b'How to Legally Raise Private Moneyas carried interest). Compensate yourself for obtaining the knowledge and showing the persistence it took to make the investment opportunity available to investors. YOUR COMPETITION FOR INVESTOR DOLLARSYourcompetitionforinvestormoneyisWallStreetandtraditional stocks and bonds or publicly traded companies. The best way to sway in-vestors from traditional investing is to educate them on alternative pri-vate and/or local opportunities. A recent survey 1found that 10% to 15% of ultra-high-net-worth inves-tors (those worth more than $25 million) are looking for tax-advantaged investments, and 30% to 40% have or are seeking alternative investments to Wall Street. Once you teach your prospects about how private invest-ing works and give them an attractive alternative that provides the advan-tages they are looking for, theyll be interested in what you have to offer. There are many investors who dont trust the stock market, or who have previously trusted the stock market only to lose some of their hard-earned dollars in an economic downturn. Even die-hard Wall Street in-vestors may want diversity in their portfolios. Additionally, who doesnt want to feel like they have some level of control over their investments? Who wouldnt feel good about investing in their local community? These are the investors who will benefit from your investment opportunities. This level of control is a significant but often overlooked advantage that investors wont find in a publicly traded company. When was the last time Apple executives asked you to participate in a meeting where they dis-cussed their business plan for the next year? DISTINGUISH YOUR COMPANYWhat sets you apart from the crowd? What makes your company unique over others in the same type of business? Figure this out and market it effectively. In addition to generating income for yourself and making a profit for your investors, your company could provide a benefit to your 1The Spectrem Group is a research and consulting firm to the wealth and retirement industry; http://www.millionairecorner.com. 12'