Attitude is everything

It is said that your Attitude determines your Altitude!

Having the right attitude is important for your success in life.

If you assign from 1 to 26 for each of the letters in the alphabet from A to Z, you will find that Attitude comes out to be 100!!

Go ahead try it out.

Have some fun and check your Attitude...

Click here to take survey

Frustrated and Dissappointed Networkers

Recognize yourself? Yes! You are not alone! The numbers are growing everyday… or should I say it is growing EXPONENTIALLY using GEOMETRICAL PROGRESSION?

This is not what was supposed to happen. This is not what was promised at the Business Opportunity meetings. Your team was supposed to grow EXPONENTIALLY and your income was supposed to multiply GEOMETRICALLY. You were supposed to be able to fulfill all your DREAMS and DESIRES. You were supposed to have RESIDUAL INCOME and retire at 40 and have FINANCIAL FREEDOM, PERSONAL FREEDOM and TIME FREEDOM.

You are probably on your second, third or for some of you, even your tenth program. You trusted your friends who introduced you to the programs, you trusted and believed absolutely in the products, company, upline and yourself. I am sure you had positive mental attitude and went to all meetings and trainings spending your own money. By now you probably don’t have any warm contacts left and you are having a hard time looking at yourself in the mirror. You must be feeling pretty lousy about having introduced a lot of your friends and family promising them all the same things that was promised to you.

Am I striking a chord some where deep inside? I bet you are angry, very angry with your upline, angry with your companies and yes, probably angry with the entire Network Marketing Industry.

Believe me I sympathize with you. Really I do.

Now if you can stop wallowing in self pity and start getting a little bit angry with yourself, we can examine what really happened and get a handle on what sounds like the end of the world situation.

Are you ready?

Good!

First a little bit about me. I have been in this industry since 1981, mostly part time and full time for the past ten years or so. I guess you probably won’t believe me if I said I have enjoyed every minute of it and this is one of the best things that happened to me in my life. I am so much richer in many ways for being in the industry and have actually fulfilled many of my goals along the way and still have many more to go still. I am only 65 and am sure I will achieve most of them before I get too old and fragile to sit up in front of my computer or talk on phone!

Are we talking about the same Network Marketing Industry? Yes, we are! Then how come there are so many frustrated and disappointed networkers around when many like me are happy and satisfied networkers?

Since you are asking the questions and since you tried second, third and fourth and may be more, it stands to reason some where deep inside you, you still believe that the industry should work. But you have been unable to make it work for you. Otherwise, I am sure, you would have run far away from the industry soon after your first failure and not kept trying.

If you are still reading and still want to know the answer or still wondering where you went wrong or what went wrong, then please allow me to share my story and my analysis of the situation.

My story is probably no different than yours. I have been in few different programs myself.

My first one was in Health and wellness Products Company. I had to discontinue that as my sponsor disappeared and in those days, you had to depend on your sponsor to get your products.

Second one was in Ready Made diet foods with a unique concept for finding customers and prospects. Within couple of years the company closed down.

Third one was in electronics and security products. I actually did quite well in this company both in retail sales and building a small team. Company was expanding to other countries including India. Soon after I came to India to introduce this program they closed up shop as well.

Fourth one was my first Indian company and was a founder member, built a huge team, reached the Diamond position and really contributed to put Network Marketing in India on the map. Politics and power struggle raised its ugly head and I decided to terminate my membership in the program. One of the benefits of Network Marketing is Personal Freedom – being able to do what you want, work with whom you want etc. When that freedom was about to be taken away from me, it was time to say good bye.

Fifth one was just an exploratory one, which I undertook at the same time as the fourth one, as I felt their financial services product would be an ideal product for India. We did introduce the product for India in my fourth program.

After that, I took up a consulting position with a company and was on the other side of things for a change. Being able to influence a company and implement a program that had all the best things about a Network Marketing program was very exciting and satisfying. For various reasons company was unable to maintain the service levels and deliver what was promised to the field. Not being able to accept this and also due to health reasons, I terminated my consulting.

At the moment, I am involved in a program which comes very close to what I consider a perfect Business opportunity.

So you see, just like you, I have faced many challenges. Challenges with sponsors, uplines, company and my own health. But none of them have frustrated me or disappointed me. If any, I have become wiser, smarter and stronger with each experience.

When I analyze the past history, this is what I find are reasons for my not getting frustrated:

1. I took responsibility for my success and failure
2. I understood how this industry works and why it works
3. I treated this like any other business
4. I took control
5. I prepared my business plans that suited me – not my upline or the company
6. I set reasonable and achievable goals for myself
7. When a company closed – I refused to take it personally – just like any other employee would when their company shuts down in the traditional world
8. When I resigned or quit – it was like a decision that any employee makes to move on in their career and move to another company
9. I did not expect anything from my upline or company – but believed that – “if it is to be, it is up to me” and did everything I could to make it happen
10. I never hyped or made promises that I could not deliver
11. I presented the program honestly and provided all the support I possibly can to those in my team
12. Most of all I understood that I need to grow in this industry just like I would in any other industry and learnt from experiences and tried not to make the same mistakes again – but yes probably made new mistakes from which I can learn new things.
13. Never spent anything beyond my means - knew my limit.
14. I kept my emotions in check and used logic to analyze the situation and took the best decisions possible at that time.
15. Most of all built one big asset – lots of friends and contacts, who have remained friends, with or without a program

It all started with my First program – I took responsibility. No one invited me to join. I went to the meeting after seeing an advertisement in the paper. My sponsor did not insist that I join. Neither did he take my credit card out of my purse and sign my name. I did. So I am responsible for not understanding the program and responsible for my failure. As a matter of fact, I really do not consider this as failure at all. Instead, this is what opened the doors for me into this industry.

Bear with me as I explain. Just like any of you, I sat through my very first Business Opportunity meeting with a room full of people. The person on the stage was so excited and was explaining how we can earn huge amounts of money but not really explaining it in detail as to how to do it - as is the practice in all meetings, as I discovered later. What all I was able to gather from the meeting was that I can purchase five of their products at wholesale and sell to my friends and family at retail and that is how we earn money.

I was earning $50,000 or more at that time and considered myself a smart business woman. So I did the basic arithmetic we learnt in our middle school. What we sell at, less what we buy for is our profit. So in order to earn even half of what I was earning how many of those products did I have to sell? That too only to my friends and family?

I am a popular lady and come from a large family. But certainly not large enough for me to earn what I would have liked. I was just about to walk out of the meeting and say all these people are trying to con me. Something inside me said, “may be you did not understand what they were saying, not every one in the room including the company representatives can be con men.”

So I decided to ask the sponsor that same question. How can I earn $25,000 by selling products with $5 to $10 profit margin? Where will I find so many customers to buy from me? Even if I did, where will I have time to service them? Where will I find the funds to purchase the inventory, store it etc. etc.

He said, “all of that is explained in the Business Manual which you get in your starter kit”. So I purchased the kit and went home and studied the entire manual that night.

That was my first real lesson on how Network Marketing works and why it works and even today I remember very clearly the light bulb going on in my head and how excited I was to have found out about the simple but exciting marketing concept. (I will describe it soon).

So this was my primary school in Network Marketing. Next few programs were middle school, high school, university and graduate courses, which have made me a professor and an expert in this field. Along the way, I have achieved my goals
 Owning my own business
 Moving away from technical IT and managerial job to a sales and marketing field which allows me to deal with general public instead of machines and technical staff.
 Earn enough income required to get into my next project.
 Come back to India and give something back to the country, which gave me the education and character and made me who I am.
 Earned enough money to live a comfortable life in India for 13 years.
 Build our own dream farm house on a 2 acre land, which we used as a place for team socials and training sessions.
 Made lots of friends – the biggest asset one can have in this business. Friends, who do not expect anything from you but like you for who you are and become friends for life.
 We have travelled to so many places, which we would never have done otherwise.
 How does one measure the knowledge one gains, from the programs themselves, leaders, associates from all different walks of life, from all over the country, all ages and religion?

So why should I not consider myself successful? What is there to be frustrated about? You can only be disappointed if your expectations exceeded way more than what was possible to achieve. If you set up reasonable expectations, like any logical business person would, you would be achieving your goals and then there is no reason in the world to be disappointed – am I right?

So did all of the above make you think a bit about your own past history and analyze the situation for yourself? I am sure it has and am glad if this article helped you with it.

Let me close the article with few tips and advice from an old lady.

A. Network Marketing is not a magic or a miracle. It is a marketing method, if used and implemented properly can be a very cost effective and fast growth distribution channel for manufacturers and service providers to get their product out to the customer. All Distributors, Consultants or Advisors as you may be called are no more than commissioned sales people just like insurance agents and real estate agents.
B. Network Marketing has one major difference, each of you are given the right to recruit others and get paid for their efforts as well as yours. This provides the leverage to grow and multiply your business fast. But this leverage is only useful if you set an example and ensure the people you recruit duplicate you.
C. You are an INDEPENDENT BUSINESS PERSON and are in business for yourself. You are using other company’s programs as a vehicle to achieve your goals. NEVER FORGET THIS!. As an independent business person, you are responsible for the choices and decisions you make. Sure you can take suggestions and advice from others, ultimately you are responsible for your success and failure, like any other business you undertake or any employment you take.
D. As an independent business person you can chose to use any number of vehicles (programs) that you feel are necessary to achieve your goals and of course you can handle. NEVER PUT ALL EGGS IN ONE BASKET!
E. If you have a job – do not give it up until you have established a steady income for at least six months and have saved up enough to live on for at least 3 months if the income stops for whatever reason. This will certainly help you to move on to another program or find a job if income is lost.
F. If you are un-employed, then please look for a program that allows you to earn basic income from your personal efforts, i.e. direct retail sales to end customer and don’t depend totally on team income.
G. If you do not like to sell, talk to customer or prospects, do not like to learn and teach new concepts and ideas, please stay away from joining any program. Yes, by all means purchase products if you like them.
H. Remember, there is no money unless you exchange something of value with a willing buyer. As a rule of thumb, the amount of income you can earn is roughly 10% to max 30% of your personal sales and roughly 1% to 2% of your total team sales (it may be higher at lower initial volumes and gradually decreases as volume gets larger). So question any promises of big money before you join. Just one question could save you untold frustration and protect your reputation - “Where does the money come from?”
I. Whatever program you are in, it must be a win-win. You, your downline, upline, the company and most of all, the end customer must benefit and see value in what they are getting.
J. If a program has no end consumer, stay away from the program. Just recruiting and or consumption only models will fold sooner or later.
K. Do not expect to make your millions in your first one or two programs. Learning and experience is required like it is in any career. Be happy that you can earn as you are learning unlike in schools and colleges.
L. Do not expect any program or company to last for ever. The world is constantly changing, technology, infrastructure, Government regulations, economy and so on. Just like any other industry, companies will change according to conditions or close the business. This is fact of life. No use taking it personally.
M. You are an independent Business person. You do not work for the company or your upline. So please let us not hear you say “My upline forced me” or “I had to do it” etc. These are just excuses. You were in charge and you had the right to say “NO”.
N. Always weigh the benefits against the challenges. In order to benefit from some you may have to put up with few things you do not like or want to do. But make a conscientious decision and take responsibility for your decision and not blame others.
O. Do not hop from one program to another. Most programs now-a-days offer a FREE or risk free 30 day money back guarantee. Review the program thoroughly before making a commitment. Ask questions. Once you decide to join stay in the program for at least six months and do what is necessary to make it work. Remember, you do not loose weight or get fit just by joining a fitness club – you do have to follow the program and exercise and keep at it!
P. Prepare your business plan and action plan. Do not let your upline bully you. The upline is there to help you and guide you. At the end you are in charge of your business.
Q. Be honest when you present the products and program to your customers and prospects. If the program or product is not what they need or want, move on. Few bucks from a sale is not worth losing a friend and certainly not worth losing your reputation!
R. Not everyone is suited for this industry. However, neither you nor your prospects know that until you get involved and work at it for a while. In my career, I have found that people are capable of doing amazing thing given a chance. What all you can do is provide support and encouragement as far as you can and they will show you if they are suited for this industry or not.
S. When some one decides to quit, move to another program, respect their decision and maintain the relationship you have built.
T. Never, ever put down another program. It is ok for you to have an opinion but you have no right to hurt another person’s business.

I hope all of these tips will help you leave the Frustrated and Disappointed Networkers group above and move into the Happy, Successful and Satisfied Networkers group below.

Choice is yours!

OK. I heard you! I hve been busy helping some of you who have already made the choice to get started etc.

Also started a new blog exclusively for those who have made the choice and are serious about achieving their freedom goals.

Now for the rest of you who still need convincing.... let us continue...

The table below should give you an idea of the amount you need to save in order to accumulate enough funds over the number of years you have left before you can retire - be financially free and still lead the type of life style you want.



If your current income is sufficiently large enough to help you save the monthly amounts then you are already on your way to achieving your financial freedom.

My hearty Congradulations and enjoy your life and if you want to share your happiness with others just let them know what you did to achieve it and let them have a choice of doing the same.

For those of you who are barely making ends meet or do not have enough to save, there are a number of options open to you.

One of them is a new Business Model that most companies are adopting now days to stay competetive and they have a win-win solotion to offer if you are interested.

The Business Model is called "A People's Franchise".

You make up your mind whether you want to take a look at it or not over the next few days.

I will be describing it in my next Blog. OK.. I won't delay as long as I did for this one!

Your Options

Your Options to get financially free!

Before I discuss this topic I want to be absolutely sure you know the following rules.

1 Freedom is not FREE.
2 Freedom needs courage.
3 Freedom is not given, it is earned.
4 You can't have Freedom if you can't let others have Freedom.
5 More you help others get their Freedom more Freedom you will have.

Can you keep this in your mind as you go through the options and select the one that suits you best?

Option #1
To be born rich! - may be next life?

Option #2
Win a lottery! - you must buy a ticket though. You know the odds.

Option #3
Marry a rich person! - possible for some of you (if you are not already married that is).

Option #4
Play stock market or invest in real estate - but you must have finances to buy stocks in the first place and have the skills to choose the right investment. Very possible if you are good at financial management and are willing to take the risk you could get into the fourth quadrant.

Option #5
Start a big business - a possible option for few of you. Venture capital is available if you have a product or service that the community needs and you know how to package it and take it to the market and also handle all the adminstrative and accounting work that is involved or can pay someone to take care of them for you.

Option #6
Save! - start saving as much as you can each month as early in life as you can. Put it in solid, moderate risk and hence moderate growth mutual funds etc. and leave it there to get compunded and grow exponentially.

Option #6 seems possible for most of you and it does not depend on others or chance or need any special skills and you can do that as you carry on earning a living etc.

Let us do some maths to see how much we have to save for how long to accumulate what we need.

Write down the answers to the following questions and I will discuss the pros and cons and examine your next steps soon.

When would you like to be FREE?

• In five years (5)
• In ten years (10)
• In fifteen years (15)
• In twenty years (20)
• In twenty five years (25)
What is your plan to achieve this?

How much money do you need monthly to be FREE comfortably?

• Rs. 20,000
• Rs. 40,000
• Rs. 50,000
• Rs. 1,00,000
• Rs. 2,00,000
What is your plan to receive this monthly income?

How much money do you need to invest at 6% interest to receive your desired monthly income?

(Take your answer from question #2 and just multiply by 200)

What is your plan to accumulate this money?

See you soon.

Let us be very Clear

CLEAR Explanation of Three FREEDOM

It is very important to clearly understand the relationship between these three types of freedom (Personal, Financial and Time Freedom) and how they are achieved before I show some options for you to choose and follow.

I find using Robert Kiyosaki's Cash Flow quadrants makes this very easy to explain in just four simple diagrams.









As you can see the fourth quadrant is the best place to be. It is easier said than done!

Can you get there? Answer to your question is yes! If you really want to.

But how does one get there? In a number of different ways.

You will find the options in the next few blogs. Keep watching!

Financial Freedom

Financial Freedom

We are back from our fabulous holiday - re-visiting an Island we went to 35 years ago! You have had time to digest the the two sides of the Freedom triangle. To-day let us look at the all important third side that will for sure help make the other two sides possible.

Financial Freedom:

This term means different things to different people. I will give you my definition of it. “It is having enough regular income to live a comfortable lifestyle of your choice without the constant pressure of funds shortage”. “It is also not having to depend solely on the exchange of your time for money”. Some other indications of one who has Finacial Freedom - "order from a menu in any restuarant by just looking at the left column without first looking at the right column!", "write a cheque without first checking the balance!"

Some examples to make this clear.

•Unemployed people of course. They have no income and where is the question of Financial Freedom.

•Most employees do not have Financial Freedom or even a chance of achieving one. It does not matter how big their paycheque is. Their income depends on their efforts and they trade their time and talents for money. If they are sick or cannot work for whatever reasons, the money stops. A 40% pension after 40 years of working for 40 hours a week is about all they can hope for – the pension.

•It is true of Self employed people (small business people are included in this category) Again their income is dependent on their effort and they are dependent on trading their time for money. These people do not even have pension as security unless they take care to save enough and invest for their old age.

Then who has financial Freedom? How does one get it?

The people who are born wealthy and inherit lots of money have Financial Freedom.

Big business owners have Financial Freedom. They take leverage of other peoples time and effort. They help a number of people earn an income from the business they built with their capital and sweat and in turn they keep a small percent of their income for themselves. They know the secret “one percent of 100 peoples’ effort is better than 100 percent of one person’s effort”. They depend on a network of people for their Income.

Please do not misinterpret Financial Freedom, as just having lots of money but it is more of how you earn it.

Now you have it. The three freedoms defined and explained. Those of you who have followed this now understand why Financial Freedom is needed first before one can expect to have Personal Freedom and Time Freedom.

So typical employees, who have none of the three freedoms have the following choices.

They can become self-employed and obtain some form of Personal Freedom. In order to get Financial Freedom, they have to expand their self-employment or small business into a big business by investing capital, taking risks and by putting lot of initial sweat into it. Once the income starts coming, they can invest it and establish a Residual Income for themselves.

How many unemployed people, how many employees, how many self-employed or small business owners can do this in order to get all three of these Freedoms?

Not too many, right? My husband and I have been fortunate enough to do it. We have Personal Freedom, we have Financial Freedom and we have Time Freedom. Now we want to help others get the same. That is if they want it and want it badly!

Yes there are options and I will show you all of them one by one if you are ready. You make the decision as to which option you want to choose.

In the mean time let us see what life can be when one has established a residual income and has achieved the personal freedom and time freedom.

Imagine this...

We live in a comfortable home on a two acre lot on a lake 40km away from nearest town. We work when we want to and play when we want to. We live six months here and six months in India. Coffee break time is any time we want it! Monday to Sunday is one long weekend if we so chose it or work 24/7 if that is what we want!

So what is your wish? How and where would you like to live? What would you like to do and when?

Think about it and get ready to make them happen. Write to me. I will be there to help you along.

Time Freedom

Hope you all had a great weekend. I did. My husband and I decided we are going to enjoy the weekend and the week doing nothing in particulr - just relaxing and enjoying our 35th wedding anniversary.

That is something one can do when they are free to decide what they want to do!

Now that you know all about Personal Freedom, one side of the Freedom triangle, let us take a look at the other side to day.

TIME FREEDOM

A simple definition would be: “You are free to set your own schedule and are not under any time pressure” or another way to look at it is “the amount of your income does not depend on the amount of time you spend on earning it”.

Another form of Time Freedom is when one can increase their income while spending the same amount of time or even reduce the time and still increase the income.

Some examples:

•Most employees do not have Time Freedom. They have to follow the time schedules set by the company.

•Even the small business owners do not have Time Freedom. They are bound by the timings of their business and their customers. At least they have some sort of Personal Freedom as they do not have to answer to a Boss. They are their own boss.

•Big Business owners have flexible schedule but not total Time Freedom.

•In Network Marketing you can get this kind of Time Freedom by taking advantage of what is known as Leverage. Only big business people had this advantage until Network Marketing came along and offered every one this very valuable advantage.

Then who does have Time Freedom? How does one get it? Those who have established a sufficient and steady life long RESIDUAL INCOME. Their Income keeps coming regularly and they don’t have to worry about trading their time for income. Either their money is working for them or they are getting paid for the efforts they put in before.

Pension is a form of Residual Income and retired people have time freedom.

Unfortunately, for most the pension is usually not enough to live on. These people are so used to a time schedule all their life; they find it difficult to adjust to the newfound Time Freedom. Unless one plans their retirement activities and has some hobbies or other interests, the Time Freedom becomes more of hindrance than pleasure.

People who have saved enough money and invested it wisely can also have Residual Income and Time Freedom. Successful Authors, Actors/Actresses, Singers and fourth generation entrepreneur** can all establish a Residual Income and have Time Freedom.

This type of Residual Income and hence Time Freedom differs from the Pension and the Time Freedom of Retirees in two ways.

One, they don’t have to wait until they are 60 years old. Depending on how they achieve their Residual Income, it can start as early as 25.

Second, they have to stay active in their line of work in order to ensure continued supply of income.

Example, the investor has to monitor his investments. The authors may have to make book signing appearances or radio and television interviews to keep the public interested in their books. Similarly the actors and actresses have to keep up their public appearances and promote themselves.

Why is this Time Freedom important? Because there are so many things our world has to offer one these days and without this Time freedom, one will be stuck to their office and their desk, their bus schedule and so on and has very little time left to enjoy the good things in life. A quite walk in the woods, playing with grandchildren, traveling, reading books, listening to music, learning new skills, meeting new people and so on.

Please do not misinterpret Time Freedom, as having nothing to do and just sitting around. Time Freedom combined with Personal Freedom is more of doing what you want to do, when you want to do, wherever you want and with whom ever you want.

** We will get into what a fourth generation entrepreneur is all about in the future blogs.

Stay curious for now.