One Conspiracy Theory we definitely believe in…

Wednesday, June 9th, 2010 at 7:53 pm  
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Perry Marshall has long been a major source of inspiration to us. He is without a doubt, one of the most well respected and influential businessmen, marketers and Adwords mentors online today.
There are many mailing lists we have opted into over the years (and right back out of as well), but we would never consider unsubscribing from Perry’s list.

A couple of days ago, this post came through from Perry, and it triggered such a strong response for us, we felt inclined to share it.

Tanya and Cameron Outridge

One Conspiracy Theory I believe in

…is the conspiracy to suffocate you in paralyzing mental garbage and global negativity.

I don’t generally buy into conspiracy theories. But I do believe in cosmic episodes of stupidity and planned mass mediocrity.

And the #1 conspiracy of the modern world is to choke your brain with sewage and kill your spirit with overwhelming feeling that you are small and insignificant and helpless.

I almost *never* watch the news. I figure if there’s something I absolutely have to know about, somebody will call me and tell me about it. That habit has worked pretty well so far.

But on Monday I was in a restaurant and CNN was on. Couldn’t help but watch the endless parade of catastrophes.

I know that CNN is “normal” to “normal” people. But I also realize, most normal people accomplish fairly little in their 70 trips around the sun. Those of us who are going somewhere in life have better things to do than listen to relentless droning about 147 tragedies that we have no ability to solve.

Right now, especially with the Gulf oil spill, the world is AWASH in negativity.

You as an entrepreneur MUST fight this. Proactively. Because if you don’t it’ll kill your business, kill your sales, kill your dreams and everything you really care about.

Watching CNN while you eat breakfast is like visiting a cholera epidemic at a refugee camp and letting sick people drool on you. Then changing their bedpans and rubbing your eyes and licking your hands.

Listen up: The mass news media is NOT your friend.

They exist for the purpose of selling you fear, paranoia, and prescription drugs.

Not only must you protect yourself from the constant, incessant paralysis of depression, you need to combat it with your customers.

You need to tell them what’s GOOD. You need to greet them with a smile and with encouragement.

You need to talk about what’s HAPPENING.

You need to celebrate little tiny victories EVERY SINGLE DAY. (More on that at www.perrymarshall.com/positivefocus).

And… when you have a major victory in your life, you need to telegraph it to encouraging people who will celebrate it with you. Because GOOD NEWS is NEWS INDEED.

EndRant.

Perry Marshall

You Better Read This, Gold & Greece: Not What You Think

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010 at 6:55 am  
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Over recent years, we have been made aware of the importance of educating ourselves about money, and positioning ourselves to not only be protected from, but to take advantage of whatever happens in the financial markets globally.
You might (as we did) wonder how it is possible to profit from a global economic downturn, but it is worth noting that there were more millionaires created during the last Great Depression than at any other time in history.

Understanding what is going on, and how to protect yourself is key to not only surviving, but thriving. We have been exposed to an enormous amount of information regarding money, currencies, economies and Government through our business, and perhaps the most valuable lesson we have learned is to do our own research, so that we can be fully accountable for our own decisions when it comes to investing.

Below is a fabulous article by Kenneth Gerbino which talks about the debt crisis in Greece, and goes some way to explaining how it came about. It is a sobering thought that the situation we have seen unfolding over recent months is a long way from being resolved, despite the announcement of a one trillion dollar (yes, trillion) bailout package, and this set of circumstances is not unique to Greece either.

For the first time in recorded history, every developed country on the planet has unprecedented levels of sovereign and individual debt, and every currency on the planet is a fiat currency (paper money only, it is not backed by anything of real value).

So we encourage you to read on, it is enlightening stuff.

Cameron and Tanya Outridge

You Better Read This, Gold & Greece: Not What You Think

Kenneth J. Gerbino & Company
Posted May 20, 2010

There is so much hysteria in the hard money camp on Greece and the European Union that one had better start looking at the facts otherwise it could cost you a lot of money.
Before discussing the Euro, Greece and Gold, let me go over some important concepts:
The economic problems faced by all countries are rooted in paper money systems. In fact, paper money systems are one of the root causes of socialism and socialist thought. Paper money also gives capitalism a bad name. Right now the temporary solutions from bail-outs and printing money will change the short and medium term outlook for many investments. These changes must be analyzed properly. The long term will always get worse from these bail out policies, but making money in the markets means having the good sense not to get carried away by hysteria from the press and gold coin shops (although everyone should buy some gold and silver coins).

Greece and the Euro

The current European Union problems with Greece and the countries expected to follow with bailouts (Portugal, Italy, Spain and Ireland) are serious but not as horrible as the press is reporting. The groups behind the hysteria are the usual suspects…the banks who own a lot of the troubled debt that could default. Most of my friends in the hard money camp are also “losing it” over the Greek crisis.

Since the European banks are more leveraged than the U.S. banks were in 2008, I can see why these people and politicians would be panicked as a domino effect could happen. The solution to bail out Greece and the rest of these countries will end up with plenty of money being created. The five PIIGS countries comprise 7.7% of the global GDP and their collective Government Debt (which will increase in 2010 by 5-10%) is approx. $4.2 trillion. Approximately 30% is in danger of defaulting over the next 3-4 years. There is more private debt as well, but there are plenty of assets (buildings, factories, etc.) backing much of that debt. It’s not all bad.

The PIIGS government debt is a lot of money owed to lots of institutions and investors all over the world. The EU bailout, recently announced, is almost a $1 trillion package and soon, I believe the structure will be modified and most likely go something like this:

1. Restructure most, if not all, of the entire $4.2 trillion of debt over 10 years.
2. This means that the authorities are now dealing with $420 billion on an annual basis from all five countries.
3. 30% of the entire PIIGS debt is feared to be “bad debt”.
4. Stretching this out over 10 years means we are now talking about 30% of $420 billion. This is now a $126 billion per year problem.
5. Dealing with $126 billion a year is workable. The Greek bailout which is expected to be approx $145 billion is being spread over three years or $48 billion per year and is part of this. I believe the Greek solution will be soon stretched out further than three years as well.
6. So now this entire EU “end of the world scenario” becomes a $126 billion annual problem matched by $1 trillion of commitments from the EU, ECB, IMF, Federal Reserve and other central banks.
7. This package buys time to have certain countries stop freeloading. With their backs against the wall they will have no choice but to put severe budget and financial changes in place in their countries.
8. Remember that the PIIGS are not alone. The EU Growth and Stability Pact requires all EU countries to keep budget deficits below 3%. But not one of the 16 countries has complied.
9. This “crisis” should cause a lot of decreased government budgets that should have a positive long term effect, but this will slow down the artificial economic activity that was called “the economy”, because the deficit spending will be curtailed.
10. In the short term, the injection of new paper money could stimulate economic activity (artificially) but the decrease of government spending will hurt corporate profits (remember government spending, even welfare checks to people, eventually is spent on consumer goods by the welfare recipient. The consumer goods are made and distributed by corporations). So a slow down in deficit spending means EU stock markets could face an uphill battle for many years.
11. The key to a healthy economy is when people who are consuming something are also producing something of value back into the economy. This is why socialism and welfare destroy economies. Too many people eating the corn and too few planting it, means a lot of hunger eventually. So by curtailing as much welfare to people and corporations (they line up as well for government hand outs) as possible, one allows an economy to right itself.
12. In the long run, assuming that everyone wakes up, less government workers, honest work weeks and the curtailment of a culture of laziness and socialism could actually make the EU a better economic sphere. Only time will tell.
13. The possibility of higher taxes now becomes a nightmare for politicians as the people get sick of them spending the money on waste and bureaucrats and demand accountability.

EU Money Supply and Socialism

The EU money supply is $8.2 trillion. If the aforementioned $126 billion annual rescue package was entirely printed out of thin air it would be a 1.5 % increase to the money supply, enough to handle the new stretched out annual $126 billion of potential problems. A bad solution, but one that might find time for the authorities to correct the outrageous mismanagement that has taken place in these countries.

The EU increased their money supply by $1 trillion in just the last two years, so these debt problems, if spread out and facilitated with this new $1 trillion of EU and other Central Bank help (including the U.S.) would seem manageable for the time being. Of course, the net result of these bailouts will be inflation showing up in future years.

Debt laden EU governments will have to raise taxes, cut government salaries and pensions and do a lot of things people in these countries are not going to like. Governments putting their houses in order is a real long shot and I am not optimistic. But if this glaring fiscal mismanagement allows the guy in the street to see that he has been lied to, deceived and totally taken in by the stupidity of these socialist policies and the absurd promises of politicians then maybe it will wake him/her up. This could put some reality back into their lives which will include working regular hours for a living and not ripping off their fellow citizens by getting benefits not earned.

Socialism will now become a fool’s passion and the concept of the State taking care of people will start to be eroded by this crisis and reality. There is no free lunch. The sad thing about socialism is that if there were honest monetary systems, low taxes and no socialism, 98% of the population would be so well off and affluent that they could easily support the real poor and sick and less fortunate. The charitable inclination of the common man is so much higher than he is given credit for even in tough times charity and giving is in the hundreds of billions in the U.S. I would think that 2008 was probably the worse year for any American financially yet charitable giving topped $300 billion. Bleeding heart liberals take note. You are “right on” about your humanism and benevolence and deserve credit for these high character values, but you are being led down the path to disaster if you think the government is the answer to your ideals.

The Greek Hangover

Here are some provisions the EU and the IMF have demanded of Greece and if they do not comply they will not get any money to pay their government employees, pensioners and suppliers, so Greece will have to comply.

* By June they have to comply with 17 legal and budgetary items
* They must reduce Christmas, summer, and Easter bonuses to civil servants, pensioners and others.
* Cigarette, alcohol, fuel taxes have to be increased
* The red tape to start new business will be reduced, to encourage progress instead of old boy patronage and laws stifling entrepreneurs and free enterprise.
* Retirement age must go to 65
* Dozens of more provisions over the next 18 months that “must” be followed or no money.

Thanks to Anne Applebaum of the Washington Post for the research on the Greek provisions. Tax collection measures will of course go to a new level in Greece. It is almost a foregone conclusion that people who live in these southern Mediterranean countries have made an art form out of avoiding taxes. To get a somewhat comparable concept about just how bad it might be in Greece, a quote from the Washington Post …

“Athens, after all, is a city in which 364 people told tax authorities they owned swimming pools – and in which satellite photographs reveal the existence of 16,974 swimming pools”- Anne Applebaum, Washington Post May 10, 2010

Closing Comments on Greece and the Euro

* Since the ECB increased the Euro money supply by $1 trillion in the last two years that is a 12% increase. That would, in theory, cause a 12% increase in consumer prices over the next 3-4 years or 3-4% per year. Add the new money that may be printed for the new bailouts ($300-400 billion over 3 years) and the conclusion is that this is bad but it is not going to make gold go to the moon.
* The Euro is now a suspect currency and could lose another 25% versus the U.S. dollar. But it is not going down the drain. Not yet at least. Although if the socialists somehow prevail in Europe I will take this statement back in the future.
* Currently investors are selling Euros and buying dollars and gold. The dollar now actually looks better but that will not last for long as our budget deficits will also force money supply increases in the U.S.
* The Greeks cannot default or back off from these austere measures because the power structure and the elite of this country are in plenty of debt themselves and they probably are less concerned about how many protestors are arrested or knocked around than they are about declaring personal bankruptcy or having one of their corporate holdings go under. They will make sure the government takes the money and tells the people 14 months annual pay and lucrative bonuses at the expense of the Germans and others is now over. Time to go back to work.
* Greece also cannot back out of the Euro because most of their debt is denominated in Euros. If they set up their own currency it would be devalued immediately – which means the debt of these well- to- do people and institutions would automatically increase.
* Their will be no “moral hazard” from this bail out because the austerity program being forced on the Greeks and others will be no picnic. There will be pain. Other governments are already making blueprints on how to handle what’s coming to them soon from their own socialist mismanagement. The piper is going to be paid.

Gold
Investing in gold is easy. Buy bullion (coins and bars) with 5-10% of your assets and never look at it again. The price is irrelevant. The long term prevails. It’s insurance. Forget the price in dollars or pounds or Euros – think ounces.

Unfortunately owning mining stocks is going to be a nightmare of volatility.

Gold could easily move up or down $200 within a few weeks. That means a lot of anxious mining stock investors. A solution is to have a 60% core positions in quality companies and allocate the other 40% to a medium term trading strategy.

Gold looks overbought and well priced for now. You have to remember that gold has had a very prolonged run up over the last 5 years – $500 to $1200 is discounting a lot of bankruptcies and a lot of inflation and world problems.

I do not see gold going to the moon right now because “the collapse of the western world” and the monetary system is many years away.

The moon shot in gold is coming but I believe it will come when high inflation rates hit the western world including Brazil, Europe, China and India. Then you will see the moon shot.

A possible collapse of the banking system in the U.S. and EU and other catastrophic events can and will be “papered over” with printed money and computer credits even if it takes trillions of more dollars and Euros. The end result will be a lot of inflation. When this inflation hits the markets then gold will again take off.

I think gold could stay in a $1050 -$1250 range for the foreseeable future. I am 80% in this frame of mind. This means gold mining stocks are going to be cash cows and great investments. If gold takes off above $1250 then all bets are off and something could be coming that no one sees.

For now I am the most nervous bull you can imagine.

For more articles on Gold and The Economy visit our website at www.kengerbino.com

Ken Gerbino

How are you positioned to get through the Gobal Financial Crisis? This is the call that cost us $19,995USD…but are you ready to hear it?

Wednesday, May 12th, 2010 at 6:50 am  
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Last Friday May 7, 2010, Wealth Masters International Co-founder and CEO, Kip Herriage took the unprecedented move to open up an M3 Private Wealth Group call to everyone in the WMI community. In fact, not only the WMI community, but everyone we felt would be interested, or would benefit from what he had to say.

This was a first for WMI, and you may wonder what prompted Kip to make an exclusive call freely available to anyone. After all, we paid $19,995USD to become M3 Master Consultants. Every month, this call is packed with others who positioned at the same level as we did. We wouldn’t miss it, we are learning how best to look after and grow our money (particularly our retirement savings) over the coming months and years.

Simply, a set of exceptional circumstances in the global economy were the trigger for Kip to share this call in such a way.

You may (or may not) be aware of the Sovereign debt crisis in Greece, and the proposed bailout by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (that includes Australia by the way – and you may, like we did, wonder how it is that a Government that is $150 billion dollars in debt can be in the position to lend money to anyone else – in the world of the average person, it is a criminal offence to write a cheque that you cannot cash).

Now, Kip has been alerting us to the situation in Greece since August last year, via his VRA (Vertical Research Advisory economic newsletter – only available to M3 consultants).

You see, it is his work and passion to study the economy, banking, investment, money and history. During his career he has worked on Wall Street (he was the youngest ever VP of Oppenheimer Bank, and retired from the industry at age 29).
And it is his business teach us to do the same thing, and use this education to improve our own financial situation.

Going back to August 2009, Kip has described Greece as merely the “canary in the coalmine”. In fact he has also said that the debt of the UK, California, and New York make Greece’s Sovereign debt look like small change.

Below is the link to listen to this call…

http://wmitoday.com/news/economic-report-kip-herriage-wealth-masters/

Now I must warn you, be ready to hear information you may not have heard before. It is confronting, and to be blunt, a little frightening.

After you hear it, you will almost certainly understand why Mike Dillard has described the WMI product range as “the only product in the world that actually matters right now”.

If you think that this will not apply to you, because you have no money to invest, you are absolutely wrong, it applies to everyone, and in particular, those with debt, or who are trading on the stock exchange (and I mean any stock exchange).

Please also feel free to share this link with anyone you care about, particularly if they have a high level of debt, or they trade shares, or they are interested to hear the facts behind the spin, hype and headlines that our politicians and mainstream media dish out to us day after day.

This is not a political statement, since the establishment of the Federal Reserve, every Government has been complicit in participating in what will become the greatest transfer of wealth in our history. And during this transfer, the middle class as we know it will be wiped out.

These open calls will be held every month moving forward, and I suggest that you understand the importance of listening to them, and passing them on to people you care about.

Listen to the call, and I promise you, you will view our mainstream “news” with a very new perspective.

Make today a great one.
Cheers,

Tan

Exactly six months ago today, we nearly ended it all…

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 at 9:15 pm  
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It was a very stressful time. We had grown our business fast, gained recognition as top earners and master marketers.

But then, virtually overnight, our business was wiped out. We had been using Google Adwords to build our business, and our account, along with scores of other online business people in our industry, was suspended. Shut down.

The leads stopped flowing in, and our income ceased.

We spent quite some time, racking our brains, trying to figure out how we were going to salvage our hard work, and guide our (by now) large team to build their own businesses, given that the landscape online had changed so dramatically.

We were not willing to just throw in the towel and give it all away, we knew the value of the products and business model at our finger tips.

So, we set to work. We researched. We trained, and we began to form a plan for ourselves and our team, to move forward, and ‘quarantine’ ourselves from this level of risk in the future.

Amongst other things, we developed a professional outsourcing service to take care of IT, design and site building for our team and their own members (you can check it out here) http://salespipelinepros.com/

We compiled a comprehensive training manual to guide newcomers through both business set up and marketing. This is where you can download our guide… http://cameronandtanya.squarespace.com/free-e-book/

And we tested our new resources in our own business (new website here … http://mlmhometruths.com.au).

Happily, we are up and running again, as are members of our team. It is very gratifying to see them generating leads, and making sales. Warm fuzzies all ’round you might say.

Fortunately, the leadership of both CCPro and Wealth Masters International were on the same wavelength as us.

Both companies have recognized the need to move with the market, and as a result, have well and truly stepped up to the challenge.

But the main reason for this mail to you today, is to let you know that in a push to become a truly “International” company, Wealth Masters International has re-designed their product range, and business structure.

The new business model will be launched in Houston, Texas on the 30th of this month, and as Kip Herriage (co-founder of WMI) said to me at a conference in November last year, now, when anyone anywhere in the world asks if the product will be relevant to them, I will be able to say “absolutely”.

As a sign of this commitment to create a truly international company, Wealth Masters International will be holding a live event in Sydney, on the 13th of February this year. From there, they move on to Norway, the UK and Canada.

Karl Bessey (co-founder) and Michael Hamburger (recently appointed VP of Marketing) will be traveling to Australia to present the newly launched business model to our market. Kip Herriage will join us live via satellite during the day to talk about his exclusive investment newsletter the Vertical Research Advisory (VRA).

A little heads up about the VRA. Cameron and I have been following Kip’s strategies since we attended our first WMI conference in March last year. We have rolled our Superannuation over into a self managed account, and are now trading on Wall Street, and in various other strategies. Some days we have been as much as $4000 up on one particular investment.

There are some huge investment opportunities opening up right here in Australia, in unconventional fuels, and the CEO of the company behind the exploration (a man who has created more than ten billion dollars in investor value in the companies he has developed over the past 20 years) has described this find as a “game changer” for Australia (but we can’t give away too much here).

So, some very exciting and lucrative times ahead for those positioned to take advantage of what many commentators have forecast as the greatest wealth transfer in history.

We would like to invite you to be our personal guests at this event, to see first hand the business structure, and meet us, as well as the men behind the company.

There is no charge for you to attend the event. Places are filling fast, and if you would like to register your interest, let me know by emailing me at tanyaoutridge0869@gmail.com
I will be confirming numbers by the end of this month.

Cameron & Tanya Outridge
Your Carbon Copy Pro Sponsors

http://CameronAndTanya.com

http://CarbonCopyPro.com

Phone: 61-7-5493-1184.

PS: We almost forgot … another little something we would love you to see…

http://cameronandtanya.squarespace.com/tony-robins-john-reese-frank-k/

Take a moment and see if you can do the ‘arm twisting’ exercise … we know that when we did it, it gave us many “ah ha” moments. And these are the moments that count, the only ones that will make a real difference to the way your life looks.

Take a moment, watch the video, make a decision, and meet us in Sydney next month.

MLM Myth #7 “You can make money in this business with next to no money down…”

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009 at 6:19 pm  
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Ever heard the saying “You get what you pay for?”

MLM Myth #7

Never a truer word was spoken. It applies in this context as well.

Now, certainly, if you are planning to build a business working from home, you have far fewer capital outlays than someone in a brick and mortar business, or even a franchise.

In either of those business environments, you will typically have expenses like a lease on a building and equipment, stock and wages. And if you are a franchisee, in addition to all of those costs, you will also have paid for the ‘privilege’ of doing business under someone else’s name.

Forking out money for any of these running costs is by no means a guarantee that you will make any money. There are many brick and mortar business people and franchisees who go out of business every day, despite having great products and services on offer.

Now it is true that you can opt in to a MLM or Network Marketing business opportunity and expect your capital outlay to be less than in another business model, but you still must understand that there are ongoing running costs associated with owning a business.

The home truth is that you cannot run a legitimate business on fresh air.

For starters, there will be a cost to opt in.

This is where the type of business model you choose will be incredibly important. While it may be tempting to join a company with a low cost product range, you must realize that this means the commissions on any sales you make will also be very low. It makes sense that you are not going to be paid a commission that is more than the product is worth.

If you opt in to a company with a range of low cost products, you are going to have to sell a very high volume of products before you will see a return on your investment.

Higher value products will yield you a higher commission on your sales, as long as you are positioned in such a way in the compensation plan to collect that commission.

If you are currently doing a due diligence on business opportunities right now, we suggest that you have these criteria in mind when you go looking:

1. Opt for Top Tier direct sales or hybrid opportunities over “old school” MLM or Network Marketing.

Top Tier simply means that the buy in level is much higher, so while you will invest at a higher rate to get started, your commissions will also be higher and you will be targeting a niche in the market which has the money to invest. It is not an effective business strategy to promote your products or business to people who have no money to spend. By the way, there is only one top tier company in this industry that offers a “hybrid” compensation plan (one that was co-written by industry leaders and multi millionaires Mike Dillard and Jay Kubassek).

2. Look for a company with a G.P.T. payment plan.

G.P.T. stands for ‘Get Paid Today’. This means that you get paid on your direct sales, rather than having to wait months or even years to build up a residual income.
Negative cash flow is particularly deadly for new business owners, and this type of payment structure means that you will have a cash flow as soon as you make a sale.

3. Look for companies which have a ‘dual income’ structure.

A dual income structure is one where you are paid for the sales you make at the front end, but also make a residual income on the sales of the consultants you personally sponsor.

Beyond the investment to opt in there are running costs, from membership fees, travel (if it is an International business), to communication costs, just to name a couple.

There is another saying that goes like this “Nothing ventured, nothing gained”, and that is highly pertinent to this situation.

From a psychological point of view, if you have no “skin in the game”, if you have nothing to lose, you are going to be far less motivated to lift yourself and do what it takes to get your business going.

We see many people opt in at the lowest level financially with a “I’ll give it a go and see what happens” attitude. They never last long. Frankly, it is not possible to make money with this attitude.

You do need to invest money to make money. If an opportunity presents itself as one where you can make money with no money, it sounds too good to be true…and it is.

MLM Myth #6 “You can make money working as little as seven hours a week…”

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009 at 5:02 pm  
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Ahhh…another clever marketing ploy to appeal to the “get rich quick”, “time poor”, and just plain lazy prospect.

MLM Myth #6

Now this is simply a bald faced lie. Again, think about this logically.

Every person who steps into this industry for the first time (especially if they have no previous business experience of any kind), is faced with an enormous learning curve. We are not exaggerating, it is huge. Less a curve, and more of a Mt Everest in fact.

There is only one way to learn, apply and master new skills, and that is with time. And unless you are an exceptionally fast learner, you will need to be prepared to devote lots of it.

Now, don’t get us wrong, you can definitely start learning how to run your business in as little as seven hours a week, and if you have a very strong desire to start your own business, and that is all the time you have available to you, then you have to start where you are at.

There may be one exception to this statement, and that is if you have the capital to outsource your business set up, and your lead generation. But in any event, you will still need to invest the time in learning how to deal with your business once it has been set up and is running.

Now, many companies use testimonials in their marketing and promotion, where top earners talk about how they earn X dollars working only 10 hours a week.
It is important to understand a couple of things about these testimonials.

Firstly, without exception, the people who have been very successful in their business dedicated a huge amount of time to learning their new business, getting set up, and then running.

And it may be true that they have relaxed the pace a little, and are now working far fewer hours in their business.

But we know that the person who is inclined to go hard to make that kind of money in the first instance, is not likely to be happy resting on their laurels. They are more likely to be planning and working hard to take their business to the next level. It is the nature of the entrepreneurial beast.

Which brings us to another home truth. If you do not have the time to invest in building a business, or you are not inclined to spend the time it takes to build a profitable long term business, you should reconsider your motivation to start your own business.

There is no getting away from it. Successful business requires work that is smart and hard. In this industry, perhaps like few others, you can expect to put in the hard work once, and be paid for life. But there is no way around doing the hard yards in the first instance.

We would be lying if we suggested otherwise.

Making a six figure income from home and only working seven hours a week sounds like a business that is too good to be true…and it is.

MLM Myth #5 “We hold your hand and guide you every step of the way…”

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009 at 3:20 pm  
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This particular myth is twofold in its deception.

MLM Myth #5

Try and remember for a moment what it is that you are doing here.

Business.

And in business, as much as people in the same industry might network with each other and discuss what is going on in their particular market, do you really think that people who are in direct competition, in the same market place are going to share all their secrets?

It would not be the most savvy business strategy in the world, would it?

Now, you may put this proposition to a seasoned MLM or Network Marketer, and they will insist that this business model is different.

Because “If you make money, your sponsor makes money. It is in your sponsor’s interest to help you do well”.

And that is indeed the truth. Nothing untoward about that statement.

But stop and think for a moment. The top earners in any MLM or Network Marketing company have usually got very large teams of people under them. How else do you think they became top earners? And the way they generate their incomes (in the first instance) is from sales at the ‘front end’ of their business. This requires a substantial investment of time to plan and execute a marketing strategy that will yield that level of sales.
They have got their own businesses to run. Their own challenges and obstacles to overcome.

How much time do you think is left over to spend “holding hands” with new comers?

How many serious business people (in any industry), take the time to spoon feed their competition?

And to be blunt, a serious entrepreneur is not going to commit their time to someone who shows zero initiative or willingness to drive their own business hard. The fact is that ‘needy’ consultants will get the least amount of time from their sponsor.

There is a law called “Pareto’s Law” or the 80:20 rule that states that “80% of the results will come from 20% of the people”. In this industry, the 20% of people who are generating 80% of sales will get the highest level of attention from their sponsor.

Makes perfect sense doesn’t it?

Because “it is in a sponsors interest to have their consultants do well”. And a smart sponsor will soon see that if a consultant expects to have their hand held, they are highly unlikely to do well. They will not waste their valuable time on someone who is on the fast road to nowhere.

The home truth is that if you are going into a business with the expectation that someone will ‘hold your hand’, you should probably reconsider this as an option for you.

No-one else can make financial success happen for you. As we discussed in MLM Myth #4, your success in business will be 100% up to you.
If your sponsor lives in a different time zone, is not able to speak to you when you have a problem, or to be blunt, lied like a pig in a bog in order to make a sale and sign you up, you need to learn where to go looking and find your own solutions.

In business, becoming resourceful, solution focused and ready to fail fast and forward are pre-requisites to success. These are skills that can be learn t, and over time and with practice, mastered.

There is no business environment on the planet where someone will ‘hold your hand every step of the way’. The most successful business people are resilient, self reliant and fiercely independent. Without exception.

It’s a jungle out there.

So, if it sounds too good to be true…it is.

MLM Myth #4 “We have everything you need to be successful in this business RIGHT HERE…”

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009 at 2:44 pm  
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This one is a biggie from a mindset and personal development perspective.

MLM Myth #4

All MLM and Network Marketing companies will obviously put their best foot forward in their bid to sign you up. And to be honest, it would be a spectacularly stupid marketing tactic to point out all their short comings before you handed over your credit card and signed on the dotted line.

They want you to believe that you cannot fail if you join them, and the “secret ingredient” to your success or otherwise, is what they have to offer.

To be absolutely fair, there are some companies (very very few, we hasten to add) that do indeed give you a comprehensive home based business “tool kit” to help you get up and running. The better companies even teach you how to use the tools they have provided, and do indeed run “in house” marketing training programs for new members (bear in mind that the vast majority of these will be “old school” strategies, and as such are not useful to you at all in the Internet marketing age).

But to our mind, the entire claim that the company has everything you need to succeed is very shaky. And this is another reason why so many people struggle and ultimately fail in this industry.

What is the difference between the person who makes $50,000 per month working from home, and the person who maxes out their credit card and eventually gives up? How can that be so if they both sell the same product, have the same compensation plan, and access to the same training?

There is a reason why some people do well in this business, and others do not.

And it has nothing to do with the comp plan, products or training.

The home truth is that the “secret ingredient” to your success in this or any business is… YOU.

If you are desperately looking for a business opportunity because you want out of a job that you loathe, or you are in a tight spot financially and it is causing you distress, be aware that you are in a highly emotionally charged place.

Now, all buying behavior is essentially emotional. But you are not buying a pair of shoes to make you feel better because you are having a “bad hair day”, or a flat screen TV so you can feel proud and impress your friends when football season rolls around.

You are making a decision that will have an enormous impact on the way your life plays out from the moment you hand over your money.
If you are serious about going into business for yourself and working from home, take a deep breath, put your credit card away, and ask yourself these questions.

1. Do I have the commitment to learn, implement and master a new skill set?
We all have to go through a steep learning curve when we enter a new profession, and there is a generally acknowledged rule of thumb that it requires 10,000 hours to hit “tipping point” – or the point at which you have mastered your new skills.
Few people have the personal discipline, focus and patience to go through this learning process. Do you think you have this type of discipline?
Too many people are so busy trying to “get rich quick” that they forgo the hard work necessary to make money in any environment.

2. Do I have a realistic idea of what it takes to be self employed, specifically in Network Marketing?
And if not, who can I talk to, to find out?

3. How much time do I have to commit to my new business?

4. How much working capital do I have available to get my business started?

5. Am I receptive to new ideas?
This is VERY important. The more you learn, the more you grow, and if you are really smart, the more you will understand how little you know.
Being open to new ideas, and ready to change some long held beliefs will be critical to your success. The people who fail first and fastest are those who cannot or will not be taught anything new.

If you are looking at a business opportunity as a way of ‘saving’ you from a situation that is causing you pain, understand that your search needs to start inwardly first. If you answered the questions above in the affirmative honestly, and you have a burning desire to be in control of your own financial future, it may well be that self employment is a positive first step to making this happen.

But ultimately you will make this happen. Not a company, a product or a killer compensation plan.

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again. If it sounds too good to be true…it is.

MLM Myth #3 “There is NO selling involved in this business…”

Tuesday, December 29th, 2009 at 6:34 am  
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Seems like a ridiculous thing to even say, but there it is…

MLM Myth #3

MLM companies know that most people hate the thought of selling anything, and the reason why this is so, is because their consultants are not taught how to sell effectively and professionally.

But use your head for just a moment.

What is a business? Any business?

A business is an environment where goods, services or information are exchanged for money. Yes?

And there is nothing dishonorable about this process. There is nothing terrible or shameful about accepting money for quality products or services.

I’ll digress for a moment and say that if you have a problem with this concept, I would suggest that you possibly have a little work to do on your mindset about money (this is terribly important – money issues will hold you back in your business if left unaddressed).

The home truth is, all business is about selling. There is nothing wrong with that.

But consider this.

People hate to be sold. They do however, like to buy stuff.

Now, if MLM and Network Marketing companies were even remotely interested in the success of their consultants, they would be teaching effective sales techniques. Mostly new consultants are taught to “share” their products and opportunities with everyone they know. This sets them up to fail from the start.

The first and most critical thing to understand about great salesmanship, is that it is NOT about convincing. It is not about talking people into buying your ‘life changing’ product or ‘ground floor’ business opportunity. Frankly, they could not care less about either of these things.

People want to know one thing only. Pay attention now.

This is the only thing you should be concerned about, and it involves putting yourself in your prospects shoes.

WIIFM – What’s In It For Me?

That’s right. Your prospect is only concerned with how your product, service or information can help them in their life to solve a problem, meet a need, or get what what they want. And that is all.

An effective salesperson will listen to what their prospects want in the first instance. If what your prospect is looking for does not match what you have to offer, move on immediately. To try and persuade someone that you have what they want, even though it is transparently clear that you don’t is disrespectful, unprofessional and a complete and utter waste of your time and theirs.

You will go NOWHERE in your business engaging sales strategies like this. Great salesmanship is about developing an intelligent and appropriate response to feedback from your prospect.

If you do feel that what you have to offer is a great match for what your prospect is looking for, then you supply them with all of the accurate and relevant information they need to arrive at this decision on their own. Remember, you are not selling a commodity in this environment. Your prospect cannot ‘try before they buy’. They must be very certain in their own mind that they want to proceed.

If someone is looking at your business opportunity, they are going to need to be given the time and space to complete a thorough due diligence before they make the commitment. If they have been given a ‘push’ by you to sign up in your business, believe me when I say that the chances of them forging ahead in their own business are slim to none.

Now all of these techniques are dependent on you having a highly targeted marketing system in place in the first instance. One which qualifies your prospects before you even speak with them. So your time is not wasted by “tyre kickers” who are ‘just curious’.
In the Internet age, learning how to market online will be the key to creating this type of automated system.

Being told that there is ‘no selling’ involved in a business opportunity should raise the alarm bells in your mind. If you are told this by a potential sponsor, be aware that you will most likely receive sales training that will equip you nicely to do business…in 1980.

If it sounds too good to be true…it is.

MLM Myth #2 “These products are so incredible and life changing, they virtually sell themselves…”

Tuesday, December 29th, 2009 at 5:58 am  
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So we have arrived at MLM Myth #2

And this one is a beauty. In fact, I think this is the most dangerous myth of them all. It ties in perfectly with Myth #3 (which I will get to next).

If you have been involved in MLM before, or if you have made inquiries into a company, you are highly likely to have been told something like this.

“These products change people’s lives. Imagine how many people will want to buy these products from you when they see what they can do for them“.

I’ll never forget the ‘sales training’ I received in my last MLM. It was never actually called ‘sales training’. For some reason (that is now fairly obvious to me), the truth of what the business involves is skirted around, and never called what it really is.
Companies seem to think that if they dress the sales training up as something less ‘offensive’ consultants will be happy to do it.

So the primary sales strategy that most people are taught is to make a list of your family, friends and work colleagues. And then “take massive action” and “share” the products with as many of these people as you can.

Our trainers actually used to say lame things like “How would the people who are important to you feel if they knew you had these life changing products/ business opportunity, and you didn’t “share” with them?”

And this is how the Amway style home meetings started. Desperate new consultants who didn’t know any better (and some that definitely did) roping in everyone who was unfortunate enough to make eye contact with them to attend “opportunity meetings”, and “share” the products and opportunity, whether they were in the market for either of these things or not.

The home truth of this matter is that products do not sell themselves. Ever. Strategic and targeted marketing sells products.

MLM companies will not tell you this, because the top earners in most of them do not know how to use focused and leveraged marketing techniques to promote their products or opportunity to an appropriate niche. In fact, most of them would not know what this means.

You see, instead of targeting the people who are actually looking for what they have to sell, they pitch to everyone they come into contact with, and hope that if they churn through enough numbers, someone will eventually buy from them.

In all fairness, twenty five years ago, a small handful of people made a lot of money doing this very thing. But in the age of technology and information marketing, this ‘business strategy’ will not fly.

And even back then, it was not a professional or leveraged strategy to build a business on.

So remember this. If you are looking at a business opportunity, and you are told that the products “virtually sell themselves”, keep looking. This is an indication of how you will be taught to market your business.

And trust me, you will not have a hope of even getting your business off the ground if you proceed this way.

If it sounds too good to be true… it is.

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