|
 FREEDOM!
Because of
the Internet and affiliate programs, network marketing is getting a facelift
and becoming a 21st. century force in the marketplace. Network Marketing is
beginning to get VERY sophisticated and is going through a total revolution.
Systems and automation, focused on creating streamlined sales processes are
freeing up distributors time and making it easier for the average distributor
to have success because prospects recognize they too can easily duplicate the
business building process.
Prior to the Internet, network marketing had
3 fatal flaws: Duplication, Training and Communications. Because of the
inherent strengths of the Internet all 3 of the these fatal flaws can not only
be eliminated but turned into the strongest points of your organization when
you begin to learn how to apply systems and technology.
In September 2000, I became a Founding Affiliate with
ZigOnline, an online business that combined the best of both affiliate programs
and network marketing. The product was a life changing product helping people
overcome their challenges through personal growth and becoming better people in
the process - thus making a positive difference in the world.
One particlar feature I especially liked about ZigOnline was that it was a
"virtual" product - a subscription service to a cutting edge indexed
audio library of Zig Ziglar's material and other personal growth training
material. You could sign up right online and within minutes be building a
global business from the comfort of your home using only your computer and
telephone.
It was a simple business of exposing the opportunity to
others, educating them about how it can benefit their lives, directing them to
a website, and let the positive message of Zig Ziglar do the selling. It
certainly was NOT a business of "convincing" others. I've discovered that if
you need to convince someone about a life changing opportunity, you'll also
need to convince them to work the opportunity, and will have to continually
convince them every step along the way. People who need that kind of convincing
simply do not want to change and change is what Zig Ziglar is all about. The
people who will do well in this industry are people who WANT
change.
Using nearly total automation on the Internet, within a few
short months I built a pretty good sized international business with
subscribers from South Africa, Indonesia, Australia, Canada, England, and all
across America.
My mentors taught me...
My
journey toward financial freedom and learning more about making money work for
me led me to a couple other people who were to make a positive difference in my
life.
One person who has been instrumental in opening my understanding
of money and wealth is Robert Kiyosaki. His best selling book,
 Rich
Dad Poor Dad, helped me better understand the "have" and "have-nots" in our
society. I think Kiyosaki's book, "Rich Dad Poor Dad" should be required
reading for anyone thinking about this business.
What he taught me
about the importance of moving from the "E" quadrant to the "B" quadrant
has made a HUGE impact on my life as I have been working to achieve the
financial independence I want. As I studied more of his writings, especially
Cash Flow
Quadrant, I was to learn more about money and wealth in a few short months
than I had in my entire life.
For example, I learned the real
difference between assets and liabilities (not that traditional stuff
taught in school). I learned that assets put money into my pocket, liabilites
take money out. Pretty simple concept, but like most Americans, I had it pretty
confused and tended to think many of my liabilites were assets (ex. we think
our homes are assets -- only get confused whose asset it really is -- it's the
banks asset and our liability). Plus what he has written in his book, "The
Business School For People Who Like Helping People" has absolutely confirmed
for me that I am now in the RIGHT business.
We are NOT taught about money in school, rather we taught how
to get a job and earn money. Instead of learning how money can work for us to
set us free, far too many people are thrust into a life of chasing after money
and living paycheck to paycheck. Few people really understand the value of
money and even fewer understand how to make money.
Zig Ziglar said, "Money is not the most important thing in
life, but it comes reasonably close to oxygen." Do you know what I mean?
When you need it, nothing else seems to substitute. In fact, money may not be
the most important thing in life but it affects everything that is.
- Imagine, for example, how many marriages would be saved if
they only better understood money and finances.
- Imagine how much happier we would be if we weren't
constantly struggling to earn enough to pay the bills.
- Imagine how much better our health would be if we could
easily afford good nutrition and excercise.
- Imagine how better our relationships would be if we were
able to spend more time with friends and family and not constantly fighting
over how our money is spent or having too much month at the end of the
paycheck.
- And imagine how much more hope we would have if we were
confident our retirement was taken care of.
Money Skills of Prosperous
People
As I considered my retirement options and the path I had
taken up to this point, I discovered that I was coming up way short and my
outlook was pretty bleak. I began learning from another author,
Robert
Allen, and learned I had mostly done the wrong things when it came to
finances. More importantly, I learned how I could turn things around by taking
some pretty simple actions.
Robert Allen taught me seven secrets or
money skills of extremely prosperous people:
- Money skill #1: Value it
- Money skill #2: Manage it
- Money skill #3: Save it
- Money skill #4: Invest it
- Money skill #5: Make it
- Money skill #6: Shield it
- Money skill #7: Share it
Up to this point, I had never really understood the "value" of
money or how to "manage" it and certainly didn't start "saving" it or
"investing" it early enough. I guess I always counted on "making" it would get
me through. But now at this stage of my life (nearly 50 years-old) I was
beginning to realize it wasn't going to be and it seemed pretty useless to
start now -- there simply was not enough time for the money to grow into
anything significant. What I had misunderstood until now, though, was that
money is a "seed" and what it grows in to depends on how long you let it grow
and at what rate of growth.
Now, my problem was that I didn't have 30 or
40 years ahead of me to allow my investments to compound into big bucks. What I
was to learn about is what's called the "Rule of 72" that enables you to
determine how long it will take for money invested on a compound interest basis
to double. You divide 72 by the interest rate to get the answer.
For
example, it would take an investment 24 years to double if invested at 3%, 12
years at 6%, 6 years at 12%, or only 3 years at 24%.
What I had next
was one of those "light-bulb" moments or "flat-forehead" moments when I
realized what I needed to do was simply increase the rate of return in
order to reduce the number of years I needed to invest my money. So... what I
needed was a vehicle with a higher rate of return than traditional investments
and certainly better than any J.O.B. would bring.
Enter Network
Marketing and it's geometic growth income plan. I'll get back to this point and
how it is changing my life in a moment.
The Money Tree
Now, if what
I needed was a vehicle with a higher rate of return and network marketing
looked like a business model that could provide that, what I needed next was to
choose the right business. Robert Allen also introduced me to a concept he
called the MONEY TREE, or 9 Characteristics of an ideal business.
 Multiple streams of income- Outstanding and unique selling proposition
- Nothing down - or low cost to begin and
maintain
- Employee resistant - no employees
- Yield a high profit from selling information
- Trend - be at the beginning of a growing market
- Residual income or cash flow while you sleep
- Essential to everyone everyday
- Enjoy what you do.
Retire Quickly
As I
continued my educational journey in finances and seeking a good "money tree"
type company to align myself with I wanted a legitimate business that could be
pretty well automated using the tools of the Internet and one that I could work
from any location I happened to be.
Surfing the NET one day late in
2000, I came across an interesting business opportunity called Retire
Quickly. I was skeptical at first. There were soooo many "opportunities"
being hyped on the web and I knew they could not all be real. As I continued to
look at Retire Quickly, I discovered it fit one of my requirements for the
perfect home business very well as it is a pure Internet company with virtual
products.
I was impressed with its owner, Kelly Reese, whose mission
was to help people in financial stress and to teach them to better manage their
finances. It was a business that taught people how to better understand,
control, and harness the power of money - the very money skills of extremely
prosperous people. Now, that sounded interesting and was in harmony with what I
had been learning recently.
It was important to me that it be a
legitimate business not built with hype and unrealistic promises. I had grown
sick and tired of all the hyped up offers flooding the Internet tickling the
ears of people looking for that "easy" answer, promising just about everything
people want - but not backed up with any substance. There are Powerlines,
Forced Matrixes, and Binaries - all promising overnight riches and downlines
that magically appear with little or no work on your part.
Retire
Quickly was NOT like those deals. Rather, Retire Quickly provides an honest
business built on solid business principles that work. As Kelly Reese has said:
Truth is the most powerful force known to man. And, Truth is what you're
going to get with Retire Quickly. The fact that Retire Quickly was a member in
good standing with the Better Business Bureau and U.S. Chamber of Commerce got
my attention and helped me feel confident in this business.
Fortunate
for me, I joined Retire Quickly in Feb. 2001 and had begun building an
additional stream of income with the business because in December 2001,
ZigOnline announced it was terminating its program and merging it with Nikken
(the Zig Ziglar Network had already been merged with Nikken a year earlier).
While many people might be discouraged by such a development, I saw it as an
opportunity to grow personally and financially. I know that when one door
closes, another one opens. Unlike my previous experiences, this time... I was
armed with a bigger dream, a bigger plan, and had a much better understanding
of "success." You see, success is not an event (such as Zig Ziglar's program),
but rather is a process. And I had educated myself with the process and was
able to continue on my journey.
Like ZigOnline, Retire Quickly was a
business opportunity with a "virtual" product that enabled me to again
relatively easily build an international business from the comfort of my home
and fit the criteria of the Money Tree.
How Network Marketing Has Changed My
Life
I said I would get back to how network marketing with
it's geometic growth income plan is changing my life and why I'm so excited
about this industry. Getting involved in network marketing, also known as MLM,
has been one of the best things I've done for myself and since beginning,
there's been no looking back. In fact, I sometimes feel like kicking myself for
not starting sooner.
I have built a good foundation for my business to
explode as it hits critical mass and then the momentum stage in the coming
months. In keeping with my "no-hype" approach to the business, it would be
unfair to tell you how much money I'm earning or what you can earn. I can
honestly say, however, that the only ceiling to your income is the one YOU put
there. In other words, you'll earn as much or as little depending upon the
commitment and effort you put forth. This business is not like your traditional
8 to 5 J.O.B. where you get paid for the time you put in. Instead, we're paid
"commissions" on our direct sales and of those sales by others in our
organization. Like all commission based businesses - you are paid on YOUR
performance and the performance of your team.
There is no legitimate
business model besides network marketing that I'm aware of that makes it
possible to earn without an income cap or ceiling -- and not all accomplished
on my own efforts, but on the efforts of others as well. J. Paul Getty said,
"I'd rather have 1% of the efforts of others than 100% of what I can
do."
It's precisely the geometric growth potential of this business
model that makes it a perfect fit for my goal of having a vehicle with a higher
rate of return -- remember the Rule of 72.
While this industry has
allowed me to work from home after quitting my full-time J.O.B., my goals are
much higher -- for example, I fully expect to be completely free from debt in
the next 3 to 5 years and earning a comfortable six-figure income -- couldn't
do that with my J.O.B. Already I've built an "asset" with my business in just a
few short years that far exceeds what I did in the 30 years I was an employee.
Perhaps for the first time in my life, my outlook towards retirement is now
very bright. Because of what I've learned from Kelly Reese I now understand
what it means to be a Virtual Millionaire and I don't need to be saving
thousands of dollars a month for many years - as the traditional retirement
model would require. By making a regular investment in my business over a 5 to
7 years period, finding only a few business builders to join me in the journey,
I fully expect to be earning a monthly income in excess of $6,500 with as few
as 340 members. It would take over a million dollars invested at 6% to
accomplish the same thing.
Another HUGE BENEFIT of being self-employed
has emerged - income security. While many around me are bemoaning the weakening
economy and are legitimately worried about having a job in the future. I, on
the other hand, am excited and have a very POSITIVE outlook for my future. My
home-based business is GROWING -- in fact it's been growing faster in the past
six months than it has at any time in the previous year.
It's important,
too, as I move forward to remember my security does not come from an individual
company or opportunity. It comes from the education and knowlege that is going
into my head. Companies may come and go... but knowledge is forever. Once you
learn how to value money and have it work for you - how to manage it, how to
save it, how to invest it, how to shield it, and how to share it - that
knowledge can never be taken away.
Retire Quickly was so much more than
just an income opportunity. It was really a "life changing" education in
financial literacy. It was about learning to live a new lifestyle of simple
abundance. It was about becoming a different person. As Zig Ziglar taught me,
you've got to first BE the right person before you can DO, and you've got to DO
before you can HAVE. Sadly, many people in our society have that turned around
and want to HAVE more before they are willing to DO what they need to do, and
certainly few are willing to BE the kind of person that truly attracts
success.
Perhaps one of the most important lessons I learned from Retire
Quickly was how to take advantage of the
tax benefits
of owning a home business. In fact, I've learned how this benefit alone can
pay for your business start-up and provide the cash flow needed to last long
enough in the business to begin making money.
For those who are employed
in the US and are having a portion of their wages withheld from their paychecks
to pay their taxes, they more than anyone can benefit from owning a home
business with it's generous tax deductions. Most people work from January to
April or May just to pay taxes! I think it's a real shame that more people
don't wake up and take advantage of America's #1 Financial Strategy and shorten
the months they work to pay Uncle Sam - and instead put their hard earned money
into their own business.
There are two tax systems in this country (1)
for the employed ... who pay the largest share of taxes, by the way, who pay
taxes FIRST and then spend what's left over, and (2) for the self-employed and
business owner who understands how to have money work for them and spends first
and pays taxes on what's left over. Which system makes more sense to you?
Personally, I like #2 and believe most people would if they only knew how to do
it.
I can't tell you how incredibly fulfilling it is to see other
people's lives changed when they begin to understand and embrace all that
network marketing offers. Perhaps my highest point in this business so far was
when one of my business partners described how just two years ago her family
was facing possible bankruptsy and today they see a hopeful future after paying
off their last credit card. She described their financial situation as sort of
like being on a road... "before adopting the lifestyle of simple abundance we
were headed toward financial destruction at about 60 mph. A couple of years ago
we began applying the brakes (began to make a few better financial choices) and
eventually began to turn the car around (getting serious about debt freedom).
Maybe we are only headed 10 mph right now toward financial freedom... but at
least I know we are headed the right direction."
Lastly, the most
important value this business affords me is "freedom" - freedom in all it's
forms: financial, physical, mental, political, spiritual, and especially time
freedom. For almost seven years now I have been fortunate to be able to work
full-time from my home-based office. I have been experiencing the exhilaration
of working for myself and enjoying the freedom that comes with it.
It
hasn't always been that way, however. For more years than I like to count, I
was a W-2 employee working for bosses who really didn't have my freedom very
high on their agenda. Over the years, I've had set-backs and I've had things
happen where I'd take a few steps forward and then get thrown back about a
dozen steps. I recall a time about a dozen years ago when I had such huge
dreams for what was going to happen next. What did happen next was not what I
was expecting and my momentum was killed in its tracks. Fortunate for me, I had
a much bigger dream. While my short term plans may have been derailed, my
longer term plan of "freedom" and "independence" was only maturing. My setbacks
have made me even MORE committed and determined to break free of the shackles
of debt and of working my whole life for someone else.
Someone said,
"If it's going to be... it's up to me." - So true!
I've
discovered that if I were to have all the things I wanted in life, it was MY
responsibility to make it happen. It has taken a commitment to success and
consistent effort every week to get me to where I'm at today.
Today,
because of my home based business I am free to choose what I do every day. I
wake up in the morning when I'm finished sleeping and go to bed when I want.
And, my sleep time is so much better now that I'm not thinking about facing
that dead-end job, an uncaring boss, and an endless onslaught of bills. I
choose when I work, how hard I work, or if I work at all. When I want to take a
trip, I don't have to ask anybody's permission. When it's important to spend
time with my mother or other family member, I don't have to arrange with a boss
for time off.
Regarless of whether I ever earned a dime in this
business - the time freedom is worth it for me. It's the time freedom that
let's me live.
"Every man dies, not every man really
lives." -- Sir William Wallace, Braveheart
Sadly, like so many businesses in this industry, Retire
Quickly was also not to be. Early in 2007, Kelly Reese announced he was
terminating the income opportunity associated with the company. And,
again...when one door closes, another one opens.
I received an
Instant Message from Derek Bohlken in my Yahoo Messenger inviting me to a live
web conference meeting. Since I knew Derek from his leadership role in Retire
Quickly, I was curious about what he was doing and showed up to the web meeting
a little late.
He was talking about how to have a successful home-based
business and a new web site the
Follow Our
Lead team had recently launched. Derek was one of the more successful RQ
reps building a huge international organization over 90 levels deep, and here
he was doing it again with a new opportunity.
One of the points he made
was the importance of having a duplicatable system that anyone could follow to
ensure their success in a home based business opportunity. He also emphasized
the importance of a team approach to building a home business opportunity and
how the Follow Our Lead team was in position to help new folks get started with
a successful home based business.
He went on to describe, without
knowing it, the Money Tree lessons I learned from Robert Allen years before.
- Multiple streams
of income - this business could easily be built along side other ventures I
was involved in and in fact could work synergistically with them and support
the growth of each income stream. He talked about how through diversification
we strengthen our ability to have long term success. We do this because
experience has taught us that to do otherwise gives someone else control over
our destiny. By diversification we widen our marketing strategies, optimize our
income potential and empower ourselves to have control over our own financial
destiny.
A note about multiple streams of income... I'm not suggesting
anyone join everything that comes down the pike. Select a primary network
marketing company that you focus 70-80% of your time and efforts. A secondary
one like a lead program or communications package. A couple of no-brainer
affiliate programs. And maybe a direct sales program where you can make big
commissions on straight sales, would be a solid mix. 75% of your success in
network marketing will be determined by the company you pick and the upline you
are associated with. Make sure you do your homework.
Many so-called
HEAVY HITTERS of the past will tell you to work ONLY one program. And they do
that for 2 reasons. First, self-interest. They don't want people in their
downline running off working other opportunities. And second, it REALLY used to
be difficult. But with today’s technology, you can simply become a
navigator or what I like calling a tour guide, directing people to web sites
that do the selling for you. And that means you can now work multiple
opportunities online and let people choose for themselves what's right for
them. People are doing it all the time -- in fact, most 21st century HEAVY
HITTERS are working more than one income program.
- Outstanding and
unique selling proposition - Follow Our Lead is built on a foundation of
valued TEAM members and advisors who have the skills to build Follow Our Lead
into a presence on an International level. Follow Our Lead has the vision, and
better yet, a defined plan to become a reckoning force in online
technology-based solutions and marketing strategies to support our
clients.
- Nothing down - or
low cost to begin and maintain - There are four products offered under the
Follow Our Lead team umbrella, and a person only needs to join one of the four
for as little as $10 a month to become part of our team. And once a person
grasps the concept of living through their business, they will discover there
can be absolutely NO financial risk at all in starting a business. Few people
really understand this concept, but I will try to help you get it.
- Employee
resistant - no employees. What can I say? Instead of fighting unmotivated
employees, I get to work with partners I want to work with and people who are
motivated to improve their lives.
- Yield a high
profit from selling information - Some of the programs offered by the FOL
team have some of the best payouts in the industry. Plus, since the products
also include marketing tools necessary in ANY business venture, members are not
forced to incur huge additional expenses for building their
business.
- Trend - be at the
beginning of a growing market - According to a recent article I read in the
AARP Bulletin, nearly half the country's self-employed workers - 7.4 million -
are baby boomers. It's clear that many baby boomer generation people are waking
up to the fact their retirement is not secure.
- Residual income
or cash flow while you sleep - business works for us 24/7/365. You want to
build "long-term" income... not just money to get by or pay the
bills.
- Essential to
everyone everyday - Anybody that wants to improve their financial lives
with a home business can benefit from the products and services we
offer.
- Enjoy what you
do. - I love building an Internet business that helps people improve their
financial situation. You need to be doing something you enjoy if you want to
succeed long-term.
As I said earlier, my passion is to help people to be blessed in the
same way I am or as Zig Ziglar said, "To be the difference maker in the
personal, family, and professional lives of enough people to make a positive
difference in the world.". Although owning a home based business can
benefit just about anyone - I understand not everyone has the willingness to
take advantage of the benefits and even fewer have what it takes to build a
business with powerful residual income. It requires people with a vision and a
strong work ethic that includes the discipline to follow through with a proven
plan of success. Those are rare character qualities in our society today -
probably embraced by fewer than 10% of the population. I certainly want to give
everyone I can the opportunity to succeed, but as I said, not everyone will
accept what I have to offer. "You can lead a horse to water but you can't
make them drink." Rather than focusing on the negativism of those people, I
choose rather to look for a few serious minded people who are committed to
living a freedom lifestyle and who are willing to step outside the box that's
enslaved them for so long to do what it takes to free themselves.
I
don't chase my friends, family, and neighbors -- and I'm certainly NOT going to
try to convince anyone that this business is for them. I like that I don't have
to "sell" with this business but rather like to think of myself as a "tour
guide" showing others the way to financial independence. Folks either "get it"
or they don't. You see, the kind of freedom I'm talking about is not taught --
it's caught.
Do NOT be afraid of learning how do business through the
Internet. The Internet is nothing more than a hyper speed information delivery
system with 24 hour availability and Global access. It’s a tool. And once
understood and mastered, this tool can make you a lot of money.
Nobody
can do it for you. You've got to have the desire and commitment to do what it
takes to make this business a success for you. It's a sad fact that perhaps
only 3% of those people who start in a Network Marketing opportunity realize
any real degree of success. Why is that? Generally the failure can be traced
directly to the individuals inactivity and reluctance to participate fully in
their business. The opportunity and the tools are here for you to succeed... if
you want it.
If you would like to learn more about the Network
Marketing business model and the power of making money work for you, I would
invite you to visit my
Home
Business Portal and
Freedom Lifestyle websites where you'll find links and
resources to teach you more about money and how you can find personal,
professional, and financial freedom. And, certainly come on by our
Follow Our
Lead site and learn what we're doing.
"You can get everything in life you want if you will only
help enough other people get what they want." - Zig Ziglar |
Born in 1951 in
Upon reflection, I'm thankful for my
parents providing me a solid moral foundation that would undergird me later in
life.
Life was good for us living in the country. I attended Seltzer
School, a small country school about a mile away as the crow flies or about 2
miles by road. We owned our own horse that was kept in a field adjacent to our
home and played freely in the fields, lakes and open spaces all around us. Our
bicylces were our main form of transportation and it was not uncommon for us to
ride several miles from home in our adventures to the nearest stores. Summers
were spent swimming at the country club or my brother and I camping at one of
the nearby lakes.
For
reasons not completely understood by me at the time we left our rural home and
moved into the city. I was suddenly thrust into the chaos of Robinson Junior
High. No longer did I ride the bus with other kids I knew to a school where two
grades shared the same classroom all day. Here, every hour a loud buzzer would
sound and kids would fill the hallways looking for their next classroom.
Survival in this urban jungle became a necessary skill I needed to learn in a
hurry. I was shocked when kids I didn't know would approach me for the sole
purpose of picking a fight. Meeting after school in the parking lot to defend
oneself became all too common.
I quickly learned that photography was an
expensive hobby and ended up working at the Molers Camera Shop where I was
buying all my darkroom supplies. Working in a camera store vastly broadened my
learning experience and was challenging because now customers looked to me to
answer their questions about a broad range of photographic problems. I left
Molers in 1978 to begin a freelance photography business shooting mostly
weddings and some portraits. 
It was during this time that I began to learn more about computers
and I bought my first one, a Timex Sinclair. It didn't take long to outgrow
that little box and I made my first big investment in an Epson QX-10. It was
one of the first CP-M computers with a user friendly interface. I became active
in the Epson User Group and taught myself to program in Basic and dBase II.
When the University bought a MS-DOS based Zenith computer for my department, I
quickly jumped on the opportunity to design database applications to track work
flow, economic projections, and created a data base of the University slide
collection.
When I heard Zig
Ziglar, I was immediately impressed by his gift of encouragement, his
authenticity in sharing his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and his message of
"responsibility." Here was a man who articulated my vision and inspired me to
reach higher and reawakened in me the dreams and goals that had been knocked
down by life. Like a Berean, I looked hard to find a weakness, some flaw in his
character, some evidence of a lack of integrity, some unbiblical teaching
espoused, but I was not able to find it. 
Like many people,
I really didn't adequately understand the network marketing industry and like
many people had some pretty negative misconceptions about it. 
