Why
Do You Recommend Network Marketing?
Robert Kiyosaki's Answer:
When
I first heard about network marketing, I was
against it. But after opening my mind,
I began to see advantages that few other business
opportunities offer.
Long-term success in life is a reflection
of your education, life experience and personal
character. Many network-marketing companies
provide personal development training in those
key areas.
Most schools train people for the E or S quadrants,
and that is great if those are the quadrants
in which you want to spend your life.
Most MBA programs are training students for
high-paying jobs in the corporate world as
an E, not a B.
What if you're in the E or S quadrant and
you want to change? What if you want
to be in the B quadrant? Where do you
find the education that trains you for that
quadrant? I recommend a network-marketing
business. I recommend the industry for
people who want to change and get the necessary
skills and attitude training to be successful
in the B quadrant.
Being an entrepreneur and building a B quadrant
business is one of the toughest challenges
a person can take on. The reason there
are more people in the E and S quadrants is
simply because those quadrants are less demanding
than the B quadrant. As they say, "If
it was easy, everyone would do it."
Personally, I had to learn how to overcome
my self-doubt, shyness and fear of rejection.
And I had to learn how to pick myself up and
keep going after I failed. These are
some of the personal traits a person must
develop if they are to be successful in a
B quadrant business, regardless of whether
it is a network-marketing business, a franchise
or an entrepreneurial startup.
An
important personal skill required for any
B quadrant business is leadership. Are
you able to overcome your own fears and have
others overcome their fears in order to get
the job done? This is a skill the Marine
Corps taught me. As Marine Corps officers,
it was imperative that we be able to lead
others into battle, even though we were all
terrified of dying.
I meet many people in the S quadrant, the
specialist or small business owners, who would
like to expand, but they simply lack leadership
skills. No one wants to follow them.
The employees do not trust their leader or
the leader does not inspire the employees
to better themselves.
As mentioned earlier, Forbes defined a big-business
owner, a B quadrant business owner, as a person
who controls a business with more than 500
employees. This definition is why leadership
skills are vial for the B quadrant.
Where could you find a business that will
invest the time in your education, your personal
development and building your own business?
The answer is: most network-marketing business.
Building a B quadrant business is not an easy
task. So you need to ask yourself, "Do
I have what it takes? Am I willing to
go beyond my comfort zones? Am I willing
to be led and willing to learn to lead?
Is there a very rich person inside of me,
ready to come out?" If the answer is
"Yes," start looking for a network-marketing
business that has a great training program.
I would focus less on the products or the
compensation plans and more on the education
and personal development program the company
offers.
A
network-marketing business is a B quadrant
business because it meets several criteria
I look for in a business or investment.
Those criteria are:
- Leverage:
Can I train other people to work for me?
- Control:
Do I have a protected system that belongs
to me?
- Creativity:
Will the business allow me to be creative
and develop my own personal style and
talents?
- Expandability:
Can my business grow indefinitely?
- Predictability:
Is my income predictable if I do what
is expected of me? If I am successful,
and keep expanding my business, will my
income increase with my success and hard
work?
Isn't
Network Marketing A Pyramid Scheme?
I am often asked if network marketing is a
pyramid scheme. My reply is that
corporations are really pyramid schemes.
A corporation has only one person at the top,
generally the CEO, and everyone else below.
The following is an example of a
typical corporate pyramid:
Compare that to a network-marketing
business system:
A
true network-marketing business is the exact
opposite of a traditional business model.
A network-marketing business is designed
to bring you up to the top, not keep you down
at the bottom. A true network-marketing
business does not succeed unless it brings
people up to the top.
Additional Points Worth Mentioning
The following are some other points worth
mentioning:
- Tax
breaks increase. By starting
a network-marketing business in your spare
time and keeping your regular job, you
begin to gain the tax advantages of the
rich. A person with a part-time
business can take more tax deductions
than employees can. For example,
you may be able to deduct car expenses,
gasoline, some meals and entertainment.
Obviously, you need to check with a CPA
for exact rulings on your situation.
And the cost of your CPA is tax-deductible.
In most cases, an employee cannot deduct
CPA expenses. In other words, the
government will give you a tax break for
advise on how to pay less in taxes.
- Meet
like-minded people. One
of the advantages I had is that my friends
also wanted to be in the B quadrant.
When I first started out, most of my E
quadrant friends thought I was nuts.
They could not understand shy I did not
want a steady job or a steady paycheck.
So an important part of becoming a B is
to surround yourself with other people
who are Bs and want you to become a B.
- Give
yourself time. It takes
time to be successful in any of the quadrants.
Just as it takes time to climb to the
top of the corporate ladder as an E, or
become a successful doctor or lawyer In
the S quadrant, it takes time and dedication
to become successful in the B quadrant.
It took me years before I built a successful
B quadrant business.
- Network-marketing
companies are patient. One
of the beauties of a network-marketing
business is that it will invest in you,
even if you are not successful.
In
the corporate world, if you are not successful
in six months to a year, you are often fired.
In the network-marketing world, as long as
you are willing to put in the time, most companies
will work with you in your development.
After all, they want you to get to the top.
- Leverage
the systems that are already in place.
These systems are already tried
and proven, which allows you to hit the
ground running instead of trying to build
the internal system of a new company.
In
conclusion
After opening my closed mind, I could finally
see some of the unique benefits the network-marketing
industry offers people who want more out of
their lives.
Generally, it costs much less to get started
in a network-marketing company than to build
a business on your own.
-Robert
Kiyosaki
Donald Trump's Response
Marketing is a powerful tool, and network
marketing can increase that power, provided
you are self-motivated. In a simple
visual, see a product and then remove the
advertising agency from it. It is up
to you to do the marketing and advertising.
That's a big job, but it can be done if you
are passionate enough to get it going on your
own and to jeep the momentum and motivation
going at a high level. It requires an
entrepreneurial spirit, and that means focus
and perseverance. I do not recommend
network marketing to people who are not highly
self-motivated.
Another important aspect of network marketing
is that it is inherently social, so if you
are not a social or outgoing person, I'd think
twice about going into it. Sociability
is a requirement.
Just like in advertising, there's no point
in having a fantastic advertising campaign
if the product isn't equally fantastic.
Also keep in mind that if you decide to become
a distributor, you will be legally responsible
for the claims you make about the product,
the company and the available opportunities.
But above all, make sure the product is worth
your energy and total devotion. Otherwise,
you could be energetically spinning your wheels.
Robert mentions the importance of going beyond
your comfort zone when it comes to network
marketing. He also mentions giving yourself
enough time. These are good points to
consider. I would also agree that having
leadership qualities is critical for success.
You definitely have to have a take-charge,
can-do attitude.
As with any other undertaking, know everything
you can about what you're doing before you
begin. Network marketing has proven
itself to be a viable and rewarding source
of income, and the challenges could be just
right for you. There have been some
remarkable examples of success, and those
successes have been earned through diligence,
enthusiasm and the right product combined
with timing. As with so many issues
we have discussed before, there are tangibles
and intangibles involved, but success is not
a total mystery, and that applies to network
marketing as well.
Most people have heard of focus groups,
a research tool that advertising agencies
use when they are testing a new product.
They will go out to different locations and
simply ask everyday people what they like
and don't like about a new product.
Its best if you can keep the focus group idea
close at hand when you are deciding about
a product. Just because you like it
doesn't mean everyone else will. Finding
a common denominator in product appeal will
matter.
My nutshell advice about network marketing
is to do your research and then put everything
you've got into your product. Genuine
enthusiasm is hard to beat, and the odds will
be with you.
-Donald Trump
