Home-Based Business and Network Marketing
Is Network Marketing a scam?
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No fancy website here, just valuable information and straight talk to help you learn the secret to building financial freedom for you and your family.
Do you have dreams and financial goals that are unrealized?
Are you tired of looking at one
Home-Based business after another,
only to be disappointed at what you find?
If you are serious about making more money than you ever thought possible, even in our present economy, take the time to read this information.
Its FREE, and all you have to invest is your time.
You'll be glad you did.
Hi,
I'm Mark Burgess, the author of "Don't Get Trampled by the Moose!" Your survival guide for a wild economy.
I have created links to the different sections so that it will be easier for you to navigate the page if you have to leave and come back at another time to finish. The links work in reverse too.
Here are the links:
Here's my story...
In the spring of 1992, my wife and I were introduced to the world of network marketing. We lived in our home state of South Carolina. Several years earlier we had lived in Dallas, TX for a couple of years while I was in college.
Friends of ours who still lived in the Dallas area invited us to meet them halfway between South Carolina and Texas. They had “something” they wanted to share with us that was going to make them wealthy. Of course, we were very interested to hear what they had to say.
For weeks before we left for the trip, I tried to get them to reveal to us what the “something” was, but they would not budge. We even jokingly threatened not to make the trip if they would not tell us.
They called our bluff, and still, not a word from them as to what it was. I even mentioned a well-known network marketing company’s name, and said I was definitely not interested if that’s what it was.
Even at this, they would not reveal what it was. There was so much anticipation as to what this amazing “something” was that they had found. Little did I know, this expectancy was exactly what they wanted.
They had built up this mystery in our minds so much that we didn’t stand a chance when it came time to reveal it to us. So we made the trip to meet with them. We enjoyed the chance to get away for a few days and spend some time together.
When we finally arrived at the predetermined location, we spent the better part of the day (actually through two meal times) at a restaurant catching up and viewing diagrams, circles, and boxes of various types.
The information they gave us made perfect sense. This really seemed to be the greatest opportunity to reach our financial dreams that we had ever seen in our lifetime.
They told us about their goal of owning and running a Dude Ranch for kids, and how this business was going to help them accomplish those dreams. At the end of the presentation they finally told us the name of the company.
I know the color must have drained from our faces. We could not have been more shocked. It was exactly the company that we had told them we did not want anything to do with. I realize now, we did not know what we thought we knew about the company.
The business plan they showed us was very believable. We had based our previous opinions on things we heard from others who had been in the same business. There were stories of how people lost their homes and spent fortunes just trying to maintain a certain position in the company.
There was also the story about having a garage full of product that could never be reduced short of throwing it away. Of course, many of these stories tended to be exaggerated, depending on how angry or unsuccessful the person telling the story happened to be.
We did not blame our friends or get upset with them. We enjoyed taking the trip and catching up with them. We also realized, through that experience, that there were more ways to produce an income than just working for someone else.
Prior to this meeting, we had not been accurately informed about network marketing, nor did we have any exposure to the industry, so it was beneficial to us in this regard.
We began to see how this type of business could allow people to live anywhere they wanted, work their business from home, and enjoy freedoms only wealth can and does provide.
We were young at the time, in our mid-twenties, and had dreams of being financially free. We had not had the “lucky breaks” that other people we knew were enjoying. We had a good work ethic and the character to follow through with perseverance.
However, we also knew that if we were going to experience financial success, we were going to need a special opportunity that would allow us to realize our dreams.
This kind of thinking set us up for more disappointments than you can imagine.
While we were willing to work very hard at whatever job we had, we did not have the understanding of basic principles that would allow us to successfully navigate the ocean of the fiscal world.
Instead of taking sound financial steps to ensure our future, we started looking for the “silver bullet” that would remove our monetary struggles and set us up for a life of ease. Since we had now been exposed to another way to make money, we were not afraid of launching out into the deep.
I had previously owned a small contracting business when my wife and I were first married, so we were more than willing to start a business from scratch and fund it with every paycheck we received from our regular job...and we did just that.
We sacrificed many things until we finally reached the breaking point where there was no more to sacrifice. I worked at this business for several years, until the housing market forced me out of my business and into employment at a grocery store, stocking shelves at night.
As we sat across from the table with our friends and started dreaming about what we could accomplish through a business like this, they must have recognized the “wheels turning” in our heads and suggested that we go with them to look at motor homes.
(I guess if you’re going to dream, you might as well dream big.)
So off we went to a place that sold motor homes and campers. I suppose buying a new motor home, being a symbol of success, was an idea they were trying to share with us.
When we finished looking at the motor homes we said our good-byes, took a few pictures, and went our separate ways.
This was a turning point in our lives concerning the network marketing industry.
This meeting was a turning point for us. Although I did not want anything to do with this particular company, our conversation and the information they gave us opened our eyes to a life that was possible through network marketing.
For the first time we realized our potential to have personal financial freedom.
For the next couple of days, as we traveled home to South Carolina, all we talked about were the possibilities now open to us. If we could only find the right company that had the right product, we would be set.
This began a journey for us that lasted the next decade. We started looking for the perfect “vehicle” that would carry us to the life of financial freedom we were looking for.
We became involved with one network marketing company after another, spending much more money than we made, just trying to succeed in this new industry we had discovered.
We worked hard with each company. We went to all the meetings and told all our friends and family members about this wonderful product and opportunity we were offering.
I know they got tired of hearing about the next great thing that came along, but they supported us anyway.
I distinctly remember one company for which we sold water filters and air purifiers. These were not bad products, just overpriced. Many times my wife and I would walk out of a family’s home with a check in our hands for several hundred dollars, and feel bad because we knew they could not really afford to make the purchase.
Because we had done such a good job of “selling” the product, they bought it. It did have health benefits, of course, but we could not overcome the feeling that we were taking advantage of them somehow. Needless to say we did not last long in that business.
Although we did not continue with that company, we did pursue other opportunities over the next several years. We worked with companies that provided everything from long-distance telephone service, internet storefronts, travel, and prepaid legal services to household products.
You name it, we tried it. Many years and many disappointments later, the “straw that broke the camel’s back” was when we lost over six thousand dollars in a company that did not represent things honestly.
At this time in our lives, my wife and I had invested and lost a great deal of money trying to get one network marketing business after another off the ground. We could not figure out why things had not gone the way our up-lines had told us they would go.
We were so despondent that we dropped out of the industry altogether. We were tired and frustrated, and felt as if we had been used as pawns to make other people wealthy. We did not realize that this was exactly what was happening in our “regular” jobs as well.
Our experiences created an extreme skepticism and distrust for any business remotely connected with network marketing.
Over the next few years, my wife and I worked very hard at our traditional jobs. We were promoted to middle management and had resigned ourselves to the thought that the only way to reach the “American Dream” was through working for someone else and being promoted up the corporate ladder.
We had excellent credit and could purchase anything we desired. Eventually, we bought some land and built our dream home.
Time dictates change, and after loosing my job through a downsizing with a company to which I gave almost a decade of my life, I found myself looking for another source of income. So here I was, many years later, needing to find something to help make ends meet. I started working various part time jobs in new home construction, custom cabinet building, and home remodeling.
These jobs met our needs for short periods of time, but I needed something more steady. This is where network marketing came back into focus for us once again.
While working these different part time jobs, my oldest brother kept telling me about this “opportunity” he had ran across. He had never been a network marketing type of person. In fact, he was, and still is, working with the same company for twenty seven years.
I was so skeptical about network marketing “opportunities” that I felt almost sick just thinking about getting involved with another company. Yet my brother persisted, and I listened to him for over seven months before even looking at what he wanted to show me.
I gave him every excuse in the book. Many times he would call me on his way to work in the mornings and I would ignore his calls. Other times I told him I was in the middle of a book project, and I did not have time.Because I was traveling out of state on occasion, I even used traveling as an excuse. When I finally finished the first book in a series on which I was working, I had no more excuses.
A friend and I were sitting at his dining room table having a discussion about income solutions when we decided to “just take a look” at the “opportunity” my brother was telling me about. We went on-line to watch a video produced by this company.
We watched the presentation, and what I saw simply amazed me. At the end of the presentation, which lasted only about twenty minutes, we both concluded that this was the greatest opportunity to build personal wealth we had ever seen.
I called my brother immediately and asked him if he could be at my house (200 miles away) that coming Saturday. He agreed to come and we had twelve people at our home to hear the presentation.I joined the business, and my friend joined within the next few days. Ten out of the twelve people that were in my living room that Saturday also joined the business with us. We were so excited to see this kind of response and started receiving paychecks just as they said.
Our paychecks were increasing and we felt really good about the choice we had made to get involved with yet another network marketing “opportunity” after all these years. A few months into the business, we were told that our business was growing much faster than some others.
My brother had been in the business less than a year, and he was already seeing monthly incomes in excess of fifteen thousand dollars.
This was indeed a very different company from what we had experienced in the past. My wife and I had the privilege of meeting and participating in a private dinner with the founder of the company after having been in the company for only a few weeks.
We were told that we had been given the opportunity to get involved with a company that was still in its infancy. This also was much different than the other companies with which we had worked.
We worked very hard at our new business. For the first time we had actually learned what network marketing was all about. We realized the difference between this company and the others we had been involved with in the past.
We believed strongly in the company’s vision and had grown to admire the founder for his integrity, openness, generosity, and genuine manner in which he dealt with everyone.
We knew this company was different because he was different. After a couple of months in the business we had actually won a promotion that allowed us the opportunity to spend a few days visiting the home office, touring the facilities, participating in special meetings and meals with the founder and top staff of the company, and attending a professional baseball game, all at the company’s expense.
I attended every training session and convention I could. I participated in every conference call available and was given a free conference call time slot to use for helping our down-line grow their business.
I spent hundreds of dollars on company material to give to prospects and new reps. I downloaded all the forms and information that was available from the company web site.
I spent hours studying the different products, services, and company policies and procedures. I put together “Welcome” folders for new representatives and gave them to everyone I personally sponsored so they could get a jump start on their business while they waited for the material from the company to arrive. I could not do too much!
My friend and I spent hours a day brainstorming and developing strategies on how we were going to “crack” the city in which we lived.
I developed and printed invitation cards we would pass out to people we came in contact with, to invite them to our weekly meetings. This was going to be our vehicle to financial freedom.
We were so dedicated to seeing this through to the end that we did not see many of the things that we had forgotten about many years earlier. I had a list of over five hundred people that I diligently and methodically contacted.
I spent weeks at a time away from my family trying to engage my warm market. I obtained lists from friends that I contacted hoping to find those “nuggets,” as they say. I used the “three foot rule,” then expanded it to thirty feet, then three hundred miles.
As time went on, my business started to slow down. Each month that passed became more and more difficult to find people interested in what I had to offer. Not only was I having a tough time at it, so were many people in our down-line.
My up-line encouraged us to keep going and not quit; they were seeing a slow down as well. I did not intend to quit. I still have not quit to this day, but something had definitely happened. In spite of how hard I worked and how many meetings I conducted, there was just not enough response.
Naturally, our income also started to decline. Our goal from the beginning was for the business to pay for itself, and it has many times over, but still the slow down occurred. I came to believe the problem was not with us.
I did not know exactly why, but I knew we were doing everything right. Our excitement was high, and it showed in our meetings. It did not matter that things had slowed down. We were going to see this thing through no matter what.
This was our vehicle of choice to become financially free!
Little did I know at the time, there are many thousands of people who have experienced exactly the same thing. What was the problem? Why were we in a similar place we found ourselves many years earlier?I really thought things were going to be much different this time. Was it just me? Did I not have what it takes? These are the questions thousands of people ask themselves every day.
It is well known that over 90% of those who begin working in network marketing quit after only a few months in their business.
I was determined not to be one of these people (again).
I started researching and reading anything and everything I could get my hands on. I spent hours at the computer researching the network marketing industry.
I spent tons of money on books dealing with the subject. I ordered books online, frequented the used-book stores to find deals, and purchased new books until I amassed a huge library of just network marketing and motivational books. I attended seminars and training courses and bought CD’s and DVD’s.
I decided I was not going to let this go, as I had done in the past.
What I have discovered, and what I want to share with you is very important, and enlightening.
The problem was me!
How is that for a shocker? What I failed to realize all those years previous was, “It’s not about the products; it’s about marketing!” It doesn’t matter how good (or bad) your product is.
It is how you market your product that counts. You can have the greatest product in the world and never make a dime if no one knows about it. You can have the worst product in the world and still make a lot of money if you market it properly.
You can also have the greatest opportunity in the world, and never make a penny, if no one knows about it. It is all about your circle of influence and how many people you can get in front of your information. This fact cannot be disputed.
There are many thousands of people who have tried and quit some network marketing business. This does not mean network marketing is bad. It simply means they do not understood it.
The attrition rate for many network marketing companies is around 90%. This is a staggering number considering the growth of the industry and the income potential.
As people in our organization began to experience a struggle in their businesses, I decided to produce a compilation of information, techniques, suggestions, methods, tools, and concepts I felt would strengthen them in several areas of their business. This decision resulted in the creation of the book, "Don't Get Trampled by the Moose!" Your survival guide for a wild economy.
“It is not impossibilities which fill us with the deepest despair, but possibilities which we have failed to realize” - Robert Mallett, 1915 -
The network marketing industry is no different from any other industry that seeks to exist in good times as well as the bad. A downturn in the economy always causes a mass movement toward alternative sources of income.
The network marketing industry does well when the nation’s economy is on a downward trend. No one wishes for the economy to be bad, but for the person who recognizes it, this environment is a great open door of opportunity.
People still have financial goals and dreams and are willing to work very hard to accomplish them. Network marketing is one of the most honorable and ethical ways to make a living; however, it is not an easy business in which to work because people have been conditioned to believe the only way to make a living is to work for someone else.
Because people have tried and failed at some "opportunity" that was supposed to give them financial freedom, the network marketing industry has become an enigma of sorts. Because many schemes and scams have used the network marketing business model, network marketing has become its own worst enemy.
There are many skeptics and critics of this industry. People always criticize that which they either do not understand or that of which they are afraid. However, when given a honest look, most people will agree that network marketing has many advantages over conventional businesses.
Even though network marketing has been around for many years, it is the wave of the future. Do your research and you will discover this truth for yourself.
Have you had the same experiences?
Be honest with yourself!
Just because Network Marketing didn't work for you in the past
doesn't mean Network Marketing is a scam.
It means you were not connected with the right company.
If you want to know the truth about:
Business, The Economy, Jobs, Retirement, and Building Wealth,
and you have the desire to take charge of your future,
take the next step in Wealth From Home-Based Business
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