compassionate, happy, stronger, smarter, positive people who think as you do.

The International Club brings together experienced, like minded souls, who take a positive view and think outside the box… in constructive, thoughtful, doable ways.

Being in the club surrounds you with successful… positive… like minded souls.  This benefit alone is truly powerful stuff!

The courses you can attend free integrate Super Thinking with business and investing ideas and experience that enhance your health and wealth.

Focus on Ecuador & Smalltown USA & Canada

Learn how to create a BIG INCOME by thinking SMALL.   At the seminars you meet speakers who are attorneys and real estate experts for both Ecuador and small town USA.   You’ll rub shoulders with experts on global investing and pensions who can help you increase and protect your savings and pensions also how to increase the income you earn in positive ways you enjoy as you help your community.

(See a list of speakers you’ll meet at the club meetings along with other club members below).

Absorb  through  Osmosis

Merri and I are in our 45th year of organizing courses, seminars and newsletters about international and Super Thinking  lifestyles. The importance of this sharing… by like minded souls… was reinforced when a delegate from a course sent an email that said:

My Dearest Merri and Gary, Thank you for your most gracious hospitality last weekend. I am just thrilled at being a part of your group. You and Gary were exactly as I imagined you to be, warm friendly, kind, considerate, genuine, helpful, fun, sincere, what else can I say……I felt so comfortable in your presence and learned so much in your course. I was sad to leave the farm that Sunday afternoon. You made us all feel so welcome and cared about. You were so kind to make arrangements for a ride with the other delegates from the Charlotte Airport. They were so nice to me and so helpful, by the time the weekend was over I felt like they were my long lost brothers. Monday morning we all had breakfast at the airport together and I was so sad to see them go, I was sad the weekend was over, perhaps sad is not the right word for how I was feeling perhaps Gratitude is a better way to describe it. Grateful for having the opportunity to share the weekend with such wonderful, like minded Human Beings, in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina. Thank you Merri and Gary.  Thanks to you I now have new hope and a new direction to move forward in my life.  I know by attending your classes and conferences that through education and due diligence I will make the right choices.

This delegate’s comments about “belonging and feeling like a brother” to the other delegates is a wonderful refrain we have heard from our readers, year after year.

24 years ago Merri and I created a way that readers can join us to be immersed in a year-long learning program through our International Club.

The ideas behind this program began all those years ago in Vienna, Austria while we were conducting a course there.  One of our older delegates, had some sort of attack. The first fear was heart trouble. Several delegates took him to the hospital.  Others stayed with him there. I don’t think that delegate was alone for a minute!

What impressed Merri and me was that no one asked the delegates to help this man.

The friendships of delegates sharing many courses had just grown so strong that it was a natural reaction, just as if a family member was ill. Fortunately, it was only travel fatigue and the delegate didn’t miss a session of the course!

When you join our International Club 2013 you become part of a special family. The very first member to join the club all those years ago wrote, Thank you for the enjoyable and informative courses. I am pleased to be part of your international family and look forward to continuing my education at the next course.

His feeling struck a familiar chord. It has always been one of my greatest satisfactions to see how much fun delegates have getting together, sharing information and making friendships as we learn how to improve our health and increase our wealth.

The courses draw like-minded souls.  For this reason some delegates come back again and again. They come to learn, but also to be with their many friends made at the courses. When like-minded souls get together again and again to discuss a common purpose, magic happens! I can’t explain it in any other way-but it is true.

In a way our meetings are almost like family reunions. Perhaps it is getting together and reflecting on what has been said and what has been happening.

Learning with those who are also interested in the world creates thoughts that multiply the value of what we gain.  This is hard to describe but results are most powerful and wonderful!  This is to me is as important as the great financial benefit of attending many of our courses.

See the 2013 seminars in detail  below.

We started and have continued the International Club for 24 years because there are wonderful benefits from having repeat delegates at courses. Having repeat delegates makes the whole course somehow more exciting for all. Being a repeat delegate makes it easier to make and keep wealth and to lock in the knowledge you gain. It’s an exciting lifestyle. We have fun, gain adventure, discovery and friendships and share ways to improve our health and wealth!

You can see from the schedule above a very busy schedule for 2013. Very few club members actually attend every seminar.  Many  attend almost all of them!  Of course we hope you be with us for all of them, but even if you attend just two of the seminars, you gain considerable savings.

Another savings: Lifestyle for Two.

We want couples! As a member of the program, you are entitled to bring another person to every single course or tour. The cost for that extra person will be ZERO! You can bring whomever you wish. Bring your spouse, a friend, son or daughter, partner, accountant, adviser. You can bring the same person each time or a different person, whomever you choose to accompany you. (Accommodations and air fares relating to the courses are not included for members, delegates or their guests.)

The International Club fee of $1,799 is less than the price of two seminars.

I invite you to be a member of the International Club which allows you and your guest of your choice to attend all of these courses and tours.

Let’s prosper in these times of change. Won’t you join us in this exciting club and share Merri’s and my lifestyle for the next year? Join us at our farms and visit Ecuador. We look forward to seeing you at as many courses as possible and sharing this wonderful world of abundance and well being with you!

Gary

You can attend all of our seminar , courses online courses and more plus $1,246 of online value.  Club membership is $1,799. 

Become an International Club  Member $1,799 annual.

Attend as many of the courses below as you desire.

June 14-15-16   Super Thinking & Writer’s Camp West Jefferson, NC.

August 31- September 1-2 Super Thinking & Writers Camp at Merrily Farms, NC.

October 4-5-6 Super Thinking & Writer’s Camp West Jefferson, NC

November 15-16-17  Super Thinking & Writer’s Camp Mt. Dora, Florida

January 10-11-12, 2014 Super Thinking + Spanish  Mt. Dora, Florida

February 14-15-16, 2014  Super Thinking & Writer’s Camp  Mt. Dora, Florida

In additional Super Spanish courses will be scheduled in Canada, Mexico. and the US throughout the year.

(Dates subject to change).

Join us in 2013 and learn how to take advantage of the fact that the Sun Always Shines Somewhere

Yes, I want to become an International Club Member. 

Annual membership $1,799. Click  here.

Learn how to obtain discounts for subscribers at the Quito Stubel Suites & Café.

First, let me remind you to order your Fresh Ecuador roses for Halloween here.

Order orange Halloween roses here.

The Quito Stubel Suites & Cafe is located in La Florestra, one of Merri’s and my favorite parts of Quito. This is an excellent residential area filled with charming cafes and  restaurants.  The cafe has a really incredible view.

When we lived in Quito this was the area where we found to be the most desirable to live.

This hotel  has a cafe with one of the best views in Quito and..

great rooms.

Additional services are
• Jacuzzi
• Desk tables
• Exquisite beds
• Bathtubs/luxury bathrooms
• Reception  24 horas
• Sofas
• Bilingual Personnel
• Left Baggage Arrangements
• Free Internet
• Business Center
• Sauna & Massage Room
• Gymnasium

• Meeting Room

The hotel has  25 rooms, including 7 suites, 4 of the suites have the valley view.  Personal Airport pickup for $9.

Deluxe Single
$115
$55  Special rate for Ecuador Living Readers

Deluxe Doubles
$125
$65  Special rate for Ecuador Living Readers

Premium Single
$130
$60  Special rate for Ecuador Living Readers

Premium Double
$140
$70  Special rate for Ecuador Living Readers

Suite Single
$155
$80  Special rate for Ecuador Living Readers

Suite Double
$165
$90   Special rate for Ecuador Living Readers

Ecuador Living subscribers receive a discount of almost 50%. (rates do not include 22% Ecuadorian tax).

See how to subscribe here.

See October – November and December 2010 Ecuador tours here.

Ecuador Multi Course Adventure

Ecuador multi course tours can help you save.

Ecuador real estate tours are the most efficient way to learn about Ecuador’s real estate market.

These tours help you the maximum number of properties in the shortest period of time.

These tours offer the following benefits:

You save time. When your time is limited, you cannot afford to wait or worse miss seeing properties because sellers are no show or you cannot find a location. We review the properties you will see in advance.  We schedule the most efficient way to travel…from each property to the next.  We double (and triple) check that the seller will be at the property!  We check again by cell phone even while we are on the tour.  This saves a lot of time as Ecuador sellers have a non show reputation.

Frequently, sellers get busy and forget to show up or arrive hours late.

Plus with our multi lingual tour guides…you do not get lost!

You Save Money! The real estate tours have taken thousands of delegates to see Ecuador real estate over the past decade. We know what prices are being asked for real estate throughout Ecuador and can help tour delegates avoid overpriced property.

You gain hotel discounts and savings on guide and taxi fares during the tour. This savings alone is often worth more than the cost of the tour.

Sellers know our reputation for bringing buyers to Ecuador and that we do not charge commission so they often give our tour delegates discounts which we help negotiate for you.

You Gain Safety. Our tour guides know which areas are to be avoided.  They know which restaurants would make you ill. Plus we maintain a list of English speaking Ecuador attorneys who have successfully helped many delegates buy real estate.

To arrange an adventure fit to your schedule contact Gary Scott Gary@garyascott.com

See October – November and December 2010 Ecuador tours here.

Here is an Ecuador First class home for sale.  One of the most stunning communities … not just in Ecuador… but anywhere in the world and at prices most can afford… less than $91,105.

Economic conditions make it hard to earn safe income from savings now. Those on pensions and fixed income are squeezed. Everyone has increased risk. One way to resolve this problem is to live where costs are lower.

Ecuador is a safe country where prices are still low. You can own a nice home for $49,000 or go first class and live in paradise for less than $100,000.  $91,105 to be exact.

For those who want country living near a major city Pakakuna Gardens may be one of best places there is to retire.

If you are looking to live paradise, near a big city but amidst acres of private gardens then you should investigate Pakakuna Gardens on the outskirts of Quito, Ecuador.

This is as close as it gets to heaven on earth!

Pakakuna Gardens sits in nearly 75 acres of garden protected on 3 sides by deep canyons that offer stunning views.

Life here is the best of country living yet Quito is less than an hour’s drive and going to the new Quito International Airport takes only 20 minutes.

Claus Egger a Swiss national, moved to this this 74 + acres  28 years ago and decided to spend his days creating a paradise.  Now, at age 73, he has created a foundation to share this special landscape with 187 other families.

When Egger first moved to Ecuador, he asked an architect student in his final year of studies to build the first house in Pakakuna. This student was Patricio Falconi, who became one the top five architects in Ecuador.

This…

was the…

result.

When Claus decided to share this paradise, he turned to his old friend, Falconi.  Since Patrico had built his dream house would he draw plans and be the builder responsible for overseeing the project.

This is history and Pakauna is now well under way with six houses in various stages of construction.

Claus is also building a new house for Claus as he transformed the original structure into the community Clubhouse so new buyers would be able to see and use the clubhouse immediately.

In the US, even with the recession prices for a community of this nature would be beyond reach!

Yet Pakakuna houses cost as little as $137 a square foot including land!  The price is  $87 a square foot for construction and $50 per square foot for  land, amenities and gardens.

As you would expect in a commuity of the highest degree, each house in Pakukuna differs. Patricio Falconi  has many designs available ranging from a 700 square foot one bedroom home  at $95,900 to three bedroom houses with 1500 square feet. In a moment you’ll see how to gain a $4,795 discount on the 700 square foot model.

This is an opportunity to enjoy the really finest lifestyle at a price one can easily afford.  Less than $96,000 but Falconi’s quality…

of construction and…

style is…

unbeatable.

Homeowner fees are attainable as well. Monthly fees are only $300 to support the entire 45 acres that are included in the project. The construction time to build a house is 10 months.

Here are some shots of the gardens.

Amenities available to the residents include:

- 24/7 security

- Cars stay outside in a private parking; inside golf carts are available

In Club House

- Audio and video room
- Billiards
- Internet room
- Sauna (hot humid and infra red)
- Gym

Outside

- Outside pool with jacuzzi as well as covered pool
- Pool for kids
- Tennis courts, volley ball court, basket court
- putting green
- minigolf

Medical

- 24 hour médical facility
- On site geriatric and regular doctors
- Physiotherapy
- Alternative médical doctor
- Spa activities with massage therapist, Hair dresser, and facials etc.
- Solarium
- Pharmacy
- 24h ambulance on site

Food

- Gourmet restaurant
- Cafeteria
- Bread and pastry bakery
- Mini organic market

Other Facilities

- 15 room hotel for guests
- shuttle service to Quito or airport
- House Cleaning, Laundry, etc..
- Individual internet, satellite TV and telephone connection

Pakauna will be included in the October, November and December real estate tours conducted by Jean Marie Butterlin.

Because we nor Jean Marie Butterlin who conducts the tours do not take any commissions, we have negotiated a 2% discount for all Ecuadorliving subscribers and delegates on the real estate tours tours.  There is also an additional 3% cash discount.

This can bring the $95,900 price on a 700 square foot home down to $91,905.

Learn about international investing business and Ecuador at our October 7 to 11 North Carolina seminar.

See Pakakuna Gardens website here.

Gary

Quito Ecuador Real Estate Tour

Quito Ecuador Real Estate Tour