Work for yourself without risking your regular income…

At various times during my life I felt that there had to be another way to earn a living.  In the corporate world I often felt undervalued, overworked, under paid and taken for granted.  Office politics frequently affected my morale and that of those around me.

I often asked myself what else was out there.  What exactly did people that “worked from home” do?  How I could work for myself?  I never researched it thoroughly but I did a bit of poking around, looking at business opportunities online and in newspapers. I came across people offering to share their secret to wealth and wondered why they needed to tape hand-written signs to railings if they were so wealthy.

I was eventually forced into making a move following a life changing event. My wife and I became the proud parents of 4 children under 20 months old when we added triplets to our family.  After taking some time out from working altogether I eventually became self-employed as the owner of a franchise. As a result I met and made friends with others that had taken the step into business ownership.

One day a client, a highly respected Chiropractor, introduced me to an industry that I never knew existed.  It’s a growing industry currently worth over £70 billion worldwide.  Two things about the industry appealed to me in a huge way.  First was the concept of residual income.  Doing something once and being paid for it again and again.  Just like musicians receive royalties from their songs.  However, in this industry, residual income is available to everyone, not just the famous.  The second thing that appealed to me was the concept of a network of people working together toward a common goal, all helping each other to succeed and benefitting from each others effort.

I researched the industry further and became very excited by what I found.

Network Marketing can be very lucrative if you are a team player and help others to become successful.  It offers a low cost, low risk opportunity to run your own business and can be run part-time alongside an existing business or career. This means that you do not have to risk the security of your regular income.

In the corporate world and even as a franchisee, it was the owners and executives that I was really making money for.  In Network Marketing your own success depends on the success of those that you introduce to the business so everybody is focussed on helping each other (it may explain those badly executed adverts that I never understood).   Modern payment plans (compensation plans) are designed so that a person can earn more than those “above” them.  You rarely if ever see that in the corporate world. Nor do you hear your bosses saying “we want to help you to achieve your goals and dreams”.  

I do not consider myself an expert in network marketing, I’m still learning and will continue to do so.  Thankfully one does not need to be an expert, you can earn as you learn, because the right team in the right company will have the support, tools and systems in place.

One of the best explanations of network marketing that I have seen comes from an ex US Navy bomb disposal expert turned network marketing expert.

His name is Tim Sales and you can see his excellent presentation HERE

You might not be looking for anything at the moment.  All I’ll say is I wish I’d known about this industry 20 years ago. In my opinion watching the video would be 25 minutes very well spent.         

If after watching Brilliant Compensation, you are attracted to Network Marketing, you might like to look at the company that I am working with.  If so please contact me.

If the idea of adding to your income without risking the income from what you currently do appeals to you, take a look.  You’ve got absolutely nothing to lose and could have everything to gain.

Best wishes,

Jon

There’s nowt so queer as business folk...

It never ceases to amaze me that the words "business opportunity" can be such a turn-off for some business people. After all, why do we become business people in the first place?

Sure we want to be our own bosses, we have a passion for what we do, perhaps to have more freedom and flexibility in our lives but what we all want to do is make money.

Why is it then that business people often turn their noses up at the opportunity to make additional income?

...Perhaps the reason is fear.

Very often the opportunity on offer is with a network marketing company. Network marketing is a vastly misunderstood industry and people have very strong opinions both ways. I was recently with a group of about 10 business owners and I asked their opinion of network marketing. Boy did the emotions start to fly!  Interestingly only one of them had any personal experience of network marketing and although he had some negative comments towards a particular company, or rather a group of distributors within that company, he generally praised the industry and the personal development that tends to go hand in hand with it. Several of the other members of the group, not all of them, became very agitated and gave me a number of objections. Perhaps they were expecting me to counter their objections. However, that was not my intention. You can see what they said along with my subsequent responses HERE.

Starting a new business can cost tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands and even millions of pounds and incur significant monthly overheads. Often the business owner will not expect to make a profit for three to five years. A network marketing business can be started for less than £250, can be run from home or existing premises and have minimal overheads. A profit can be made relatively quickly and the income potential is dependent on how open one is to being coached and how hard one is prepared to work. It could be a little bit extra to cover the bills, a bit more to buy a new car or pay the mortgage or even enough to give true financial freedom.

So why do I say fear?

I say fear because when people don't know about something they become suspicious of it, mistrust it and fear it. The objections I received came from people that had not had any personal experience of the industry and some had not even had second or third hand experience. Of course when something is new to you it is sensible to question it but surely it is better to get your questions answered rather than jump to your own conclusions? Or, even worse, use the opinions of others! Yes, many people have tried and failed but it took me two goes to pass my driving test! I may have failed once but I didn't quit and tell people that cars were rubbish and didn't work. If you want to learn about something isn't it better to listen to people that have been successful rather than those that have tried, failed and quit?

We are all in business to make money. Surely it makes sense to learn about the network marketing industry and then make a judgement?

One of the best explanations of the network marketing industry that I have heard was from Tim Sales, an ex US Navy bomb disposal expert and successful network marketer.

To hear Tim's explanation please CLICK HERE.




 

Could your opinion be holding you back?

Common objections to Network Marketing 

The person at the top makes all the money

That sounds like traditional or corporate business. The Chief Executive earns more than the board of Directors, who earn more than departmental managers, who earn more than the supervisors… all the way down to the caretaker. What are the chances of the caretaker earning more than the CEO? In modern network marketing pay plans or "compensation plans" distributors have to build two or more teams and are paid on a "balance" across their business. This means that the ONLY way for a distributor to succeed is to help the members of his or her team to succeed. It is therefore possible for a member to earn more money than the person that introduced them and more than people seemingly far higher up in the network. Network marketing is a meritocracy. Those that work the hardest and help others to achieve will earn the most.

It's an unconventional model

Everything is unconventional until it is widely understood. Several decades ago franchising was seen as unconventional. Today it is accepted as being a legitimate and successful business model. McDonalds, Starbucks, Cash Generator & Prontaprint are household names. Of course, there are good and bad franchises.

Know others who have failed

The majority of new business startups fail in the first two years. The majority of those that survive the first two years fail in the first 5. Not everybody is successful and those that fail in network marketing tend to blame everything but themselves. Due to the generally low cost involved in getting started in network marketing the risk is very low. However, the low cost is also an Achilles heel because it may lead to the business not being taken seriously.

Over-inflated prices to pay everyone in chain = no value for money

Ask a group of business owners what is there most effective form of marketing and the majority will answer "word of mouth". However, billions of pounds are spent on advertising in all its forms every year. This advertising is paid for from the sale of products… at inflated prices. It was reported in the Daily Telegraph that Richard Hammond (of Top Gear fame) was paid a staggering £750,000 for the Morrisons advertising campaign in 2008, and he wasn't the only celebrity they used! Network Marketing companies do not generally spend any money on advertising. Instead they pay their independent distributors commissions for spreading "word of mouth". Therefore, their products need to be of a very high standard so that people believe in them and are happy to recommend them to their contacts.

Effect on my own reputation

Richard Branson, Donald Trump, Warren Buffet, Robert Kiyosaki all either currently use or have used network marketing in their businesses. In fact Robert Kiyosaki's latest book "The Business of the 21^st Century" is all about the network marketing industry and what it offers individuals in terms of income and personal growth.

Going to lose money

As with starting any business there is a risk. Fortunately in network marketing the startup costs and overhead is generally very low and therefore the size of the risk is minimal.

Have no control

This is the risk that the company may shut up shop or change their business model. It is therefore important to align yourself with a business that has the right culture, experience and attitude. It is important to do your research into who is running the business. What are their backgrounds, history etc. If the company is relatively new, how established are they, what is their turnover year on year. However, if they have been established for many years the biggest phase of growth, momentum, may have already been and gone.

In the current economic climate what control do business owners have over the banks recalling financing?

Other distributors impact on personal brand

There are good coffee shops, bad coffee shops, good accountants, bad accountants, good cops, bad cops. Need I say more?

Confusion as to what the business is

This is easily overcome by having good marketing tools and a good presentation. These will be professionally produced by the company.

Brand integrity and credibility of product / service / brand

As previously mentioned, the product has to be of high quality otherwise distributors would not recommend it.

Not worth it – no money to be made, all that is going to made in the network has been made already

This could well be the case. You need an industry that is growing a product that is consumed or paid for time and time again and a company with vision. What is the size of the industry and how much market share would the company need to become a sizeable business.

Too simple, must be a catch

Some of the world's greatest ideas have been the most obvious, most simple ideas. We hear of them and then kick ourselves for not thinking of them first. The motto of many a business is "keep it simple" and yet when offered a simple effective business model the same people reject it.

Not a well known brand, so no stability behind the company

Carry out your own research. How long has the company been established. What is the turnover year on year, who are the leaders on the corporate side.

Get Rich Quick scheme, business that is here today / gone tomorrow

Generally you can spot a get rich quick scheme. It's all about the money and very little mention of the company, product, training and support.

No long term future?

Research! What is the company's vision? How consumable is the product. How big is the industry that they operate in and how are they innovating in that industry.

I can't be bothered

...then this business and indeed any business is probably not for you. Success generally requires a positive and pro-active nature

I don't want to sell

…and people don't want to be sold to. A good network marketer will invite people to take a look at their product/opportunity and help their contact to make an informed decision.

I don't want to sell to friends/family

We recommend all sorts of things to our friends and family all of the time: films, restaurants, gadgets, websites. Word of mouth is the most powerful form of advertising. If the distributor has belief in their product, their company and the business potential then they will be offering their friends and family a way to work from home, add an additional income into their lives and even the potential for life changing personal development and income. Why on earth would anyone keep that from their friends and family?

Learn more about network marketing

One of the best explanations of the network marketing industry that I have heard comes from Tim Sales, an ex US Navy bomb disposal expert and successful network marketer. To hear Tim's explanation please
CLICK HERE