Ch.15 SEVEN SLOWLANE DANGERS 3) THE DANGER OF YOUR HOME Home equity is lauded as a middle-class wealth vehicle. Many gurus shout from the rooftops, "Retire on your home equity!" and "Your home is an asset!" Capital BS. The Slowlane HOPES that real estate values always rise, and it's patently false. In 2008, the value of my home equity plummeted by $800,000. I disavow my home as an investment, and thankfully, I do not rely on it.

Ch.44 summary • Tekel Syndrome sufferers are polygamist opportunists who opportunity-hop. • A weak business commitment commits you to weak assets. Weak assets do not accelerate wealth. • The most successful entrepreneurs lived and breathed their business with 100% commitment. • Successful business monogamy can lead to successful business polygamy, a diversification into many passionate interests and investments. • Save the "I have ten businesses" until after you sell one company for millions.

Ch.44 The Tekel Syndrome is a compulsion to scatter your focus across different projects and opportunities. It's also a symptom of money chasing versus need filling. You become a polygamist-opportunist when you invest your time in five other businesses. The idea is to toss as much shit on the wall as possible because something's gotta stick. Something's gotta make me some money! A scattered focus leads to scattered results.

Ch.43 summary • Consumers are selfishly motivated. Always target your messages toward the predisposition of "What's in it for me?" • Features are translated to benefits when you switch positions from producer to consumer, identify the feature's advantages, and extrapolate those advantages into a specific result. • A cheap and a premium price are value skews, implicitly conveying value and worth. • Don't allow your own perception of price to tarnish your brand to mediocrity.

Ch.43 summary • Polarization is a tremendous tool if your product targets a polarized audience-usually politics, minority opinions, and even sports teams. • Sex sells and always draws eyeballs. (But it can tarnish your brand image.) • Consumers make buying decisions based on emotions before practicality. • Il you can arouse audience emotions, convincing customers to buy is easier. • People like talking about themselves. You will have better success if you can incorporate interaction or "try before you buy" into your campaigns. • To be unconventional means to isolate and identify what is conventional, then do the opposite, or interrupt that convention.