“One of the most beautiful compensations in life is that
no man can help another without helping himself.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

In today’s economy, a secure job seems to be a thing of the past. In many cases, hundreds or even thousands of qualified prospects are applying for the same job. People are looking for work in a marketplace with virtually zero job growth for middle and upper management positions. The Help Wanted signs promoting the entry-level jobs that are readily available typically do not pay a livable wage and don’t include adequate benefits.

You may wonder what this has to do with living a productive and balanced life--the typical topic of this monthly newsletter. I believe that finances have a great deal to do with this, so I am devoting this month's newsletter to the topic of your financial health.

College students are graduating with $40,000-$120,000 owed in student loans and are looking for work in a market that offers little to no job opportunities. The young entrepreneurial generation (age 19-35) is faced with these options: move back home, go on welfare, or start their own business. The challenge is that starting a traditional business typically costs anywhere from $20,000 to $250,000 or more, and most banks won't lend to a college student with no business background. To compound the challenge of securing start-up costs, statistics reveal that 80% of new businesses fail within the first five years.

The old adage, "People don't plan to fail, they fail to plan" certainly holds true when it comes to small business success. Small business owners need to go into business with an understanding that it may take a couple of years before they’ll even begin to see a profit.

So what is a person to do? Good jobs are hard to find, and starting a business can be costly and usually does not provide reliable income for a while. One thing is for sure. If you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what you’re getting.

Whether you choose to work for someone else or you choose to build your own business, your have a network of people you know who are an essential part of your success. If you are looking for work, tap into your network (and your network's network) to find work. If you are building a business, do the same thing.

Unless you are happy with what you’re getting, I suggest that you work a day job AND start your own part-time home-based business on the side. Although starting a business will not provide you with immediate income, it will create security down the road if you choose the right business for you AND you work your business consistently. A home-based business can also provide you with some great tax benefits.

There is only one business model that I know of that can be done alongside a day job and that has a low start-up cost. The business model is called network marketing. If you have never heard of network marketing, I suggest that you read an excellent book written by Robert Kiyosaki: The Business of the 21st Century, to learn more about it. He is the author of the bestseller, Rich Dad Poor Dad. If you don’t have time to read, I have a condensed version of the book on CD. If you’d like to borrow one of my copies of the CD, please with your mailing address (US addresses only, please).

My first experience with network marketing was in 1980 and it was a negative one. Therefore, I had crossed the network marketing model off of my list of possibilities when I decided to start my own business more than 15 years ago. Instead, I started a traditional business, where I traded time for dollars. Seven years later, my coaching and consulting business was “successful” and I could not take on any more clients. I was disappointed to discover that my income was capped--I couldn’t work any harder--and my take-home pay was not what I thought it would be once I had attracted all the clients I could manage.

Have you ever been in a bad relationship? If so, did you cross all men/women off your list forever? Probably not. As I’ve become older--and hopefully wiser--I’ve learned that it’s not fair to paint everything with the same brush, based on one negative experience or someone else’s opinion.

In 2005, I decided to be open-minded when a friend introduced me to a network marketing company that was a perfect fit for me. It offered a product that I loved and I knew that I would share it with others whether I got paid to or not. To my surprise, within two years, I was earning more from my part-time network marketing business than I was from my full-time coaching and consulting business.

If you’ve had a negative experience with network marketing in the past, I invite you to continue reading with an open mind. This article is not intended to pitch you on any particular network marketing company, but rather to encourage you to simply consider the business model itself. There are hundreds of companies to choose from if this model makes sense for you.

Here are several reasons why I believe that right now is the best time to be part of the network marketing profession:

• Although network marketing was born in the 1950s, the mainstream has not embraced this business model until recently. We are now seeing people from all walks of life joining network marketing companies and promoting this business model, including many professionals like doctors and lawyers who are tired of working such long hours and want to generate passive income.
  
  
• Because baby boomers started reaching retirement age in 2011--an estimated 77 million baby boomers turning 65 over the next twenty years--a staggering number of retirement-age people are excited about network marketing business opportunities. Many of them have lost retirement funds in the stock market crash and are highly motivated to work from home.
  
  
• College graduates are finding that a degree does not guarantee them a job. In addition, our emerging generation has seen what the “corporate” model has done to their parents, and many of them do not want to follow in their parents’ footsteps. Lifestyle freedom is of high importance to this generation. No special education or previous network marketing experience is necessary to do well. They love being able to pursue their passions while building residual income on the side.
  
  
• When the economy is in a recession and unemployment is high, network marketing companies experience exponential growth. Bad economic news for most people is good economic news for network marketers.
  
  
• Many countries around the world have unstable economies, and this profession offers global financial solutions. One of the benefits of having a global business is that you can write off the cost of trips to other countries if you spend time doing business while there.
  
  
• In today’s economy, people don’t have access to the hundreds of thousands of dollars necessary to start a traditional business. Because start-up costs are so low for network marketing businesses, there is essentially no barrier to entry. If someone really wants to get started, they will find a way to manifest the resources necessary to do so, which in most cases is under $500. Network marketing allows you to be in business without taking on the typical financial risks associated with starting your own business.

People starting a traditional business or a franchise have done their homework and know that they will have high start-up costs and will also need to have other means of support in place for at least two years. They are also prepared to work long hours those first couple of years, even though their take-home pay may be little or nothing.

In network marketing, we are fortunate to have low start-up costs, and you can work part-time to achieve business growth, as long as you work consistently. Just about everything any of us do requires consistency for best results. For example, when you consistently eat a healthy and balanced diet and you exercise regularly, you will have different results than if you use the start-stop method. The same holds true with building a business. One loses a lot of momentum with the start-stop method.

Although the income generated is usually low at the beginning, working part-time consistently for 2-7 years can create residual income for life. Residual income means that you work once to create something and you get paid on that work for a lifetime. (Think of it as money in the bank that generates interest income forever.) It is designed to be worked as a part-time business until you get it going enough to quit your day job, if that's what you choose to do.

Here are eight important factors for success in a network marketing business start-up:

1. The company you choose needs to be the right fit for you. You need to be passionate about what you have to offer, either because of the product or the offer itself.
   
   You are probably already a network marketer…you are just doing it for someone else’s business and you aren’t getting paid for it. When you see a great movie or you dine at an amazing restaurant, do you enthusiastically tell others you know about it? If so, you are “marketing” that movie or restaurant to your network of friends, family, and others you know by sharing your enthusiastic response with them. Enthusiasm is the key driving force that makes you want to share something with others. That’s why it’s so important to find a network marketing company that you are passionate about. When you share from enthusiasm and passion, it does not feel like work. It’s fun!



2. Be clear about your financial goals. Do you just want to pay for your own product usage? Do you want to generate a few hundred dollars extra each month? Or do you want to generate lifetime residual income that will enable you to enjoy financial and lifestyle freedom?
   
   Although you do not need to fully understand the company’s compensation plan, be sure you choose to work with a company whose compensation plan meets your needs. If your goal is to eventually retire and live off of residual pay (income that comes in whether you work or not), be sure that the compensation plan is designed to provide that for you.



3. Create a culture and a community with attributes and values that attract others: integrity, authenticity, encouragement, recognition, empowerment, generosity, respect, kindness, friendship, and fun.



4. Be clear about why business success is important to you. What is your bigger WHY for doing this? Having a bigger WHY will get you through the times when you feel discouraged.  All business owners feel discouraged at some point in their business growth.



5. Be a student of personal development. Your own belief system provides the foundation upon which your business will either grow and thrive or fail. Build a solid foundation that will support solid growth. Let go of limiting beliefs and learn how to get out of your own way and believe in yourself.
   
   In The Slight Edge, Jeff Olson says this: “The greatest gift you could ever give yourself is also the wisest business investment you could ever make. It is also the most critical step in accomplishing any challenging task, and is the one step without which all other success strategies, no matter how brilliant or time-tested, are doomed to fail. What is this mysterious gift? It is your own personal development. Investing in your own improvement, your own personal growth and betterment, is all these things and more.”



6. Be disciplined. Any good network marketing company teaches a simple process that can be duplicated. When you create duplication, you also create passive income. Discipline yourself to do the right activities consistently over time, and teach others to do the same. Do what you are committed to do, whether you feel like it or not.



7. Never quit on a bad day. Because network marketing professionals have less “skin in the game” than a traditional business owner, it is much easier for some to quit when they encounter disappointments. All network marketing professionals experience some disappointments that are normal and predictable in our profession. Those who are not prepared for these inevitable experiences may quit. Jim Rohn once said, "Discipline your disappointments." This is good advice for anyone wanting to build something.



8. Be responsible and do whatever is necessary to take care of your basic needs while you are building your business, so desperation does not creep in. Desperation kills opportunity.

I want to emphasize this last point. You may dislike your current job, or you may currently be unemployed. Free yourself from the deadly emotional bind of feeling desperate by doing whatever is necessary to take care of your basic needs while building your business over the next several years.

Network marketing is not a “get rich quick” scheme. Unfortunately, a small percentage of network marketers have tainted our profession by telling people that it requires very little work and the money will just roll in. These kinds of hollow promises have given our profession a black eye and have created unrealistic expectations. The statistics show that a large percentage of network marketers don’t make any money. That’s because they quit before they ever get started. They get discouraged when the money doesn’t just roll in.

Network marketing is a business model that thrives on a simple concept called duplication. Although you can leverage your time through the efforts of others who choose to build a business, it requires some work, and the income from that leverage takes most people a few years to create. I have personally sponsored about 150 team members over five years in my business. Today those 150 have grown to more than 3500 people who generate a volume of business that I get paid a percentage on. That’s duplication!

One of the things I like so much about network marketing is that the focus is on serving others. The key to greatness is to help others solve their problems. Zig Ziglar put it well when he said that "you will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want." With network marketing, you cannot succeed unless you are willing to help someone else achieve.

Network marketing is well worth the effort for those who work consistently to build their business over a 2-7 year period. Why such a range of time? It depends on whether you work your business part-time or full-time. If you want to build it faster, you can do so in 2-5 years by investing more hours of your time each week. If you build it slower, it will probably take you 4-7 years.  The key is to be consistent in working however many hours you choose to work your busienss each week. 

Owning your own business--including a network marketing business--is not for everyone. It requires that you take initiative and have the commitment to do your work consistently, without a boss standing over you telling you what to do, when and how to do it, etc. Network marketing offers a great deal of support, so you work FOR yourself but not BY yourself. 

If you are already involved in a network marketing business, or you are considering getting started with one, I suggest that you remain gainfully employed until you can meet all four of these conditions:

1. You are covering your business expenses (your own product use, personal development books and CDs, travel costs to attend company events, etc.).
   
   
2. For at least six consecutive months, you have generated enough income from your business to meet the basic needs of you and your dependents. (Your income may be combined with reliable income earned by other members of your household to meet your family budget.)
   
   
3. You have paid off all debt (exception: affordable mortgage on your home).
   
   
4. You have enough cash reserves to support you and your dependents for at least six months, in the event that something unforeseen was to happen.

I have met people who can't wait to quit a job they hate and work their business full time.. CAUTION: without all four of these conditions in place, you could be setting yourself up for financial disaster. Avoid creating an environment where you feel desperate, since desperation becomes deadly when you want to build something!

One of my passions is helping people find out who they are so they can give themselves away. I’ve been able to do this because I started working with a network marketing company in October of 2005. Today I provide my coaching and consulting services free-of-charge to people on my team. I love what I do, and I also love that I do not have to advertise or invoice anyone for my services. I earn a great living through my network marketing company, so that frees me up to provide coaching at no charge. I continue to write this free monthly newsletter, and I also offer my free monthly Buried in Paper webinar (see below) because I enjoy doing it.

If you are sick and tired of being sick and tired, I encourage you to consider another way. The corporate world has certainly not created stability for the masses.

If you are looking for a way to leave your current job or retire in the next several years, I urge you to take a look at a home-based business with a network marketing company of your choosing. There are literally hundreds of companies to choose from. Finding the right one for you is important.

If you are passionate about your current work and you choose to continue with it, you can do that while building a part-time network marketing business on the side to generate extra income (college tuition, dream vacation, dream home, etc.) that can also provide for you in your retirement years. One of my colleagues is a primary care physician who loves taking care of his patients but hates dealing with the business part of running his medical practice (Medicare reimbursement and dealing with insurance companies). He and his wife are building their network marketing business on the side so he can eventually be in a position to see patients and not worry about if or how he will get paid for taking care of his patients.

My boldest dream is to free millions of people from a life of limitation, helping them to achieve financial and lifestyle freedom, while sharing their gifts and talents in a way that makes their heart sing.

Network marketing provides people with the opportunity to do all of this. If you have questions about this profession, I will do my best to answer your questions. Give me a call at 425-881-6627.

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