Network Marketing has come a long way. It used to be that people would run from anybody that professed to be associated with a company that marketed their products through direct sales like it was the bubonic plague. If you ever were one of these flee-ers, chances are you are still running, because Network Marketing has grown, and continues to grow in popularity as a method of product distribution. Unfortunately, some have taken advantage of the great business model that network marketing offers to try and turn a quick profit without offering anything of real value. This is where the term “Pyramid Scheme” comes from.

One of the biggest differences between a good network marketing company and a pyramid scheme is the product. A good company will always have a product that brings real value to the marketplace while a pyramid scheme may not have a real product at all. If you can honestly tell yourself that if somebody found the product in WalMart and would buy it for a similar price that is being asked, that is an indication that the company you are dealing with is legitimate.

One reason companies choose the network marketing model, both good and bad, is because they don’t have to spend a dime on advertising, which would generally cost them millions. Instead, they pay commissions to distributors for sharing their products with the people they know. The problem with this, is that sometimes the compensation plans to pay the distributors are written in a way to keep as much of the profits in the company’s hands as possible. Frequently distributors end up working for free because they don’t meet every requirement of the comp plan which often makes them ineligible to be paid and causes some or all of their sales volume to dry up. This is one of the main reasons that 97% of network marketers quit. (I say quit instead of fail, because nobody really “fails” at network marketing. Almost every time they quit before they get trained properly and really try to be successful.)

A good network marketing company is not going to have little gimmicks in the compensation plan to take money out of the hands of the distributors. There will undoubtedly still be requirements that the distributors will need to satisfy in order to get paid on certain sales volumes, but if there are any unfair policies that make commissions impossible to earn after a certain time frame has passed, you may be dealing with a “Pyramid Scheme”.

Some other reasons that people avoid network marketing are that they don’t like sales, they hate pestering all their friends and family to buy their products, and quite possibly themselves have in the past or have known somebody that has been swindled by a sub-par network marketing company or pyramid scheme. There is something that leaves a bad taste in your mouth when you get someone dear to you into a business and then things turn south for whatever reason.

They end up feeling cheated, and tend to blame you because you are the only person that they know – you are their closest contact with the company, in fact, the very reason they believed in the possibility of something that was apparently too good to be true. This is how network marketing has unfortunately become a derogatory word in some peoples’ vocabularies.

It is very important to make sure you have a solid company that is going to be around for a long time and not do anything to tarnish your name as a leader. The corporate leaders need to have the experience necessary and even more importantly, the heart and integrity to make the right decisions for the company. There needs to be sufficient funding behind the company to be able to handle the growth that is necessary for network marketing companies to succeed.

These are only a few of the important things you need to find out before uniting yourself with any network marketing venture.

Independent of what company you choose to work with, you will need a SYSTEM to save yourself time, energy and money.

With the advent of technology the opportunity has arisen for anybody with a pulse and a desire to learn the MLM SECRETS to become an expert inter-networker, seemingly overnight. These secret strategies are the things that will allow an average person to become the top sponsoring distributor in their respective company and to stay there on auto pilot! These secrets are so powerful that I dare say they can even make someone in a bad network marketing company a lot of money.

There is no way to stop the success that will flow with the combination of a solid company, an online system for generating leads, and a networker with a real desire to succeed through consistent action.

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To Your Smashing Success,

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I just finished reading “The Power of Positive Thinking” by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale. It is one of the many books in my personal library and teaches a lot of simple truths which, when practiced, can provide an inexhaustible source of power for you in your business endeavors.  I would like to share here an excerpt from the final chapter of this book.  It is the story of how a man called upon that very power.

I sat one day under swaying palm trees in Florida listening to the story of a demonstration of Higher Power activity in the life of a man who narrowly escaped tragedy. He told me that he started drinking at the age of sixteen, “as it was the so-called smarth thing to do.”  A growing hatred and bitterness toward his wife who had deserted him and toward his mother-in-law and sister-in-law culminated in his decision to kill these three women.  I relate the story as he told it to me, in his own language.

“To strengthen myself for this gory task I went into a bar. A few more drinks would give me the courage to commit this triple murder. As I entered the bar I saw a young man by the name of Carl drinking coffee. Although I had hated Carl from boyhood I was utterly astounded to note his immaculate appearance, and I was also astonished to see him drinking coffee in a bar where he had spent on an average of $400 a month for drinks alone. Also I was mystified by what seemed a strange light on his face. Being fascinated by his appearance, I approached Carl and asked, ‘What happened to you that you are drinking coffee?’

” ‘I have not had a drink for a year,’ Carl replied.

“I was utterly amazed, because Carl and I had been on many drinking bouts together. A strange incident in this affair is that even though I hated Carl I was strangely moved. I could not help but listen when he asked, ‘Ed, did you ever want to quit drinking?’

” ‘Yes, I have quit a thousand times,’ I replied.

“Carl smiled and said, ‘If you really want to do something about your problem, get sober and attend a meeting at the Presbyterian Church at nine on Saturday. It is a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous.’

“I told him I had no interest in religion, but that maybe I would come. I was unimpressed, but still I could not get that light in his eyes out of my mind.

“Carl did not insist that I attend the meeting, but repeated that if I wanted to do something for myself he and his associates had an answer to my problem, After making that statement Carl left and I stood up to the bar to order a drink, but someho it had lost is appeal. So, instead, I went home, the only home I had remaining, my mother’s home.

“May I explain that I had been married for seventeen years to a very fine girl, but being an impatient person and having no faith in me due to my drinking, she finally decided upon getting a divorce, so not only my job and all my material assets but my home also were completely lost.

“Upon getting to my mother’s home I wrestled with a bottle until 6 A. M., but still could not take the drink. I kept thinking of Carl’s appearance. So on Saturday morning I went to Carl and asked him what I could do to keep from taking a drink until nine o’clock that night when the meeting would be held.

“Carl said, ‘ Every time you come to a bar or whisky sign or beer garden, just say one little prayer-”Please, God, get me past this place,” ‘ and then he added, ‘Run like hell. That will be co-operating with God. He will hear your prayer and the running will be your part.’

“I did exactly as Carl told me to do. For many hours, anxious and shaky, accompanied by my sister, I walked around the streets of the town. Finally at eight o’clock my sister said, ‘Ed, there are seven drinking joints between here and the place where you are to attend the meeting. You go by yourself, and if you don’t make it and come home drunk we will still love you and hope for the best, but somehow I feel that this meeting will be different than any you ever attended.’  With God’s help I got by those seven places.

“At the church entrance I happened to look around and the sign over one of my favorite drinking places glared me straight in the eyes. The battle to decide whether to go into that bar of into the Alcoholics Anonymous meeting is one I shall never forget, but a Power greater than myself pulled me to the meeting.

“Upon entering the meeting room I was utterly astounded to receive the firm handshake of my ex-hated friend, Carl. My resentment toward him was disappearing. A round of introductions began to many men in all walks of life – doctors, lawyers, bricklayers, millwrights, coal miners, construction workers, plasterers, laborers – all types were there. I had been drinking with some of these men for the last ten to twenty-five years and here they were all sober on a Saturday night, and, above all, they were happy.

“What happened at that meeting is rather vague. All I know is that i revirth had taken place. I felt different deep within.

“Happily leaving the meeting room at midnight, I went home with a glorious air-lifting feeling and slept peaceably for the first time in more than five years. Upon awakening the next morning, I recall something clearly saying to me, ‘There is a Power greater than yourself. If you will turn your will and your life over to the care of God as you understand Him, He will give you strength.’

“It was Sunday morning, and I decided to go to church. I attended a service where the preacher was a man whom I had hated from childhood. (The author wishes to comment at this point how inevitably hate is associated with emotional and spiritual sickness. When the mind is emptied of hate, a long step has been taken toward recovery. Love is a tremendous curative force.) This preacher was one of those sedate, swallowtailed-coat-wearing Presbyterian ministers. I had no use for him, but that was my fault. He was all right really. I sat nervously through the singing and the collection taking. Then the preacher read his Scripture, and his sermon was based upon the theme, ‘Never belittle anyone’s experience – he had it.’ I shall never forget that sermon as long as I live. it taught me a valuable lesson – never to belittle an experience because someone had it, for he and God know the depth and sincerity of that experience.

“Later I came to love this minister as one of the greatest, most sincere men I have ever known.

“Just where my  new life began is a matter that is difficult to determine. Whether it was when I met Carl in the bar, or wrestling past the drinking places, or at the Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, or at the church, I do not know. But I, who had been a hopeless alcoholic for twenty-five years, suddenly became a sober man. I could never have done this alone, for I had tried it a thousand times and failed. But I drew upon a Higher Power and the  Higher Power, which is God, did it.”

This story is about an alcoholic, but I believe that it is an outstanding example of how to overcome any difficulty that we have in our lives.  You may have tried your hand at a business or two in the past, and not gotten the results that you were hoping for.  Maybe you didn’t have a product that you could get behind, or a system that could help you reach enough people. There are many reasons people don’t get the results they want, but one of the most important reasons they fail at business is because they fail to acknowledge their most important business partner.  I am certain that if you will inspect your life to see where you can bring it more in line with what God wants from you and have faith that He will bless you with the things you seek if you are seeking them with the intent to do good, you will receive them. (Mark 11:22-24)

You can do anything that you believe you can do.  Don’t hold yourself back by doubting or fearing what you are capable of.  With God, all things are possible!

Just wanted to make sure you all were aware of the Destination Diamond Training this weekend…  We will be having it at Madeline’s Steakhouse in South Jordan from 10 AM to 2 or 3 PM.  The address is 1133 W South Jordan Parkway.  It is going to be great!  Also, I believe next week is the Campbell’s training (master distributors) and they will be letting us in to some degree (for those of us that are registered for the conference and sign a non-disclosure agreement) on what is going to be revealed at this years convention in Las Vegas!  I have heard a lot of great things and can’t imagine what is coming down the pipeline!