Donald Trump, American

David Lazarus wrote a great story for the LA Times today about his personal experience with one of Donald Trump's "Investors are Making Millions in Foreclosures - So Can You" free teaser seminars that are just a come-on for a $1,495 workshop.

It is a sad testament to the world we live in that the business of "helping others make money" is one of the most profitable businesses to be in and the degree to which these businesses are profitable has much more to do with sales and marketing than it does with actually "helping others make money".

Combine Americans' 20-year old "culture of debt" with a keen desire to live large and be noticed while doing so, and it's no wonder that The Donald is so popular.

According to this Forbes profile, he "borrowed heavily, built big, lived large, and became a billionaire during the 1980s. Nearly lost it all after 1990 realty crash. Stayed flamboyant, smartened up and embraced reality TV."

Will he "lose it all" in the current real estate crash? Probably not. He's figured out how to lend his celebrity name to others and let them take the risk, as David Lazarus explains:

So off I went to Pasadena, where I soon found myself in a hotel meeting room with about three dozen other wannabe real estate moguls. Before us was a banner featuring Trump's typically dour image. "Think big," it instructed.

"Trump is prestige," a participant named Van Patrick, 40, told me as we waited for the event to start. "People follow him, investment-wise."

Hock Chong, 42, echoed this sentiment. "Since he's had such good success, I want to learn his secrets," Chong said.

Our instructor was a Texan named Steve Goff, 40, who told me before things got started that he had bought and sold about 300 houses since getting into real estate 11 years ago. He said he had never bought or sold a house in California.

I asked Goff if he's a millionaire. He said no. He said he had been through bankruptcy, two divorces and had his own home foreclosed upon.

"I love helping people," Goff said of why he now works for Trump University. "I'm very passionate about helping people achieve success."

The entire story is well worth reading. If you're like me, you probably won't learn anything you didn't already know about how these things work, but the comments by all of the interview subjects give the topic added perspective.

It's nice to see that the business of teaching people how to "Make big money in real estate" is adapting so quickly and effortlessly to the changing real estate market.