Succeeding At Network Marketing » home business

How The Recession Is Causing A Tsunami In Working From Home

Alan — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 07:57:42 +0000

Fallout From The Recession

Before the recession came along, earning extra income from home was something that was often used for extras or non-essentials or was optional because the primary incomes of the household were enough to cover the essentials.

With the recession, and the layoffs, cutbacks and downsizing accompanying it, extra income from a home business or working from home often means the difference between getting by and going without in one or more areas.

Working from home or running your own home based business could be the best way to keep your family afloat during tough times; taking a second job may not be much of an option when first jobs are so hard to come by.

Why Work From Home

You may be one of those who can change their workplace without changing your employer. In a poll of more than 3,500 employees in France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain and the UK, the average commute time was 70 minutes per day. That would be a significant time savings if the type of work you do can be done partially or completely from home.

Asked how they use the time saved by not commuting, the largest proportion (56 per cent) said they spent time with their family; followed by 45 per cent who just ‘relax’; and 42 per cent who do tasks or attend appointments they otherwise wouldn’t have time for.

In the U.S. the nationwide average drive-time is 24.3 minutes, which means that Americans now spend more than 100 hours a year commuting to work, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.

Even if your first job can’t be done from home, extra income is still the biggest reason for working from home, and may provide savings in other areas.

Working from home, you minimize or eliminate travel time and expenses such as fuel and wear & tear on the car getting to and from the 2^nd job.

Working from home, you minimize your time away from the family, or possibly even increase your family time.

When you work from home, you don’t have to dress for work, saving money on clothing.

The option is there of not having to pay for childcare since you are at home.

Since you’re at home, you don’t have to buy lunch, coffee, and snacks from the vending machine.

How To Work From Home

Whole books could be and have been written about how to pick a home-based business or a work-from-home job.

If you’ve never considered network marketing as a business before, I urge you to watch Tim Sales’ video called Brilliant Compensation where he outlines the beauty of this method of business.

I also recommend that you sign up for the “7 Days, 7 Insider Secrets” email newsletter at www.AlansMLMTips.com, for some important pointers for any type of business.

It’s All In How You Look At It

Many years ago two salesmen were sent by a British shoe manufacturer to Africa to investigate and report back on market potential.

The first salesman reported back, “There is no potential here – nobody wears shoes.”

The second salesman reported back, “There is massive potential here – nobody wears shoes.”

Network Marketing And A Mystery

Alan — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 07:53:36 +0000

Business Briefing

I listened to a very interesting business briefing over the weekend. Now, before you roll your eyes and go, oh no, not another business briefing, let me explain what I found so interesting about it.

This briefing had all the usual components, what the product is, what the company is and when they started. You can see the five things that every business briefing or opportunity meeting covers on an earlier blog post of mine called Five Things To Evaluate. This briefing had them all.

What was different about it was the fact that this briefing started with the statement that the upline giving the presentation had done some research into why so many people fail at home businesses. This stuck out like a sore thumb for me, this was something I had never heard in a business briefing. In an industry where statistics say that anywhere from 85% on up of all new recruits quit or fail, if someone said they had found a reason for all that quitting or failure, I wanted to know what it was.

I’ve Seen This Before

Now the funny thing about this was it’s something we’ve probably all heard of, participated in and done with our recruits. What was different was the position it was given and the exact wording of it.

I just went to my bookshelf and of the first eight books I picked up, seven of them mentioned it. (The eighth one was more of a motivational book than a book on network marketing.)

What Some Of My Other Mentors Say

A book that I just finished reading put me in the prospect’s shoes and he put this at number three. Most of the seven books I mentioned above put it near the end of the book.

Most of the companies that I’ve observed or participated in personally at least give lip service to it.

So What Is It Already?

After all that buildup, after I tell you you’re probably going to think “that’s it?”

The top reason found for all that failure was training; effective training. Training that gets you the basics of what you need to do quickly and efficiently and gives you a step by step plan of how to do the business with no wasted effort and makes sure that you understand exactly why you’re doing each step.

With new recruits, it’s essential that you help them get some initial success quickly or they’re going to be gone just as quickly.

Why do you think that almost every book on or about network marketing mentions training and encourages you or even implores you to read books, listen to training videos, listen to training audios? Could it be that no one has come up with a simple, workable system that anyone can use and get started with? Remember that 85% or higher failure or attrition rate?

There are a remarkably few skills that you need to learn to succeed at network marketing, but very few people come into network marketing already knowing them.

What To Do?

You could go hide in a cave or bury your head in the sand, but that won’t bring you the success you want, desire and long for. If you’re here, you’re either already involved with network marketing, are considering getting involved in network marketing or are looking for a better company to work with. (Or maybe you’re a personal friend who likes my writing, that might be possible too…)

If you’re new to the industry and are considering becoming a network marketer, I highly recommend that you go watch the video Brilliant Compensation. This video gives you a fascinating look at why network marketing is such a brilliant home business.

If you’ve decided to become a network marketer and aren’t sure what company to work with, or are overwhelmed with the choices, or don’t know how to evaluate the differences between different business opportunities, go to www.AlansMLMTips.com and sign up for the “7 Days, 7 Insider Secrets” email newsletter. This will give you some great free tips on how to choose a company to work with.

If you’re already with a company and looking for training, there are so many sources of training that it becomes tedious to sort out the good from the bad. In a future post, I’m going to cover some of what I think are the best.

For now, I’m going to sign off. Till next time, make it a great week!

Humor

Sometimes I notice funny email subject lines, I thought this one was great! I received it from Toshiba yesterday.

“Weekend Special: Free Memory and Hard Drive Upgrades – Starting at $399”

How much would it be if they weren’t free?

Network Marketing – The Chicken or the Egg?

Alan — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 09:14:03 +0000

The Books Say The Egg

It seems like every book I’ve read says you should begin your network marketing career in this fashion:

1) Find a great company with a wonderful product

2) Find an awesome sponsor within that company who can mentor you to success

3) Go to work with your sponsor

4) Learn the ropes

5) Make money while you learn

6) Find others to duplicate these steps

That would be the egg.

But The Chicken

Might look like this:

1) A friend or relative tells you about the company he’s working with

2) You sign up because you like the product or the company or your friend

3) You don’t know what to do and neither does the person who signed you up

4) You tell a few people about it and nobody else is interested

5) You quit

Or maybe like this, which it did for me:

1) My brother tells me about the company he’s working with

2) I sign up

3) With the help of my brother’s sponsor, I sign up someone

4) That person makes several sales

5) I get excited and try to repeat steps 3 & 4

6) Number 3 runs out of warm market to talk to and loses interest

7) I move on to another job and while not losing interest, don’t network market for several years

8) I read books, I start and run my own traditional business

9) I sign up for another network marketing company and fail

10) I keep running my business

11) I read more books

12) Etc.

The Reality

I’m guessing that most people reading blogs about network marketing or home businesses or work from home jobs have experienced some version of the chicken scenario; jumping in and trying to figure it out.

The ones who persist through the failures and keep learning eventually discover that there is a reason most books give you the first version, i.e. the egg: you increase your chances of success by doing things in that sequence.

It doesn’t mean the chicken is wrong, or the pig or the cow or the bull moose; if you keep your eye on the goal, you’re going to get there. (For more on the goal, see my earlier post “Why, Oh Why.”)

I want to help you speed up the process.

What Do I Do If I’m already A Chicken?

Keep going! The only thing that can stop you is if you quit. If you know where you want to go, you can get there. As Jim Rohn once said, “working hard on your job makes you a living, working hard on yourself makes you a fortune.”

The difference between the first chicken who gave up and the second chicken (me) is that I didn’t give up. I kept working on myself, reading books, finding mentors, etc.

If you’re already in a company and you’re happy with the products but not so much with your sponsor, find a mentor, read a book, learn how to talk to people. Develop the skills and attitudes you need to attract people into your life, whether mentors, teachers, or business partners.

What If My Company or Product Isn’t So Great?

Hey, it happens. The initial hype can generate enthusiasm for a company or a product that isn’t that good. Don’t throw out the baby with the bath water! Find a better company/product and go to work.

Not only will your attitude be better, your honesty with yourself and your prospects will improve and so will your results.

For more info on how to pick a company or a product, see my post called Five Things To Evaluate, or go to www.AlansMLMTips.com for free emails on how to pick them like a pro.

Another Quote

“Would you like me to give you a formula for… success? It’s quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure. You’re thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn’t at all… you can be discouraged by failure / or you can learn from it. So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because, remember that’s where you’ll find success. On the far side.” – Thomas J. Watson, founder of IBM

Happy 4th of July!

Alan — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 07:16:26 +0000

Celebrate The Reason For The Day

I want to wish all my friends the best Independence Day ever. Before I move on to the topic of network marketing and working from home, I want to remind everyone why we celebrate this day, so bear with me for a small demonstration of my love for the good old USA.

The Declaration of Independence

“When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. …”

Thus began the grand experiment in self governance that is the United States of America.

Begin Your Own Grand Experiment

Network marketing can provide you your own personal declaration of independence. Lest you jump into network marketing thinking you’re going to get wealthy overnight, let me remind you that there was a long road to hoe between the Declaration of Independence and actual independence. This little thing called the Revolutionary War, or the War for Independence, came before actual independence, and so did the intra-colony squabbling over what type of government we should have. There were many heartbreaks, heartaches, losses and setbacks between the Declaration and the reality of Independence.

Do you think you’re going to go from where ever you are right now to where you want to be overnight? The odds are against you. But, are you willing to suffer through your own war for independence? Are you willing to suffer the slings and arrows of loved ones who don’t believe in you? Are you willing to search for the right mentors who will help you learn what you need to learn to achieve your independence?

Do you know what independence means to you? What type of freedom are you looking for? The Declaration was a statement of where we wanted to go as a country. Have you stated where you want to go with your independence? What do you want independence from? Independence from the 9 to 5? Independence from having a boss? Independence from a job you hate? From a job that you think makes no difference in the larger scope of things?

Are you willing to fight for your independence? Are you willing to work and learn and fail and work and learn and work some more to make your dreams come true?

Your Why

You may have noticed from all my questions in the previous section that being willing to start on your path to independence and success, and stick with it till you reach it has a lot to do with your why. Why do you want what you want? Is it strong enough to keep you motivated through whatever self-imposed barriers you’ve created or the doubts of others, or the rejections you might get. To help you figure out your why and locate what will drive you to success, see my earlier blog “Why, Oh Why.”

Once I Know Why, What’s Next?

Once you know why you’re going into business, you have to figure out what you’re going to do and who you’re going to do it with. In other words what home business or opportunity are you going to go to work with. You should find a company to work with or a business to do that aligns well with your why for doing it and thus increase or maximize your chances for success.

To get assistance on this, go now and sign up for the free newsletter 7 Days – 7 Insider Secrets newsletter. It gives you some tips on things to look for and think about before jumping in with a company on your road to independence. Good luck and may the force be with you!

Quote

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” – from A Return to Love, by Marianne Williamson ©1992

I Can’t Do That, I’m Scared

Alan — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 07:24:00 +0000

A Survey

A couple of years ago, I read a report of a survey done by Len Clements in 1991 by Market Wave, his marketing research firm. While brainstorming for an idea about home businesses for this post, I ran across a note I had made at the time suggesting to myself that I make a website out of the results of this survey.

The survey was done on over 6,000 people who were not at that time business owners, and had never been business owners. The question asked was “If all obstacles were removed, would you like to own your own business?”

An astonishing 85% said yes, they would prefer to work for themselves. I say astonishing only because getting 85% of any diverse group to agree on something this wholeheartedly must mean there’s something to it.

Another way of looking at it, as Mr. Clements himself says, the other 15% must have misunderstood the question, or why wouldn’t they prefer to work for themselves.

WOW

This almost makes me want to go out there tonight and start applying the 3 foot rule. (In case you don’t know, the 3 foot rule means you prospect or try to recruit anyone within 3 feet of you.)

If 85% of the people want to work for themselves, let’s get to it. How can we possibly fail? Just start talking to people, right? How hard can that be?

Hold On A Minute There, Buckwheat

If you’ve tried the 3 foot rule, you know as well as I do that you don’t get 85% of the people within 3 feet of you interested in your opportunity. In fact, I felt lucky if I got one in 100 to express any interest. Hmmm, there must be something else at work here.

Now granted, there can be things you’re doing that are driving prospects away, such as being needy, having a lousy presentation, poor sales skills, etc., etc.

However, after seeing that 85% figure, Mr. Clements got interested in what kept people from starting a business if they wanted one. If that many people want to have their own business, but don’t, there must be some pretty compelling reasons preventing them from starting.

So, he did further research.

Things That Go Bump In The Night

After further inquiry, it was discovered that people had some basic fears about starting their own business. And the same four fears came up over and over and over. Not everyone had all four, but everyone had one or more of these four.

1) It takes too much money

2) It takes too much time

3) There’s too much risk

4) I don’t know how

Those were the four fears that kept those 85% from following their preference for owning their own business and working for themselves.

What’s Holding You Back

If you’re here reading this blog, you’ve overcome at least some of your fears of starting your own business. Aside from mlm or network marketing, do you know of any other business model that 1) has low start-up cost, 2) gives you the ability to start part-time or spare-time while you get it started and profitable, 3) has low risk, and 4) teaches you how to do it?

If you are thinking about starting your own business or are looking for your dream business, sign up for the free 7 Days – 7 Insider Secrets newsletter and learn how to find a company that maximizes your chances at success.

Acknowledgment

Humor

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, ‘What does love mean?’

‘Love is what makes you smile when you’re tired…’ Terri – age 4

‘Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.’ Danny – age 7

‘Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss’ Emily – age 8

‘Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.’ Bobby – age 7

‘During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn’t scared anymore.’ Cindy – age 8

‘My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don’t see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.’ Clare – age 6

‘Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.’ Chris – age 7

‘Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.’
Mary Ann – age 4

‘You really shouldn’t say ‘I love you’ unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.’ Jessica – age 8

Why, Oh Why?

Alan — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 07:24:22 +0000

What Is A Why

My dictionary says that a why is a reason or an explanation.

As it applies to your home business, it’s your reason, your motivation, what turns you on about being in business for yourself or for that matter, not just being in business for yourself, but anything that isn’t easy where the rewards, whether material or spiritual, outweigh the hurdles, barriers, effort or time required to make that venture succeed.

What makes an actor or a musician struggle to make it in their industry? Ask them, they all have a reason. It could be for the money, it could be they have something they want to say, they might just want a better life for themselves than they saw their parents had.

What makes a small businessman get up every day for years going to work to make his business prosper? Why does he want to prosper? Does he just want to survive – eke out a living? Does he want to provide for his family and ensure his children have a better start in life than he or she did? Or does he have stars in his eyes and want to ensure that he can help end world hunger? Or help bring relief to victims of natural catastrophes?

Whatever it is, they’ve got a reason, a why for doing what they are doing. A reason big enough to put up with the trials and tribulations they put up with on their journey to success. Your why defines your journey, it’s the goal or the target, it’s where you’re headed. It’s your explanation of why you’re doing what you’re doing.

How Do I Find A Why

You may already know your why and be on your road to success, if so, this may be a refresher or a look at better ways to help your business partners discover what they are striving for, what motivates them.

I’ve seen a few different methods on how to find a why for doing your business. The simplest is to ask yourself what you want out of the business? The answer is whatever it’s going to be, but keep asking. If it’s money, ask what would having money do for you? You may say so I can take time off when I want to. Ask what would you take time off for? You could answer something like: so I can go to events in my children’s lives and spend time with them and bring them up the way I want them raised instead of having them raised by schools and daycares. Whatever it is, it will be highly personal and highly motivating for you.

Another way I found is in a book by John Kalench. He lists some questions to help you discover your motivation in life.

1) If I didn’t have to work for a living – what would I love to do? (This is about “doing what you love.”)

2) If I were just given $1 million tax free, what would be the first thing that I’d do with it? (Of course you’d pay off your bills, we want to look beyond survival. Think BIG prosperity, stretch yourself and think of what you’d really love to do with the money.)

3) If I learned that I had six months to live – what would I do with the rest of my life? (Assume they are six healthy months – what would you do?)

4) If I did that or had that, what would it bring me? (As above, you may have to ask this a few times to get to the bottom of it, or maybe not, it may be sitting right on the end of your tongue waiting for the right question.)

There are many ways to do this, but the basic idea is what do you want a business for, what do you want to achieve with it, what will it enable you to do?

Whose Why Is It

You might be tempted to take someone else’s reason as your own, because that seems simpler than all this hard thinking about your reasons for being in business. Trust me on this, this reason, explanation, why, is what will motivate you when the going gets tough, when that new recruit you thought was in the bag says no or disappears, when one of your best producers goes off to another company.

Why Do I Need A Why

Knowing why will keep you going, Len Clements says one of the top five reasons why people fail in network marketing is THEY QUIT. Knowing why you’re working your business will keep you working your business and carrying on towards your goals, instead of giving up.

Help Your Partners Find Their Why

You’ve probably noticed that not only can you use this information to find your own why, your own purpose; you can help your business partners get on the right road to success by helping them find their why for doing the business.

Time Freedom – Geographic Freedom

This topic (of whys) was sparked into life by something I was reading from one of my mentors about his whys for building a network marketing business. He wanted time freedom and geographic freedom. When I read that, chills ran up and down my spine. I had forgotten that was one of my whys, but there it was and I got all excited about it all over again.

I want to be able to go visit my Dad whenever I want, I want to be able to take a month off to take a motorcycle cruise around some part of the country, I want to be able to jump in at a moment’s notice and go help my church at major catastrophes to bring relief to people who lost everything.

If you build that stable, long-term residual income, all these “I want to’s” become possible. Find a why that’s big enough to take you there.

Why, Is There Anything Else?

Once you’ve got the why for your business , you can pick a company and product that fits in with it and aligns with what you want to achieve. In order to do that, you have to know how to research and investigate network marketing companies to find the company that will help you achieve your goals.

Now here’s what might not be so obvious about all this fuss about finding your why and finding the right company. By finding the company that best fits you and your why, your passion is assured and that passion will be obvious to your prospects and make your business easier.

For more info on what to look for, go to www.AlansMLMTips.com and sign up for the “7 Days, 7 Insider Secrets” email newsletter. (The cost is $4000 with a temporary 100% discount if you sign up right away!)

Humor

Just to close out on a lighter note – here’s some funny ads courtesy of Len Clements.

Earn $90,000 in One Year or More! Pretty safe claim, isn’t it?

You Can Make A Fortune-By Passing Out, or Mailing Tapes I Will Give You. Passing out seems like less work and a lot more relaxing.

Free Allergies Sneezing, watery eyes, runny nose, and if you act now, they’ll even throw in a little athlete’s foot!

See you next week!

Duplication

Alan — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 07:24:00 +0000

Who Wants To Duplicate

Whether you’re a network marketing veteran or you just signed up with your first opportunity, you’ve probably been told that the big money comes from duplication or that everything we do has to be duplicatable.

Duplication gives you leverage which multiplies your time, effort and money (instead of your blood, sweat and tears). For more on leverage, see my earlier post “What Else Do I Need To Know.”

Too many people, I think, believe this means to do everything exactly as your sponsor, mentor or trainer does everything. Even though I can already feel the slings and arrows headed my way, I disagree.

But I Don’t Want To Be Like ______

I spent several years trying to figure out why it seemed like I was doing everything that my sponsor asked me to, but it just didn’t seem to be happening for me. Of course, there were all those things that they told me to do that I just wouldn’t do; like harassing, haranguing and hassling my friends and family to come to a meeting or let me give them a presentation.

I would have rather failed than do that. I didn’t do that with my earlier electronics business, why would I do that with my network marketing business. With my electronics business, I told all my friends and family that I was in business and what I was doing and they came to me when they needed something I had. Why wouldn’t I do the same thing with my network marketing business?

You can probably see why I didn’t want to be like _______ because _______. Fill in the blank with whoever you didn’t want to be like; with whatever reason you didn’t want to be like them. Mine was chasing friends and family, what’s your “I don’t want to do that?”

The first key to understanding this for me was watching all the successful people up on stage giving their stories; some of them did chase their friends, some started there and moved on, some never did chase anyone. Hmmm, what’s that all about?

So, if duplication is not “duplicating everything your sponsor or mentor is doing,” what is it? Let’s kick off from there.

Definition

Duplication, according to the dictionary means the process of making an exact copy of something, or identically copied from an original. It comes from the Latin duplicare “to double.”

So, if it’s not your mentor or sponsor you’re supposed to duplicate, what are we supposed to duplicate?

What Do Most People Mean When They Say Duplication

I get the feeling sometimes that too many people in this business actually think we should duplicate our mentor or sponsor. I’ve met people who started talking and acting like their mentor to the point that I started wondering where did Bill go, this guy looks like Bill, but he sounds like Mr. Mentor.

Just because Mr. Mentor has a spiel that works for him, doesn’t necessarily mean it will work for everyone else. It might, but if it’s out of character for you to the point where people wonder when and how you got possessed, it probably isn’t going to work for you. People like to feel like they’re talking to someone that cares about them; that they can know, like and trust. If you’re not being you, they’re not going to know, like and trust you.

What IS The Big Deal About Duplication

The big deal about duplication is that more so than any other business model, network marketing depends on duplication. What is network marketing? It’s the movement of goods or services to people via person-to-person or word-of-mouth marketing. It requires customers and it requires customer finders.

When I say that network marketing depends on duplication, I don’t mean can they duplicate you or duplicate exactly what you did or duplicate what the latest trainer on stage said or what the company literature says to do.

You want to find people who can find a few customers and a few more customer finders. That is what you want to duplicate, and that is the big deal about duplication. HOW you do that is not as important as whether you do that.

Michael Clouse says duplication is the ability to get someone to do something, whether you’re there or not.

So, to wrap up, can you train your recruits in a way that’s realistic with their current skills to talk to people about their business in a way that they will do whether you are there or not? In a way that people will get interested in the product or the opportunity?

Duplication and The Company You Work With

Aligning with my continuing theme of how to select a company to work with, you might ask “What does the company I’m working with have to do with the duplication that occurs under me?” Remember, to be successful, you have to have your team duplicating success. Or, in the words of Zig Ziglar, “If you help enough people get what they want, you will get what you want.”

If the company violates or doesn’t meet any one or more of the 12 critical success factors™, the likelihood that the company will be there to allow you to have duplication goes down with each missing factor. If your company survives and thrives, this allows the duplication to continue and grow. And we’re back to leverage and that long-term, stable, residual income.

Another point that enters in here is the training that your company makes available. Does it really teach you all about the product? Does you it make you aware of all the ways that others are using to make their business grow? Or does the training raise more questions than it answers?

To find out more on what questions to ask, go to www.AlansMLMTips.com and sign up for the “7 Days, 7 Insider Secrets” email newsletter. (It’s still free… )

Quote

People prefer to do business with those they know, like and trust. You can’t get that through mindless duplication! You’ve got to leave room for the personal in your system. You’ve got to establish yourself as someone who’s likable and trustworthy. And you’ve got to teach your downline to do likewise. – Joan Linwood

Pyramid, Scam, or For Real

Alan — Mon, 31 May 2010 08:50:33 +0000

What Are They and What’s The Difference?

I sometimes wonder why there is any confusion on these terms as they apply to working from home, but then other times I think it’s just par for the course. There seem to be people on this planet who enjoy denigrating, confusing and muddling up the issues. So, to piss off those types of people (who like to denigrate, confuse and muddle up things), I am going to inject some clarity into the subject. All right?

I guess being the unserious type; I should inject my humorous look at it first. The difference is in who gets screwed: with a scam everyone gets screwed (except the guy who thought it up); with a pyramid, the latecomers get screwed; and with a real business or opportunity – no one gets screwed.

Definitions

Scam – A fraudulent business scheme; a swindle. An illegal plan for making money. A scheme for making money by dishonest means.

Pyramid – An illegal scheme in which participants give money or other valuables in exchange for the opportunity to receive payment for recruiting others to participate in the scheme. A fraudulent money-making scheme in which people are recruited to make payments to others above them in a hierarchy while expecting to receive payments from people recruited below them. Eventually the number of new recruits fails to sustain the payment structure, the scheme collapses with most people losing the money they paid in. From the Federal Trade Commission – “Pyramid schemes now come in so many forms that they may be difficult to recognize immediately. However, they all share one overriding characteristic. They promise consumers or investors large profits based primarily on recruiting others to join their program, not based on profits from any real investment or real sale of goods to the public. Some schemes may purport to sell a product, but they often simply use the product to hide their pyramid structure.” – http://www.ftc.gov/speeches/other/dvimf16.shtm, paragraph 4

Network marketing – Most definitions of network marketing get way too complicated; here’s my favorite simple definition: “Any method of marketing that allows independent sales representatives to recruit other sales representatives and to draw commissions from the sales of those recruits.” – Wave 3 The New Era in Network Marketing by Richard Poe ©1995 “Network marketing is a form of distribution of products and services that, through word of mouth promotion, uses the power of duplication of effort.” – The New Entrepreneurs by Rene Reid Yarnell ©1999 “Some people confuse pyramid … schemes with legitimate multilevel marketing. Multilevel marketing programs are known as MLM’s (or network marketing) and unlike pyramid … schemes, MLM’s have a real product to sell. More importantly, MLM’s actually sell their product to members of the general public, without requiring these consumers to pay anything extra or to join the MLM system. MLM’s may pay commissions to a long string of distributors, but these commission(s) are paid for real retail sales, not for new recruits.” – http://www.ftc.gov/speeches/other/dvimf16.shtm, paragraph 7

Another way to define it is who gets paid; in a scam, the originator gets paid; in a pyramid, the early birds get paid; in network marketing, anyone who makes a sale gets paid.

Examples of Scams

If you get an email from Nigeria wanting you to send money to prove you’re worthy of helping them transfer money into the U.S.; delete immediately, it’s a scam.

If you get a check from anywhere that you weren’t expecting, and when you call to verify, they ask you to send them the cash in exchange for the check; call the authorities – it’s illegal and is called bank fraud & mail fraud; and yes it’s a scam.

Examples of Pyramid Schemes

If there is a one-time fee to buy into the program or “business,” and there are no ongoing product sales, it’s most likely a pyramid. If all recruiting stopped today, where would the commission payments come from?

If most of the money comes from recruiting someone and the actual residual income comes from a tiny percentage of an ongoing purchase of a product or service, that is probably a pyramid even though it is well disguised.

If the ad says “One-time fee, no buying, no selling, no recruiting, we build your organization for you.” RUN quick like a bunny! If they don’t need you to sell or recruit or buy anything, why do they need you? (Hint – it’s your money) Your money/cash/commissions are only coming from the people that join after you. It is a pyramid.

If the start-up fee is your cost to purchase a report, and you make money by selling others the report to get them started; look out Martha, it’s a pyramid.

Examples of Network Marketing

Okay, I’ll admit I’m only going to pick obvious companies here that have stood the test of time. The whole point of this series of blogs is to teach you how to pick a good and worthwhile company that you can use as your vehicle to create that stable, long-term, leveraged, residual income.

Disclaimer: I am not recommending any of these companies as your home business opportunity, if you are looking at joining any of them, it is up to you to research them and do your due diligence and figure out if it’s the right company for you.

Amway, Herbalife, Mannatech, NuSkin, Pre-Paid Legal, Shaklee, Visalus, Xango are all network marketing companies.

Mary Kay Cosmetics and Melaleuca are not network marketing companies, but if they were, I would put them on the list too.

If you want to be amused, check out how many company names are on a reasonably current list of network marketing companies at: http://www.mlmconsultant.com/mlm_company_list_directory.htm

Now That You Know The Difference

You have learned one more of the basics, for more info, go to www.AlansMLMTips.com and sign up for the “7 Days, 7 Insider Secrets” email newsletter. (No money down, no obligation, it’s freeeeeeee…)

Quote

“If I had to do it all over again, rather than build an old style type of business, I would have started building a network marketing business.” – Robert T. Kiyosaki, entrepreneur and author

Five Things To Evaluate

Alan — Mon, 17 May 2010 07:11:47 +0000

Harvard School of Business?

I don’t think I can count how many opportunity meetings I’ve sat through where the five things to evaluate were given as coming from the Harvard School of Business. Three digits, anyway, easily over a hundred times. While the five things to evaluate are all good things to investigate and answer, I have been unable to find anything on Google that actually connects the Harvard School of Business with this simple method of evaluating a business opportunity.

My second problem with them is – WAIT – I’m starting off way too serious here for my own comfort.

A Stupid Joke

What did the Kentucky Fried Network Marketer say to the chicken? “We’ve come up with a better way to sell chickens. You get a cut of every chicken marketed; as America eats, you get rich.”

The chicken says, “I don’t eat chicken.”

The KFNM says “No, no, you don’t understand, we pay you for every chicken you sell.”

“Why would I want to get paid for selling chickens? I don’t want to sell chickens.”

That is probably the worst joke I’ve ever invented, but it makes a point. If someone doesn’t want to sell what you’re selling, are they ever going to put in the work required to be successful, if you somehow manage to convince them that they should join you in spite of themselves?

Back To Harvard

Here are the five areas that the Harvard Business School (or the Harvard Business Review, depending on who you’re talking to) allegedly (by the way, if you know when or where Harvard Business School or Harvard Business Review said this, please send the information along to me) recommends that you evaluate:

1) The company

2) The need or the marketplace

3) The product

4) The compensation

5) The timing

I think I’m approaching the record for the most tortured use of different punctuation marks in one sentence.

Okay, so what’s missing, what’s wrong with this list? Well, it’s a good start, but as a saying that Mark Twain popularized goes, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” In other words, you need to do your own research and see if the statistics your prospective company is showering you with are real. Do they bear any relevance to what you need to know about a company that you’re considering working with?

Examples

For instance, if a company says the company is rock-solid, is that rock sitting at the top of a thousand foot cliff, or is it sitting on a few million in the bank and debt free?

If a company says they are the fastest growing company in the automotive widget industry, but the other companies are growing at 1% a year, what kind of growth is the company really experiencing?

Our sales grew 115% last year! From where, to where? If the year before was $100,000 and it grew to $215,000 last year, that’s not very exciting, promising, but not newsworthy. What about if sales went from $100 million to $215 million? Hmm, maybe they’re on to something here. The right answer depends on what you’re looking for.

What Are You Looking For?

Which brings us to one of the things missing from the 5 areas to evaluate. What are you looking for? What are you good at? What are your strengths and weaknesses? In evaluating any company, or any product, you have to look at yourself and decide if the company and product are a good fit for you. Can you believe in the product? Does it help people? Try the product yourself so you can tell others what it’s done for you.

What Else Is Missing?

One of my favorite mentors has come up with and trademarked what he calls “The 12 Critical Success Factors™.” He goes into much greater depth on how to find and select a company to enhance and maximize your chances on creating that long-term, stable, residual income.

For more info, go to www.AlansMLMTips.com and sign up for the free “7 Days, 7 Insider Secrets” email newsletter.

Quote

“Dream with me for just a minute,” (Rick) encourages. “Imagine traveling across this great land of ours on your own schedule. You have no alarm clock screaming for you to blast out of bed each morning. You can afford to stay at any hotel and eat in any restaurant you choose. You can purchase clothing and extras without too much notice of the price tag. While you are at your leisure, thousands of people are putting thousands of dollars in your bank account each month.” – from The New Entrepreneurs, by Rene Reid Yarnell

Residual Income

Alan — Mon, 10 May 2010 08:54:29 +0000

What Is It & Why Do I Want it?

People join network marketing companies for many reasons. I’m sure you can think of several; a like-minded social group to hang out with, a little extra spending money, something to do, a source of personal growth, getting a great product at a discounted price, being able to help someone with a product or service they provide through their company, because they benefited from the product or service and thought others should know about it.

Residual income is, or certainly should be, one of those reasons. So, let’s define what residual income is. Here are some definitions that give a very good idea of residual income and how it might apply to network marketing.

Refers to the income or monies that arise from earlier efforts which still continue to generate a revenue flow over time without requiring the need for any additional effort (e.g., a stream or flow of future royalty payments from a song). http://www.tuition.com.hk/dictionary/r.htm#Residual_income

Royalty income that accrues to the owner of an intellectual property, such as art, books, lyrics, music, patents, etc. http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/residual-income.html

RESIDUAL INCOME is income from efforts which continue to generate revenue over time without requiring any additional effort (e.g., a stream of future royalty payments from a book). http://www.ventureline.com/accounting-glossary/R/residual-income-definition/

The word comes from the Latin word “residere,” meaning “to remain behind, rest,” from re- “back, again” + sedere “to sit.”

In other words, you get to sit back and keep collecting income once you’ve done the work to generate the income. Personally, I kind of like this idea.

My brother likes it, he’s a musician and he gets residuals on things he’s done over the years long after he actually did them.

Insurance agents like them, they collect residual commissions as long as you keep paying your premiums.

J. K. Rowling (of Harry Potter fame) most definitely likes them.

Okay, So How Does This Apply To Network Marketing?

Let’s say that you sell someone a bottle of vitamins. Let’s say they pay $40 for it, and that out of this $40, you make a commission (income) of $2. The vitamins work well for them, they notice a difference in their energy level or they sleep better or they don’t get colds anymore. They keep buying these vitamins every month and you collect your $2 every month.

You keep telling people about these vitamins and they try them and like them and you have more people buying vitamins and you get your $2 from each of them (as a commission from the company you’re working with). Maybe you have 20 or 30 people buying vitamins from your company and you now are getting $40 or $60 each month which means your vitamins are now covered by your income. Hey, free vitamins, not bad, but you’re just getting warmed up.

You keep working at it and a couple of people who love the vitamins want to start selling them too. They each tell some people and start selling a few vitamins and a few of their customers want to start selling. And they do and they get their customers and a few want to sell these great vitamins. And so it goes…

Let’s keep it simple and say you get paid on four levels down; you sign up Bob who signs up Joe, who signs up Rose, who signs up Jack. You get paid on any vitamins that Bob, Charlie, Diane and Erin sell. And to keep it really simple, let’s say you get $1 on each month’s worth of vitamins sold in your organization. Each person signs up two people to sell vitamins and each seller sells 10 people vitamins every month.

You

Bob Becky

Charlie Crystal Chad Cara

Diane Dave Dominique Dylan Deirdre Donny Deanna Dyan

Erin Eric Evvy Erica Erina Eddy Ev Edsel Erry Elly Eva Edina Ed Edrick Ev Es

That’s 2 plus 4 plus 8 plus 16 = 30 people in your organization. Thirty people each selling vitamins to 10 people makes 300 people buying vitamins every month and you make a dollar for your part in helping the company acquire these customers. That makes $300 every month plus the $40 or $60 on the customers you personally acquired. Still not the gravy train, but are you selling those 300 customers every month? Are you answering their questions about the vitamins?

This is a very simplistic example, but I wanted to give you the flavor of residual income. Now, since you’re not selling all of these customers every month, does that give you just a tiny bit of incentive to go out and find more customers and more customer finders?

What if everyone on the above list decided to play a sales game and everyone found 2 more customer gatherers? Now you have 60 people selling vitamins and they all find 10 customers, that’s 600 customers or $600 every month. What did you do for that extra $300? You found 2 more customer finders.

What if the company that you worked with was paying $10 on the product you were selling? And $5 on the first 4 levels? Hmmm, $5 x 600 customers =$3000. Not wealthy yet, but I think you’ll breathe a lot easier at the end of the month with that extra 3 grand in your pocket.

What if they paid five levels deep? You really should start getting excited about residual income somewhere along about here when you start playing with the numbers.

If It’s That Easy, Why Isn’t Everyone Doing It?

I don’t recall saying it was easy, but it certainly is rewarding. Did you ever get anything without working for it? Learning is the key to succeeding in this business. Work hard, learn lots, discard what doesn’t work for you, find mentors. There are hundreds of ways to make it difficult or impossible. Mentors will help you avoid those.

Want to increase your odds? Check out your company first before you put your blood, sweat and tears into it. Go to www.AlansMLMTips.com and sign up for the “7 Days, 7 Insider Secrets” email newsletter.

Quote

“Everybody’s a self-made man; but only the successful ones are ever willing to admit it.”