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Research Finds Millionaires Turn Their Address Books Into Checkbooks More Than Non-Millionaires - Use of Social Networks Dispels Myth that the Rich Go it Alone in Achieving Success 74% of Employed Adults Want to Turn their Profits into Passions

Contact: Christine Ragasa, Hyperion                                                                                                   Mike McDermott, The Millionaire Zone
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RESEARCH FINDS MILLIONAIRES TURN THEIR ADDRESS BOOKS INTO CHECKBOOKS MORE THAN NON-MILLIONAIRES

Use of Social Networks Dispels Myth that the Rich Go it Alone in Achieving Success
74% of Employed Adults Want to Turn their Profits into Passions

New York, April 26, 2007 -- While the majority of Americans are afraid of starting businesses or otherwise venturing out on their own, new research detailed in the book, THE MILLIONAIRE ZONE™, finds that millionaires leverage their social networks – ranging from the government and their alma maters to friends, spiritual centers and even health clubs – more than non-millionaires to overcome their fears and ultimately achieve financial success.

Author and commentator Jennifer Openshaw commissioned the research by Harris Interactive® and The Spectrem Group of over 2,000 Americans – including 1,500 U.S. adults employed full-time or part-time and 500 millionaires -- to determine how millionaires achieve success and what holds back average Americans from achieving the same. Openshaw is host of ABC Radio’s Winning Advice, AOL Financial Editor, founder of Women’s Financial Network and now founder of TheMillionaireZone.com.

According to the Harris research, 74% of employed adults would like to learn how to turn their passions into profitable ventures. Over half of employed adults (56%) said they would be less fearful about starting their own business if they could learn how to take advantage of the people and organizations to support them. Openshaw offers a solution through her book and new website.

In THE MILLIONAIRE ZONE, peppered with real life stories, Openshaw says that well-known billionaires – from Oprah, Nike’s Phil Knight, and the founders of YouTube -- to everyday Americans overcame their fears and achieved financial success by using what they are already familiar with – the people, places and resources at their fingertips. Openshaw refers to this network of familiar assets as your “LifeNet™.”

Openshaw also found that only 3% of millionaires built their wealth by inventing a product. Millionaires achieved success through a multi-pronged approach that relied on the following four wealth paths:
• Stock market/investments 65%
• Paid employment 58%
• Real estate 54%
• Starting a business 41%

Despite the stereotype that women are more sociable than men, only 41.9% of wealthy women surveyed said they use the people or organizations around them to help overcome fears versus 45% for men.

What Social Networks Helped Most
When asked “What had an impact on your financial success,” millionaires cited the following as having “some” or a “significant” impact: business contacts/relationships (50%), family/friends (46.2%), work/co-workers (45.1%) and professional organizations (22.1%) to their alma mater/college (27.9%), physical condition/health club (23.1%), spiritual center (19.3%), a non-profit (15.4%), neighbors (13.5%), health care providers (11.5%), and local government (9.7%). The research also showed how millionaires benefited from these network resources, and in each category surveyed, millionaires more than non-millionaires leveraged them more for everything from advice and introductions to emotional and financial support.

In THE MILLIONAIRE ZONE, Openshaw’s seven-pronged plan teaches Americans how to redefine their Comfort Zones to overcome the excuses that hold so many of them back and leverage the relationships and resources around them – their LifeNet -- in new ways. Also included in THE MILLIONAIRE ZONE is a 30-Day Getting Started Program to turn Passions into Profits and the Millionaire Zone Profile, an online questionnaire that helps readers assess their financial, emotional, and time capacities and puts them on one of Openshaw’s clearly outlined paths to success.