I'm doing some speaking to church groups and other groups of people looking for work. The topic: "Career Alternatives in the New Economy."
What I'm finding is that as bad as things are, most of the people who attend these talks still cling to the hope of replacing their lost job and aren't open to doing anything that doesn't offer a paycheck.
That will change. It has to. When they've gone through their savings and unemployment and they start falling behind in their bills, reality will bite them and they will have to get out of their comfort zone and find an alternative career.
Jim Rohn says, "For things to change, you must change," and nowhere is this more evident than in the decimated job market.
It's fear, mostly, and understandable. On top of losing their income and all that this implies, the idea of doing something entrepreneurial, something they've never done before and that usually involves a big investment of money they do not have or don't want to risk, has got to be frightening.
I offered advice on marketing themselves to employers and re-packaging their skills for what few jobs might remain. And then I explained the advantages of being in business for oneself.
I pointed out that most people who want to start a business reject the idea because
- They don't have the money,
- They don't have the time,
- They don't want to take the risk, and
- They don't know what to do.
And then, after talking about some of the alternatives–consulting, creating a product, buying a franchise, and so on–I recommended network marketing.
I told them they don't need a lot of money or time and there's almost no risk. I told them they don't need knowledge or experience to start or succeed in network marketing because free training and support and ready-to-go systems are all part of the package. I told them this was what Robert Kiyosaki recommends (I showed them his Cash Flow Quadrant (TM)) and told them this was the choice I made.
I told them how it's worked out for me–financial freedom, time freedom, residual income–but did not present my company. (I don't think it's appropriate. I said if they want more information, they could see me after and I gave them this web site.)
Most had never heard of network marketing. And most did not want to.
You could see it on their faces. The few who asked questions made me realize they didn't appreciate the benefits of network marketing, or didn't believe them.
I will continue, however, because it's a sorting process and as I meet more people who aren't a candidate for network marketing, I will meet some who are. That's great for me, yes, but my objective isn't just to build my business, it's to empower people who right now, aren't feeling too powerful. I try to leave everyone with the idea that there are alternatives and when they are ready, they should explore them.
Some will, some won't, so what, someone else is waiting. . .
Categories Home Business, Network marketing/MLM by 
In "The Slight Edge," Jeff Olson talks about the power of doing "the little things" over and over again, consistently, over time, until the compounded effect of those small efforts produces dramatic change. Brian Tracy, in "Create Your Own Future: How to Master the 12 Critical Factors of Unlimited Success," calls this same phenomenon, "the principle of accelerating acceleration."
Tracy, who sees the principle as a corollary of "law of attraction, says, [page 48], "Whatever you are moving toward [i.e., a goal] begins moving toward you as well." His characterization of how the principle operates should be in every network marketer's start-up kit:
"When you first set a new, big goal and begin moving toward it, your progress will often be quite slow. You may be frustrated and think of giving up. The bigger your goal, the further away it will seem. You may have to work on it for a long time before you see any progress at all. But this is all part of the process of goal attainment."
"The 20/80 rule helps to explain the principle. . . . For the first 80 percent of the time that you are working toward your goal, you will only cover about 20 percent of the distance. However, if you persist and refuse to give up, you will accomplish the final 80 percent of your goal in the last 20 percent of the time that you spend working on it."
Sounds like he's seen the "Time vs. Money" chart, doesn't it? In case you haven't, the chart is a graphical depiction of the growth of your business over a hypothetical five year period. In the early years, you put in a lot of time relative to the money you earn. At about the mid-way point, you are putting in the same amount of time but your earnings are commensurate with your efforts. In the later years, you earn a lot of money relative to the amount of time you work. Tracy continues,
"Many people work for weeks, months, and even years toward a big goal and see little progress. They often lose heart and give up. But what they didn't realize is that they had laid all of the groundwork necessary and were almost at the take-off point. They were just about to start accelerating toward their goal, and their goal was about to start moving at a great speed toward them.
"This principle of accelerating acceleration seems to apply to almost every big goal that you set for yourself. You must therefore decide in advance that you will never give up." [emphasis mine]
In a job, you work so many hours and you get paid for that time. In most small businesses, there is a correlation between the amount of work and the amount of income. But network marketing is different. It's not a small business, it is a "big business," as Robert Kiyosaki tells us in his books, and there is no such correlation. In building your network marketing business, you are creating an asset that you could sell or leave to your children or that will provide you with a retirement income for the rest of your life. It may take you five years or two years or ten but when you know in advance what you are working for, it's not hard to decide that you will, indeed, never give up.
Categories Goals & Goal Setting, Inspiration, Network marketing/MLM by
