Darren Proulx doesn't figure to get rich from his book "Pay Dirt: How the Individual Investor Can Bank Land for Great Profit and Avoid Shams, Scams and Worthless Real Estate," but it's a heck of a business card.
Proulx, whose day job finds him as president and chief executive officer of Land Resource Investments Inc. in Sparks, says the book has generated leads among potential investors with his firm since the initial 5,000-copy press run a year ago.
"I've been on planes where someone gives me a business card, and I give them a book," he said a few days ago. "It's the best business card you can have."
Good enough, in fact, that the book published by Success DNA of Minden now is in its second printing. The new edition, Proulx said, includes an index to help readers navigate its 12 chapters.
The 39-year-old Proulx, who's been buying and selling land since he was 20, spent a year working with freelance editor Mike Sion of Reno to shape the book that educates potential investors in land.
"I'm amazed at how many people are still buying junk land," he says.
The 200-page book covers subjects ranging from management of land investments to strategies to raise investment capital.
In the year since the book was published, Proulx has collected stories about buyers. There was a woman in Arizona, for instance, who bought 50 copies as holiday gifts. Other buyers were impressed enough to put money into Proulx' deals, in which he assembles groups of investors to purchase raw land.
That's just as he intended.
"I wouldn't make much money as an author," Poorulx said. "But it has been a good tool in the business."
Good enough, in fact, that he has second book in the works: A guide both financial and personal on investing in partnerships with friends and family.
("Pay Dirt," his first book, is priced at $19.95 for soft-cover and $24.95 for hardcover. It's available through amazon.com, successdna.com or landbanknation.com.)
