Fear of Pulling the Trigger

Most people understand that it takes money to make money... in most cases.  The amount of money varies and the amount invested is typically correlated to the size of the return that can be expected.

Serious propositions, however, do not always require "serious" investments.  Our business is typical of this.  The upside potential compared to the initial investment required is significantly in favor of the upside potential.

But, here's the kicker:  people are risk averse.  Or, they have a fear of pulling the trigger and parting with the money to get started.  This is why you need to learn all you can.  Cross the t's and dot the i's. Ask questions and analyze.  At the end of the day, you will be smarter and better off for doing so.

However, at the end of this process, you need to decide.  The key in the ignition of our income vehicle is the initial investment.  It is the trigger that releases the firing pin that strikes the shell, that explodes powder, that launches the bullet that spins out of the barrel to make a killing financially.

If you are risk averse, this won't happen.  Do your homework and create some belief in yourself and in what we do.  The rest is just learning and execution.

Counter Culture

The term "counter-culture" is typically associated with hippies in the 60's.  Hippies were a sub-group of the population.  I don't need to describe them, other than that they were driven by different norms and values that made them distinct.  If you saw a guy with a beard, hair to the middle of his back and wearing a peace patch on a vest, he was called a hippie.

Flower child, tree hugger, and crunchy granola are all derivatives, but each gives this same subset of our society a slightly different definition, again based on what they espouse, what they eat, their position on the environment...

I encourage you to think of our movement (our culture) in similar terms.  We are different from the mainstream.  We know and teach things that separate us from the norms of a job or career, a bi-weekly paycheck, getting up to be at work at 6 am (if you are like me), chronic exhaustion... and in general "living a life a quiet desperation".

How many times have you heard someone say, "there has to be a better way"?  In our humble opinion, we are this "better way".  Frankly, it is not about this business or that opportunity, these are fluid and can change.  At the core of what we do is the culture and community of entrepreneurship that aligns you "with" and "in" a community of learners and earners.  It is about being a part of a group of people that value skills and competence.  It is about how we elevate people to a level of understanding that nothing is accomplished without effort.

This is the "counter" culture.  We welcome people who are open to learning "what it takes", and then carve the time out of their lifestyles to make it happen.  You need a plan - to succeed.  We provide the frame, you build the rest of the structure.  Not everyone can do it.  If they could, we would not be a "subset" of society.  What we do requires a unique kind of person who understands the big picture and is willing to grind it out to get there.

Most people do not have the perseverance or tenacity to make it happen.  This is why the failure rate is so high.  In every sense of the word:  it is work.  It requires changes to your lifestyle and how you spend hours of your day.  We will love to help you, but when you step through the door, hopefully, this helps you do so with your eyes wide open.

Build Your Own Wall

With the election just passed, there is a level of uncertainty to what will evolve in our country.  Of all the issues that are going to be turned on their heads - the economy, taxes, income inequality, the minimum wage... many of these may have a bearing on you and your family in the months and years to come.

Building Your Own Wall is a strategy to deal with this uncertainty.  It is intended to inoculate you from the potential volatility that the new administration can instigate and use Donald Trump's concept of making America strong by taking care of Americans first.  One of his proposals is to build a physical wall.  We build a conceptual wall.

The wall we build is a financial one - that will enable you to create an economy for yourself that is independent of your job, the national economy and all of the traditional notions of how income is earned and money is made.  We want you to think about building an income fortress that keeps the "greater economy" at bay, and provide you with the vehicle to create your own economy that is based upon your skills [and] over which you have complete control.

Essentially, this defines our community.  We have created our own "space" and are a specialized and innovative subset within the larger economy.  We are an interconnected and inter-dependent group of business builders that care for and take care of each other.  We advocate and engender competence as our driving core value.  We build a wall of security that keeps the demons of want and lack at the foot of the rampart and welcome anyone inside to learn more.

Important to Understand and Put in Context

You may want to expand the video to full page, then come back to read the commentary.  Hit play, then while playing, expand to 'Full Screen' in the lower right corner.  To return here from the Full Screen, hit 'Esc' at the upper left of your keyboard.

There is so much to say about this.  It is potentially a big black eye on our industry unless you understand how it differs from what we do and put this video in its proper context.

First, let me get something out of the way.  I was a part of a class action lawsuit in 1992 against NuSkin.  As the video states, I was "garage qualified".  NuSkin's model had a monetary threshold to qualify for executive bonuses.  It is kind of embarrassing to think back on, but let me simply say, "been there, done that", to the tune of $3K a month.  Whether I was a naive dreamer, or I was duped doesn't really matter now, just suffice it to say that I intimately and painfully understand the "voice" John Oliver is representing.

Second, let me say that I enjoy his humor, generally.  And, although he denigrates Network Marketing in this piece, I can't say that I absolutely disagree with everything he says - especially for tangible, product-based MLM's.

So, how do we differ?  First, our products are digital information products that are delivered over the internet.  We don't inventory anything that does not exist on your computer hard drive.  The value we create is in building people who build a business in a community of competence.  This is a good thing.

Second, our compensation model does drive width and depth, but it is not completely analogous due to fundamental structural differences.  We collect 100% of payments and do not have an over-ride component for uplines... there are more factors... not the least of which is that of the money we earn, the CEO does not receive a penny - ever.  However, the money is not the point here. The point is what we do is different than what is described in this video.

It does get a bit dicey when splitting hairs about the notion of being a "pyramid scheme'".  John Oliver does a pretty effective job of lampooning the idea of a pyramid and attempts to distinguish the accepted corporate pyramid from an MLM pyramid.  He attempts to make the point that if you are selling products to retail customers it is probably a legitimate business. However, if you are only "moving product" through your network, it is probably a pyramid.  We are a hybrid due to the fact that we are a subscription, no different than a financial newsletter.

Another hallmark of pyramid schemes is a guarantee of returns.  We are required to not make income claims and discourage using potential earnings as a "carrot".  We stress that you earn in direct correlation to the value you provide.  Check this one off.

And, smack dab in the middle of all this are the real estate and insurance industries, using a closely allied compensation system. How do they get a free pass?  And what about franchises?  Or, the in-home sales home improvement industry?

We do business with self-selected people who participate in our community that is interconnected and interdependent - and who choose to invest their personal resources.  This benefits those who participate under the umbrella of an agreed-upon business model. Our market consists of people who want to attain financial security.  Instead of homes or life insurance, people have the option to choose something allied to what we do.  We sell a system, a platform to earn money between informed and consenting adults.

Someone needs to explain how this is unreasonable and deserving of derision?  In fact, I advocate that this is socially redeeming and worthy "work" due to the fact that we change peoples' finances, we impact lives, raise self-esteem and are relevant to a whole host of other positive attributes.

Can anyone do it, and will everyone be successful?  We know the answer to this one.  But the problem is not the business model.  The problem is people's ability to adapt to and integrate change into their lives (first), and; having the aptitude to learn and apply new things i.e. execute and implement (second), then; teaching what they have learned to others to perpetuate a culture of competence.  No, not everyone can do it, otherwise, everyone would be.  Many people can not adapt to the change required.  If people try and fail, they need to look no further than the mirror.  It has nothing to do with the business model, other than it inherently relies on the transfer of skills and knowledge.

John Oliver is not really being unfair in this piece - but you need to understand, he is not talking about what we do.  Take pride and understand that our mission is to help people in what has been described by our CEO as a "culture of assistance".  What we do is worthy,

I will repeat this simple truth: what we do is worthy.  John Oliver is talking about "the old" segment of our industry and to a degree, this segment legitimately warrants its comeuppance.

Going to School in Our Community

What we do is not unlike going to school.  The difference is that you will be paid to do so.  Leave no doubt however that there are things to learn, skills to develop, tools to use.  All of this requires effort and commitment.

I talk about managing and incorporating "change" in many places, so I do not want to make this the focus here.  My goal is to convey what the nitty-gritty of what all this means (as a practical matter) if you "buy in" to consciously choosing to alter how you spend hours of your day consistently and with perseverance in joining our community.

So what do you need to know?  What skills will you need to acquire?

Initially, most everything is / can be done on the Google platform. Using Gmail "for all it is worth" is an important first skill. This involves simple things like setting up multiple accounts and understanding how to use them for different purposes.  When you get more advanced, you will want to invest in an autoresponder, but Gmail will get you where you need to go initially.

Then, there is understanding the back office of our business and what it can do for you.  It has tools and strategies you can follow. There are training videos in the back office and on YouTube.  There are Facebook groups. There are weekly training calls and webinars...  Getting "tuned into" all of this stuff is important initially.

These two things should happen relatively quickly. When you get things rolling, and you have these fundamentals under your belt, you will want to understand who our market is and how to reach them. You will need to make decisions about "what you will do" to build your business.  This varies for everyone, but Internet Marketing (or) Online Business inherently shares the common feature of computer use.  There are strategies to use social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram...) Later,

If you have the "chops" to do so, you can create a blog to brand yourself.  You don't necessarily need to create all of the content, but can aggregate and curate information and create an online presence to enhance your credibility.

All of this happens incrementally.  Step by step, day by day, you "go to school" and learn new things. All of these things are geared toward getting what you are offering in front of people for them to evaluate.  To make it really simple, this will / should occupy half of your time initially.  You need to be constantly learning new things - creating resources and applying them to what we do.  The other half of your time needs to be engaged in working with other people to help and support them in the same process.  This involves seeking out the right people and resources to get questions answered that will enable you to implement / execute.

Beyond all of the learning and teaching, the bottom line is this:  our job is to get what we have to offer in front of people for them to evaluate.  At the end of the day, the more people we expose, the more money we will make.  Not everyone will be interested.  Our job is to work with the ones who are - and help them determine if what we do is a good fit for themselves and their families.