He's had more Number One albums than Elvis Presley. He hangs with Barack Obama at the White House. And he's riding high after leaving his longtime label Def Jam to work a $150 million deal with Live Nation, delivering some of his best live performances ever. I had the pleasure of meeting Jay Z last Saturday over dinner on Utopia III. Jay-Z stayed cool, he is an observer, he seems like he is always trying to think ahead. As an entrepreneur, he is always envisioning new ideas, plotting his next move, he hears a beat and immediately bops his head, stays quiet but in his mind he already has a hit song. He is a force, he is the brand, like he says I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man! Which reminds me of every entrepreneur who is out hustling, plotting and programming their every move. So what drove Jay-Z to the top? Read the article below it might provide you with some personal and business success lessons.

About Jay Z: Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper and businessman. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America having had a net worth of over $350 million in 2009. He has sold approximately 40 million albums worldwide, while receiving ten Grammy Awards for his musical work, and numerous additional nominations.

My friend fashion editor @bobbythomas describes @EvaLongoria 's earrings during #Emmys recap on NBC's Today morning show.

Are you shopping online yet? If not what are you waiting for? Why waste gas, wait in long lines or have to search hours for products you can't find! Now is the time to shop online and no one else has such a rich and unlimited paid to shop program!

"There is no doubt that while brick and mortar businesses feel outdated, brick and mortar sales continue to massively trump online sales. But e-commerce sales are growing at a very strong rate. In 2009, U.S. online sales amounted to $155.2 billion, only 6% of total retail sales (via Forrester Research). A new report from comScore released "its Q2 2010 U.S. retail e-commerce sales estimates, which showed that online retail spending reached $32.9 billion for the quarter, up 9 percent versus year ago." According to the numbers in the study, U.S. e-commerce sales have a 7% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) since 2007.  E-commerce, without a doubt, is booming!" "Forrester predicts that online sales will reach $250 billion in 2014, capturing 8% of the total U.S. retail sales" I wanted to share this article with you called the Long Tail of Retail: A new report from comScore released "its Q2 2010 U.S. retail e-commerce sales estimates, which showed that online retail spending reached $32.9 billion for the quarter, up 9 percent versus year ago." According to the numbers in the study, U.S. e-commerce sales have a 7% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) since 2007.

A new report from comScore released "its Q2 2010 U.S. retail e-commerce sales estimates, which showed that online retail spending reached $32.9 billion for the quarter, up 9 percent versus year ago." According to the numbers in the study, U.S. e-commerce sales have a 7% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) since 2007.

Why are some people and companies way behind the curve on social media while others are way ahead of it? Simply stated, whoever is not using social media is clearly being left behind.  Our new generation is made up of innovators, early adopters who are quick to respond and promote to their peers.  You are now being faced with the difficulty of selling a technology or the digital era to many who are still stuck in their old school ways.  This is not an easy task and by displaying passion and enthusiasm alone is not enough to convince them. So what do you have to do to convince your staff, prospects, marketing team or friends that social media is here to stay and they must use it?

If your co-workers, staff, or prospects do not see the value of utilizing social media why not sell it to your friends and family first? They will be the ones to promote you and support you, when it comes to anything and everything.  You may not see it now, but social media will envelop every part of your organization sooner or later. Keeping all this in mind, there is no single way of convincing co-workers, executives or your team to use social media, I prefer an approach that is more organic and concentrates on painting a visual picture for others and anyone can see the potential benefits for you and your business.

( Scottie in Springfield, MA at the NBA Hall of Fame induction with teammate Michael Jordan)

Scottie Pippen is a seven time NBA All Star and voted as one of the "50 Greatest players in NBA history."  Scottie has been the only person to have won both an NBA championship and an Olympic gold medal in the same year.  During Pippen's seventeen year career Scottie has been passionate, driven, and determined.  In addition to being at the 2010 Market America International Convention, this past Friday, Scottie Pippen was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

Scottie Pippen is a six time world champion and two time olympic gold medalist.  For those of you that missed the 2010 Market America International Convention, take a moment to view this great clip of Market America UnFranchise owner, Scottie Pippen.  In addition to becoming an UnFranchise owner and being inducted into the Hall of Fame, Scottie also launched Prime Joint Support Formula by Isotonix. When asked, what do you think is the next great financial opportunity?  Scottie said, "Market America...get paid while you shop." "You don't stay in the game for 19 years unless you're doing something right.  Obviously this company (Market America) has big dreams, big goals and I'm just happy to be a part of it."

~Keep Growing

JR

I want to thank our good friend Kim Kardashian for attending our 2010 International Convention.  She really posted on her blog "Market America convention was insane, wow so many people showed up to learn how to be an entrepreneurs."  Kim showed up early Saturday morning to speak to a sold out crowd of 25,000 UFO, but not only did speak to about social media she showed everyone the greatness of our Paid to shop program, greeted her fans, spoke to fans and walked the concourse with us!  Kim you are a great friend and an wonderful entrepreneur we appreciate you for coming.

Check out her blog post she wrote about us on www.kimkardashian.com

Our 2010 International Convention was a great success we laughed, we cried and laughed again.  It was amazing to see so many eager entrepreneurs from all over the world excited and ready to take on new challenges. Thanks to our good friends Kim Kardashian, Scottie & Larsa Pippen, Raquel Perera, Katrina Campins, Kamal Hotchandi, Tommy & Michelle Pooch, Nicolas Vallejo, Angelo Pagan and everyone who took the time to support us and made this exciting convention happen.  One thing for sure our 2010 International Convention was bigger, better and Faster!!!  Some of my highlights were Scottie Pippen introducing his new product and launch partnership with Market America, Kim Kardashian on stage talking to a sold out crowd of 25,000 entrepreneurs about Paid To Shop and social media, Raquel Perera (girlfriend of Alejandro Sanz) talking about our revolutionary skincare product Metraskin, our doctor's panel with our national and award winning medical team, Duane Mclaughlin's performance and choir, Justina & Conquer's Entertainment performances, Andrew Payne showing everyone on stage about his new discovered combination Metraskin + Pentaxyl, Marc Ashley & Loren introducing the new redesigned Portal, Marty Weissman's Gala introduction and the success of our trade show.  This year's convention was not to be missed and we got enough press to prove it!

I wanted to share few images of some memorable moments from our  Market America 2010 International Convention and to view more photos you can go on the photo section of my blog or click here: http://www.beingjrridinger.com/photo-gallery.html

(here I am wearing Tom Ford during my Gala speech)

(Duane Mc Laughlin's performance with choir Saturday Morning)

Congratulations to @aprilbowers23 for winning my first Retweet contest! Thank you all for entering and please check back for future giveaways!  April, please send me your e-mail address so we can send your gift card. E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Retweet JR Contest

As part of our Social media and Social networking iniative I am launching my first Twitter contest.  The rules are simple:

Follow me on Twitter @jrridinger . I will be sending out a special message everyday for a week with code #JRMA .  Just for retweeting me you will enter to win a $200 American Express gift card.

The winner will be selected Thursday August 19th at 1pm via Twitter.

Happy Retweeting! JR

There are two main pillars or two currents of energy in Market America that feed the Management Performance Compensation Plan (MPCP).  1. The Market America web portal and 2. The Market America University which discovers billion dollar markets and sucks volume out of it while also providing the very best training.

What do you think of my octupus? send me a tweet @jrridinger

nba hall of famer, 6 time world champion, and two time gold medalist scottie pippen will be here to discuss his involvement with market america  with our sports nutrition brand torch and a new Prime bone and joint formula by isotonix!