97 percent

Actually, if you’re NOT a fan of Robert Kiyosaki and the Rich Dad “brand” of personal development then it’s probably because you haven’t encountered him yet.

Those who ARE aware of Kiyosaki will know he is a genuine star on the wealth creation scene.

The latest news is that he’s launching a new online service; Rich Dad World. As part of the promotion of this, they are giving away access to about $800 worth of tools and information; coaching, audios, webinars and various tools to help you get your financial intelligence on track.

So, click through for Free Access to Rich Dad World today

(no, that’s not an affiliate link)

If you haven’t yet got into the Rich Dad stuff, do yourself a favour and take a look right now.

When you think of the word “franchise”, you probably think of McDonald’s, KFC, Car Valet services and many many more. These full-on franchise businesses usually involve a large injection of cash up-front, extensive training, premises that are fitted out with the corporate colour scheme, staff uniforms etc. etc.

At the heart of the franchise business model though is a simple but vital component; duplication. The franchise model is built entirely on the ability to duplicate business processes (and success) over and over. You basically take a fully fledged recipe for a profitable business, follow it step by step and success should follow. This process is usually so well defined, that customers come to expect a high level of consistency, with service and products, at any franchise operation of a given business (e.g. a Big Mac is expected to be almost identical from any McDonalds outlet).

Franchising is a very powerful business model which, if you follow the recipe, can lead to consistent and predictable results. The biggest stumbling block for many people would be the initial investment required. This is often in the order of tens (sometimes hundreds) of thousands of dollars.

But what if this obstacle could be removed? Furthermore, what if you could also remove the need to hire staff, the need to operate from a dedicated premises, and even the need to go through a lengthy training program? What if all you had to do is two simple things:

1. Buy hamburgers for personal consumption
2. Encourage others to do the same

Would you be able to do that? Around 95% of people would respond with a resounding “yes”, it’s a no-brainer. Now, eating hamburgers as a franchise opportunity doesn’t actually exist (maybe I should look into that?). Equally simple “franchise” opportunities DO exist, they follow the exact same 2-step model given above, are available to ANYONE without massive up-front investment, and require no staff or premises EVER (unless you want to go that way of course).

I know this because I have one of these simple “franchises”, I spend a small amount of time on it every week (because I don’t have a shop, staff, or retail sales to make) and I have been able to assist others in doing the exact same thing.

Perhaps you already own one and didn’t realise it? Take a look at your network marketing business through franchise lenses and you might see it.

So, all those New Year resolutions were made, perhaps yours included things like “make an effort to work my business”, “finally find a business I like” or something else along the lines of “finally getting around to taking some form of sustained action”?

If things are panning out as planned then I’m truly happy for you, however the vast majority will be finding that one month has all but gone by and still nothing has changed. In most cases, this will be because they themselves haven’t changed. As the saying goes, it really is insanity to expect different results from the same actions.

So, if this sounds like your situation, what can you do to change? Well, you can change your business (this is what most people do, over and over again), you can change YOU (personal development and/or education or you can change what you’re doing (or not doing as the case may be).

Now, just in case you didn’t pick it up from what I said, the last thing I want anyone to do is change business unless you’re 100% it is not the right vehicle for you. Jumping from one business to another is what most people do, most of the time. I’ll give you my opinion on this right now; most “wisdom” says you need to work at a network marketing business for 6 to 12 months. I believe this advice should change to 5 years.

In other words, pick a business with a product you like, with a compensation plan that rewards effort, a plan that’s not too complicated (so you can explain it easily) and make a commitment to work at it for 5 years minimum. At the end of the day, even if you’re working on the basis of this being a part-time income, it is still a business, and it is a very rare business indeed that is an overnight success. At the end of the 5 years, even if you haven’t got the results you were hoping for, I’m willing to bet that you’ll have acquired some great skills that will enable you to achieve success.

It’s a sad thing that network marketing has gained a “get rick quick” reputation, and it is understandable that this is an attractive option to people who need extra income ASAP. I truly wish there was a magic wand that could be waved, however there is no such thing.

So, assuming you’re not going to fall into the trap of changing business, what can be done to change your fortunes? My main recommendation is to invest time in yourself, seek out information relating to skills and personal development – there’s plenty freely available online. I also recommend that people get into the habit of reading books such as “Think and Grow Rich” and “Rich Dad Poor Dad”.

“Hang on!”, I hear you cry, “isn’t this the same advice we hear from the 3 percent crowd?”. Well, that’s a good question, and the simple answer is “yes”. You see, investing in yourself will stand you in good stead, no matter whether you’re in the 3% or the 97%. You will find a lot of invaluable material in the books mentioned. They will enable you to find out more about who you are, and help keep you focused on your business activities, whether full-time or part-time. What I am not assuming is that your goal is to become a multi-millionaire!

This kind of personal development will inevitably lead to a change in what you’re doing, which covers the third option mentioned. I think it should be starting to become clear that it all starts with an investment of time; time to understand your business, time to learn about yourself and your goals, and time to develop yourself in positive ways.

Ultimately there’s not a HUGE difference between the 97% and the 3%, in fact the only difference is often the size of the ultimate goal (e.g. becoming a millionaire versus being able to pay bills comfortably). The thing is, if you’re aiming to be a successful “97 percenter” you can adopt these ideas in moderation, rather than needing to spend every hour of every day trying to be superman or superwoman!

I will leave you with this to ponder; January 2010 is almost done, what will you do from February 2010 onwards to make a difference?

One of the barriers that home-based business operators often fail to overcome is something I refer to as “short term thinking”. You may have heard it referred to as “lotto mentality”, “get rich quick” or, if you’ve read a lot on the subject, as a “failure to defer gratification”.

You see, many people are in a bad place financially, and are desperate for a quick fix. These people see the glossy ads on the web, promising untold wealth for little work, and they want a piece of that action. They sign up expecting a magic wand that will fix up their situation in double-quick time.

Sadly, for them at least, this is unrealistic. Real, sustained results come about over time, by building up an income-producing asset over time, and by resisting the temptation to spend every dollar earned in commission on luxuries, or even servicing credit card debt.

If you haven’t done so already, get your hands on a copy of Robert Kiyosaki’s “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” – now do NOT panic, or ignore this advice just because it’s written by a millionaire, or because it is generally recommended reading for people looking to become wealthy themselves. The advice and philosophy is equally applicable to the 97 percent, just as it is to the 3 percent!

One of the key ideas that Robert Kiyosaki writes about is the creation of income-producing assets; in other words investing time and money creating something that effectively works for you, earning you a recurring income. Now this asset could be a stock investment, it could be real estate, or perhaps a business. The key idea is that this asset, once you have made the effort to create it, will continue to make you money with little or no further input on your part.

I hope you can see how this can apply even if you’re simply looking to earn a little more to spend on life’s luxuries (or more increasingly to pay off consumer debt). By investing a small amount of money and time, having the self-discipline to invest back into the asset (e.g. in the early days at least, spending small commissions on growing the business instead of seeing them as extra spending money), you can easily set up a revenue stream that will continue to reward those initial efforts, month after month.

By deferring your need for gratification (i.e. not looking to buy yourself a treat right away) this revenue stream builds up, providing a solid secondary income stream that is yours to use as you wish. Whether that is paying off credit card bills, or paying for a family holiday, the choice really is yours.

Conversely, the short term thinker will make (maybe) $100 in commission in month 1 and use it to pay a bill. The following month the commission is still $100 because nothing has been done to grow the network. After a few months of this, and perhaps with the commission cheques decreasing in value, it’s all too easy to give up, stating that “this business doesn’t work”, or “it’s not for me”. In reality it’s simply the approach that needed adjusting or, as Robert Kiyosaki would say, it’s a lack of “financial intelligence”.

As I write this, I am reminded of a story I heard as a child, about a shoemaker. I need to check, but I think it may have been the story “The Elves and The Shoemaker”. The concept I am thinking of specifically is that the profit from a pair of shoes was used to buy the leather required to make 2 pairs of shoes, with the number of pairs doubling each time. This is the same concept I am touching on above; you can either spend the profits from one pair of shoes (or one commission cheque) on treats for yourself, or you can invest that back into your business which is then the start of exponential growth in your business.

It’s a simple choice, and one that I sincerely hope more people will start to make to improve their lives.

Will you make the right choice?

With the advent of a new year (and indeed new decade) it seemed an appropriate opportunity to review where we’re going with all this. The good news is that the core purpose remains the same; to provide encouragement and hope to all of those people currently being dismissed as “failures”.

So that doesn’t change at all – what WILL change is some of the blog content and opinion pieces… Over the past couple of months I have come to realise that I had allowed 97Percent to become a vehicle that was primarily being negative towards certain approaches and aspects of network marketing. While I feel justified in my views, it fails to offer anything positive that can actually help people enjoy a life of success.

So, from this moment onwards when I see things in the business that “annoy” me, I shall bite my virtual tongue, and focus on posting content that is truly of value. This will mostly relate to the path of personal development, which I would encourage anyone to explore even if their main objective is to create a secondary income.

While I still maintain that product is the key factor for the majority of home-based business operators, expanding the scope of your thinking will pay dividends over time. I’m sure there’s many of you questioning this concept, however it does bring benefits.

In any case, I look forward to sharing experiences and information with you all, and wish you all that you desire in 2010 and beyond.

Best wishes

Gaz

Secrets, secrets, secrets… Yup, no matter where you look online, there’s people willing to tell you the “secrets” of how to make money online, the “secret” techniques you can use to sponsor people into your network marketing business, and that old chestnut “the things the successful people aren’t telling you”.

If you haven’t worked it out yet, it’s a marketing trick, a gimmick in many ways. The biggest “secret” is simply this; there are NO secrets.

Buy as many ebooks you like, register for as many training seminars as you want, and opt-in to as many marketing email lists as you feel inclined to do, you will NEVER learn a super-well-hidden secret that will unlock the vault for you!

What WILL happen is that you will learn techniques, you may pick up tips, but what will probably happen is you’ll read the SAME material yet again, from yet another marketer and you’ll ignore it, moving on to the next person to promise to tell you THE secret.

Do yourself a favour right now, stop, stand still and think about things logically – why are people telling you the same thing, over and over again? Why do you download ebooks and read the line “there are no secrets” over and over again? It’s simply this; network marketing business is the same as any business, you need to work at it and you need to stick at it.

Some people build very successful businesses in network marketing, perhaps you will be one of them, but the key difference with this industry is that you can take things as far as you want. If earning a few extra dollars is what you want to achieve, that’s fine, nobody should beat you up for not wanting to be a gazillionaire!

Trouble is, they will, so be careful who you choose to work with…

Many of the big name “I’m not a guru” Gurus out there will tell you, probably have told you, and have audios that will continue to tell you that THE way to build a Network Marketing business is to identify prospects that have at least the same amount of desire that you do. They tell you to build with prospects that have already enjoyed success, and to focus on these business builders.

It’s true of course, the only way to build something substantial is to use solid building blocks; to use bricks. I’m sure you know what I’m going to say next – these “bricks” are the “3 percenters”, they are producers, and they will truly drive your business forward.

Anyone who knows even the tiniest piece of information about the construction industry, will know that things tend not to be built with bricks alone. To help ensure the durability of whatever has been built, we use mortar between the bricks, helping cement the bricks in place, and ensuring that the bricks stay in place for a long time to come.

In network marketing, the mortar is provided by what we affectionately call the “97 Percenters”. People who like the product, find real value in the product, and are (for the time being at least) simply part of your consumer network. As they consume product, they help volume and income to flow through your organisation, provide income for the “bricks” and slowly for themselves as well. In our case, we even have “magic mortar” that not only sets hard, but can convert to brick over time!

So why are so many network marketing “leaders” and “attraction marketers” telling you to focus on the bricks? Why are they telling you to focus entirely on the 3 percent? (Some of them aren’t, most of them are). When you think about it in this way, it clearly makes no sense at all!

This is why we continue to bang the “97 Percent” drum; we prefer to build with bricks AND mortar, and even better we can help people make the transition from one state to another – once they are ready, and avoiding the usual fun and games in the process!

A friend has today posted up an interesting piece relating to “magic juices” – you can check it out here – and it reminds me of a part of my MLM journey to date, and why product is so important to me.

For a while I was a distributor for Xango, one of the “magic juices”. Now I’m not going to get into whether it does what it says it can do, I have no proof either way. The fact is, I really like the taste of Xango juice, but the monthly autoship cost me more for 4 bottles of juice than I would pay in my local bottle shop for a case of very drinkable Pinot Noir.

The mistake I made with Xango was being sold on the compensation plan (which I will freely admit is one of the better ones available) and the product became an unimportant aspect – a “vehicle” for wealth creation. Now you will hear the term “vehicle” used quite often in this context; sometimes it’s simply because the person’s focus is on the wealth creation aspect, other times it can certainly be seen as an attempt to divert attention from an over-priced product, a hollow or value-less product etc.

So why am I no longer with Xango? I would happily buy the juice (I really do like the taste) if the pricing came down to around $10 per bottle, but at over $100 for a case of 4 bottles I estimate the product to cost roughly double what is a reasonable price. When you have a good product that is overpriced this way, or a product with no real value at all, it becomes necessary to “sell” the opportunity based on the earning potential.

If there was evidence that any of these juices really did do everything that is implied about them, would the product value increase? I’m fairly sure they would, and that would lead me to think that these companies would be falling over themselves to compile a body of research-based evidence to allow benefits to be clearly stated. What we get instead are simply anecdotes and disclaimers – the reader is left to draw their own conclusion as to what this may mean!

Overall this all highlights, for me anyway, one important thing: If you can’t sell a business opportunity on the strength of the products, then you may as well promote cash gifting, pyramid schemes or even chain letters!

p.s. If anyone from Xango reads this, drop your juice down to about $40 a case and I’ll be back

As a huge fan of Sir Richard Branson, his business “style” and the way he approaches life, I was interested to learn from a friend that Richard Branson was backing a network marketing opportunity. I was stunned, and ready to jump aboard. Virgin has a history of jumping into industries and doing things differently, if this was true it would be more than the simple “lending my name to the same old crap” that the Trump Network appears to be.

To cut a long story short, I found masses of pages telling me that this new business was “backed by Richard Branson”, but when you start to scratch the surface it seems that they resell (or affiliate market) services/products with recognised brand names, including Virgin Travel. That’s not what I call being backed by one of the world’s best known billionaires, that’s twisting the reality of being an affiliate marketer (or similar) to extremes.

Trouble is, I bet loads of people will get on board with TVI Express based on this apparent misrepresentation.

To be honest, I am sick and tired of the lies and hyped up nonsense that gets told in the online marketing world. As I was saying somewhere else earlier, people should open their eyes and understand:

There is NO online business about to become the “new Google” or the “new Microsoft”

TVI Express is NOT backed by Richard Branson, they just happen to affiliate market Virgin travel or holiday products (I wonder if Sir Richard has been told about the way people say he backs it?)

GVO is going to confuse the hell out of the average non-technical punter. In my opinion, for the majority of people, it’s a hollow product just like GDI or cash gifting

As I then went on to conclude, I really am over it in many ways. Of course, I will continue to put out my own brand of down-to-earth advice on this blog, but I have come to the sad conclusion that I cannot stop people from becoming victims of of the various methods used to generate big wedges of cash for the same handful of people over and over again.

When you get to the point where you have reached the same conclusion, drop me a line and I will show you how to invest LESS per month than you may currently spend on Lottery tickets, which will, over time, produce a far better return for your money.

My dream is to help the 97%, perhaps my reality now is that I must wait patiently for the 97% to be ready?

As you may have heard by now, 97 percent has selected a network marketing business to work with. We did not make this move lightly, as it clearly opens us to accusations of various kinds. The reason for making this move is, ironically, because of criticisms that we were simply putting out theories with nothing to back it up.

Something amazing happened when we stumbled on LHN International; while they DO promote the usual methods, tell people to get on various calls etc. (we reckon you’re unlikely to find any business that doesn’t do that sort of thing),  in EVERY other respect LHN ticks all the boxes.

• Real products
• Affordable, realistic pricing
• No distributor fees
• A business that is suited to 97 percenters AND 3 percenters

Was LHN a stroke of luck? Some might say it was fate… Either way, we’re pretty happy with the way it fits our view of things!