Posts

An Appeal to Sensibilities

We market a subscription to make money.  If this is taking a moment to sink in, let's rearrange the words.  To make money, we market a subscription. Essentially, this is our business model. It is a model that enables the development and growth of monthly income.  For the same / predictable / fixed amount that you invest each month, you have the opportunity to receive an unlimited number of subscriptions equal to the same amount - directly deposited into your bank account. Stable, consistent, predictable money.  This is not a license to wave a wand and "poof" - it just happens.  But at the end of the day, when you have the knowledge, skills, and habits to generate these deposits, it is really a matter of doing the same thing over and over again. Like many things, the concept is simple.  However, making it happen is not easy.  If it were, everyone would be doing it. I talk about the obstacles in many other posts on this blog.  The biggest one is most peoples' in

Subscription Income: Become the Magazine Publisher or the Cable Company

We build a subscriber base - on a couple of levels. First, we ask people to subscribe to our ideas.  We seek people who are willing to adopt our philosophy and values.  Our goal is to build a community that is driven by competence.  Competence infers knowledge and skills, learning and teaching and being a professional at what we do. Second, we ask people to subscribe to a monthly commitment of money.  This is just like any other subscription, whether it be a magazine, a cable bill or a health club membership. The difference is this:  you become the magazine publisher or the cable company.  You are the one collecting monthly subscription payments.  In return for your single monthly investment that you make to someone else,  you put yourself in the position to receive many multiple subscription payments to you. Ultimately we put you in the position to create your own economy. We develop a community of people who share a common understanding and vision, which can (relatively quick

What Have you Done, Today?

It doesn't matter what it is.  Listen, some people have time.  Some people have money.  Some people have skills.  Many don't have skills. If you have money, you can invest in tools to automate some of the functions of your business.  If you don't, you have to take a slower path that will inherently require more grunt work.  No matter your starting point, you NEED to be doing something to get "whatever you have to offer" in front of people to evaluate - TODAY. In our business,this involves getting people to online information where they can look at videos, be directed to blog posts, have the opportunity to read third party reviews and begin the evaluation process of whether what we do will be a good fit for them. The biggest mistake most "new" people make is spending all of their time initially learning things and not "taking action" to get their message in front of people. It doesn't matter what this might be:  social media, distribut

Group Think

Let's not over-complicate this.  What we do at the most foundational level is build a community (a group of people) who think alike in regard to: a strategy to make money shared values financial inter-dependence mutual support learning and teaching as the keys to success commitment to the long-term These are at the core.  The vehicle we use to make money could be anything.  The community we build and belong to is the most important aspect of your business.  It is about relationships and belonging. It is about honesty and building on small successes that build into larger and larger successes. It looks and smells like integrity due to the very real sentiment of people caring for each other and leaving financial struggle in the rear view mirror. It is about the sacrifice of your time to help others understand the tools and techniques that we use and are necessary to use. This is the work we do.  We help people understand and grow into competence. Unless we are d

Earning Platforms

The goal for any business is to make money.  Broadly, any business is an earning platform.  It doesn't matter what the business is.  At the end of the day, money is exchanged for something of real or perceived value. Our business is an earning platform. It provides the structure to take a relatively small amount of money and leverage it into larger and larger amounts of money.  It is straightforward and systematic geometric growth. The key to (y)our growth is understanding that competence has to be at the center of this earnings universe.  There is no winging it.  What we do requires competent knowledge, that leads to skills and taking these knowledge and skills and competently applying effort to tell other people what we do -and how they can get involved. It is our platform - no different than a political party platform - that has pillars that the whole proposition stands on.  Knowledge, competence and effort applied in intelligent and productive ways. There is no need for b

"Scam" and "Pyramid Scheme" Marketing

If you Google just about any Home Business opportunity, among the top results, you will find multiple articles eluding to "Scam (or) Not?".   This may typically be accompanied by a claim that identifies what you are researching as a pyramid or Ponzi scheme.  Here's what you need to know. These terms rank, especially for those who know how to use (manipulate) them to achieve rankings. Because the algorithms at Google look for consumer protection terms, in just about any instance if these keywords are used, they will automatically rank in the search results.  But, here's the deal. This is a form of reverse marketing.  Scam and pyramid scheme marketing is a strategy. "Scam Marketers" use "the opportunity" you are researching to gain your attention, say some negative things about it, and then switch and pitch you on something that they are marketing.  Oftentimes, this is accompanied by denigrating the founder or anything else they can find from the

We Help People (help themselves)

Our goal and mission is to transfer skills and knowledge.  With the application of these in very specific and targeted ways - we create a path to financial stability.  Then prosperity.  Then total financial independence. If you think this can be done overnight and without the necessary investment of time to learn and apply, you are (unfortunately) sorely mistaken.  What we do is completely analogous to going to school, getting your degree in teaching - and then being a teacher.  If you can not help others (or this does not appeal to you) then our business will not be a good fit for you. We do not really "mass market" and look for warm bodies to sign-up.  We much prefer slow, solid growth with people committed to competence (personally) and the competence of a group of people who become professional marketers - whom you have helped and mentored. Frankly, most people totally miss this in the home business industry - and it the reason for the high failure rate.  I talk abo

What This is About - At Its Core

We were mystified for years at our inability to make money with anything but a conventional “job”. We knew there must be something missing.  Our “Ah Ha!”  moment occurred when we figured out what follows. We figured there has to be a way to communicate a message with common, mass appeal, and if we figured it out, there could be a lot of money in the balance.  After all, the need for more money is universal… at least for the “99%”.  So what causes such a large majority of people to remain strapped to struggle with poverty constantly nipping at their heels?  Or worse yet, sitting in their laps? It is not a simple answer.  But wouldn’t it be great if there was a strategy that people could trust that is simple, clear and easily understood?  If that were the case, and enough people rallied around… and the motives behind the whole proposition were transparent and true, then why should it be such a stretch to add money to the equation and allow the law of large numbers to do its wo

The Difference Between a Goal and a Dream is a Deadline

Accountability.  Discipline.  Fundamentals.  Daily activity.  Are these the first things you think of when thinking about success in a home business? What do you have to do TODAY to "advance" and make money?  By 9:00 tonight, what are you willing to commit to having done?  Then, if you add up all seven days... what will you have accomplished by the end of the week? These are metrics.  You can't manage what you don't measure.  You need to know your metrics. It all involves being "conscious" of what you have chosen to do and then making the decision to make-it-happen. When you are beginning, don't worry about the metrics of results.  These will become important later, but when getting started, simply focus on daily activities.  What are you going to commit to doing? This is where is all starts. Unless you have a well-defined daily goal AND you are actively working on that goal, success is a dream.  This all smells, tastes and feels like work.  Here

My Kangen Conundrum

Preface :  I did not end up doing the Kangen business and it is not a part of my earning portfolio.  I thought someone might be interested in my thought process should they be considering Kangen as an earning platform. ______________________________ I am writing to convince myself, or to talk-myself-out-of doing the Kangen water business.  I write for catharsis and to organize my thoughts.  At the end of this - my goal is to have made a reasonable justification for moving in either direction by being as brutally honest as I can be with myself and with anyone who reads this. The basic proposition for me is whether my need to make money outweighs the negative press and speculation that exists regarding the Kangen technology and its efficacy.  I sit here, perplexed by the risk of investing $6,000 in a business start-up, but at the same time intrigued by the money and the business model - without having any first hand, tangible knowledge of the product, i.e. I have never tasted the w

Fidelity

Fidelity. In a marriage, this means you promise to love, cherish and forsake all others until death do you part... In business, (in our business) we simply want to make a case for why this is important. There are a million ways to make money.  Many people, if they have not yet been successful with a home business / income vehicle can get easily distracted by the "shiny objects" syndrome.  This takes away their focus from their primary, core endeavor by evaluating and (perhaps) participating in other ways to make money.  Some people are successful in doing this.  Most can't. Our point is this:  if this is your first, real attempt to make money with a home business, stay-the-course and remain faithful to your "core" business, exclusively - until you achieve whatever level of income that enables you to define it as a success. This focus and commitment is extremely important and it is also why we stress so heavily that you do your homework about us - to ga

A Deep Dive Into the Notion of Change

Understanding change is perhaps the most important ingredient to your success.  It is uncomfortable and most people (can not / will not / do not) openly embrace this discomfort.  As a result, nothing happens and the status quo continues to rule lives, incomes, lifestyles and any hope for making progress toward a goal... no matter what that goal might be. Creating change is analogous to breaking an addiction.  People are "addicted" to the patterns of their lives.  Introducing something new is disruptive and inherently will change these patterns.  Many (most) people can not cope and the "draw" to established and familiar patterns continues to rule their lives.  This is why people stay "stuck" with whatever they are attempting to "change". For our purposes, we help people change their relationship to money - to achieve first, a level of financial stability, and then build on this to higher and higher levels of prosperity.  This all begins with a

Explained: Subscripton Income Business

Until relatively recently, only businesses and banks could set up automatic withdrawals from our bank accounts or to bill our credit cards.  With the advent of companies like PayPal and with the ability for individuals to set up Merchant Accounts to take credit card payments, a whole NEW business model has evolved to capitalize on this capability. Further, these credit / debit card payments can be set up on a subscription (monthly draft) basis.  The business model we promote and the company we have chosen does exactly this... with a host of digital and on-line services as the products. The reality is, even in light of product availability (which makes the business legally compliant), the "reason" for people getting involved in our business is to plug into a vehicle that provides the opportunity to "make money".  The products are a secondary consideration.  If they have real value (which ours do) it is an added bonus.  As such, there is no "embarrassment&quo

A Culture of Assistance

The company we work with recently coined the phrase, "culture of assistance".  This important, first, because it recognizes culture as something we are striving to attain.  On the broadest level, culture means that we share common attitudes, beliefs and values.  Culture is foundational.  It permeates everything and is long-term. Assistance means help.  We assist people in many ways.  We guide people to and through information gathering about what we do.  We help people understand the power and long-term viability of our business model.  We share our personal experiences regarding the value and utility of our products. Ultimately, we provide a service.  We do not sell. People choose to join our business due to thoughtful reasoning, not giddy excitement about the potential, We prefer people who are thorough, initially skeptical and who ask good questions. At the end of the day, our job is 1) to answer those questions, and; 2) then to share strategies and resources to begi

The Most Important Currency There Is

The effect I have on people is the most important currency there is. When talking about the subject of "making money" I understand anyone's natural skepticism. I respond the same way. My challenge is to convey something different and begin a process of establishing credibility and earning trust. The reality is, it is possible to make money using internet businesses. The questions are, how do you get from here to there (and) is there a "vehicle" that is far superior? My honest answer? There are some that are "better than many, and as good as any". Everything has flaws. The key is to choose wisely, get going and stay the course. The more important factor is the people and community that are in place to teach, support and guide you. My job is to help you start from wherever you are in terms of skills, time, budget, knowledge... knowing most people can not simply "plug in" to a system and make it work. Getting there requires personal attentio

Big Box Retail as a Market

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What do Walmart, Target, Home Depot, Sears, Bed Bath and Beyond... (you get the idea) have in common?  How about Cracker Barrel, Appleby's and the Olive Garden?  Then, think about all the businesses in between. There are a lot of things I could say about what all the people working in these places have in common.  They need to work because they need money.  More often than not, they are non-union which means they have no rights and are working close to minimum wage. And, more often than not, they are (at minimum) receptive to evaluating a way to make more money. We capitalize on this "market" with a simple little flyer like this, printed 14 to an 8.5 x 11 page. We cut them up, and every time we are out in public they are either left behind, handed directly to people, put in magazines in doctors offices...   We also take them door-to-door in residential neighborhoods, post them in stacks on any bulletin board we can find... This is an easy, inexpensive way

My Why

This is to share a philosophy about life, home business and making money with the internet.  The reason for this is to ensure that “everyone is on the same page” as a starting point in considering joining us in a money-making venture. But first, let me tell you just a little about me.  I am a sixty year old father of three adult children.  I work for a local college as a mid-level manager.  Through the years, I have worked in a number of jobs that had 401K plans.  To respond to different situations in my life, I have liquidated two 401K’s and used the money to “stay alive” financially.  Bottom line to all this is that I have no retirement and I am 5-10 years (reasonably) to when I would have hoped to retire.  This is my “why”.  I need residual income in the absence a retirement plan. Everyone you run into will have a different story.  I just thought, as you investigate ways to make money, that you would find it comforting to know I am a real person that wretches at things that d

The Cathedral

In cathedrals, people preach doctrine to the masses and expect these teachings will inspire conformity. Any  level of "buy-in" is pre-supposed due to the values people bring when they voluntarily walk through the door.  Those preaching then set out to teach and imbue the followers with the creed of the institution. How does this translate to us as marketers?  We have a temple of our own.  We preach hope through practicality.  On the far end is a goal.  This is where most marketing (today) starts.  Most marketing talks about the "result", not the process it takes to get there.  This is tantamount to assuming you will go to Heaven while not having a firm handle on your belief in God. On this end (the here and now reality - and how we approach things) is a conscious decision to believe or reject the information presented.  In our "church" we want you to actively explore the tenets and come to your own conclusions about "truth".  By doing so, we

People as Annuities

Our business model enables us to tap other peoples' funds on a recurring, subscription basis.  This subscription is no different than a magazine and we are the publisher, no different than a health club membership and we are the owner, or if your cable bill is automatically drafted from you bank account on a monthly basis. The specific business we are involved with - is the vehicle (the structure) that makes this possible. We build communities of people who (collectively) are an annuity.  We receive money on a monthly basis from them, who in turn, have the opportunity to build communities of their own. This perpetuates itself.  People buy into the shared values of financial independence through financial inter-dependence. With incremental, small, low risk successes, we teach people to build this annuity.  It is a methodical, common sense approach to increasing levels of financial stability and with time - prosperity. We provide the boat.  You have to get in and row.

The $60K Proposition

Many people understand that a million dollars invested at 6% will yield $60,000 a year in income. This is what any number of investment vehicles are designed to do... accrue a million dollars over a lifetime of savings and investing and then in retirement, live off of the interest.  Yes, this works for some, but not for a lot of people... for a lot of different reasons. There is an alternative: monthly residual income that yields $60K a year.  I want to explain the numbers behind how this is possible with the income with one of the vehicles we use. First, let me say we advocate building progressively by reinvesting profits to build to a $175 a month investment level.  Without getting too deep into the mechanics of this compensation plan, let me break it down as follows:  $60,000 a year divided by 12 months = $5,000 a month.  This compensation plan has three investment levels of $25, $50, and $100 for a total monthly of $175. Five thousand dollars divided by $175 equals 29 people pa