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.

Competence and Compensation

 I created this graphic as a Facebook and Instagram post.  I simply wanted to include it as a post.

It speaks for itself. No explanation is necessary.

Recurring versus Residual Income

I am splitting hairs here a bit, however, I want to point out a difference between two terms based on the income platforms we employ.  Many times, recurring and residual income are used interchangeably.  From my perspective, they are not the same.  

Both are also referred to as "passive" income because both continue to pay regardless of whether there is still active work being done.  However, in the models we use, for income to recur (periodically), an effort has to be applied to make it happen.  

In other words, if you need to work with people to get paid, it is not automatic.  It is "earned" in the true sense of the word.  It can and will recur, based on the business model, but it is not automatic.  It is dependent on people doing something in order for you to derive any income.

Residual Income, on the other hand, is "automatic".  It is tied to automatic payments on a calendar basis and linked to someone's bank account, credit/debit card, PayPal, Zelle, CashApp, Bitcoin... account.  It is more aligned with a subscription, royalties, rentals, etc.  

As long as people do not "cancel" their contract, they will continue to be billed and you will be paid.  Like any of these:

On the other hand, recurring income looks more like this:

You need to work with people to ensure the results "recur".  Again, it is built into the model to make it possible, but it does not happen all on its own.

We include both in our core offers.  We start with recurring income because this is a people's business.  We then migrate to subscriptions whenever money is flowing and the pressure of a monthly subscription is eliminated due to paying for the subscription comfortably out of profits.