Can You Guarantee The Success Of My Business?

Many people imagine that, in order to create a successful business, they just have to find a mind blowing idea, or to have enough money to start something big and profitably. It's more than that.

We know of a case that, although there were the mind blowing idea as well as lots of funds, the business went bankrupt in less than 6 months, although its potential was immense. We will not give other details. We will only tell you the causes that were the basis for this failure: the business owner inability to create a collaborators network (and there were over 200 valid candidates) and a completely chaotic, therefore inefficient, advertising campaign, which constantly and consistently drained the company's money. So, the idea and the initial capital are not the most important factors to succeed in business.

Eventually, the success really depends on one thing only: the owner. They generally say that a business is not successful because of several situations: the customers preferences change, their purchasing power decreases, delays in the supplies deliveries, there is a liquidity crisis, staff is not serious, etc... But, in reality, the cause is the owner (manager) inability to find solutions for these situations. A capable business owner is able to overcome or, more importantly, is able to prevent difficulties: he always keeps himself informed and learns how the customers preferences evolves; he analyzes the sales situation and changes prices so that he gets the best results; he negotiates to store rent and services charges that others provide; he constantly supervises the cashflow so he won't find himself in financial trouble; he trains and motivates his employees, etc. If the employer is O.K., the business is O.K. If such a business owner goes to a bank and asks for a loan, the banker will be interested in knowing about the management team that leads the business. The reason is same as expressed above: you have the right person - you have solutions for everything to be OK.

One of our friends very nicely summed up the whole story. She said that "a business is like a child. If the parents are beautiful, talented and smart, the child will be quite the same. Similarly, if a business owner is courageous, creative, smart, communicative, then his business will be a success". Reviewing the title of this post, it is obvious that you can not ask anyone to ensure you that the business you want to start will be successful. How can anyone guarantee that? Everything depends on you and only you. You must make every effort to find the resources to become better, otherwise you could only watch with envy the welfare of those who managed to find these resources. And you will not have any excuse.

You must understand, that all the above information is also true when we're talking about network marketing businesses. Any type of business people want to start, they need a guarantee for their success. They need to be guaranteed because they courage, creativity and all other qualities are replaced by FEAR. Whenever it comes to money, people stop seeing the business potential because they are afraid of losing their money. We also have lots of friends that never tried any MLM business, just because they heard from others that those are scams and they should stay away from them. Unfortunately they became Anti-MLMers and created a brick wall that will "protect" them from this industry. They could, as well, become Anti-Business, since there are lots of people that started businesses and failed. We also have other friends that were bolder and joined the MLM industry, but they were not successful because they had not took it seriously. They thought that they would join and the money would start coming to them - and that never happened.

The main idea is: "the best way to become rich is to start your own business". If you do that, you should, first, make a 5 year business plan and see all the risk that are involved and all the factors that will affect your business. If you don't have a mind blowing idea or lots of money to start, another very good option is to open a franchise of a business. This way you "join" a chain of franchises of a business that already works with very good results, so your risk is greatly lowered - but, we must tell you that, you pay some money to the franchiser, regardless of your franchise results. The exact same "procedure" is used by the MLM companies: the MLM company is the franchiser and you, as a member, are the franchise. Compared to a traditional business where you would need at least $10,000, in MLM, the cost of joining this "chain" of franchises is lower - about $200 in most cases.

We'll soon cover more about this subject, so keep an eye on our blog.

Anti-MLMers Critic The MLMs - part1

When looking, over the Internet, for jobs or money making opportunities, one thing is certain: 99% of the offers are MLM businesses. And if you find that 1% that offers something you really like ( "serious and secure", in the view of anti-mlmers) you're going to be disappointed because you'll find all sorts of inconveniences like: your CV does not meet the necessary requirements, you do not have enough experience in that field or in any working field, you do not have the necessary studies, you don't have the required specialization. Or maybe you are not comfortable with the offered salary. Or, if the salary is high and you get employed, soon you'll feel the bitterness of working for an employer. The unemployment threat will always follow you. You must, always, support the moods of your bosses, etc., etc., etc..

And then, where are you going to look for another option?

Are you going to start your own conventional business? You need a lot of money and lots of skills that you may not have.

And then, where are you going to look for another option?

Will you emigrate? Will you sacrifice years of your life on foreign lands, to make some money which, attention, nobody knows how long you can keep?

And then, where are you going to look for another option?

Browsing the Internet, on various forums, we discovered several comments on the multilevel-marketing systems. Our attention was drawn by the comments of those who are against MLM businesses - the ANTI-MLMers.

What do anti-mlmers actually say? We'll reproduce here some of the most encountered such views.

According to anti-mlmers, the network marketing businesses are anything but methods used by some people who don't have anything better to do than to attract naive people, these naive people must, themselves, attract other naive and so on. Anti-mlmers are so "smart" that they can't conceive the idea that someone could attract them in anything. They do not see themselves as fools or naive (but who actually admits about himself to be naive?), but see themselves as winners because they "were not fooled" or "have not taken the bait" of these "dubious pyramid business offers". Actually, anti-mlmers have placed the equal sign between MLM businesses and the word "scam". Here are just some of the labels made by the frenzied combatants against this system of business:

"Miserable system which allows you to use other people's naivety"

"A joke, a hoax for fooling the easy gullible people"

"Illegal pyramid business"

"As long as there are losers in the world, there will always be slicks"

"Motivation (to greed) and persuasion (to manipulation)"

"Good for dreamers"

"Big money are made only with bigger or smaller scams"

"Indoctrination method"

"Convince people using deceitful opportunities"

"Perfidious advertising system, with agents who lie people"

"Dreams sales"

"Brainwashing"

"Etc., etc., etc."

We are very analytical and we like to think with our own minds, so we sought to understand the real reasons for which there are such anti-mlm views. Without doubt, this is about the complexity of the human psychic. Anti-mlmers have already put some labels, but beyond the simplicity of these labels there certainly is something much more complicated. The criticism against MLM's is of different types and are based on several motivations. There is a class apart of more cultivated critics, which explores the mathematical model, of the marketing plans, practiced by the network marketing businesses. According to these critics, the marketing plan of MLM companies is in fact a masked pyramidal scheme, in which the few people from atop the pyramid, win more money based on the many from the base of the pyramid. Since the ones from the peak of the pyramid are the first, they are the only ones who will win. Those from the base of the pyramid have no way to win, because it will be impossible for them to recruit other people, by words of criticism of the MLM.

Anti-mlmers dissect the pyramidal theoretical model, for example the calculation with the 5 recruited people:

If each would enroll 5 people, the 16 level would no longer be able to enroll anyone in the pyramid, because, in their view, the world population has ended.

Anti-mlmers say that, according to this pyramidal model, is impossible for an MLM business to grow forever without having someone that, eventually, would lose. Probably this is the cause for which many people associate MLM with scams.

Of course, many people refuse the MLM offers for diverse reasons:

Some simply can not believe that you can enrich from such businesses.

Others don't like the idea of being recruited by someone, then recruiting themselves other people.

Others simply don't have the necessary patience to develop a MLM business.

Others fear that the "chain" would break and the business would collapse.

Some have even tried a MLM business, for a while (not too long), then they have come to the conclusion that it "did not work". So, if it did not work, according to their opinion, there is no possible way that it would continue to work.

Others do not like that they should participate in all sorts of dubious meetings or conferences, with applauding "penguins".

Others do not like that (in their view) they would have to sell dreams of other people.

Others fear of rejection when trying to recruit someone in MLM.

Others don't like to sell (although in the pure MLM's, something like that it is not necessary).

It is impossible to make an inventory on all the reasons that make some people refuse the MLM businesses. Why do many people label the MLM businesses as a UN serious? Some of the reasons would be those described above.

And yet, what is the truth about the MLM?

We once read a book about MLM ( "Network Marketing: How To Make It Pay", by Trevor Lowe and Peter Clothier).

It is a book that includes the most effective network marketing techniques, specifying there, since the beginning, something very clear and very realistic. According to the two authors (and not only), the one who wants to start a MLM business must keep account of 2 essential aspects:

1. in the MLM businesses you can win lots of money

2. in the MLM businesses don't all people ever win.

Both versions are very true.

Of course, you need to exactly understand why are they true. Because the second version has a correspondent in truth and in fact, anti-mlmers have rushed to declare that the cause of failing in MLM is, in fact, the MLM system. Because many people have tried the MLM but they weren't successful, the anti-mlmers had concluded that the MLM is just dreams selling, an illusion or simply a hoax.

We once saw a list with over 1000 activities (without any connection to MLM) on an anti-mlm website, activities that were supposed to create a passive income (meaning those money that you earn even after you no longer want to do that work). According to the authors of that site, if you want to earn money (without any jump in a MLM) so that you no longer need to go to work, is sufficient to start with an investment of at least $ 1,000 (the amount available for Westerners) and to do an indeed "serious" business, one of those listed on that site.

The question is:

If those opportunities (which are NOT MLM, therefore, are "serious"), even those that can make you money so you no longer need the job, why don't they all start doing them and earn "serious" money so they would no longer need their jobs? It's clear that people can record failures in any business (whether or not MLM).

That's what Peter Clothier and Trevor Lowe wanted to transmit through their book.

The success or the failure of a business does not depend on the system of that business, as much as it depends on who starts the business.

And yet, if you put an anti-mlmer to give a very detailed explanation on why the MLM is a scam, his explanations will stop at the level of some very simple labels: "It is a pyramidal scheme, those few from the top win and the many from the base lose, many have tried but lost, you attract some suckers and make them attract other suckers, sooner or later this kind of schemes will collapse, if it was true, everyone would be rich, etc., etc. ".

Actually, if you carefully notice, this is a very simplistic label. If you sit and analyze it very well, the MLM is much more complicated than anyone can theorize (mlm-er or anti-mlmer).

If we would believe the labels of the anti-mlmers, because the MLM has more than 50 years, at this moment, starting with the just born babies and ending with the ones of over 90 or 100 years old, all but absolutely all, should already be recruited in a network marketing business (MLM). There have already passed more than 50 years since the first creation of the MLM systems and they still have not collapsed. We wonder how many tens or hundreds of years will it take to happen?

And yet, what are those who are critical, on the MLM systems, missing?

We enumerate only some of the aspects that the anti-mlmers have not taken into account:

-- The complexity of the human psychic

-- World population dynamics

-- Diversity of the marketing plans

-- Seniority of the MLM systems (tens of years)

-- Technological evolution (the emergence of Internet has made possible the improvement of many MLM methods)

-- Etc., etc.

If you take a closer look over the the pyramid, you can see that the pyramidal model ... is only theoretical. What is criticized is, in fact, the pyramid theory.

We'll make a comparison so we'll be better understood.

Let's suppose that someone does not want to get married, because, as inferred from information about marriage, this means obligations, fights, necessities, etc. Furthermore, he/she will say that the marriage means a long string of problems, because that is the conclusion based on what he/she read or heard. That means he/she will criticize something that doesn't exist yet, because he/she can't know how his/hers own marriage would advance.

The truth is that perfect pyramid has NEVER been formed in any MLM business. And there is no possibility for it to form.

The exponential growth model is only educational, created to better understand how a network marketing business can evolve. The theory is theory and reality is reality. Anti-mlmers waste time criticizing the pyramid which never existed.

WHY can't there be formed a perfect pyramid?

Simple: Because people are not perfect. People are not robots, all made by the same pattern. Not all people can carry out an activity at the same rate. Not even an individual can, every day, work at the same rate. When, let's say, one man, decides to start a MLM business, an infinite variety of factors can influence the evolution of that business. And the intervention of factors is taken place over time, in an infinite variety of other ways.

It is impossible to give you even a theoretical model of the evolution of a freshly affiliated into a network marketing business ( "pyramidal" ...).

Some people start very enthusiastic, but that enthusiasm may decrease over time, not necessarily because the success fails to appear.

There are many people who failed in classic businesses, not only in MLM, and not because of the business or of the system, but because of them.

Some people simply get bored very quick, others are endowed with more patience.

Some maintain their enthusiasm for a few weeks, others for a few months, others for a few years, and others just for a few days.

Some are more motivated, others are less motivated.

Some can work 1 hour per day, others 2 hours, 5 hours or others even all day.

It can happen for some people to leave on a 2 days vacation, for others a one month vacation, and for others to not have a vacation at all.

Some want to earn more money, others less.

Some are happy with 50 dollars, others don't give until they win thousands of dollars.

Some have more perseverance, others less.

Some let themselves influenced by others opinions, others maintain their firm convictions.

Some can have a better focus on their purpose, others can not concentrate with the same intensity.

Some are more creative, others less creative.

There is an infinity of factors related to the human psychic.

These factors act so that perfect pyramid will never form.

continue reading about this theme ...

Anti-MLMers Critic The MLMs - part2

Should we also take a look on the global population dynamics?

Every day people are born and every day other people die. The world population is, overall, growing.

In the 1950's, the world's population was only about 1 billion people, and today the population number is more than 4 times higher (in October 1999, the population of Earth exceeded 6 billion inhabitants). Experts say that, in the future, the annual increase will be quite high (75-80 million people per year), due to the huge accumulated growth potential of humankind.

In past centuries the annual natural growth increased from 3 million inhabitants in 1750 to 7 million in 1850, then 45 million in 1950. At this time, the world's population grows by 212 000 people daily and 8833 people every hour! Assuming that, each minute, 6 other people join the MLM industry (1 each man every 10 seconds!) it allows us to conclude that the MLM businesses can grow forever, without ever stopping!

Now, think about it, that in any MLM business, the growth is not just exponential, as it is in theory. And this is as POSITIVE as it can be for the MLM business evolution. The fact that there is also a linear growth, not 100% exponential, means that for those who truly persevere in such a business, profit never ends, it always grows, not exactly exponentially, but GROWS, and that never happens in the case of a simple salary, which basically remains quite the same for all your life.

In fact, in the MLM businesses, the growth is more linear than exponential, assuring its continuity to infinity. Even if we would absurdly think that ALL the people would join the MLM industry, it's still impossible for the perfect pyramid to form. The ramifications are unevenly built and they are very changing in the course of time.

We already described the cause: not all people can be active with the same rhythm (just like it also happens in any society or community), the dynamics of the world population, and so on.

Actually, we often questioned ourselves: "What would happen if all people would come in MLM, according to the exact exponentially calculation? It would lead to the collapse of all pyramids, just like the anti-mlmers say?"

Excepting the fact that this scenario is absurd, if it did happen that everyone join MLM, the pyramids would, in any case, NOT collapse, but many conventional trade companies would reorient to an MLM system, because it will be much easier to use a marketing system which has proved a quite spectacular effectiveness. Production and service activities will remain about the same, but the trade segment will go through a profound reform.

And even if you accept the absurd situation in which ALL people would join MLM, that would be excellent, because, for many people, the MLM should only be a second source of income, besides their professions. Many people would still go to work, even if they earn enough from the MLM (it is very interesting that, in reality, there also are such mentalities, there are people who exercise their profession even of passion).

The ones that are MLM trade system specialized will be able to activate within various MLM companies, with different range of distributed products. And the diversity of the offered products will make it possible for those involved to earn big money from the network distribution system. Something similar already happens in the conventional trading. For example, a shoe salesman also need to buy food from a food store dealer. Just like the owner of the food store needs to buy shoes, from the shoes store. So, if the absurd would happen and all people would join MLM, they would ALL WIN and NOBODY WOULD LOSE. Only those who give up MLM would lose.

If you think about it, even our society is a huge "hat" or a huge MLM, where money is always moving from one place to another. The society is also like a huge chain, and everyone is just a small link of this great chain. Money is always moving from one link to another. Our society is also made up of a huge number of constantly changing ramifications, just like the MLM. Actually, what is the employee that goes to work every day? It's just a link of the chain, who receives money (salary) because there are also other links in the chain. If this chain of the society would break or would not exist anymore, there would no longer be any wages. The employee must work dozens of years (for others) as to receive a modest pension. In MLM, if you work very hard for 5 years, after only 5 years of a passive income far superior than a mere pension of a simple employee. Because, until now, no one came, but ABSOLUTELY NO ONE, to say that he/she worked very hard for 5 years in a MLM business, for about 2 hours daily, and, in the end, didn't earn quite well. All, but ABSOLUTELY ALL those who say that have failed in MLM, they didn't actually persevere as much as they needed. They just tried the business for a few weeks or a few months. In the book of the 2 mentioned above authors, it is very clearly written: in MLM, if you want to have guaranteed success, is COMPULSORY to start with a long-term plan (at least 5 years).

Why does it need a plan for such a long period of time? Because of the extremely diverse mentalities. The selection of the recruited people is very slow, people are very different and very complicated. Of course we know the opinion of those people who have no patience. We also know there are also people who have enough patience. We are among these people. Someone said: "The secret of patience is that, meanwhile, you do something else". It's like you go on a college for 5 years. If now you already have a job, go to work, but make time for a business for one hour daily, just like a low frequency student makes his own time, outside working hours, for study and exams, for 5 years. If you do not have a job yet, start a MLM business and persevere for 5 years. The expenses are much lower, stress is much reduced, efficiency is much higher than when you go to study in a college. Those 5 years of business are uncertain? We believe that a student is more uncertain that, after 5 years of study, stress and a lot of expense, he/she can find a job to match his/her studies. For all we know, many college graduates are working for a medium education income or are not working at all. Or are not working in the field they studied for 5 years.

The common way of thinking is: How much to I earn now?

The answer: I earn as much as I'll earn in 5 years, in 10 years, in 20 years, until retirement, if I don't do something about it.

But we have extended this thinking: Indeed, the first 5 years in a MLM business will be working years (easy and without stress). But what will be our financial situation after the 5 years? And believe us, we desperately searched, in all possible places, for someone to say: "I worked for 5 years in a MLM business, for at least one hour each day, every day, without earning quite well" . We'll continue looking for such a man, but we do not think we'll ever find him.

Everywhere we find people that are unable to persevere, who are always complaining of failure. And still, there are many people willing to a MLM business, because most of MLM businesses require a very low investment (even $10 USD or $20 USD). Because people's ways of thinking are very diverse, some will not even accept this small risk, but others will accept it. In other "serious" businesses, according to anti-mlmers, the investment may be at of least $1000 USD. But even if these businesses are considered serious, would you risk $1000 USD right now?

You see? This is another reason for people to join MLM businesses.

Even if it is considered, by some, questionable, the MLM is, for many people, a chance to start a business with very little money.

We already know that a lot of "serious" businesses (without any connection with these dubious "pyramids") go bankrupt in less than 5 years of existence. Does it mean that such "honorable" businesses are just some scams?

It is very interesting to notice that, although the MLM is something far more serious and less risky than the Lottery, many people play the Lottery, hoping that they will get rich quickly, without any work. We are sure that lots of anti-mlmers play the Lottery.

MLM is not a game, not even a pyramidal one. Who is naiver? Someone who makes a 5 years business plan, in a MLM business that does not require investments, or someone who's always playing the Lottery, hoping to win, with very luck? MLM is not a game, not even a pyramidal one.

In the pyramid games you can join with money, as a player, hoping that you will then receive more money.

In the MLM businesses, your first quality is that of a distributed products consumer. You spend money on products that are very helpful, instead of throwing money in the wind, like games. Those who join the MLM businesses and persevere are not naive but, on the contrary, very smart people who really know what they want in life. They know from the start that they join a business where they have to build a network of people, that will distribute products, and that they receive a commission from the accumulated sales volume of their entire network.

The MLM is just another form of commerce. The idea of attracting people and recruiting them in our network, we consider it as something natural and of common sense, because that's the way business and advertising operate.

Anti-mlmers loudly declare that they will not be fooled to join such a business. The reality is that they are already fooled by other traders. Think about it: Even the anti-mlmers have seen enough ads on television or elsewhere and then bought various products that were not even necessary or were to expensive. Even we admit that we were attracted by the same sort of ad and we bought something that was not even necessary. But we haven't accused anybody. That's the way society works.

Do a Google search: mlm school project

Well, yes, you'll find school projects on MLM businesses.

Those who decide to earn money in MLM businesses are not fools, but people endowed with some very special necessary qualities for success: ambition, perseverance, consistency, patience, labor power, communication skills, intelligence, adaptability, etc., etc..

Because of the commerce and advertising and all sorts of business systems, the money are always able to move from one place to another, and the honest workers (links of this huge chain) receive their wages.

These people are aware that their business will not be successful if they will recruit naive people, but they will be able to obtain profits only if they recruit other endowed people, with at least the same qualities as them, meaning smart, intelligent, receptive and adaptable people in their networks.

The anti-mlmers critics on the pyramid theory have no support, but they even prove a limited thinking.

If the people from the base of the pyramid should lose, it's logical that the pyramid should collapse and THE ONES FROM THE TOP OF THE PYRAMID WILL LOSE. But those people who decide to be successful in a MLM business start thinking of building a long time career, for all their lives, a continuing profit source, which will never end. If the operation of a MLM network would cease, for lack of recruited people they would ALL lose, starting with the company and those who have initiated the construction of the network.

Therefore, the statement "Those who started win and the others lose" is very unfounded and simplistic.

If those who begin later don't win, automatically, would also lose those who have started earlier. But reality is quite another.

The reality on the ground indicate more and more people are starting to win pretty money in MLM. Those who say they do not succeed are the ones who have not realized that MLM is an action plan for at least 5 years. Those who lose in MLM are those who want to win faster, but with less effort.

The Internet now offers more elegant ways to develop a profitable MLM business. Thanks to the methods of online promotion, there is no need to invite your friends or known people to presentations where you applaud, you no longer need to get out of the house, you no longer have to convince people and you no longer have to face denials.

The anti-mlmers will continue to exist and we accept it as something natural. If they don't like someone's MLM, they will never approve this system.

Just as we know that there are people who understand these businesses and have a strong desire to succeed and to win their financial stability and freedom, in this way.

The Cashflow Quadrant

The Cashflow Quadrant was used by the Rich Dad, to teach the 9 year old child, Robert Kiyosaki, how the money works. It shows a very different perspective of life, from the financial point of view. This is something nobody taught in schools. 

There are 4 types of people in the world of business or money.And in this picture are the 4 types of people, which Rich Dad called the Cashflow Quadrant.

So:

E stands for Employee

S stands for Self-employed, Small business or Specials - like a doctor or lawyer

B stands for Big Business - 500 employees or more

I stands for Investor.

The distinction is that each are 4 types of different people, with different core values and with 4 different tax laws.

E - Employee - you can always say who they are by their core values (even if the employee is the janitor, or the president of the company) - they will always say the same words: "I'm looking for a safe, secure job, with benefits". That's what makes them Employees, because their core value is security.

S - Small business owner, Self-employed - their core values will make them all use the same words: "If you want something done right, do it by yourself!". S means an also Solo.

B - Big Business or like Bill Gates - 500 employees or more - their words are different: "I'm looking for a good system, a good network and the smartest people I know to help run my business". Their unlike the S, they don't want to run the company by themselves, they want smart people to run their company for them.

I - Investor - these are people who have money to work hard for them. They will always say: "I have to find a good job for my money!"

In the Left side of the Quadrant, we have the Employees and the Self-employed. Most of people are in the left side. Sometimes people really love their job, but the world is full of fearful people doing a job that they hate and the only reason is to have a check to pay their obligations and life expenses (the rat race). It is the typical path for poor people and mid-class people. In this part of the Quadrant, these people work for security, they work for money also.

In the Right side we have the Business owners and the Investors. The real rich people are in this side. If you want to get rich and have the financial freedom that you dream of, you need to focus yourself on leaving the left side and go to the right side. It is not easy but if you are persevering and intelligent, then you can reach your goals. In most of the cases it requires you to change your mind about the money topics. Education is the clue. Their key value of they want is that they want FREEDOM. They don't want to have to work at a job anymore, they don't want to have to work for the rest of their lives.

So, the beauty of building a business and learning how to invest is very simple: this is passive income, you work hard for a few years, but possibly for the rest of your life the income keeps flowing to you.

One of the main reasons we consider a direct selling business (MLM, Network Marketing) a perfect business it's very simply because the company will work with you to get the business skills that make you rich. Always remember that is not money that makes you rich, it's business skills. And that's why it's a perfect business. They'll take as much as you like to get the skills, to make the money. That's a lifetime skill thing.

The other part about it is: The Low Start Up Cost. Where else can you get in for less than $500 USD and get these skills?

For people who want to make the shift over to the B Quadrant, which is what we recommend, one of the beauties of a network marketing company is that you can do that for a very low price. That's why we talk to people about considering the network marketing. If you'd like to build a Microsoft, it would take hundreds of millions of dollars, but a network marketing company allows you to start at a very low rate, they'll be patient with you, they'll take the time to transition in the B quadrant. And the reason why that time is so important to most people is because it take times to change their values. And the most important thing is once you take the time - let's say it takes 1 year, 2 years, 5 years, whatever the time that takes - once you've seen the values or the core values of B and I, you're unstoppable. Today, we would never go back and get a job. Why should we? We'd rather stay on the right side - build networks and companies, pay less taxes, and make more money.

The number 1 asset a person can build is build a business. That's the smartest thing you can do.

The transition from the left side of the quadrant, to the right side is not a get rich quick formula, you can't just do it over night, it takes time. When we first made that transition, in 2007, when we fully quit our job and we had to depend upon our network marketing business, that we were building, to support us. So we understand the fear. The beauty, the most important thing to remember is this - there are 2 kinds of people in the world: the types that will say: "You'll never make it!" - and we've heard lots of friends and family members saying that, "You're stupid, don't do it!" - and the second type are the people that would say: "You can do it! Go for it! Don't worry about it, we'll cover you!" - so the most important thing is support of friends and family. One of the beauties of direct selling companies is that they provide that personal support to you, for as long as it takes for you to take that journey from the left side of the quadrant to the right side.

We all know the world has changed, but, sometimes, the hardest thing to change is ourselves. That's one of the things that a direct selling business offers people - why it's the perfect business. They allow you to take your time to make the mental, emotional and physical changes required to move from the left side to the right side.

So, please remember, changes always create upset, but, sometimes, we all know we have to make those changes. And if you know, it's time for you to make that change!

From Employees to Business Owners

When Claudia and I started our life together, I was working for the largest Internet Service Provider in Romania, as an IT network engineer, and she was in her final year as a student. I was an Employee, while she was still learning on how to become an Employee.

Like "normal" people, we had "normal" talks about life, nature, sports, partying and all the stuff that we liked doing. We also talked about our plans for the future, about what we want to be in life. I was 26 and she was 23. But, still, Claudia knew that she did not want to work for an employer and I knew I wanted to change my life and make more money. The problem was: we had no idea on how to do that. Nobody never taught us how money works and how you can make more money, other than being an employee.

Suddenly, in January 2007, one of my friends and neighbors called me and asked: "- Do you want to make more money?". The answer was obvious and so, our Network Marketing adventure begun. 3 Days later we were present on the first presentation of a network marketing company, that we ever saw. It made our head spin, our imaginations started running free in our minds. They said: "It's time to clear the dust from your dreams and let them come out!!" We have, then, realized that we had more dreams than we knew of. Days later we joined the company and started learning about the industry. It was a fantastic breakthrough for us, because we loved the idea of helping others see and fell what we saw and felt when we saw that presentation. The first people, we were thinking of showing this fantastic opportunity, were our families and our closest friends. We had our first sponsored representative and it was the moment when we started to realize and feel the incredible income possibility from this industry.

9 months later, we were active in another network marketing company - it was our second time when we joined a network marketing company without checking if the company, or the products were right for us. This was our big mistake, number 2 - we didn't knew if this company really is for us, but we saw the opportunity and knew that we'll make money with it.

Anyway, somebody recommended us to read Robert Kiyosaki's "Rich Dad, Poor Dad". He instantly become our role model. After we've read "Rich Dad, Poor Dad", we realized our lives are changed forever. We understood that what we have learned, until that moment, was not setting us free, but it imprisoned us. It imprisoned us to work for an employer, to work for the Government, to work for the banks. We were captive in JOBs - and Robert Kiyosaki gave a very interesting translation for JOB - Just Over Broke - and that was exactly where we were. The mission of Robert Kiyosaki is to elevate the financial well-being of humanity. According to him, the best way to get rich is to start your own business. We started thinking of business opportunities, but still we could not see that the best business opportunity was joining a network marketing company. And we were members of such a company.

In "The Business School", Robert Kiyosaki said that "the richest people build networks" and that building a business in this industry is a low cost - high income opportunity.

Another very important lesson of Robert Kiyosaki is about the Cashflow Quadrant, a diagram drawn by his rich dad to teach him, when he was 9 years old, about the 4 types of people and the 4 types of income. We'll soon expand this topic. I'm saying that this is a very important lesson because it allows us to call ourselves business owners, even if we don't own a conventional business, but a network marketing business.

After reading some of the books from the Rich Dad collection and started playing Cashflow, a game which we recommend to you all, we begun understanding more about life, from the financial point of view, and also about investments: real estates and stock market.

One day, when we were present on a convention of the network marketing company that we worked with, one of the members showed us a new concept called Forex Market and a company called FreedomRocks. For the 4th time, we joined another network marketing company and, this time, we decided to make everything to achieve our goals and become financially free.

This time we have studied the company, the products, the market niche, the compensation plan, the costs involved and the potential return of investment and we have joined it. We consider it to be the first company that is for the AVERAGE person and all of its members are working to create wealth for them and their families.

We'll soon add a post about The Cashflow Quadrant and we'll explain why we consider ourselves Business owners and Investors (B and I Quadrant), just because we are members of this great company called FreedomRocks.

Network Marketing — Which One is Right for You?

One of the biggest reasons for failure in the network marketing industry isn’t in fact the industry itself. One of the biggest reasons for failure in the industry is due to distributors selecting the wrong company. Selecting the right company is absolutely essential to the success of a distributor. Choose the right company and you could be earning a dream income and living a dream lifestyle. Choose the wrong company and you could be just another causality in the industry.

So how do you select the right company? There are five areas that you should look for when selecting a network marketing company to join.

1. The stability of the company – You want to find a company that is stable and structured to stay in business. Look for a company with a strong management team with experience. If the company is publicly traded, look at their financial statements and make sure they have plenty of cash on hand. You want to make sure you don’t wake up one morning and find out you won’t be paid commission for the sales you made. Generally speaking the longer the company has been around, the better. However, you also want to balance this with the second area.

2. The Market – If a brand new network marketing company was started selling vinyl records, you probably wouldn’t research that company any further. Why? The product is a product that is behind the trend. You want to get involved with a company that offers a product ahead of the trend. This means the product has a long way to go before it reaches market saturation. A lot of people assume that getting involved with a start-up company is the best move because of the ability to launch the company. That’s actually not what you want. What you want to do is look for a ground floor INDUSTRY not necessarily a ground floor company. Even if the company has been around for 50 years, if they are still in a ground floor industry you can start from the bottom and work your way straight to the top of the compensation plan past many of the leaders who are in the company right now.

3. The Product(s) – Your passion and enthusiasm is vital in order to successful in network marketing. People don’t buy products and they don’t buy compensation plans. They buy your level of enthusiasm and excitement. However, in order to generate a high level of passion and enthusiasm, you must represent a product that you can feel passionate about and get behind. For example, if you are passionate about the world’s environment, you probably don’t want to get involved in a company that offers a product that saves money on gas because you won’t have the passion necessary to promote the product effectively.

4. The Compensation Plan – You can have all the right traits in a company. However if the compensation plan doesn’t pay enough to motivate you to take action, you simply won’t be able to be successful in the company. The compensation plan needs to be structured in a way where the new distributor can make enough money to stay excited about the opportunity. At the same time, the compensation plan needs to be structured so that the top leaders can earn a strong income that is worth spending time building the business. For more information on how to evaluate a compensation plan, you can check out the following article.

5. The System – The main reason why you get involved in a network marketing company is to leverage the marketing system that the company offers. The system needs to be simple enough that anyone can do and it can duplicate throughout the organization several levels deep. The company needs to have an infrastructure in place to support you building a huge organization. Otherwise if there is no system in place, none of these other traits will matter.