In the early '90s, my first job out of law school had me selling legal research at Westlaw, where I was trained by Mike Bosworth, a solutions selling expert. He taught me that a good salesperson needs to have two important characteristics: empathy and ego.

Related: 7 Key Selling Habits All Sales Professionals Must Develop

I believe that this approach is outdated, as ego and empathy are related in my view, and this formula certainly needs to be upgraded. There's another important factor to be added that Bosworth did not consider when it comes to achievement in business: time.

There are two things that often get in our way when it comes to sales, business, or life: our perception of self (our ego) and our perception of time.

The ego has

Private equity investment funds have made many people and institutional investors billions. However, structural issues prevent all parties from experiencing the full benefits of this powerful investment vehicle.

Real estate investment has proven inaccessible to many investors across the marketplace. It has required massive initial buy-ins and/or intimate market knowledge for profitable participation.

Historically, private equity funds have been a reliable and steady source of income for investors and fund managers. Unlike public companies, a limited number of in-the-know partners hold private equity. Shares can’t be bought and sold on the stock market. Now, this is where shareholder governance and reporting are significantly easier. Unlike venture capital, private equity ...

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) brings big tax changes to the real estate sector, the likes of which haven't been seen since the Tax Reform Act of 1986.

Fortunately, the impact on real estate businesses should be mostly positive. That said, there are some crucial changes that business owners and entrepreneurs in the real estate sector should look out for moving forward.

Related: The New Tax Law Has Made It a Great Time to Invest in Real Estate. Here's How to Get the Most From Your Investment.

You have probably heard about the 40 percent reduction in the corporate tax rate to 21 percent under the TCJA. However, if you operate as a sole proprietor, or i

Like most reality shows, Undercover Billionaire has a seriously catchy premise: Give an uber-successful businessperson precious little capital, drop him (or her) off in an unfamiliar city, and see whether this individual can whip up a successful business idea in 90 days. Does our hero (or heroine) make a million bucks or fail miserably? Which of three factors -- desire, old-fashioned hard work or luck -- plays the biggest role in realizing the American dream?

It’s not a novel concept given the rags-to-riches stories of everyone from chocolate magnate Milton S. Hershey to media queen Oprah Winfrey. What makes Undercover Billionaire different is the abbreviated time frame. Three months isn’t exactly a practical allotment for building a profitable organization.

Today I am a successful entrepreneur, but I started my business begrudgingly. Two years ago, I was forced to start my own company. Forced?

Yes, forced.

In 2016, I had a great job handling public relations for a technology company in San Diego. I’d been with the company for about five years and built out the entire PR infrastructure. We were crushing it. We had established ourselves as leaders in our community, and we were winning awards and earning top-tier media attention on a regular basis. Case in point: we made Entrepreneur’s “Top Company Culture” list two years in a row.

I was confident in my value to the organization, and I knew I was good at my job. So my heart didn’t sink when the CRO called me into a meeting. We talked at least 10 times a day. As he explained that the company needed ...

Wouldn't it be great to earn money while you're relaxing on the beach?

Related: 17 Passive Income Ideas for Automating Your Cash Flow

Few concepts are more appealing than passive income. After all, what could be better than making money without having to do any work? When you read headlines that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos currently earns over $230,000 per second, it's only natural to start wondering how you too can earn money when you're not working.

Even if you don't generate as much passive income as Bezo

There’s much to learn from one of today’s most highly acclaimed film directors, George Lucas. While both an entrepreneur and a film director, Lucas has contributed some of the world’s greatest, most successful movies ever, like Star Wars and Indiana Jones.

Related: 11 Inspirational Quotes from Gary Vaynerchuk to Help You Become the Best Version of Yourself

After graduating from the University of Southern California, Lucas followed his dreams of becoming a filmmaker, ultimately launching Lucasfilm and releasing his first breakout movie,

If ever you’re in need of some inspiration, a surefire way to help light the fire is to get into the mindset of someone who is poised to make a big leap, like college graduates about to step off their campuses and into the real world. Here are just a few of the innovators, creators and leaders that have imparted hard-won knowledge on to the next generation.

What do you do when you get married, buy your first house and then doctors tell you that you have six months to live? 

You start an ice cream company, of course.

Related: 50 Inspirational Quotes to Motivate You

Prior to my diagnosis, I had a successful career in the food-and-beverage and consumer-goods industries, including long stints at PowerBar, Pepsi and Saucony. But around 2013 I started feeling restless. I wanted something new -- something to call my own. But what?

I thought back to my college days. I used to drive a Good Humor truck. I loved it. Not only did it help pay for school, but I remembered the pure joy in people’s faces when I

A privacy policy is meant to be a contract between you and a company -- big tech companies in particular -- that ensures these companies are keeping your data safe. One company that has an enormous amount of your data -- from email and photos to videos and documents -- is Google.

The Google Privacy Policy has been "updated" 28 times since its inception in 1999 -- including three times in 2017 alone. The most was five times in the year 2015. And to its credit, Google makes all the updates and changes pretty obvious.

But this stuff can and will change to suit Google, or to suit new laws and regulations Google has to follow. For example, in the European Union and elsewhere on May 25, 2018, Google and others will have to deal with the General Data Protection Regulation, or GD

Many of us have thousands of photos and videos on our phones, and although it’s so easy to take them, it’s less clear how to keep them organized and transfer them to other devices.

In the age of cloud computing and artificial intelligence, you don’t need a cord to backup your photos. You don’t even need to be near your computer. And you certainly shouldn’t be emailing them or messaging them to yourself. There are simpler, more streamlined alternatives, such as Google Photos.

Related:  20 Surprising Things You Can Do With Google Search

Most people don’t wake up ready to start the day like Snow White singing to her helpful little birds. Most days you get caught up in the hustle and bustle and have to push through, and then, there are the bad days when you’re just not feeling it.

The alarm goes off late. Your forehead is pounding, and your body feels like a semi-truck has hit it. Your computer crashes and destroys your assignment hours before the deadline. Your supervisor has taken micromanagement to the next level. You have to work through lunch, and it’s not even the afternoon yet.

Everyone has one of those days. You may feel like it’s your fault, but it’s not. Most of the time, these stressful situations are outside of your control, but you can monitor, accept and reset your reactions. To get started, try these five tips ...