Where I Invested: Part 1

Lately, friends have been asking me : where did you/do you put your money?

As if I have tons of them.

But I guess, it is when you do not have cash overflowing from your vault that one has to make sure he invests wisely.

I believe I have.

I made three good investments:

First, professional training.

Second, real property.

Third, friends.

Now, about my investments on professional training.

From 1996 to 1999, I was vice president of a major telecommunications company. I enjoyed good pay. Result: I had big savings.

Where did my savings go? I could have kept them in time deposits at the miserably low rates that stable banks offered. So, I decided to put them to better use: international training.

With my savings, I faithfully attended the annual conferences and workshops conducted in the United States by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) of which I was one of a handful of Filipino members.

PRSA expanded my understanding of public relations management, crisis communications, speech writing, building and managing brands, protecting corporate and personal reputation, handling political campaigns.

In 2004, I made money from a political campaign project. So, I made a major investment in another international training: I went to New York to be mentored by syndicated US TV host TJ Walker on managing media appearances.

Did the investments on international training pay off?

Of course. I must have spent over a million pesos on these training. But I have already recovered them.

How?

Here's how.

The international training did the following for me:

1.Raised my professional abilities to world-class standards
2. Gave me oozing confidence to deal with international organizations and personalities
3.Widened my understanding of my profession and of the needs of people

Did I get my money back? Was there a clear return on investments (ROI)?

Of course.

As a result of what the training has done for me, I attracted choice international and local clients. Among them were two giant American firms with operations in the Philippines, and three British firms . Add to that many more companies from the Philippines top 500 corporations, major government agencies and the many workshops I have conducted.

What is the ROI rate? Maybe, 1,000 percent? I can't say for sure. But I am certain the money has come back to my wallet a thousand-fold or even more.

Add to that the many people and companies whose goodwill I have won and who keep referring me to other potential clients.

Yes, training has been one good investment for me.

Today, I am sharing the blessing with my countrymen. Through my workshops, they benefit from the same world-class standards minus the world-class costs in dollars.

This way, my friends can keep more of their money in the bank and draw only enough for the workshop fee. But they get the same benefit. Probably, even more.

Next blog: how I invested in real property.