Living Bueno

 I've been debating jumping into the Phoenix area real estate market as of late as it seems things there are bottoming out. While I don't think that we are going to see huge gains anytime soon as far as values go. There is some low hanging fruit in the East Valley in Arizona and buyers are starting to see the value. As far as cash flow goes, the rent rates are very high in comparison to values offering investors a nice return on their investment.

These high ROI's and Low Capital requirements to purchase seem to be righting the ship. However here in The Pacific Northwest, it seems that we still have a ways to fall. Take a look at these charts courtesy of Zillow.com, comparing the two areas. Despite the obvious things like trading 300 days of cluds for 300 days of sunshine, these numbers have gotten too far out of hand for me not to head down. It is clear that a shift has taken place and the Values have fallen more than necessary in the Phoenix area. That being said it also seems that things in the Seattle area may be heading in the opposite direction. I for one think heading south might be a good idea.

 First here is the Desert View Neighborhood where I've lived in the past and fell in love with a few years ago.

Desert View Recently Sold Homes

Desert View Recently Sold Homes

 And now for the Lynnwood area where I'm currently living

Lynnwood Recently Sold Homes

Lynnwood Recently Sold Homes

 By- Rick A. Griffith

Today marks the first half year that LivingBueno.com has been in existence. I started this website in late October 2009, seeing the shift in the way things are being done in the world of business. It became clear that huge changes were taking place and the jobs that many young people are entering today have no hope of even existing in the future. 

It's also becoming clear that the old school ways businesses are run have become primitive and ineffective when compared to new practices that are gaining popularity.

This site was created in essence to open the eyes of my readers, showing them a new perspective and giving them new ideas on how to seek their happiness. In my personal life, this blog has kept me true to my own beliefs holding me accountable to practice what I preach. I have traveled through South America, enjoying my own Mini-retirement in Buenos Aires, Argentina for 2 and a hal months. This was the best experience of my life to date. I know however, even better things lie on the horizon.

Should you follow this site? Yes.

Why you ask?

While I love writing funny travel stories, making videos with chipmunk voices and providing lifestyle challenges, I'm placing a renewed focus on business and the Web 2.0 movement.

There is another gold rush currently taking place that many people are still ignorant too. The Web 2.0 movement is revolutionizing the way people communicate with each other and breaking down the borders of the world.

Here are some everyday aspects we now enjoy that just 15 years ago sounded absolutely crazy:

• We can now learn a language from native speakers living thousands of miles away who are available at the click of a button. We can make free video phone calls from any place on the globe with an internet connection to our homes. Yes, free!
• I won't go into all the capabilities of the Iphone and the apps that have made our lives easier, they are too plentiful. But here's a quick example. Using Foursquare or Gowalla, users can "check in" from different locations such as bars or restaurants in real time, letting their friends know how the place is on that night and if they should come out or not. Not only is this cool info is now at our fingertips, but also some of the new apps that utilize this technology are real game changers. Restaurant reviews, specials of the day, and even what the female to male ratio that is there (one of my favorite way in determining the bar we head too).
  
• Through new free blogging platforms such as Tumblr, Blogger, Wordpress, Posterous The blogosphere has exploded in recent years. The amount of people who read blogs daily and write their own continues to increase each year exponentially. Not to mention the mind blowing statistics found in the 2009 State of the blogosphere by Technorati.

Here are two of my favorite statistics from the post-

* More than 133,000,000 blogs have been indexed by Technorati since 2002
* 77% of Internet users read blogs according to Universal McCann

There is a clear shift taking place in the way that people are communicating and business is becoming virtual and international because of this. Reaching new potential customers is becoming much easier and expanding one's thinking is a must to survive in the future.

My point is this, a new message needs to be spread. Life is becoming easier for people to work from anywhere on the planet via the internet. We can now travel, enjoy our lives and work less. Learning to live with less, work more effectively, and transition our businesses from running  hectically to running seemlessly is the new model that must be followed. 

It's time that we stop making things so damn hard on ourselves everyday and simplify things. Life a better life through eliminating un productive busy work.

I'm starting a 5 part series next week that will show you exactly how to accomplish this. Mouse to your right and click the subscribe button and follow along. This just might make you life and business run a whole lot smoother.



It is amazing how this one thing can have such an effect on how we live our everyday lives. While it seems these days everyone is trying to figure out how to make quick money, very few people seem to actually have success in doing so.

So why can some people enjoy success in making lots of money in abstract ways, while others suffer to make any?

It seems to boil down to a few things:

• Passion- There is no question that a strong will and desire to succeed is the number one asset in building wealth. Loving what you do and putting all that you have into it provides much better results than simply slaving away and not enjoying yourself in your endeavor. Passion enables you to be more creative and helps you to always put out your best work, enjoying the sense of pride that comes with doing what you love.
• Knowledge- Clearly a never ending thirst for knowledge is a key component to being successful in any industry. If you plan on winning in your industry, you must know the ins and outs well and be able to create something that sets you apart from your competition. Today more than ever, business and how its being done is changing quicker than ever. being ahead of the curve and knowing what's coming is essential. It seems many of the most successful CEO's never stop learning and adapting to their industries. The quest for knowledge should be never ending for any entrepreneur, this is what keeps your business up with changing times.
• Action- More important that knowledge is action. There are millions of smart people out there who posess a passion and immense base of knowledge on a topic and yet will never take the nessesary action to pursue their dream. This is what seperates the dreamers from the doers. Everyone seems to have a great idea on hw to make money from home or make money on the internet and yet percentage wise, very few people are successful in making these things happen.

These three components are key in enjoying success in your entrepreneurial venture. If you want the money, the cars the clothes and the, well you get the idea... You must posses all three of these things and have a relentlessness in your pursuit.  

While money isn't everything, it isn't nothing either. We all grind it out each day to earn more money, not just to have bigger numbers on an ATM receipt, but because we know what having that money can provide us with. More time, more freedom and more happiness.

My message is this: Put in the time, Learn everything you can, Make sure your passionate about what your doing and take action as often as possible. Doing so will hugely improve your chances of seeing success!

There are over 100 people crowded around in a half circle in Plaza Armenia in the Palermo Viejo neighborhood of Buenos Aires. They are drinking beer and wine and grabbing slices of pizza, discussing their ascent too the ruins at Machu Picchu, the beauty of Igauzu falls and  the amazing Bolivian salt flats. It is an international melting pot, drunken 20 and 30 something’s from all around the world meeting at the corner of Armenia and Costa Rica street to head out to 4 different drinking venues as one massive group.

This isn’t just a random party that came together perfectly, in fact it is much the opposite. Every Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday you can find similar groups making their way through the streets on the way to their next watering hole. The drunken debauchery is kept in control by 10 or so Pub Crawl employees rounding the herds of travelers and locals up and making sure there is no pub crawler left behind.

As with many good business ideas, this intriguing business was born out of spotting a need and providing a solution. After traveling in Buenos Aires and falling in love with the city, two entrepreneurs and fraternity brothers from Georgia, came to the realization that there wasn’t a pub crawl yet in the city of Buenos Aires and yet there we’re thousands and travelers, expats and locals who would enjoy having one.“ We thought they need this, they don’t know they need it, but they do.” Roger explained.  After 2 months of preparation Dustin and Roger  held their first Pub Crawl in November of 2007.

Through necessity, they soon learned that business here in Buenos Aires was based on relationships, more than anything else. Building trust with local businesses have been one of their greatest assets. “Being on time, ethical, and forming great relationships with customers, bars, restaurants and clubs really set us apart” Roger said in our interview last month. This method has served them quite well as their business has blossomed into a mainstay in the Buenos Aires night scene.

The pub crawl is especially popular among tourists coming into town who are looking to party with fellow travelers from around the world, however they are looking to attract the local 'Porteno' crowd as well. “We want to be known for throwing the best parties in Buenos Aires. We are known for the pub crawls and having a strong contingent of travelers, but we want to provide the same awesome events for the locals as well.” Dustin told me.

More and more locals seem to be catching on and the pub crawls continue to expand in size. Utilizing Facebook as a means of promoting their events has brought them to the next level. During each pub crawl along with the employees, a photographer accompanies the group snapping hundreds of photos of the nights festivities. The following day the photos will be posted on facebook, enabling the crawlers to tag themselves in the photos and share their experiences with their friends. An awesome feature providing the customers memories and the company a nice way of marketing.

Clearly these two business savvy guys have a bright future ahead. Already up and running strong, is a second Pub Crawl in Santiago, Chile. When asked about their future plans they remained mum on the details, but hinted that further expansion was definitely in the cards. An excellent business model that can be replicated in other locations along the tourist trail in South America, things seem to be looking up in the near future.

The Annual St. Patrick's day Pub crawl, yes it was awesome.

Just launched was the all new pub crawl targeted toward the Gay community “out and about”. They are clearly not shy to put new ideas into action, something that has already paid big dividends for them. Wanting to make an impact and do something for the devastated residents in Haiti after the horrific earthquake in January, the BA Pub Crawl team sprang to action, pooling their resources and connections together to host “Kick it for Haiti” a soccer tournament to raise money for the effected victims. They had a successful event and drew hundresds of people to help support the cause.

Innovation, follow through, building strong business relationships and giving something back, these things have set this company apart and helped them build this improbable business. It is no wonder why these expat idealists have built a successful venture.

Personally I have been on the pub crawl a few times and it has never failed to impress. You can’t beat free beer for an hour and a free shot at each bar. The staff is awesome and friendly, like some guys I’d hang out with back home. I don’t usually talk people up without pointing out the negatives here, but the truth is these guys run a tight ship and do things right. With the Pub Crawl, your always a VIP and you always got friends in a foreign city. If you visit Buenos Aires or Santiago, it’s no doubt a must see. In fact, I’m leaving town this weekend and guess where I’m going tonight. Yup, the Palermo crawl, there just no better way to party.


I recently had the chance to chat with Derek Charlebois bodybuilding expert and Scivation representative. Scivation is one of the most respected and reputable supplement companies in the business. To learn more visit their website http://www.scivation.com

By- Rick Griffith

Question 1 (Rick Griffith)
Derek, you started off as a skinny kid and have built yourself into a "Beast". What kind of discipline and sacrifices have you had to make in order to accomplish this?

Derek Charlebois: I really don’t think I have made many sacrifices, but have definitely had to be disciplined over the years. All throughout college I carried a small cooler with all my meals in it with me every day. I usually cooked about three days worth of food at one time then packed up my meals for those three days. During this time, I was also waking up at 5 AM to head to the gym before my classes. I woke up early to go to the gym because it ensured I would not miss my workout due to other responsibilities and it also allowed me to have the entire evening to do my homework and study.  Having a set schedule allowed me to not only get all my workouts in but also have enough time to study, work, and have some fun.

Question 2 (RG)
You work for Scivation a supplement company run by Marc Lobliner and one that is very respected as a company who practices what it preaches. How hard has it been to balance working long hours while still training so hard and maintaining a champion caliber physique?

DC: Honestly not hard at all. I have never viewed working out as a chore and actually look forward to hitting the gym. For me, my workouts have always been a time where I did not have to stress about anything. If I was mad when I entered the gym, by the time I left the gym I felt great. If I was stressed out due to studying I could put my headphones on, get into the zone and all that stress disappeared. I workout because I enjoy the challenge of pushing myself each and every workout and look forward to my time in the gym each day. Working for Scivation makes it easy to get all my workouts in because if I was missing workouts Marc would start ordering me to do them!

Question 3 (RG)
When was it that you realized that this was what you were passionate about and decided to follow your dream?

DC: I really got into bodybuilding when I was 16 years old. At that time I was doing self-study of exercise physiology, biochemistry, nutrition, and reading anything I could about weight training. I have always been intrigued with how the human body works and when I learned that you could study exercise science in college I knew that is what I wanted to study. Things worked out well for me because I started working part time for Scivation while I was still in college and would begin working full time for Scivation when I graduated college.

Question 4 (RG)
Now I'm sure like all other companies you guys have felt some effect from the economy being in the tank. Yet I've seen you reaching out to thousands of people online in the forums, founding ideas like Team Scivation. You seem to understand the need to expand your business through social networking online and creating a real connection with your customers. Has this had a positive effect on your business?

DC: Our number one goal at Scivation is to help our consumers reach their goals. As you know, nutritional supplements are only one piece of the fitness puzzle. So instead of simply offering consumers awesome supplements we also offer them free diet and training programs through Team Scivation. In addition anytime one of our consumers has an issue, we work to correct the issue as soon as possible. Scivation’s consumer service and what we give back to people separates us from other companies and the consumers respect this and support us.

Question 5 (RG)
Who is someone who has been a role model to you growing up and what was one important lesson they helped teach you?

DC: Growing up as a kid my older sister was an academic role model for me. She always got straight A’s and was the Valedictorian of her high school class. She showed me the importance of taking school seriously and doing well. I followed her lead and graduated high school as the Valedictorian of my class with a 4.0 career grade point average (Yes I was a bit of a nerd, but I was a cool nerd!). I was able to get in my first choice college and study exercise science.

Question 6 (RG)
Any Shows in the near future for you?

DC: As of right now I am not sure. I have been battling a lower back injury for three years now, which has hindered my progress. My lower back is finally getting to the point where it is not an issue, but I still have to be very careful during my workouts and prioritize stretching to stay injury free. I do not feel like I am at my best right now and really would like a SOLID year of injury free training before I compete again. On the other hand I have not done a contest prep in a long time and kind of have the urge to get shredded. When I make up my mind I will let you know.

Question 7 (RG)
Could you take Lando in a fight?

DC: We actually have a company cage fighting championship set up for later this year, so I guess we will wait and see!



This company cage match could get pretty ugly, these guys are huge!