The Makings of a Pyramid Scheme

I think this says it all right here...

Any questions?

You Can't Handle the Truth... A Real Network Marketers Journey

Is this all I'm worth?

You've expressed interest in making an additional income from home. Okay. Now comes the time I have to make a presentation to you.  I decide to show you a DVD on what my company offers.  You look at everything very carefully and you tell me, "I have to think about it."

"No problem," I say. "Take all the time you need but can you do me a favor?"

"Sure," you say enthusiastically.

"When you get paid on Friday can you look at you paycheck hold it up to the light and ask yourself, 'Is this all I am worth?'"

Ouch!

Five Fridays go by and you do the same thing with your paystub.  You're starting to really contemplate how much you are really worth and you begin to wonder if this job is really worth it. You ask your coworkers if they get paid what they are worth and they say it'll never happen working here.

Is this the car of my dreams?

I follow up with you later and I notice a little white smoke coming from your 1995 Honda Civic and I ask you if you've given consideration to what we talked about and you say you are still thinking about it. Fair enough, I did tell you to take all the time you need however I ask you is that 1995 Civic the car of your dreams.

As you are "thinking it over" and "evaluating the risks" your 1995 Honda Civic blows a head gasket and you're stranded on the side of the highway.  Now this is going to make you so late for work and maybe you are going to be out of a job soon.  You pray the boss has mercy on you and he does this time.  As the wrecker driver hauls your car away you think to yourself, "This really isn't the car of my dreams. It never was."

Is this the home of my dreams?

Let's fast forward to a year later.  The Civic is running well but you're still paying off the credit card you paid the mechanic with. When you tell me about it and you're complaining about making ends meet I ask you if you'd like to do something about it. You then proceed to tell me that your wife is pregnant again and you need a bigger house but can't quite afford to and that you'd like more time to think about making an additional income from home.  I turn around and say when you go home tonight and you put your key in the door ask yourself, "Is that the home of your dreams?"

While at work you receive a call that the furnace in you home went out.  It's the middle of winter. You knew it would be a matter of time because the inspector last year said it would be a matter of time before it goes and sure enough you are staring down the barrel of a $5,000 bill for a new furnace and that's a bargain! Your wife says it's necessary because she wants to have a furnace that will be safe for the new baby.  Not to mention that she is also implying that you have to do something about that Civic because she doesn't think it's safe enough for the family anymore.

Now cursing yourself you yell out loud, "I don't get paid enough to take this crap at work, I am not driving a good enough car and my house is falling apart!!! HOW MUCH MORE CAN I TAKE?!!"

And so you call me back...

We're excited and you're ready to get started and you sign up with the last bit of cash you have in savings.  I set you up with training videos and weekly business meetings.  You're excited and I'm excited and then it really hits the fan because you tell your wife what you have done and how it's going to change your life and how she's going to have the big safe SUV and a bigger kitchen and a bigger house with more bedrooms for the kids and that you no longer have to worry about money because you will have all this residual income from the new business you signed up for.

And then she yells at you, "YOUR A ^&^$#@$ IDIOT!!!" Then she goes on a rant about how she should have married Lester in college because he was a doctor now and his parents put him through medical school and how he's living in a gated community driving a Mercedes and making more than enough to take care of his wife and children and that she is starting to regret marrying a loser like you.

It's the pregnancy hormones. She loves you and will apologize later.

Doubts are creeping in...

You retreat to your bedroom and call me back and say, "I can't believe she shot down the idea. I mean I am so excited about recurring income and leveraging my effort to build a team.  I think... No, I KNOW I can do this but all she wants is security right now and doesn't believe network marketing works."

"You know, nobody is going to get rich right away and you can't expect people to get on board just because you're excited.  Let's work on some skills and I will help you get started.  This is a people business and you need to learn the skills to help you with people."

And so we practice lines, questions and scripts.  We go over product materials and the compensation plan to the point you can talk about it in your sleep.  You are getting better at 'breaking the ice" with your friends and family and some have signed on as customers.  You're even talking to strangers. Your confidence is building and you are taking it to the next level with your team members.  Recruiting is getting easier and easier and we start to train those folks.

Pretty soon you are getting into a groove and then your first bonus check arrives and it's only $100.

You're excited and you show it to your wife and she says, "After all the effort you've put into this God-forsaken home business thing this is all you have to show for it? This won't even pay for diapers!"

So you hang your head in shame...

Now you're upset.  You've done all you can do to make it and your team is set up pretty well and all you are think about doing is quitting.  So you do and take a part-time job delivering pizzas at night until you pay off the credit card and furnace.  You go back to your thankless job and beg for a raise. You struggle to pay for a new minivan because the SUV wasn't quite in reach.  The minivan will do for now because it's safe.  You're right back where you started all because you quit.

You should have hung in there because your next bonus check was slated to be $1,000.  That would have made a difference because it would have paid off the credit card.  Five more months of $1,000 checks and your furnace would have been paid for.  The whole time you could have been growing your business with customers and distributors under you.  Pretty soon you'll see those $1,000 checks turn into $5,000 checks.  And your situation could have been a whole lot better for you and your family but you quit because you couldn't handle what your wife said to you.

Is this where you want to be or would you like to do something about it?

There is a better way... Consider this...

The naysayers, the ones who say it doesn't work are the ones who don't know how to make it work for themselves. And, so, they're giving you an opinion and I tell people, "Don't confuse people's opinions with expertise because opinions are free. And son't confuse sincerity with the truth because people could be sincerely wrong." - John Assaraf as quoted from Rise of the Entrepreneur, The Search for a Better Way

Where would you be if you didn't give into the naysayers?

If you knew you couldn't fail how far would you go?

If money wasn't an issue for you what would you be doing right now?

I Hate My Job...

Working for a family-owned propane business was a blast, right? (Pun intended, propane = blast)

While I bear no ill will towards my former employer (and while missing my former customers) I realized that the only favor I was doing for the company was adding to their bottom line.  The realization came when I was unloading tile at the company owner's other home in West Texas.  This wasn't what I signed up for and ethically I have a problem using people on payroll for personal favors.  Sometimes wealthy business owners exploit their staff in that manor.  I used to see it with my dad and his employer.  That solidified my decision to leave the propane company along with other things like making more money. I make almost twice what they used to pay me now.

My beautiful and intelligent redhead wife has no desire to "put up with stupid people."  What she means is that in her world she wants to be her own boss free from the interactions with intellectually inferior people.  Although she has received a formal college education, finding a meaningful job where her intelligence isn't insulted every day has become a challenge.  Her last W-2 worthy endeavor was at a national restaurant chain where whining crybabies get all the attention and management is fearful of litigious, sue-happy, soon-to-be-former employees. In slave-labor conditions that subject you to third-world wages (two-something an hour) you are expected to serve others with a smile on your face and sharing the drink menu with people who probably have no business going out to eat because they can't afford to tip.  She finds more satisfaction with Uber moving people from place to place and venturing out into the online world of eBay and Etsy.  It pays more than your run-of-the-mill corporate restaurant chain.

Truck drivers have it worst of all and after fifteen years in the business there are some things that will logically allude me.  Why do some dispatchers find it necessary to verbally abuse a driver and lie over and over to get a driver to work when most drivers actually want to work and want to be told the truth?  Why is it everybody hates truck drivers until they have something on a truck that is needed by someone?  Why do people assume that truck drivers intentionally want to create tumult and chaos when in actually that's the last thing any driver wants to do?  It is such a thankless job. When everything goes smoothly it's business as usual.  When something goes wrong, even if it is not the driver's fault, everyone wants to blame the driver.  Should I even mention ambulance chasing attorneys who like to see dollar signs when a driver gets in an accident?

Who do I really feel sorry for?  I feel sorry for the 9-to-5 corporate types who commute long hours to work 8 more hours to commute even more hours just in time to make it to their suburban homes to barely have dinner with the family fifteen minutes before the kids have to go to bed.  Truck drivers don't even have it that rough.  I feel sorry for the man or woman for whatever reason that has to work two (or more) jobs to pay the rent and utilities while barely being able to put food on the table.  I feel sorry for the small town people whose local factory is the best it's going to get provided they can get a job there at all.  I feel sorry for anyone who works in food service of any type because you are a wage slave to that particular industry.  I feel sorry for those who fell for the 40/40 plan, work 40 hours a week for 40 or more years and get a gold watch at retirement.  I feel sorry for the people who do what they have to do in a place they hate and dread because everyone is counting on them and if something happened to them the results could be disastrous.

What about the educated among us? I value education but colleges are really nothing more than places to teach people how to be good employees when it used to be that you went to college to learn how to think.  Now it's expected of you to know what to think and anything outside of that could be considered politically incorrect.  I'm glad college didn't work out for me because my self-education has enabled me to see things in a different light.  For those who drank the Kool-Aid, I hope you get a taste of real refreshing life soon.  Please don't tell me that you feel justified in $100,000 of student loan debt while waiting tables in a major city hoping that after 7 years Corporate America will be calling.  They won't.

If you are not following your own dreams, someone will hire you to build theirs.  Let's start dreaming and visualizing again.

Check out this funny page on Facebook that pokes humor at hating your job.  It's run by a friend of mine.

Giving Up Is Easy

One of the things I like to buy for myself is the Mary Kay Men's Facial Bar.  It works and does what it says.  One bar will last three months assuming you are using it once or twice a day a day on your face and neck.  It's a fabulous product to have especially when clean skin can mean the difference between life and death for you face. (There's a story behind that which I will tell at some other time.)

The hardest thing to find at times is to find a reputable Mary Kay representative that will stay in business long enough to have  repeat order from the same person.  I am lucky now as I have found someone in my area that has and plans to be around for a while. More often than not I have found that many give up the business after a few weeks or months.  It's sad but true.  Not many can handle direct sales.  Whatever the reason, whether it be losing all you friends or being disappointed with your sales numbers, it is easy to give up.

Lord knows I have.

I am no stranger to giving up.  It's hard to have staying power in network marketing when you're being taunted and teased. You give up quickly when people run away form you because you are trying to "sell" them your products or opportunity.  You give up when you're met with the pyramid objection.  You give up when your family calls you a loser behind your back to everyone else. You give up when people say that they have never heard of your products and probably never use them.  You give up when they tell you that they need to check with their doctor and never do that.  You give up when people give you the ultimate question, "If you're product is so great then why can't I find it in stores?"

If all the great MLM products were in stores, by the way, would that really give them a competitive edge?  I'm not sure about that.

Once I tried to sell vacuum cleaners in 1997.  The distributorship had marketing 'system' that involved getting leads door-to-door instead of trying to get you foot in the door and spill dirt on someones carpet.  Getting the leads worked and when I would do the carpet shampoo demo it worked.  However, only two or three out of ten to twelve appointments would buy.  Most of those told me to get out before I could finish my pitch. It sucked. To make matters worse they had me make a list of friends and family to 'practice' on first.

When it came time to practice with Aunt Gracie and Uncle Walter they almost bought.  The lack of funds stopped them from buying.  This came back to haunt me though.  In 2002 shortly before her death I went to visit her in the nursing home.  Alzheimer's had taken her brain to the point where she did not recognize her children and grandchildren.  Long time memories were lost and gone forever. When it came to me she did not hesitate.  She recognized me right away and proceeded to say, "I can't believe you tried to sell me a Kirby, you son of a b****!" Even though it has been five years, my sales presentation stuck in her mind well past the Alzheimer's that was slowly disintegrating her brain.

I left feeling about an inch tall.  The next time I saw her she was in a casket for her funeral. Honestly, I am glad that her thoughts about me were buried with her.

What do we do in the meantime though?  We obviously know that our products work.  Our uplines and crosslines are making money.  There are people who believe in the products as customers and consistently use them. You know there are people out there who want to make an additional income from home.

Outside of listening to your upline my suggestion is to read and study any and all material related to network marketing.  Understand and know not every is going to get it right away, if at all, and your job is to find the ones who do.  I take a lot of comfort in Tom "Big Al" Schreiter's books and CDs especially his stuff on first sentences and ice breakers. (Go to www.bigalbooks.com. I promise I get nothing for this and they are all an easy read.)

Most of all, don't give up.  You are only a breakthrough away form living your dreams.

But I Don't Know How To 'Millionaire'

Big money and I mean REALLY BIG money can be had in the network marketing industry.  One of the reasons I dropped out so many times is that I often times was broke long before I could make those millions.  Seriously, I was the butt of many jokes after I first joined the NFL (NO FRIENDS LEFT) Club in 1997.

"HEY, BILL!!! ARE YOU RICH YET?!!!" they would say taunting and teasing me.

Not like I care.  Real friends wouldn't taunt you like that.  Their loss.

While those same detractors were teasing and taunting me behind my back at least I was trying while they are trudging away at the same boring jobs most of them will be at 40 years from now.

But even in my great defiance of the cultural norms, I have to admit that I really didn't know anything about what I was doing and I was doomed for failure simply because I had no respect for whatever potential money that could come in.  In 1997 I was 21 only cared about getting drunk and getting a fast car and had I made 10,000 a month I would spend 15,000.  I just would have gotten drunk faster and my car and I would have went down in flames.

Now that I am older and have a grasp on how money works I understand that I should have looked at the baby steps before I decide on what color I want my new Bentley to be. 

What I am talking about is looking at realistic goals and having a measurable benchmark that can be achieved through reasonable means and without breaking the bank in the process.  Start small in other words.  $10,000 a month might not be a right-out-the-gate reality in the beginning.

Most prospects don't have a grasp of money beyond their own situation.  They will talk in terms of car payment, mortgage, utility bills, cable, insurance payments and having too much month at the end of the money.  As much as you would like to tell them about the millionaire potential they have they simply cannot appreciate it as they are so wrapped up in their own situation and have never been exposed to anything else.  How can you explain that they can earn more money in one week that they can earn in one month if they have never seen it for themselves?

These days when making a presentation I am very conscious of what figures that can be realistically earned at first.  Unless you are a sales and recruiting rockstar with pre-sold prospects following you around like an entourage then your won't make a million in your first month, however,  having an extra $200-$300 helps you sleep better at night.

Your first step to being a network marketing superstar is paying your basic business expenses: autoship, website, business cards, marketing materials, etc. When you reach this step you will ahve breathing room and more energy to scale up the business.  It's funny how momentum works.  An avalanche starts off as a snowflake.

From that point you can start re-investing your profits into your company.  Whatever worked for you to make the first dollar, keep doing it and keep pressing forward.  Once that first check is in hand then you can have more checks coming in the future.  Take a part of your profits and put back into the business.

When you are finally getting ahead, invest your remaining dollars or start paying off debt.  I personally suggest paying off personal debt first then start investing. Once you get debt out of the way you will really have breathing room.  How would it feel if your income from your business helped pay off your car loan, mortgage or credit cards?

It's not going to happen right away.  First you have to manage hundreds and be a hundred-aire.  Then you can make thousands and be a thousand-aire.  With all the hard work and investment you'll eventually become the MILLIONAIRE you deserve to be.

Innocent Questions That Help Prospects Make Decisions - NOW!

I love Tom "Big Al" Schrieter's stuff.  He and I share the same personality type.  You can find his stuff here.

The following is an excerpt from his newsletter dated April 27, 2015.

I’m sitting across the prospects’ kitchen table. They are afraid to make a decision.

​

They’re thinking:

"We don’t want to make a mistake."

"What if we make the wrong decision?"

"Let’s think it over and delay any decision until we have to."

"What if we fail?"

"Maybe we should just take our time thinking about this."

And they’re thinking . . . and thinking . . . and thinking. Oh, if they would only make a decision, any decision, it would be wonderful. I could go home. They could get on with their lives.

But no. That would be too easy. The prospects insist on torturing themselves with indecision. They don’t realize that "not making a decision" is really making a decision to keep things just as they are.

For example, the train is pulling into the station. You don’t know if you should board the train or not. So you think, think, think . . . and soon, the train has already left the station. Your indecision actually made a decision:

You’re not going to be on that train.

You and I know this. Our prospects don’t.

Our prospects don’t realize that when they delay making a decision about our business, they are effectively making a decision to keep their lives the same.

And keeping their lives the same is okay. It’s just that they should be consciously making that decision.

So here are a couple of questions that you can ask your prospects. They’re innocent, non-aggressive questions. These questions will help your prospects make a conscious decision on what is best for their lives.

1. What will happen if you don’t join our business?

Of course the answer is:

"Nothing."

But you don’t answer that question. Let the prospects mentally answer that question for themselves. They’ll probably be thinking this:

"Life will be the same. Tomorrow will look just like today. We’re going to wake up early, commute to work, come back late, grab a quick meal, watch a few minutes of television and go to sleep. Yep, we’re going to go through this routine over and over again – until we’re too old to work."

Not a very pretty picture, is it? Now if the prospects choose to leave everything the same, if they choose to avoid your opportunity . . . that’s okay. They are making a decision. And that’s all we ask.

Want a few more questions like this? Try some of these to see if one fits your style.

2. If you don’t start your own business now, do you see yourself always working for someone else?

3. What do you think will happen next year if you decide not to make any changes this year?

4. Do you think your job routine (five days a week, two weeks of vacation every year) will ever change?

5. I see that you’re kind of stressing out about risking a change in your daily life. Why not just relax and enjoy your life as it is?

6. You don’t have to make a decision to start your own business tonight. Instead, you could simply make a decision to not start your own business and keep your present job routine.

7. You know, you might be thinking, "My daily routine isn't so bad. Maybe I’ll keep living this way." And that’s also a good decision. Do you think that might be best for you?

All of these questions remind our prospects that the pain of their problems won’t go away by putting off a decision.

So make it easy for your prospects.

Help them make a conscious decision about their future.

And remember, this technique is rejection-free.

We’re not attached to the outcome.

We’re not responsible for the decisions they make in their lives.

We’re only obligated to give our prospects the choices.

The rest is up to them.

The Story of Howard and Laverne

Many, many moons ago in the Bluff City (Memphis for those of you who aren't familiar) I used to ride with my dad, Howard, who was the top-notch primo driver for the Memphis-Jackson special order run.  Dad was the kind of charmer who knew how to turn strangers into life long friends.  Even the ladies in his life appreciated a kind-hearted "Hey, Good Lookin'" directed toward them in a playful manner.

Upon receiving orders to go to a particular stop in Memphis even one which made him cringe we went in reluctantly.  As I sat down on one of the stools which felt like climbing the Washington Monument, I noticed a really big, obese and downright mean woman bark at everybody at the counter asking to pick up orders. She made no bones about sitting down and waiting your turn.

Dad turned to one of the other drivers and said, "Watch this" as he saunter over to her counter and kindly leaned over.

"Hey, Good Lookin',"

This bitter and mean woman melted as a gigantic smile beamed across her face as she said, "Hey, Mr. Howard!!! How are you?"

We got the parts and left soon thereafter the light-hearted banter ensued.

You can get more places with a smile and a compliment.  Try that next time you are meeting a prospect.

Two Years To Retirement.

Originally told by Tom "Big Al" Schreiter. You can see his stuff here.

Imagine you're at work one day, and your boss comes to you and says,"Bad news, we're going to have to fire you. Business is bad. And the economy stinks."

You feel depressed. No more career. No more regular paychecks.

And then the boss says, "You know what? If you were to work just one extra hour overtime every day for free, from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, we'll let you keep your job and you can continue collecting your same paycheck."

Now, what would you do?

Well, most people would say, "Well, I will work the extra hour of overtime just to keep my job. I know I will be working the extra hour for free, but it is important to keep my present job."

And then the boss says, "Well, I know it's kind of bad news for you but there is some good news. If you work an hour of overtime, Monday through Friday for no pay, just one extra hour a day . . . at the end of two years, we'll let you retire at full pay."

All of a sudden, how do you feel?

You feel like saying, "Wow! Excellent! What an opportunity! Just work one hour overtime for free, Monday through Friday, and two years from now . . . I retire at full pay!"

So what would happen?

You're working overtime and six months later one of your friends says, "Hey, why don't you quit doing that? You're working an hour overtime and not getting paid for it."

You say to your friend, "No way! I only have 18 more months to go and then I'm going to retire!"

A year from now, maybe your spouse says, "You know what, dear? You've been working that free hour of overtime for the past 12 months. Why don't you spend more time here at home instead of working that hour overtime?"

You say, "No, no, no! Just one more year and I can retire at full pay."

And you would be at work faithfully, Monday through Friday, working that overtime so you could retire.

And you would be excited about the opportunity.

Well, we have the same opportunity to retire with our network marketing business.

We ask people to spend one hour a day, Monday through Friday building a network marketing business. And all you have to do is talk to some people.

And you don't have to worry too much about what you say or how good you are, because you know what? You'll get better. The longer you do network marketing, the more you'll learn.

So maybe after the first month you say, "Gee, I really don't know what to say."

The second month you get a little better and say, "Well, I know the name of the company is the Wonderful Company."

The third month you get better at this and say, "I think this is a neat business. You might want to look at it."

And the fourth month you get better and better.

Just invest an hour a day. And at the end of two years you might be pleasantly surprised and say, "You know what? I can replace my full-time income and retire for the rest of my life."

So - would you take advantage of that opportunity?

If you are like most people, you will want to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity. But, you won't do it.

Here is why you won't do it.

A little voice inside of your head is saying, "But what if it doesn't work? What if I waste an hour a day over those two years? What if I'm not good at this? I don't know anyone who has retired in network marketing. I only know people who retired with a pension from a job. This might not be a sure thing."

Yes, you're going to have some doubt. You will have a belief problem. And that's pretty natural.

So here is what we are going to do to help you with your belief.

To encourage you along the way, every so often we're going to send you a check in the mail -- just to keep your spirits up as you build your two-year business.

When you get these occasional checks, you will say, "I know it works! I've got these checks to prove it."

And that is why you want to start your business today.

Just go do it.  For more entertaining fun find my other blog post at my other blog:

7 Reasons To Be Your Own Boss