home business

...now browsing by tag

 
 

Do You Really Want To Create Your Own Job?

Monday, September 5th, 2011

Every day people from all over the world go to my business opportunity web sites.  They usually find one of them while searching for a way to increase their income, in one way or another.  Some of them are unemployed.  Others are retired.  Another group are entrepreneurs looking for their next business opportunity.

But so far, I have not met any who are looking for an additional income to supplement their existing business.  When I do meet that person, I am prepared with some advice.

That’s the subset I was in when I discovered network marketing.  My seventeen-year-old retail businesses (a small chain of home décor shops) were hemorrhaging with debt and I was looking for another stream of income to keep them afloat until the economy turned.

Looking back, that was all wishful thinking.  While launching my new MLM business, I had to lay off employees in my stores, cut back on every non-essential expense, and defer payments to my suppliers and landlords.  It all ended with a huge going-out-of business sale, and eventually bankruptcy to get out from under the debt I was left with.

What I have to ask anyone interested in making a living in network marketing or Internet sales is this:

1. How long can you survive before you see profits from your new venture?
2. How much money do you need to survive if your cash runs out?
3. Do you really want to create your own job?

The answers to numbers one and two are qualifiers which every entrepreneur should ask before starting any enterprise.  However, the third question may seem odd.

This is because most home business opportunities promote themselves as “businesses” when they are really “jobs.”

Honestly, when I discovered network marketing, I believed the hype that I was creating a real business.  And that appealed to me because being a business owner was already firmly part of my persona.  But along with the trauma of dismantling my shops, came the stabbing reality that my new marketing business was nothing more than a poorly paid sales position, where I had no control over anything but my own time.

At this point, you may be thinking “What about leveraging your efforts through building a team?”  To this I can only answer that in my experience, teams are ephemeral.  They are not truly your employees, bound to perform tasks for pay, and they are often not self-motivated entrepreneurs or business partners, either.  This observation has been shared by many other top producers I know in other companies.  In candid conversations they report having to be constant  recruiters and cheerleaders to keep their “businesses” afloat.

In other words, even those at the top of their MLM companies have only created a job for themselves, and that job is being an independent recruiting agent for the network marketing company which controls the products they sell, as well as the compensation they receive.

This lack of control goes against everything I cherished about being a business owner: Having power over your profit margin, products and employees.

So again I must ask, “Do you really want to create your own job?”

At this point your answer may be “I just want to make some money,” and that was my answer too, but the reality of working in network marketing caused me to keep looking for another solution.

The first thing I wanted to do was find something which relieved me of depending on the efforts of others who were not my employees.  In other words, I didn’t want my compensation to be determined by a down-line that requires constant nurturing and replenishment.

Next, I wanted to distance myself from all of the competition selling small, mass-market oriented products.

Third, I looked for large profit margins.  So large that a single sale every month could pay all my bills.

Finding the right opportunity, however, did not mean that I actually had a “business,” but it did change my job description quite a bit.

Share

Why Network Marketers Are Afraid Of Working Online.

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

Why are many network marketers afraid of the internet?  Working online could make their teams grow, right?  So what’s the problem?

There are many network marketing companies to choose from.  Most follow a multi-tiered compensation program, and are commonly referred to as MLMs.  And, the majority build their teams using traditional methods, offline.

The reason for the focus on traditional prospecting techniques is obvious.  The people who started the companies modeled them after companies which were already successful.  It is the business model they are familiar with.  It is their strength.

Until recently, there was no alternative to the tried-and-true traditional methods.  There were no companies formed by internet marketers, simply because there was not a precedent.

However, that situation has now changed.  Several new MLM companies have sprung up which operate exclusively on the internet.  They are mavericks, but their training programs usually range from rudimentary to excellent.  They are mostly strong on product, and weak on internet savvy.

But where does that leave network marketers who do not want to jump ship and join one of the newer online opportunities?  Many of them are totally intimidated by online technology, so if they are looking for a change, it will most likely be a lateral shift into another traditional MLM.  Others who are trying to find a way to market their traditional companies online, really have very few options.

The proliferation of self-professed gurus also confuses their choices for learning online marketing.  Usually the gurus have set up shop, it seems, as a ruse to lure unsuspecting followers into a network marketing company they covertly endorse.

On the surface, the only choice for network marketers to succeed online is to jump ship and start over.  However, a  handful of new companies have emerged which provide expert online marketing training and a generic platform which can be adapted to any marketing company.

The new training-oriented generic marketing systems can remove the fear of online marketing.  The best programs explain every step in terms which newcomers to online marketing can easily understand.  They offer video tutorials, live training, and in-depth instructions.

The new training sites are a major opportunity for traditional network marketers to expand their lead generation efforts and move their team-building efforts to a new level in their current company.

The generic marketing and training company which I use is PrimaryBusinesses.Net

Share

Do I Need Computer Skills?

Friday, August 7th, 2009

The Number One question that I get asked all the time is “What if I don’t know much about the Internet?”  and “What if I don’t know how to do business online?”

(Which is  basically telling me that someone is not comfortable using a computer.)

People tell me that they have a fear of the computer, and of doing things “wrong” and ruining the internet or their computer, or both!

There are a couple of answers to this.  The first is that yes, you should have some rudimentary  Internet skills.  I like to say that if you have the basic ability to send an email, and attach a photo to an email, and to do simple word processing (which is basically being able to write and edit an email and use spell-check) that you have the start of what you need to get you going.

But you do have to be open to the idea of learning a few things.  So don’t be afraid of it!  Internet marketing simply requires learning a new skill set.  No one is born knowing it!

People think that kids know this stuff, but the reality is that everyone learns by doing things over and over again, and learning things that they need to know, as they go along.

I made a report about this and several other points which I think are important for anyone interested in doing a network marketing business online.  You can get the report and subscribe to my private marketing newsletter by signing in here.

So that’s how you should approach this.  Just keep in mint that you will be learning things as you go.  You’re going to be involved in a lot of new concepts. So be open to that.  Treat it like you’re back in school, and you will learn these skills that you need to know  — one by one – and get along on the Internet!

Share

A Suit For Every Occasion?

Monday, July 27th, 2009
Jimmy Gets A Haircut From His Son Bruce Wood

Jimmy Gets A Haircut From His Son Bruce Wood

Over the weekend I bought seven new suits, including a seersucker from Brooks Brothers.  My Dad, James (Jimmy) Wood was amused by the haul, since he hardly ever sees me dressed up.

This morning he asked me to give him a haircut (one of the many skills I learned to save money during college), so we played “Barber Shop.”   I surprised him by wearing the seersucker, and he played along, pretending he was in a barber chair. We had a good time, but he didn’t give me a tip!

Afterward, he was ready for a movie, so I popped The Great Escape into his VCR and gave him his usual “setup” of Gatorade and chocolate candy.

Now I’m in my normal business suit (T-shirt, shorts & flip-flops) and tapping out this blog from his dining-room table, which has become my “office” while I take care of him.

Share