During every economic recession there are winners and there are losers. Most often the losers are the average citizens. They lose their jobs…their homes…many of them have trouble making ends meet…they run out of savings…their investments lose value…the list of negatives goes on and on.

They lose everything while they watch the winners claim victory. Who are the victors in economic recessions like the one we just experienced? Usually it’s corporations. All of the money and income we lose usually goes right into their greedy little pockets.

Merrill Lynch had $21 billion in operating losses at the end of 2009, yet it still paid its executives $15 billion in bonuses with money it got from its parent company Bank of America, who just happened to receive a $20 billion bailout from the government.

Speaking of Bank of America…they are in a tight race for the least liked corporation in America. In addition to using bail out money to pay its executive’s bonuses rather than help the American people obtain loans or lower fees, the bank conglomerate got a bunch of bad press when it was discovered that it performed robo-signing of foreclosures in several states. The bank was accused of refusing to work with mortgage holders to get back in good standing and mishandling the foreclosure process.

Everybody knows the greed of Wal-Mart executives. They’ve been accused of numerous predatory business practices. Most often they get accused of offering products at so low of a price as to intentionally run its competitors out of business and gain a monopoly in local markets. In addition they’ve had several problems with the quality of their products. Wal-Mart is the largest importer in the U.S. in most categories of goods, most of which come from China.  In 2010 Wal-Mart pulled the Miley Cyrus jewelry line from its stores because it contained toxic levels of cadmium, a known carcinogen. Wal-Mart has also settled numerous lawsuits that alleged that they made employees work off the clock and refused to pay them for overtime.

Each of these corporations has been accused (and many times convicted) of horrible business practices. They never put their employees first. They don’t care about their customers. They don’t care about the quality of the goods they push on us and they are misleading in their advertising.

They do all these unethical behaviors and get richer while doing it. It’s unfair. It always seems like the rich get richer while the good people slave away only to see their homes foreclosed upon, their jobs shipped overseas, prices of goods rise without cause, and cash reserves eroded by inflation. The bad guys aren’t supposed to win!

Except this isn’t always true. Some corporations’ business practices don’t put profits before its employees and customers. Don’t believe me? Look at Warren Buffet. His company puts out financial products and his bottom line soars! He is committed to bringing profit to the people that follow his financial advice and the people that invest with his company. His fanatical commitment to providing good customer service and good products has benefitted him. He is known as one of the smartest investors in the world and people everywhere listen when he talks.

Often businesses that are interested in making a profit forget about the Warren Buffet business model. They focus on always making the next sale and lining their pockets and forget about their employees, providing good content and their ethics.

What people like Warren Buffet have shown us is you don’t have to be unethical, selfish or greedy to run a successful business and make money. You can do good and be rich!

But the hard part is figuring out how to do both. You want to make money, but you don’t want to do it unethically, right?

If you want you and your business to be viewed more along the lines of Warren Buffet instead of greedy bankers or the selfish people on Wall Street then you need to follow his business model. Since the inception of League of Power I have followed this model and it’s served me well. League of Power reaches the inboxes of approximately 100,000 people every day. Our newsletters are read by people across the globe.

So what exactly is the Warren Buffet model of business and how do you use it to become a raging success? Well it all starts with honesty. Warren is nothing if he’s not honest and that’s a rarity in the financial world. Most financial companies are trying to sell you stocks and other investments with misleading information or hype. Or their products promise to make you rich if you follow their lead only to serve up losing investment advice and poor customer service.

Warren gained a reputation for quality investing because he was honest with his investors about the economy and his investments. He told the media that his portfolio wasn’t impacted as hard as others during the crash because he didn’t understand derivatives. He also talks about not losing his shirt during the dot com crash because he thought internet companies were overvalued when looking at their business model and income streams.

His honesty when it comes to recommending investments has gained him a loyal following. Now when he speaks the world listens! I try to do the same in my business. I put out this newsletter every Monday to encourage you to reach for your dreams of becoming wealthy all while being honest about how to go about doing exactly that. I hired Nancy Patterson to explain ways that will save you money and John Hollister to tell you about new opportunities to start businesses each week. Our honest and fool proof information are meant to help you find success and improve your bottom line.

You can do the same in your business!

If you want people to read your emails and take advantage of your offers you’ve got to provide them with quality information on a regular basis. On the same day every week send your customers an article that will improve their life in some way. I do it three times a week, but its best to start out with just once a week and work your way up to more. The information must be timely and helpful. You want to help your customers solve their issues and make their lives easier.

Good luck!

Mark Patricks