A Retirement Strategy for Late-Starters

I created a niche site some time ago named "401Konundrum".  The subtitle is "Minding Mis-managed Futures".

The point of that site is the same as this post.  That is to say that there are options that can yield income that do not require having "put away" money for a working lifetime. No reliance on stock market performance and being managed in a portfolio by a professional management group.  This approach is what most people think about when considering retirement options.

What we do is an alternative, and works with the same basic principles of compounding and leverage, but in a non-traditional manner.  

We organize knowledge, people, and money.  Knowledge and people are pretty straightforward to understand in that we teach how to build and manage organizations. Understanding how money works - and understanding how and why it is a viable alternative to the "lifetime" approach is what I will explain here.

So, let's say someone has $1 million that they have accumulated in a 401K.  Being conservative and for the purposes of easy illustration, let's say that the structure of the annuitized earnings that this person is to live from is 6%, or $60,000 a year.  That is to say, there is this big chunk of money that has been earned, put away, and allowed to grow "parked and sitting" in an account somewhere that yields $60K a year that has taken maybe 40 years to accumulate to that level.

Contrast this with what we do.  

First, we foster high-quality relationships and earn trust through engagement and agreement.  Thus, the name of our community is "Agreement Seekers".

With this understanding that we are a "people first" business, we use high-margin business models that create quick cash flow.  These are referred to as "Instant Pay, Member to Member" businesses.  The price points for these are based on our Partners' risk tolerance and financial position and create momentum in generating cash flow.  Generating this cash flow is facilitated by our business process which is recruiting and enrolling others, e.g. building an organization of people who agree with what we do.

As processes and systems are learned, an organization is formed based off of the efforts of executing the processes and systems we teach.  With an organization in place, we then migrate our Members to (monthly) subscriptions with leverage components.  These subscriptions are funded out of the cash flow created in the first step, not out of people's paychecks from their day or "primary" job.

Let's say a typical subscription is $150 a month.  To derive that same $60K as in the "lifetime" approach, it would require a group of 34 people that would yield $5100 a month or $61,200 annually.  And here's what is powerful:  a group of 34 people can be built in less than a year for most people, based on the organizational leveraging components of how these business platforms function.  As such, a group of personally enrolled 10-15 will typically yield a group of 30-40.  Said differently, this "Retirement Model" requires building an organization at a rate of about 1 person per month, and at the end working with a group of about 40 people.

The key to the long-term stability of your income is fostering relationships.  At the core of how we function, are the values of loyalty and a shared commitment to competence and mentorship.  This is what we Seek Agreement to.

With all this said, if you are a late starter and have not prepared for retirement sufficiently, we simply encourage you to understand what we do and find out if you think you can make it work for you.

Quick Cash Flow

This is where we "start". 

Quick cash flow is enabled by one of the primary business models we employ: Instant Pay Offers - Member-to-Member.  The rationale behind our doing so includes these main points:

1. these are high-margin businesses with low up-front costs,
2. they infuse relatively significant amounts of cash and inspire business momentum,
3. they can be bootstrapped by enabling new partners to sell through the Mentor's account without investing risk capital, thus earning their way into the business relatively risk-free.
4. most business models enable breaking even with the first or second sale.
5. most have leverage components that have a compounding effect on earnings

Ultimately, we migrate to one or more subscriptions.  However, these inherently require a monthly commitment, with smaller dollar amounts and preferably built on the foundation of a group of prospering "Instant Pay" members.  The size and stability of this group is the "pot at the end of the rainbow" in our business model.

The thing to understand is that this is sequential.  Large, quick cash flow infusion creates business momentum.  Our members prosper through learning and executing processes for Instant Pay offers.  This is the training ground where we teach and learn skills to recruit, enroll and mentor.

Once established with a stable income, the time will come to naturally migrate people to subscriptions. This will happen naturally and "comfortably" due to the earnings from the Instant Pay income.

Here's the Truth

The following sentence is going to sound like an echo.  Building a reliable, monthly residual income relies on your being the recipient of recurring monthly income.  In most cases, this means a subscription.  Any other home business model will not provide a truly secure, passive income. Most require your ongoing active involvement in "working at it".  As such, it should go without saying that earning truly passive income involves people paying you (typically) a monthly subscription fee or an automatic re-order (which is how MLMs work with much lower margins than what we do).

Now, if you have been around what we do for any length of time, you understand that our business model is predominantly (80%) Organization Development and 20% Transacting a Business. You also know that the strength of your organization is "everything".   In fact, the "Business" could be anything. Here's the truth that very few in the "networking" industry talk about: you need to get the 80% right to make the 20% happen (long-term).  The most important variable in your business is the mentorship you provide in nurturing your business partners to self-sufficiency - supported by systems to transfer the knowledge to replicate a process.

This establishes a culture driven by core values: 1) competence through learning, 2) stability through teaching, and; 3) Growth through the execution of specific processes.  In other words, there are things you need to know and then you need to do them.

Ultimately, what we do is the best model with the most likelihood that you will earn money in a home business.  But here's the thing: you have to be competent. Our business model is focused on your competence in both the acquisition and retention of your organization. It is the only path to long-term compensation.  Long-term income is assured by cycling this ethos through generation after generation of business partners.

On the flip side, this is precisely why the failure rate is so high in the home business industry: no focus on competence, support, and accountability.  People are left to flail and fail on their own. It is a pathetic and sad commentary, but it is the reality.  And, that's the truth.

Risk Tolerance

I grew up with the expression, "too poor to pay attention".  This is a kind of tongue-in-cheek expression to describe people burdened by poverty.  Life for many is about survival and getting from month to month.  People in these circumstances are so busy getting through today, that there is no time left to think about tomorrow (their future).

The next step up this ladder is people with little to no risk tolerance due to their budgets being so tight that they can't afford to "play around" with any risks.  In other words, they have to pay their bills.  They go to work to make it so.  And this cycle repeats itself over and over and over - in many cases for entire lifetimes.

Given this reality, there are really two perspectives as they relate to what we do:

1. These people are simply not a match for what we do.  They are better off keeping on the path they are on because they literally can not afford to take a risk.  What we do is not for everyone, and this is a major reason, among many others.
2. Of this group, if credit is available to do so, they can borrow money and pay it back in increments out of revenue generated by our business, over time.

This is the OPM (Other People's Money) approach.  Yes, it requires people to assume debt and this is precisely why it requires risk tolerance.  People are taking the risk of borrowing money and assuming the additional risk that they can make our business work for themselves.

Credit used in this manner can do great things in getting people started.  It is an initial step that gets people in the game.  Our role is to help people assess if borrowing money to get into business with us makes sense for them.

BOBO's

Before starting this post, I Googled BOBO simply to see what I would find.  In Filipino, it is a word that means smart or perceptive.  In Spanish, it means dumb or dull.  It is interesting that these are somewhat opposites.  Then, there is Bobo the Clown (also acknowledging Bozo).  In this post, I add my own definition for BOBO.

In our business, we specifically target groups of people similar to us.  We refer to this as Affinity Marketing.  I won't dive deep into that here.  However, depending upon the statistics you look at, anywhere between 50% and 80% of people hate what they do for work (and) if hate is too strong a word, let's say they could "take it or leave it" in regard to what they do to earn money in supporting themselves and their families.

Of these people, there is a huge "slice" of folks who are Bordering On Burn Out. (BOBO)  They metaphorically "hold their breath" every day and can't wait for their workday to end.  Wednesday is hump day and all Thank God it's Friday...  Essentially, they have "had it" with what they do to earn a living and pay the bills.

The question is how we reach these people?  Intuitively, you would think of this huge slice, there would be a percentage of these people who are open to and looking for (at) alternatives.

To differentiate, these are not "opportunity seekers" who are actively looking for something.  These people do not yet know that alternatives exist and are droning through their lives with complacency and acceptance of their personal status quo.  It reflects the adage of people "living lives of quiet desperation".

My belief is that a mass marketing approach will not reach these people.  Advertising, social media, and any other form of content, graphic or otherwise, will just get absorbed into the context of a "pitch" or "one of those things". 

As such, to reach the BOBO's we need to engage personally.  We need to establish relationships and find out what makes people tick and what keeps people stuck.  We need to take deep dives into people's lives and find out how much they want to change as a precursor to the level of commitment they are willing to make in adapting their lifestyle to manage a home business.

This kind of outreach is inherently 1:1.  It is slower, it is deeper.  It is establishing and growing relationships.  This can be done online or offline and is at the very core of how our business model functions.

A Funnel and Two Buckets

Hmmm... a funnel and two buckets... Sound like we're changing the oil in your car? Not quite.

Anyone who has been around marketing for any length knows what a marketing funnel is. Essentially it is a process of exposure, then education that progressively narrows people who have been exposed to your message, then take the initiative to learn more - and ultimately choose to buy what you are selling, join what you are doing, or respond to what you are saying, etc.

The funnel is a front-end business process. Like any process, it has steps to be followed (and as such) is able to be replicated, no different than a recipe when cooking any food. It is a do this, then that approach. We have and we teach how to use our front-end marketing funnel.

Then we have two buckets for two different purposes. Bucket number one holds recurring income money. Recurring income happens by selling something, like a hot dog vendor. You can make a living with a recurring income, but you must go out on the corner with your hot dog stand every day and sell hot dogs.

Our hot dogs are referred to as "Cash Now" offers. I will not explain these extensively here, just suffice it to say that they are not perpetual and they have to be worked at and "sold" every day to keep the money flowing.  These are characterized as "Peer to Peer, Instant Pay" programs.

In our second bucket, we place people (and money) from bucket number one into subscription offers where we build a recurring income that is truly residual. Residual income is income that continues after the completion of the income-producing work. The income-producing work we do is educating people about the viability of our business model. then have them "agree" to participate and join us in "subscribing" to the platforms we recommend... month after month, year after year.

In rough terms, this is our business model. A funnel and two buckets. The goal and the vision are to create replacement "walk away if you want" income. "Freedom" only happens if you have an organization in bucket two.

We use bucket number one as "feeders" for bucket number two, and we go to work every day because Bucket One Money requires it. Then people self-select and choose Bucket Two and fill it to whatever level they desire - all predicated by skills, knowledge, competence, integrity, reputation... and all the things we talk about in our Community.

The Sunday Night Dreads

 A big portion of the demographic of our target audience are professionals who are burnt out (for any number of reasons) and looking for income alternatives.  These people are looking for a "choice" with the opportunity to take their life in a different direction.

I get it.  I was one of them.  Every week, there came the point on Sunday night at 8:00 - right after 60 Minutes - that I would feel a sense of dread wash over me.  It was the dread of another week doing something I "had to do", but it was not necessarily something I "wanted to do".  

I had to earn money to support my family.  I had to go to a job and work with people I did not necessarily like and take direction from people I did not necessarily respect.  I was working to make a paycheck with no sense of purpose or passion.  It was a means to an end and in retrospect, it was year after year after year conforming to organizations I worked for.  It was a regrettable use of my time and talent.

Here is the thing;  I am just one of millions of people in the same boat.  There are men and women everywhere in all walks of life struggling with the same thing - hating what they do. but resigned to their fate of "job security" and the paycheck they derive from it.  Even high-earners with great benefits with a "sweet" match for their 401K... many would not choose their lifestyle and are open to an alternative - if constructively and plausibly proposed.

There is not really much more to say, other than from a business perspective, how we get what we do in front of these people.  Sunday Night Dread is both an interesting marketing angle, as well as a conversation starter.

There are millions upon millions of people going to a job every day who would choose not to - if they knew what to do in pursuing an alternative.

This is what we do.

Your "Net" After Taxes

 This is a quick bit of perspective and advice.

Many business opportunities in our space never talk about taxes, other than to say that "taxes are your responsibility".  Right up front, you should know that if you want to build a long-term, sustainable business, you should learn about (and) pay taxes on the money you earn from your home business.

As such, you need to know that you may be earning 100% commissions in some programs, however, you also need to know that these earnings are taxed at 15.3%.  As such, for every $10,000 you make, you "net" 84.7%, or $8,470.00.

Some programs will send you a 1099 Self Employment Tax Statement.  Others may not.

In either case, be smart and put the $1530 in a savings account (or any place you won't touch it) so it will "be there" when you need it to square up with the government at tax time.

There Is More To Results Than Effort

The level of effort you apply to your business is important, sure.  However, the road to (profitability) is paved with a lot more things that need to be in place - independent of how hard you intend to work at it.

• Mentorship - enables you to avoid unproductive activity and provides a support system that teaches how to transition from a newbie to a professional Home Business Owner.  It is the proverbial "shoulder to lean on".  However, it is a shoulder you are paying for and this is an important dynamic for both the mentor and mentee to understand.
• Leverage - there have to be components of the overall "system" that leverage your time and money.  You can leverage your time with tools and technology.  You can leverage money by understanding and ensuring that you are involved with platforms that employ compensation systems that have a leverage component.
• Onboarding - allied with mentorship, there has to be a "structure" that (at least in theory) provides you with everything you need to know, has guidelines and expectations for your involvement, has tools to accelerate relationship development.. and. goal setting, budgets, and much more.  This can't take place in a willy-nilly "hope it happens" manner.  It needs to be structured and articulated in writing.
  
• Understanding and Choosing Marketing Methods - marketing is intentional.  If you don't know what you are doing in terms of specific activities that gets "what you have" in front of people for them to evaluate - you are not in business.
  
• Understanding Time Commitment - The reality is this:  if you "take on" a home business, your life changes.  You add something that didn't exist before.  No matter how you slice it, this will take time out of your day that previously did not require definition.  To be successful, again, requires intentionality.

This is a shortlist and is not exhaustive.  It all requires effort.

The Liability of Preconceptions

This will all make sense at the end...

Preconceptions and predispositions relate to opinions and attitudes.  Both attitudes and opinions can be thought of on a linear scale from negative to neutral to positive.  In our industry, we deal with preconceptions, all day - every day.  

To drill down one level deeper, an attitude is an established (predisposed) way of thinking about someone or something.  It exists as something that is pre-verbal.  It is also known as a mindset.  Everyone has attitudes and opinions that are a matter of degree - in someone's willingness to speak up (or) remain silent.  Either way, attitudes and opinions exist.

As stated, once an attitude is articulated into words, it becomes an opinion.  The important thing to understand is that an opinion is something that is not necessarily based on facts or knowledge.  

OK...  So, what is the point here...

We build organizations in the context of person-to-person commerce.  We use Affiliate Offers to create a residual income engine.  This is not akin to anything.  It is its own "animal".  We are in the Network Marketing Space because we do build networks based on our marketing efforts.  However, we ARE NOT in the MLM space.  Multi-Level Marketing uses a completely different compensation and organizational structure, although they too are a Network Marketing business as they employ marketing to build networks (organizations).

The liability we have in our business is that people "meet" what we do with a whole host of preconceptions and misconceptions.  Fair or unfair, it is the reality.  We are lumped in with MLM's like one of those "pyramid things".  The fact is, we are not a pyramid-like most conventional businesses, we utilize Referral Lines.  These are vastly different.

The real liability here is yours if you do not understand the difference (and) have the ability to explain and differentiate between the two.

Be the One They Choose to Work With

You can't blink credibility into existence.  It needs to be scraped and clawed for through the passage of time.  

Therefore, for anyone new to Affiliate Marketing (in our niche and the way we do it) this is the reason we recruit people with whom you have something in common, with the supposition that they may not have a deep credibility base in our industry either.  Historically, this is why ventures typically fail.  It is a matter of the blind leading the blind.  With Vertical Industry Marketing, we start with our Relationship Building Accelerator and, (at least) we develop an understanding of each others' lived experience (as best we can).

So, this begs the question, "What sets you apart from the pack?"  What makes you exceptional to the extent that someone would want to choose you as the person they want to work with?   Especially if you are just getting started, you may think there is nothing that makes you "special".

I want to challenge this notion.  Our model is intentionally highly selective.  We screen and choose people we want to work with.  We ARE NOT in the business of taking people's money, letting them fend for themselves, flailing around, and finally fail-out.

You need to own and understand that someone will "choose you" because of their gut telling them you are sincere and committed to helping them grow into profitability, through their growth - both personally and professionally.  People will choose to work with you because they can sense you have integrity and are worthy of earning their trust.

Over time and as your organization grows, at some future date, your credibility (based on your body of work) will become implicit.  You will be a known quantity in our industry.

However, getting to that point is really a matter of mindset.  It is in the "knowing" of who you are, what you stand for, how you conduct yourself... in posturing yourself as "being the one they choose to work with".

A Real Solution for the Vast Majority?

Everything should be simple.  Why isn't it?

There is nothing hard to understand about truth and integrity.  It follows that if you are perceived as one who is honest and adheres to virtue, you should be someone worthy of trust.  So where does everything break down?  

I think it boils down to understanding that trust is built over time.  It is not implicit, it is earned.  It is a thousand micro-actions that lead to the macro of trust.  It is something that evolves, it is not something that is granted, in most cases, especially when two people do not know each other, initially.

Corresponding to this, "A Real Solution" is simply a statement and perception that (like trust) needs to be earned.  We have every confidence that our solution IS real for the vast majority.  However, in the process of getting people to adopt what we do as something they embrace, there is a significant amount of education that is necessary.  It is a thousand micro-actions of building credibility, one individual at a time.

As such. the "Vast Majority" is more aligned with something that would appear in a Mission Statement.  It is not an operational construct.  Even though what we do may make sense to most people if they take the time to understand what we do, it nonetheless is "operationalized" one person at a time - through the establishment of credibility and the earning of trust.

Simply making the statement of being "worthy of trust" falls well short of it being actualized.  We deal with the Vast Majority one person at a time, and this requires time and effort, repeated over and over until your individual goals have been met.

Thanks, but No Ranks

This post is a point of clarification.  

Our business is in the Affiliate Marketing space.  Yes, we build organizations, however, Rank Advancement is a Multi-Level Marketing concept.  MLM's "rank advance" through the growth of business volume, which is typically associated with organizational size.

As one advances in rank, they get a bigger piece of the pie.  If the first level is 5%, the rank advance may mean 3% or a total of 8%... along with a title change from (in metals) Bronze to Silver to Gold to Platinum.  The company tracks these transactions and pays the distributor on a predetermined schedule.

This is not our model.  We earn 100%, paid directly - peer to peer.  The company tracks these transactions as an accounting and "scorekeeping" function, however, money is paid directly to you.  The company is not a middle man that holds your money, it simply is a portal for your transaction to take place.

This is a huge difference.  We grow, but Rank Advancement is not included in what we do, we are all at the top level of our compensation structure, based on the level you choose to participate.

Funding Life and Financial Literacy

Many people want or need more money and know if they simply "found" something to plug into... that actually worked, it would provide the all-important grease that would make life a whole lot easier. I have used the expression many times, "There are a million ways to make money, you only need one". I have also said, "Money is the grease that lubricates life". Both obviously infer the "idea" that money plays a huge role in people's lives.

Most people have a job to fund their life. It is a fixed income approach, working for a salary or a wage. Their only "leverage" is getting a 401K match from their employer and then hoping the Stock Market performs in a manner that supports growth. The goal of a 401K is retirement, so it is of little use until you are 59 1/2, unless you want to borrow against it and incur stiff penalties for doing so.

So what are the alternatives in the "million ways" to make money? A second and/or third job > Real Estate Investing > Bitcoin > being a reseller on Amazon, or selling your own stuff on eBay or Etsy > you can do manual labor side jobs from babysitting to painting a house... Each of these help "fund life" and provide "grease".

Then, there is what we do. We employ financial mechanics. We utilize leverage. In the initial stages of what we do, there is no avoiding the WORK of putting (people and their money) in place to enable leverage, however, once an organization is built (and you have the savvy to maintain it) the income continues month to month and year to year.

Understanding how this takes place is a function of financial literacy. Financial literacy is the set of skills and knowledge that allows someone to make informed and effective decisions with their money.

In other words, it goes beyond "making a buck". It assumes that once you have a "buck" - you make conscious decisions about how to use it. You can: 1) spend it, 2) save it, or; 3) invest it (put it to work for you). What we do is most aligned with #3.

Another statement we use in our Community is, "We organize knowledge, people and money for everyone's benefit". Here is another definition of financial literacy: Financial literacy is the ability to understand and effectively use various financial skills, including personal financial management, budgeting, and investing. Financial literacy is the foundation of your relationship with money, and it is a lifelong journey of learning.

Fundamentally, we ask people to change their relationship with money. We ask them to "add" the perspective of leverage. We utilize leverage by organizing knowledge, people, and money into a process designed to enable this to happen.

This "adding and learning" defines literacy. It is Financial Literacy that enables people to fund their lives.

Plant a Flag on Your Dreams

What follows may or may not apply to you.  Perhaps you are self-actualized and wealthy; both spiritually and financially.  Most people fall short of this.  If so, my wish is that these thoughts instill some hope and some clarity.

There are a lot of things that take place inside of our specific Community as well as the Communities of our Affiliate Partners.  Ultimately, we are "in the business" of helping people rise above their current circumstances, to the extent that additional financial resources can make this happen.

"Planting a Flag" essentially means making a commitment.  The question is, whether something is worthy of your commitmenmt of time and resources?  Does something you evaluate as a "means" to earn additional income hold up to scrutiny?  Does it make sense?  Can you justify and defend your involvement in whatever you choose to do?  Do you have the conviction and moral authority of "knowing" that what you are commiting to - is worthy?

At the end of the day, our business is about relationships and trust.  After you have done your homework regarding the credibility and viability of something - that "something" becomes secondary to the person/people you are in business with.  Are they there helping you plant your flag?  Do you trust that they will be there in the future?  Business (our business) is about relationships and building trust.  

Speaking of flags, it is a huge RED FLAG if you are not working WITH someone who is there to help, support and teach you.  Now, turning this on it's head, the real quesiton is are you willing to be that mentor?  Here is the reality: this is what you sign up for; to evolve from student to teacher.

Combining these thoughts, in "planting a flag" you are commiting to being a person of value.  You evolve into someone who has something to give to those with whom you work.  If you can genuinely make this commitment, "success:" will grow out of this foundation of commitment.

Plant your flag.  Work on your dreams.  Nothing magically happens without effort.  Learn.  Apply.  Teach.  Support.  These are the things dreams are made of.

A Means to an End

You can make money doing just about anything if someone is willing to pay you for it.  In a general way, this defines commerce.

In the new world of Digital Commerce, there is something called an NFT (Non-Fungible Token).  It is a "unique unit of data" on a digital ledger, typically associated with something... artwork, music, sports trading cards, or even just ideas.  So, it is a digital representation of something - stored on the blockchain.

So let me ask, where is the value here?  Something is unique.  OK.  Something is scarce.  All right.  Something that two parties agree that has value... How? I am not sure, but it is happening in real time, right in front of our eyes.  I am in no real position to judge, so I will not.  This all seems kind of "made up" to me, however my opinion of it is irrelevant.  If people agree to it - so be it.  It is a means to an end.  More power to them.

Analagously, the "detractors" of our industry "judge" that person-to-person commerce is somehow inherently scam-my.  They contend it is about people taking advantage of others; and people getting "burnt" as a result of their participaton.  In many places, you are admonished to "run" from certain business models.

Here's the reality:  all of the negative inferences abound because many people can not (do not) make things work.  "How" things work is governed by systems and contracts that people agree to.  But nonetheless, people persist in denigrating the Social Commerce industry.  This is not a fault of the industry, it is the fault of the people in the industry and the supports that are in place to bolster success.

This is why we go to such great lengths to ensure those we recruit have a solid understanding of what they are getting themselves into.  What we do is not for everyone, otherwise, everyone would be doing it.  However, let me be clear, the "system" works.  The proof is real.  The unfortunate reality, it that people are not taught "what it takes" to make the system work for them.

However, the real point I want to make here is that we are in the business of consensus and agreement.  What we do is simply a means to an end.  This "end" is profitability and income. Everything we do is designed as a means to this end through teaching and mentorship.

This is another way to explain what we do:  we find (recruit) people and organize (pair) knowledge, and money with a system designed specifically to enable this to take place.  The "system" could be anything.  What we do was simply a "choice" someone made at some point in time.  We simply agree to jump on the bandwagon and participate "in a way" to make money.

And, to bring this full circle, the "means" we use, compared to an NFT is highly tangible and rock solid.  The "end" is income.  The question you need to ask yourself is "if" our ends justify our means inherent in the systems and tactics we use?

Look yourself in the mirror and answer this question honestly.  This moral underpinning and sense of clairity will drive your business in terms of your confidence and conviction in conveying the value in what we do.

No Time is Ever the Right TIme

This will be short.  It is about procrastination.  It is about being stuck in life.

There is a song by Adele named Easy on Me.  The refrain of the song is, "I had no time to choose what I chose to do".  It is a lament about youth and being stuck in her ways.  Later in the song she talks about having good intentions and the highest hopes.  Nonetheless, it is a song of regret - of an older self reflecting on a younger self.

From my perspective, her song speaks to the "plight of the commoner".  It is a life resigned to the way things are, even with the best-of-intentions.  It is "knowing" things can be different, but doing nothing about it, and this realization coming only from the wisdom of the passage of time.

Many times people get swept along by the inertia of family, social, or cultural expectations and as Adele says, "I had no time to choose what I chose to do".  Eveything in life is reduced to an unconscious whirlwind, in the absence of affirmative choices being made.  No time is ever the right time and days and weeks turn into months and years.  In the end, nothing changes.

This song captures a small slice of "why" people get stuck in life.  Our business simply poses an option - that includes a plan to follow for people to get un-stuck.

"A" Product is Critical - "The" Product is Not

For our purposes in what we do, first, let's define commerce.  It is the exchange of money for something of value.  This "something of value" can be broadly defined as a product or a service.  

You pay a Lawyer for his knowledge.  You pay a carpenter for building you a shed.  You pay College tuition to attend a school.  OK.  I don't need to go on.  The point is money is paid in exchange for something of value.

Ultimately, everyone chooses how to make a living.  If a grown man imports children's toys from Taiwan, there is no requirement for him to have an affinity for the toys.  He uses toys as a vehicle to make a profit and earn an income.  Year after year, there may be slight product variations, but ultimately the "toy business" is the toy business.

We sell Tools and Education.  Just as in the toy business, these products remain relatively consistent from year to year.  There are innovations.  There are upgrades.  Again, ultimately the products we offer are relatively consistent over time.

The point here is that you and I could choose to be in the toy business... or the shed business... "the" product does not really matter.  We are in the education and mentoring business.  At the end of the day, we are in business to make a profit and earn an income.  It is what we agree to, rally around, support, and advocate for.  

To be legal, a product or service has to be exchanged for money.  "A" product is critical, "the" product could be anything.

One a Week - For a Year

 

This post is a perspective-builder.

I don't want to insult anyones' intelligence here, but one a week for a year is 52, right?  In our business we use an initial "cash now" offer that is followed by a subscription offer, which is funded out of profit.

For the sake of simple math, let's say a subscription is $200 a month.  This (times) 52 is $10,400 a month in gross income.  After taxes at 25% the net income is $7800.  This replaces most people's incomes, and if not, is a welcomed "bump" in income for anyone.

Now, given the leverage components of a Referral Line Compensation Structure, to realize a group of 52, you do not need 52 direct recruits because people are referred to you as a part of the business model.  Again, this is a leverage component stipulated by a contract.  Realistically, a group of 20-25 direct recruits can produce a group of 52 (give or take).  

Then you need to account for the realities.  Eventhough we do our best to ensure people's success, in reality, not everyone will "stick".  Therefore, in getting to these numbers, you need to account for attrition (fall out).  Your level of attrition is directly correlated to your ability to nurture and support your organization.

That said, everything comes full circle back to "how" you get one-a-week?  First,it happens through activity (exposures) in telling others about what we do. This is the grunt and grind part of the business.  Second, it happens through working with your referrals (poeple you do not directly sponsor, but are referred to you).

We work with people in terms of what people "bring to the table" in regard to time, budget, previous experience and knowledge.  A plan needs to be tailored to these "variables".  Not everyone will have the same plan.  It has to be highly customized to be a "fit" to integrate with what someone can realistidally "give" in terms of time and resources - to make a business work.

This is all in pursuit of "One a Week - For a Year".

Hope Tethered to a Strategy

No doubt, you have heard the expression, "Hope is not a strategy".  Just so you know, I am not "going there".  The expression is somewhat flippant and unserious. The statement offers little of value.  I simply wanted to mention it to frame something that is of value.

It is important to understand that what we do is noble.  What we do is important.  We help people by showing them a path to improve their financial condition.  We inherently instill "hope".  It is the aspirational idea that things can and will be different.  It is the promise of money being a lubricant to life by providing the means for security, and ultimately with time and effort, prosperity.

However, hope is not enough.  It needs to be tied to a strategy that is realistic and can be implemented with a reasonable amount of learning and effort.  This entire blog talks about all of the variables that constitute this "strategy".

If your head and heart are in the right place, you know that we care for the welfare of others.  We offer and instill hope in people through our guidance and mentorship, teaching others to engage in behaviors to form solid professional relationships that produce income, based on the strength and longevity of these relationships.  We are in the business of people helping people.

Seek to work with people from a true sense of altruism, with a concern for their well-being.  You need to trust this advice:  YOUR long-term security in building a business is directly tied to the loyalty of the people you are in business with.  This means loyalty to you, loyalty to the business proposition, and loyalty to the pledge of caring for the organizational culture we espouse.  What we do is not about the money.  The money (your security) happens when you ensure others are prosperous and secure.  Everything is driven by mutual welfare with money being the by-product.

This is the foundation of our Community and culture.