Why does this show – Self Directed Investor Radio – even exist, and why is it strategically wise for you to be a listener?  Today I open up about my motivations for doing this show… and my friends, it’s all about YOU.  I’m Bryan Ellis.  Listen in right now to discover whether I really know who YOU are, or not!  This is Special Episode #160.----Hello SDI Nation!  Welcome to the podcast of record for savvy self-directed investors like YOU!It’s another beautiful Monday morning, and I’m SO GLAD to have another day on planet earth and another 7 minutes to spend with you!Let’s cut straight to the heart of the matter, shall we?This show is designed to serve the unique needs of the affluent self-directed investor.  What does that really mean… who is this show really for?First, you must have an interest in growing your financial portfolio.  In other words, you must be an investor.  Second, is “Self Directed”.  While you might have a financial advisor and a conventional portfolio of stocks and mutual funds, chances are good that you are strongly inclined to shift AWAY from Wall Street and it’s retail investments.  And third, you must actually have sufficient capital to make those investments, which requires a degree of financial affluence.Now if any of these don’t apply to you, you’re still welcomed to listen to this show as an aspirational exercise.  But if all three of those things describe you – you’re an affluent self-directed investor, then you are precisely who we here at Self Directed Investor Society exist to serve.A little background.  Most of you who are listeners to this show don’t know that this show isn’t the only thing I do.  Empirically, this show isn’t even the biggest thing I do – even though this show has been wildly successful from day 1 – and I thank you for that.  And by the way, I suspect this show will be the biggest thing I’m doing as it continues to grow stratospherically in the coming 12 months.  But my other activities are part and parcel to why I’m here to serve you today.I also am the publisher of a newsletter for real estate investors called the Bryan Ellis Investing Letter.  That newsletter has a subscriber base of over 700,000 real estate investors of all experience levels, focused mostly in the United States but with subscribers in many dozens of countries all over the world.  (As an aside… did you know this show has listeners in 139 countries?  Very cool… and welcome to all of my listeners outside the United States!)That newsletter is sent out on a near daily basis and contains news and strategy for investors.  We regularly host training events targeted at new investors, as a commanding percentage of the readership of that newsletter are people whose experience as real estate investors is limited.That business has been a fun, fulfilling and profitable business.  We still run it to this day.  In fact, my wife Carole is now wholly in control of that business and is, frankly, doing a better job running it than I ever did.But here’s the thing… a few years ago, a bug bit me, and I got a fever of sorts.  And I’ve never lost that fever.Here’s what happened:Several years ago, before the real estate crash, I was contacted by a group of people who were seeking to find actual investors for real transactions.  In other words, they were not EDUCATORS, they were INVESTORS looking to deploy capital, and they wanted my help with finding more clients.I got involved with them and lo and behold, the craziest thing happened…. My clients made money.  Like real, spendable profits.  Some of the clients made a lot, some of them made a little.  I don’t believe we had any losses, thankfully.  But the point was that my clients were seeing REAL, TANGIBLE results.That was a refreshing change for me.Why?  Prior to that, most of my business was wrapped up in providing educational programs to my subscribers.  So if a person wanted to learn how to flip real estate, we sold them a training program on real estate flipping.  If they wante