No Sell Selling

To anybody involved in selling the fact that people buy for their own reasons ought to be the most obvious fact in the world. It isn’t.

As I have said this subject is massive, some of the following paragraphs have been taken from “The New Conceptual Selling” Robert B Miller and Stephen E Heiman with Tad Tuleja price £19.99 from Amazon. I highly recommend this book to you because you will see your customers in a completely different light once you have read it.

This book looks in detail at the driving force behind every sale, ie the individual customer’s decision making process. The New Conceptual Selling is a road map to that process, the main principle being:

Buying is a special case of decision making.

Every time one of your customers makes a buying decision, they do so in a series of predictable and logical steps.

The steps of the person’s decision-making process take place in an equally predictable and logical sequence that can be identified and tracked by the seller.

By systematically following this sequence and helping your customers to follow it, you discover one of two things. Either (a) there is a solid fit between his needs and the solution you can offer, which can lead to a quality sale; or (b) there is no fit, and you shouldn’t be doing business together in this particular situation.

By ignoring or working against the customer’s decision-making process, you ensure confusion, resentment, and - sooner or later – lost sales.

Conceptual Selling is a “customer-driven”, not “seller-driven”, system.

You may think that by allowing the customer decision-making process to direct the course of the sale will take things out of your hands – will cause you to lose control. Exactly the opposite happens. When you start to work with your customers – when you act as a facilitator of the decision process – you always end up with more control, both in individual sales call and in terms of future business, than you had when you relied on trial-and-error techniques.

There’s a good reason for this. When you help someone to do what they already wanted to do – make a wise buying decision – they know they have actively brought in to your solution and not been passively sold it by force-feeding or manipulation. Someone who knows that is buying much more than your product or service; they are buying into a partnership with you that is the linchpin of predictable, long term sales success.

This is the paragraph which sums it all up perfectly, this is your goal. You are going to be a relationship builder with customers for life. Any other way is nuts.

What we have to do now is the tactical planning, to manage each one of your sales calls so that your customers know that doing business with you is a partnering experience. That is consciously thinking through in advance, and writing down as part of a sales Call Plan how you are going to handle the three key phases of the sales call:

Phase One - Getting Information

Phase Two - Giving Information

Phase Three - Getting Commitment.

There is no set order to these three phases; we number them merely to make the distinction between them clear. Every sales call is a dynamic interaction between buyer and seller, and that means you must be able to move freely from one phase to another at any time, not in response to some hypothetical, ideal sequence but in response to what’s actually happening in the sales call.

Tactical planning enables you to do that. When you use this three-phase framework, you always know three things with precision. At any given moment in the call, you understand exactly where you are, exactly where your customer is, and exactly what still needs to be done to move the sale towards a Win – Win conclusion.

The Win – Win conclusion

The Win – Win conclusion is where both the buyer and seller come out of the sale understanding that their respective best interests have been served – in other words, that they’ve both won. Sellers who can count on remaining successful are the ones who are committed to this Win – Win philosophy.

The reason isn’t just philosophical. In this era of intense competition and sophisticated customers, the successful sales professional cannot rely, “on taking the order and running like hell”, (not that you would guys, because we do not do that). Today, in our very competitive world to ensure that your success will last from customer to customer and from sales call to sales call, getting the individual order is never enough. You also need:

Satisfied customers
Long-term business relationships
Solid, repeat business with your “regular” customers
Enthusiastic referrals to new prospects.

If you don’t consistently and predictability get these four things out of your sales calls, sooner or later you will be eroding customers. If you do then you will have customers for life.

Marketing and Sales are a massive subject and what I need to do is to cut my bit down so that I can get on with what I am currently doing to recruit customers and then leave you to read further into the subject from authors who are far better than me in explaining the concepts and best practices.

Marketing budget

At this point two things are important. Firstly, to achieve the future you are looking to aspire to, (have you done your goals yet), you will have to invest in it, simple. No marketing, no future. Secondly you do not have to do them all at once, one at a time in a planned way, some of the marketing will not cost much at all.

In Summary

So what are we endeavouring to achieve:


To market you, your personality your unique selling point, why you are outstanding, what sets you apart from the competition. By doing this you are informing your local area of who you are and what you do.

By marketing your products and services and thereby giving information to prospective customers (and distributors) you will pre-sell.

People will then come to you because you have a solution to a problem they have, whether it is poor service, poor products, poor company. Because you have the solution. People will contact you.

Your goal with your customers is to gain their respect, (relationship building), listen to them, work with them to achieve the Win – Win we have spoken about.

Following up, your customer is a customer for life, to be nurtured. Never loose contact with your customers.

The above five steps logically follow each other, you are building an empire, a customer base, a team, a future, call it what you like, but in my opinion this is exciting stuff, if you do this then you will have a job for life.

Who out there wants to deal with a real person, a person who is not going to rip them off who will help and care for them? This is what you are striving to achieve.

These five stages are not complicated, they are a logical process for you to undertake. It focuses on where you need to be and if you are not achieving the results then you need to go back to the previous stage to establish whether you need to spend some more time and money on building up that part of your strategy. It will take time to build create your footprint. By doing the above you are underpinning your future.

There is also one massive benefit that we haven’t even discussed yet and that is once you have an established data base of customers and they trust you, (because they will, because you are good), You will be able to sell them other products and services over time.

I have only outlined (because it is a massive subject) where I believe you need to be and what you need to do to be successful in this business. I am still doing it, I am making mistakes, I am learning from them, I am letting you know what I think.

I am continually looking for new ideas, you may have one, let me know, share our experiences.

Building your list

I think we’d all agree that great people are the foundation on which all successful companies are built. But, how do you find them? People are busy, people are sceptical, people are stressed out. How do you find a way for people to look close enough at the business opportunity to get involved?

One of the most valuable tools in building your business is your list of contacts. What I call your personal database. The first thing we’re going to do and what we’ll ask everyone in your organization to do is to make a list of at least 100 contacts.Why are 100 contacts important?

1. It will give you something to work on personally

2. Your organization will tend to do what you did

3. We all have the capacity to remember. If we empty our minds on paper, it helps to remember more. Your subconscious is full of people.

You’ll find that the list will continue to grow once you begin to write it down.Anyone who has not joined the business yet counts. No pre-judging. Just empty your brains on paper. Start with your existing lists. When you finish with that, a great approach is to grab any yellow pages and to just go through the categories in the front. It’s very hard to go through that without coming up with a bunch more names.

Once you get your list, here’s what you need to do. First, qualify the people. When you’re writing the people down, you’re not to pre-judge them. After you write them down it is helpful to grade them. I’m not saying we won’t contact people with a lower score. I’m saying you can use this to contact the highest scoring people first.

Here’s a basic qualification system, it consists of 5 simple questions:

1. Do they have the financial ability to join your company? If they don’t have two farthings to rub together, contact them a bit later. If they have the financial ability to join, put a star next to their name.

2. Are they ambitious? If they are, put another star by their name. After these two questions, you should have 3 categories of people on your list. The “no star” people, the “1 star” people and the “2 star” people.

3. Do they act like they want more out of life? If so, give them a star.

4. Are they dissatisfied with some aspect of their life, to the point that they would be willing to do something to change it? If so, give them a star.

5. And do they have a good self-image? If they do, give them a star.

Once you go through these 5 questions, all you have to do is start by contacting the 5 star people first, then the 4 star, then the 3 star, 2 star, 1 star and finally the no stars.

Here’s how it works? You’re going to have some number of 5 and 4 star people on your list. Those are who I would consider to be class A prospects.You’re going to present the business opportunity to them until you get one person to say yes and join you. Once that happens, what is one of the first things you’re going to do with them? Right, you’re going to have them make their own list of 100 and grade that list.

Now, how many people do you have to talk to? Your 100 and their 100 for a total of 200. Some portion of those 200 are going to be 5 and 4 star people. Working together with your new recruit, you go through their 4 stars and above until you recruit just one more. What’s one of the first things you’re going to do with that person? Get their list of 100, grade the list and then the 3 of you can work on recruiting one of their 4 stars or above.

You now have 300 people to talk to from just 2 recruits. Your 100 and their 200.This process doesn’t ever have to stop. If you recruit 10 people, there is no reason not to have 1,000 people to talk to with a solid chunk of them sitting at the 4 star and above status.

Through this process, one of the things you’ll find is you’ll work better with other people’s contacts than you will with your own, 3rd party is just more powerful than 1st party.All of this works great unless you fall down. It’s up to you to start this process on your own. It’s up to you to make it part of your recruiting process and to help your new recruits understand why it’s so important for them to do also.

It’s up to you to overcome people’s reservations about contacting people they know. Some of those reservations include a lack of belief of the company’s products or opportunity, a lack of self-esteem, a fear of losing credibility, an embarrassment from prior failures, any number of things.One of the things you must show them is why it is in their best interest to make their list of 100, grade that list and begin to contact them with a systematic approach. Not just for the results that they’re going to get from doing that, but for what will happen when everyone in their organization does the same.

What’s the formula for financial independence again?

It’s in your ability to get a large group of people to do a few simple things over a consistent period of time. By doing that, you get leverage.

So, here’s your assignment. If you haven’t built your list, start one today, grade it. And begin to expose those people to your opportunity. If you’ve been around for a while and have already done that, I’d suggest you do it again. In addition, you need to use all of your existing leadership skill to convince everyone in your organization to do the same. If you do, you’re on your way to never running out of quality prospects to talk to and that’s a great feeling.

Network Marketing

If you are already a network marketer, successful or otherwise I want you to read on and have some input into the following post.

I want to get some discussion going here because I not sure I have the answer, but I have a question for you and I know what the opportunity is.

So the question is Why do people not “get” Network Marketing?

(Why do people put the “shutters up” as soon as you mention the words, or why do people once they have joined then go on to do absolutely nothing?)

So the opportunity is; if people “got it” they would embrace it and consistently do it and as a consequence of consistently doing it they would become very successful over time and at the same time all of the network marketing companies would be a lot happier. The answer to the question I have set here is the Holy Grail; it is the answer every network marketing company is looking for. Once we have cracked it then network marketing will take off, (in the UK, see next comment).

I am going to be contentious right from the start because I am going to add three words to the question, which some people might agree with and some won’t, (tell me your thoughts).

Why do people not “get” Network Marketing in the UK?

“In the UK” sweeping statement Peter. In my limited experience on running with a world wide network it does seem that NM is far more respected outside of the UK, not only in the US but especially in the Far East and also the Eastern European countries who were up until relatively recently communist countries. Thailand is a case in point where whole families club together, sell stuff just to get together the money needed to join the business. This extra commitment then drives them to become very successful indeed; this is a fact.

These people have a burning desire to get out of their poverty trap, (brilliant). There is no fall back welfare state that is going to look after them so they are taking the initiative and taking personal responsibility in creating a new lifestyle for themselves.

So is this one of the key reason why network marketing is more accepted outside the UK, perhaps it’s a culture thing? Perhaps the UK has had the drive and passion of the individual kicked out of it. We are conservative by nature, history has given us this, we are sceptical, and some would say cynical towards anything out of the norm.

Do we look upon wealthy people in the UK with distain, because fundamentally we are jealous of them, a very British trait don’t you think? So is this a culture thing at the root of the problem.

One of the things I like most about NM is the fact that there is a company out there for everybody, no skills are necessary although I would say there is a prerequisite in that you must like talking to people and you can smile when you are doing it.

So where I am coming from is the fact that NM provides people with a brilliant five-year plan to extricate themselves from the rat race, (read my other posts on this). Find the right network marketing company that is right for you.

I know loads of people who have been successful and have achieved this. The common denominator is the fact that these people are very focused individuals. They are committed and consistently work the business every day. This business is not rocket science it is so simple.


Do we accept mediocrity too easily in the UK, do we default to the welfare state and believe we have a right to have a job. The government has to provide jobs for people?

At the same time people no longer have job security, their pensions are buggered, unemployment is getting larger by the day and there are going to be massive cut backs over the next five years just to balance the books and still the penny does not drop. What does it take?

Yes I have breezed through 200 years of the industrial revolution and have very much generalized, but are we on to it?, or at least I have given you enough information to disagree with me and for you to come up with your own solutions.

There is one statistic in that 80% of conventional businesses will go bust in 5 years so perhaps we are flogging a dead horse here. I personally don’t think we are.

This is the opening salvo on this, I want your input, I want to know what you think, if you disagree tell me, if you agree come up with some suggestions that may lead to people becoming more open minded in the first place towards this fantastic industry.

I have my own ideas on this but I want your input. As sure as night follows day NM is going to take off I absolutely guarantee this.

This is the only conundrum I have with this industry, why do people join and then do nothing? The training is first class; their upline is falling over backwards to help them. Its not the companies fault, it is the individuals or is it?…. discuss.



Come on guys get your juices going on this, it’s a fascinating debate.

Borrowing, you pay

If you borrow something from somebody at some point you are going to have to give it back. If it is a book, you read it you take it back. When you borrow £11.4 billion again you need to pay it back. Read the extract below taken from today’s Times
“Pressure for tax rises and public spending cuts has intensified as it was disclosed that the Government was forced to borrow an extra £11.4 billion to pay its bills last month, the worst October figure since records began.
Tax receipts collapsed by £4.1 billion, compared with October last year, while spending was £4.5 billion greater as the recession depressed normal sources of tax, such as corporate profits and consumer spending, and as welfare payments surged. Total public sector net debt grew to £829.7 billion by October 31, equivalent to 59.2 per cent of total national output, the highest level since 1946. That compares with £695.1 billion and 48.6 per cent a year earlier.
The extra borrowing was almost double City expectations and led to fresh doubts that Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, could keep total borrowing this fiscal year to his target of £175 billion. Economists predict a total borrowing figure for the year of up to £220 billion.
The dismal snapshot of the public finances came as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) urged the Government to come up with a credible plan for cutting the massive public debt, and cut its growth forecast for the UK economy.
It said: “The consolidation announced by the Government means that fiscal policy will be a drag on the economy from 2010 onwards. Once recovery takes hold, further consolidation is imperative as public debt, which was relatively modest before the crisis, is reaching very high levels””
So what is my point?
The above data is horrendous, my point is that to balance the books there will be in the not to distant future:
(Note here: The only reason we have not done this yet is there is a small matter of an election coming up next year and Labour wants to carry on with their fantasy economics until May).
· Massive spending cuts, with consequential massive job losses
· Wage freezes
· Tax rises
· Disposable income will be erroded
Unemployment will go above 3 million next year.
Even if the economy picks up it is going to take a decade to sort out this mess, this is the reality.
Is your job safe? Is your pension safe?
People now unlike never before need to take control of their lives. Its your life, take responsibility. Guys, you need to extricate yourself from the Matrix.

Why two networks

Following on from my previous blog I am now a self-employed business owner; I am a Network Marketing Professional, (a “none traditional” business owner, wow).

As I have informed you previously I now run two network marketing businesses. I love network marketing with a passion and I am very fortunate that I work with the most successful UK network marketing company, namely The Utility Warehouse and the fastest growing network marketing company in the rest of the world, namely Agel Enterprises. Two brilliant companies, totally different products.

I provide a choice for people, different entry levels, different products, different compensation plans, as I said the choice is yours. If you speak to me then I can help you with that choice and point you in the right direction.

I have many people in the past who have not been turned on by selling utility services so I now have an alternative company that provides wellness products, (and vice versa).

Most people have day jobs. Network marketing is the “bolt on” to the day job. You can only do one network in this scenario. I am in the position that after four years I am now doing this full time so I can now offer one of two opportunities to people, depending on what “floats their boat”.

Please read the rest of my blog, as there is some great information on this fantastic industry. If you would like to create some online discussion I would welcome it, please post your comments.

If you meet the entry requirement that I have outlined in my previous post, (fundamentally a burning desire and passion to get out of the “rat race”) then I would like you to join one of my successful teams, please ring me for more information.

0800 458 3940

Have a great day.

All the rules have changed

As I have discussed previously I have now been in network marketing for 4 years and have stated elsewhere in my blog that this was the best business decision I have ever made. The reason I say this is because for the first time in 30 years I now have control of my life. I no longer have a boss that exerts stress and pressure on me and who at the end of the day will make me redundant when he no longer requires my services, (this happened twice in those 30 years).

So can I repeat this, I have sacked my boss this time, I now have enough residual income coming in after 4 years to allow me to do what I want from my life. I want you to take that in guys. It means that before I get out of bed every month I get paid a residual income. I choose to work or not on any particular day, it’s my decision. And network marketing has allowed me to do this.

People in the UK are adverse to network marketing; the penny still has not dropped. “It’s one of those pyramid things”, (we have discussed this before so there is no need for me to go there again now).

Three things you need to join a network marketing company.
1 An open mind to join in the first place
2. A burning desire and passion to get yourself out of the rat race in 3 – 5 years.
3. Consistency, doing something every day for 3- 5 years, working hard, building your future.

Simple.

These are really fundamental issues. If you do not have an open mind you are not going to join in the first place, so ring me and we can talk about this.

If you have no burning desire you are wasting yours and my time because you will never ever be successful in this industry. This is the key everything revolves around desire. This is why the majority of people fail; it is nothing to do with the company they join. If you have an open mind and a burning desire then ring me.

If you are not prepared to work hard and be consistent again you need to find a job, network marketing is not for you.

I have found out something in the last four years in that network marketing is very well respected and established in other parts of the world and the UK lags way behind in the take up of this industry. Therefore it is up to people like me to raise to profile of this industry. Make no mistake I will predict now that network marketing is going to boom across the world in the next 5 years and it has already started. So my question when do you want to start?

The world of work has changed forever, downsizing, lay offs, income reduction, performance based pay, stress, fear, what else do you want me to say. All the rules have changed.

So if I could show you how to sack your boss in the next three to five years would you be interested. You can become part of our fast expanding team, where people will be able to help you achieve to freedom I am sure you are also looking to achieve. This is where the open mind kicks in.

Create your own destiny.

Go on do it, what have you got to lose?

Passion

Lets put business to one side for the moment and talk passion instead, it’s one of my favourite subjects.

I believe you will not achieve anything worthwhile in your business and social life unless you have passion.

So lets expand on this.

The facts are that you are not going to be on this planet for very long, a pin- prick in time. You may think three score years and ten is a long time, but in the scheme of things that is 3640 weeks or 25,480 days. How long have you got left? And the big thing you do not know (and it is a good job we don’t) is our time could be up tomorrow.

So what are you waiting for?

So I have got the bad news out of the way, lets start thinking positive now. What do you want to do with your life? Write it down on a piece of paper, (do it after you have read this post). Do not include your job on the piece of paper. This is a very serious question and requires you to think hard about it. My friends you deserve to be happy, say yes to you.

If you hate your job you need an exit strategy, do not leave it any longer.

You may be reading my posts because you are looking for something, for some inspiration maybe. So get writing, if you need to do it on your own fine, if you want to do it with your partner then do that also. You may be amazed with the outcome.

Note here: One bottle of red wine is recommended as it may help you to unlock your imagination.

As you probably realise I am passionate about my industry. People ask me what is the secret in gathering customers? The secret comes from within you, it is your burning desire, your passion, your belief, (or not). You are the only person who knows you; others may think they know you even down to the sweet you choose in a restaurant, but that’s not really true.

“If you want it enough you will do it”
or the other saying is
“If it is to be it is up to me”

I believe we are all here for a reason, (just my belief) and therefore I believe we have to leave a legacy. Using your skills to help others in my case, you will have different “drivers” in your life.

It is never too late to become the person you want to be.

Life is too short, live your passion (I said that)

I hope this helps please let me know

Charlatans

I want to come back to my Business Coach friend I referred to on my 2.11.09 post entitled Conventional vs Network Marketing business.

He was very scathing of many of the personal development top trainers (who I am not going to mention here), saying and I quote “ … et al – charlatans (mainly American, I’m embarrassed to say) who have grown rich off the hopes and aspirations of others, but who peddle mainly simplistic platitudes. Excuse me if that seems somewhat harsh, but it’s an opinion I share with many others.

His bit finished again.

A great topic for discussion, don’t you think?

So where do you want to start.
Lets start at the beginning, the Network Marketing industry was invented in the US in the late 1950s and one of the first pioneering companies was Amway (and I believe it is still the largest network marketing company). Amway was the trail blazer and on the back of their and other pioneering companies success there are now hundreds of NM companies around the world and it won’t surprise you to know that the majority are US based. Over 50 million people worldwide now work in this industry.

The US has always been the land of the entrepreneur and so Network Marketing or Multi Level Marketing (MLM) was invented to provide an opportunity for the average person to go out and make his million. Everybody who joins a NM company joins at the bottom a totally pure business model, no work no pay, plenty of work plenty of pay.

As the industry developed through the 50s 60s and 70s you would expect there would be other industries that developed alongside network marketing. Yes you guessed it, the Personal Development Industry. If you have been reading my posts you will realise that network marketing is more about you and the company you join right, (I must have mentioned this at least ten times). So two parallel industries with much cross over where successful network marketers would become personal development gurus and vice versa. Logical.

Some of these trainers (for want of a better word) became household names and in the process becoming wealthy in there own right. I can tell you now I believe these guys have done a great service to society in that they provide material for people to develop themselves. I could rant on big time on this. I am a perfect example on this one.

I was “locked in” industry for 25 years, a cocoon of unreality and company politics. When I say unreality I mean when I got out (the company went bust) I was not prepared for the “real world”. Real world is me, what do I want to do with my life? Get another job I suppose. Hang on; I didn’t answer the question “my life”.
It was only at that point when I started reading about self-development that the penny started to drop. The only person I am going to mention in this post is Tony Robbins. I was invited onto one of his personal development training courses in London and to say that it was the inspiration for me to be doing what I want with my life is an understatement. “Awaken The Giant Within,” says it all. He was absolutely brilliant.

So the punch line is, “it’s your life”, nobody else’s and the great thing about a democracy is that you have a choice. So if you want to go down the conventional business route; that is fine by me. If you want to go down the personal development route and join a network marketing company then you are also free to do so.

And do you know in network marketing you are looking for people who are better than you and your success is dependent on helping other people to be successful. In my opinion that is a wonderful work ethic.

Do not disrespect an industry you know nothing about my Business Coach friend as you don’t know what you are talking about.

Peter Ragg
3.11.09

Conventional vs Network Marketing business

Recently I have a correspondence with a business coach who shall remain anonymous. He stated the following in his weekly newspaper column.

……….“I would argue that the fundamental purpose of any business is to add value to the products or services it offers. In a bookkeeping business for example this is achieved by charging for the skills its employees possess and which the customer does not. In a manufacturing context, the design, fabrication, and assembly of components creates a product that serves the needs of the purchaser and for which he is prepared to pay. In both cases, the price charged is greater than the costs incurred – the “added value”. Providing the business controls its other costs, such as overheads, the result of the process is profit and, importantly, a return on investment – the key measure of business success.

Recently I have been prompted to consider this topic from a somewhat different perspective when confronted, with several business opportunities claiming the power to change people’s lives. Invariably, the literature focuses on acquiring wealth and, as a result, giving the newly wealthy person a freer and more fulfilled lifestyle. (He has confirmed to me that he is talking about network marketing companies here).

When I looked closer at the available information, though, I struggled to find out much about the products or services that were offered to paying customers in order to create all this wealth in the first place. In other words, the fundamental purpose of this business model seems to be making some (and I suspect only a very few) people very rich. What the customers of the products got was very unclear and, it seems largely unimportant to the promoters of the “business opportunities”.

We mustn’t be blinded to the true purpose of business by the tempting glare of wealth creation for a few. Profit should be a result of adding value, not the solitary objective”.

Right that’s his bit finished.

Where do you want me to start? There is enough copy above to inspire me to write a book on the subject.

The inference here is that network-marketing companies do not have products that add value to the customer and that the most important thing is “the tempting glare of wealth creation for a few”. I am a professional person so I am not going to swear here but I have to say that the guy must have been living in a cave for the last 20 years with no access to the outside world.

I do not have a problem with the premise that products need to have added value and benefits; I think we can all agree with that one. However I need to go back to fundamentals here so that we can compare conventional vs network marketing businesses.

Lets take a conventional business, who owns the business? A business man/woman, of course. Who gets to drive the Mercedes and have the holiday home in Spain, same answer. Who gets to retire with lots of money, (assuming they are not incompetent), yes, you got it, same answer. This is wealth creation for the few.

Who are the people who create the wealth? the workers. Do they get to drive a Mercedes and have a holiday home in Spain and retire with great assets and great wealth? Nope. Anybody would think I was a communist. Far from it, all I want to do is to create a level playing field, where everybody has an equal opportunity to succeed and to show people that there is a real alternative to the conventional route.

I think the statistic is that 80% of conventional businesses will go bust in five years, so much for conventional businesses, and what about the workers, they have got to go out and find another job, (back to square one).

I now run two network-marketing businesses, for people who want a choice.

Firstly I am an Independent Distributor for Utility Warehouse (UW). I provide your home phone, mobile phone, Internet, gas and electricity all on one monthly fully itemised bill. UW is a top 250 UK PLC voted best buy by WHICH magazine for virtually everything they provide. An average household will save between £800 - £1000 if you put all of your services with them.

94% of our own customers said that they would refer us to a friend or family; how cool is that? Do you think 94% of British Gas or BT’s customers would refer them to a friend or family?

UW was voted “PLC Company Of The Year” last year by the Financial Times and UW was the no1 share on the UK stock exchange last year. I love my customers, they are fantastic, I treat them with respect, they get benefits, they get major savings, they get me. Is that added value or what? UW will be a top 100 company within the next 5 years and guess what UW is a Network Marketing company, my friends it is a brilliant company. It has the best management team of any company I have ever known. Right that’s enough on that one, I could go on, but you get the point.

The second Network Marketing Company I have recently joined is called Agel Enterprises and again they have first to market category-creating products, yes guy’s products.

My friend who wrote the article in the paper is living in the dark ages.

I will also make a prediction here that you can come back to me in 5 years if I am wrong.

“The Internet will change everything we do, it has only been in existence for 14 years and what has been achieved so far will pale into insignificance as to what is going to happen in the next 5 years”. You ain’t seen nothing yet, people need to wake up and “smell the coffee”.

The high street will have to adapt or shut down. Corporate companies are rethinking their marketing strategies as I write this. Over 50% of advertising revenue has already gone online.

Do you think business owners like paying people great wages and pension and National Insurance contributions and sick pay and holiday pay? Nope. They will get away with what they can get away with, simple.
There are 1 million unemployed young people out there in the fast approaching 3 million unemployed; there are also 2.5 million on incapacity benefit on top of that. That is a lot of people. The world of work has changed forever and you need to realise this.

Did you also realise you are going to max out your income at 35 years old, after that you are expendable to the company. Your income will go down as you approach retirement which is no longer 65 but 66, because you are probably no longer working in the industry that you were initially trained in, some people will be doing any kind of work just to keep the income coming in. And how are you going to save up for a pension in this scenario?

In a conventional job you get an hourly rate and perhaps some overtime and you may also get a pay rise once a year or you get a salary which will include an amount of unpaid overtime and where I am sure you also feel obliged to stay late to show the boss how committed you are, to his business. My point here is that there is a ceiling to how much you can earn from a conventional job.

The great thing about NM is that there is no limit on how much you can earn.
If you are looking for extra £200 per month that can be easily achieved in a few months if you looking to achieve a very substantial income then network marketing will also be able to do that for you. Work a network marketing business hard for 5 years and you will have built up a substantial residual income.

What is wrong with a “freer and more fulfilled lifestyle”, (my friends words), Do you want to work until you drop? I don’t.

Did you know that the network marketing industry is a 130 billion dollar a year industry operating in 100 countries and involving 57 million people. All of these people cannot be wrong.

Another prediction.
“The combined annual turnover of all network marketing companies is going to triple in the next ten years”, (because we are only scratching the surface of this industry at present).

You see the Internet has created a level playing field, do you understand what I am saying? It is a fantastic opportunity for everyone, yes everyone.

So my conclusion here is safe is the new risky. People who stand still will not win out. Everybody should have a part time network-marketing job. It is going to be one of the only ways for people to secure a pension. Or perhaps you are relying on the government to look after you in your retirement. I wouldn’t bank on it.

Ring me now if you would like some further information on this fantastic industry.

Peter Ragg 2.11.09

Agel Enterprises

If I could show you a part time business opportunity that would allow you to escape the rat race within three years would you be interested?

Note, if you need any more background information on network marketing you need to read my complete blog from the beginning before you read any further and if you are then still interested please come back to this post, because it might be the five minutes that changed your life.

Network Marketing
There is a lot of folklore on network marketing and there are a lot of people who have dabbled with it in the past who think they understand the business, (but they failed). Quite frankly this is unimportant to me because we are going to do it professionally and properly.

I am looking for the following people to join our team which we have called teamEAGLE:

We are looking for dynamic, passionate, focussed, self motivated, outgoing people who are prepared to get out of their comfort zones to build a massive business with us. If you are none of these then I do not recommend network marketing to you. If you are some of these or all of these that is great because we can then give you the skill sets to go to the top in this industry.

You know whether you fit these criteria. If you do then what are you waiting for? You need to be planning to get out of the rat race, so please read on.

I have been working successfully in the network marketing industry for four years and have a good knowledge of how the industry works and what you need to do to be successful in it. I have been looking for an additional network marketing “string to my bow” for the last 12 months. Why two you ask? Because I absolutely love this industry and I want to maximise my income over the next three years and then retire, this is fact, (only network marketing allows you to do this as there is no ceiling to what you can earn).

I have found the company I have been looking for. I have joined Agel Enterprises two months ago and I have done the due diligence, it is brilliant, (You need to check it out for yourselves, don’t just take my word for it). Agel have first to market, category-creating products, they have been operating for four years and has only been in the UK for three years. The compensation plan is the best I have ever seen, the potential is unbelievable. It is a three-year plan to get out of the rat race. I will tell you now my personal target for this business is £10,000 per month within three years. I am also obliged to tell you that you cannot guarantee incomes in this industry because your income will be based on the effort you put in.

I have created a mastermind team to drive this business forward and have facilitated for the infrastructure that will propel out team to the top. The best bit is, that other than the fantastic products, the best compensation plan of any network marketing company, Agel is a global company. Agel launched in 12 countries, it is now in 55 countries after only four years. And guess what, this is therefore a 24 hour business, when you sleep there will be someone in another part of the world who has just got up and their plan for the day is to sign up a new exec in your downline, how good is that?

For more information go to the team website at www.agelphenomenon.org
then ring me on 0800 458 3940

We are looking for people who are looking for this type of opportunity and get it straight away.

Peter Ragg
Network Marketing Professional

“We have a better way”

What attracted me to Network Marketing.

There are three key things that attracted me to the industry they were:

1. Becoming your own boss. I have worked in very senior positions within Pharmaceutical Companies for over 20 years, the usual stress and politics, but was very well paid so it was worth it, (so I thought). However I was made redundant twice and the last company I worked for went bust 5 years ago. My pension, which I had paid into for 27 years, was a mess. After only four years in this industry I earn 4 times more in one month than my pension pays me per month. And my residual income is totally willable to the next generation.

2. Personal Development. NM is a lifestyle industry, it is about personal development, it is about time freedom and and financial independence. It is not about the company you join (although very important), it is about you. I mentor my team; I help people be successful in this industry and as you know the more my team are successful the more I am successful.

3. Freedom. Once you have got the "money thing" sorted out it then gives you total freedom to do what you want with the rest of your life and I believe for most people that is about putting something back in life, which is exactly what I intend to do. At our team training day last week I told the rest of the group that I would be working one day a week for a charity by Christmas.

Network marketing is a fantastic industry and it really is an ideal "bolt on" for people. It is going to be one of the only ways to secure a pension for people. I read all these Sunday newspaper articles about pensions and where to invest you money etc, stacks of them. What the writers don't face up to is that people do not have an income to invest. There is a complete absence of articles on how to create wealth. The statistic that you will find elsewhere in my blog is that 45% of 41 - 60 year olds are not paying into a pension, how scary is that. People are in denial in this country on pensions. It is a fact that most people are going to live in poverty in retirement in this country. In Network Marketing we have an answer.

The High Street as we know it is now under great stress due to the internet and other factors and one of the consequences will be that network marketing is going to absolutely boom in the next five years I guarantee it. It is already a 130$ billion dollar a year industry.

21st century Network Marketing is as I have said before is all about personal development and giving people the skill sets to be successful.

If you want a retirement income in five years you have come to the right place. By joining Team Eagle we will show you how to be successful in this industry. Check out my website and call me for an informal chat on Freephone 0800 4583940

Why Network Marketing? by Donald Trump

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’s up to you to do the marketing and advertising.

That’s a big job, but it can be done if you’re passionate enough to get going on your own, and to keep the momentum and motivation going at a high level. It requires an entrepreneurial spirit, and that means focus and perseverance. I don’t recommend network marketing to people who are not highly self-motivated.

Another important aspect of network marketing is that it’s inherently social, so if you’re 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 is unequally fantastic. Also keep in mind that if you decide to become a distributor, you’ll 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 agree that leadership qualities are 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, there are tangibles and the 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’re testing a new product they go to different locations and simply ask everyday people what they like and don’t like about new product. It’s best if you can keep the focus group idea close at hand when deciding about a product. Just because you like it doesn’t mean everybody else will. Finding a common denominator in product appeal will matter.

My advice about network marketing is to do your research, and put everything you’ve got into your product. Genuine enthusiasm is hard to beat, and the odds will be with you.

Robert Kiyosaki & Donald Trump

Why we recommend Network Marketing.
By Robert Kiyosaki and Donald Trump

E B
S I

E- stands for employee
S- stands for small business-person, self-employed or specialist
B- stands for big-business owners such as Donald Trump
I- stands for investor

Robert says that, when I first heard about Network Marketing, I was against it. But after opening my mind, I began to see the 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 are in the E or S quadrants 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.

Where can 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 companies.

Network Marketing is a B-quadrant business, 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 me, ready to come out?” If the answer is yes, start looking for a network marketing business that has a great training program. I will 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:
1. Leverage: Can I train other people to work for me?
2. Control: Do I have a protected system that belongs to me?
3. Creativity: Will the business allow me to be creative, and develop my own personal style and talents?
4. Expandability: Can my business grow indefinitely?
5. 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?

teamEAGLE Academy

teamEAGLE Academy

Network Marketing is a simple business; it has to be because it has to be duplicatable. There are going to be two pillars that will underpin your success:

Finding the right Network Marketing Company to join.
Realising that your personal development is going to be more important than the company you join and to this end that you receive the necessary skill-sets to be successful.

As I have said before the company you join is only the vehicle to achieve the goals…. that you have set for yourself; this is fundamental.

Your success is going to be primarily based on your commitment to focus on your personal development before you focus on your team….

Our philosophy is simple… if we provide you with the correct starting position for you to get up and running with your business… as soon as possible; there is absolutely no reason why you should ever want to give up this business. It is also our responsibility to the Network Marketing industry that we treat all team members with respect and to work with them.

As business professionals we believe you would expect us to provide you with the required “tools” to do the job. To this end the Team Eagle Academy has put together a “Getting Started” and “Mentoring” programme to get you in the right mind set to be successful and then making sure that you stay on track.

This is a professional business-training program and the areas being covered will include:
How to get started
Planning
Building lists
Time management
Goal setting
Taking Massive Action
Review
Mentoring
Reading Materials

We want all or team to be successful.

I am looking for business professionals who are looking for additional income streams and could build a team network. If you are interested in finding out more about this exciting opportunity please email info@peterragg.net or call me, Peter Ragg on 0800 458 3940

Are you ready to join?

Imagine the life you could have if you got the money thing out of the way enjoying the finer things in life. Travelling to exotic destinations, moving to your dream house, where you have the schools of you choice and driving your dream car. Spending quality time with the people who add quality to your life. Doing work with meaning, building your wealth as you help others reach their dreams as well.

Discover a business that can give you a great income and a dream lifestyle and a chance to help other people do the same, (isn’t that the dream for all of us).

If you had a business that could help people escape the rat race, how lucrative would that be for you?

I believe people are now looking for different things in life.

“People have had enough they are no longer content with the uncertainties of their lives, they are taking control of their lives; they want lifestyle with financial and time freedom”.

What are your dreams?

This is what Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad, (I can highly recommend the book) says about Network Marketing . He is one of the world’s leading Gurus on Wealth Development.

“Network Marketing gives people the opportunity, with very low risk and very low financial commitment, to build their own income-generating asset and acquire great wealth."

He is saying that Networking is the future.

All you have to do is to look at what is now happening on the high street combined with the Internet revolution and you can see why NM is going to boom. High street overheads have become too high, margins have been eroded, employing people is too expensive. The reason this has all changed is because you can now go online to shop and this has fundamentally revolutionised the market place and is causing corporate companies to radically rethink their marketing strategies. I believe many more products are going to sold via NM companies in the future. We are currently scratching the surface with this industry.

Here are a few more reasons why you should consider a Network Marketing business!

The moment you join a Network Marketing company you become a business owner. It is your business, make it a family business if you want to.

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Full training is available within the team so that you get the required skill sets to be successful.

We will mentor you to success. This business is about duplication.

You will be forced to stretch yourself, in that this business is also about personal development, you are going to enjoy the journey working with other people.

You can create passive income in time

You may make a new circle of friends

You don’t have to retire

You get to help other people become successful, because the more they become successful the more you become successful.

It is less expensive to get into than many other businesses.

There are two great things about Network Marketing, one is you get paid every month for doing something once. It’s like Paul McCartney who wrote a few good songs 40 years ago and still gets paid ever time one of his records gets played on radio or someone buys a download or CD.

When you are working in the industry this is called residual income. Your aim is to create a team over time where your team can manage without you and you become superfluous to the business, ie the business will carry on growing without you. That is what is called passive income or as I would say serious beach time.

The other great thing is there is no limit on how much you can earn. In a conventional job you get an hourly rate and perhaps some overtime and you may also get a pay rise once a year or you get a salary which will include an amount of unpaid overtime and where I am sure you also feel obliged to stay late to show the boss how committed you are, to his business. We have all done that. My point here is there is a ceiling on how much you can earn.

With NM, if you are looking for extra £200 per month we can do that for you. If you looking to achieve a very substantial income then NM will also be able to do that for you.

We have a better way

More gloom.

1. The ratio between people looking for work and job vacancies is growing very fast. The recorded ratio in the US is 6 to 1; it is thought to be significantly higher than this.

2. Unemployment in the UK will go above 3,000,000 next year

3. The number of graduates on the dole is a record high.

4. Student debt is growing massively every year.

As I have said before the world of work has change forever. This is a permanent change. You need to smell the coffee and take control of your future, now.

People in the UK are very slow to realise this. What do you want guys reality or fantasy. People are so paralysed by fear, yet they won’t open their eyes and minds to a different way. That inside Network Marketing there is a better way.

The government doesn’t give a dam about you. They want you to work until you are 70 and then drop dead asap. Why, because they cannot afford to keep you in your old age.

So if we are going to change our lives we need to find the better way, would you not agree?

I have ranted on long enough in my blogs, you get my message I am sure and if you are still reading them now we need to be helping you to engage with an opportunity that is going to get you out of the rat race, because like me you are looking to take control of you life.

Network Marketing has a better way and we are going to show you that way.

It's all about you

So this business is about you, your dreams, your life, your family, your team. People buy you, they want to be part of your team. It is your five year plan for the rest of your life. This is the essence of Network Marketing. If you can understand that, grasp the concept, see the vision then you will be successful. So I also say do not let the dreamstealers take it away for you.
So have you got what it takes?

I am going to point out here that there is a fact of life called the 80 -20 rule.
For your information this is sometimes called “the Pareto principle” and states that for many phenomena, 80% of the consequences stem from 20% of the causes. It was named after the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who observed that 80% of income in Italy was received by 20% of the Italian population.

Such a statement is testable, is likely to be approximately correct, and may be helpful in decision making. Richard Koch has written extensively on how to apply the principle in all walks of life.
So guys what this means is that 80% of the people who join a NM company will not do the business. So the question is, are you part of the 20% or are part of the 80%?

Why do people give up?

In my opinion people are settling back into the old routines and comfort zones. I would be nice to do if only……. Only what, more time. Everybody has the same amount of time there are 24 hours in a day there are 60 seconds in a minute. I don’t buy that one. The dreamstealers have won.

If you want it enough, you will do it.

If it is to be it is up to me

It’s your life

I am not you responsible for your success and I am not responsible for your failure. You are.

Becoming a Network Marketing Professional

When people ask me “what do I do”, I say I am a Network Marketing Professional

When you say to someone you are a Network Marketing Professional (NMP) you are telling them something that they were probably not expecting. I am a NMP is telling them you are proud of your business. The other guy has been thrown already because in his mind NM equates to Pyramid selling and here is somebody who is upfront about it. And when you say professional, it is telling them that you are serious and are probably in it for the long run.

Note here, please check out blog 4 which explains the difference between Network Marketing and pyramid selling.

Wow! We have put a lot of insecurities to bed by telling people we are a NMP. I am now proud to call myself a NMP. And remember when you say Network Marketing you are mentioning that word that keeps coming up in the press. And then they may ask you “what’s it all about”.

I believe by calling yourself a NMP changes your mindset to a business professional. As the name infers Network Marketing Professional, everything is in the name. We are fundamentally Networking to gain business, that is what we are creating here is our network. We are engaging and communicating with people, through as many means as necessary. Once we have a network we can then do the Marketing bit. The marketing bit is giving people information about you and your services, the business opportunity and what sets you apart from the competition. The Professional bit is that people can rely on you, they can trust you and that you are there to help them anytime they need you.

Network Marketing is the future, it will boom, I guarantee this, so you need to understand this business. The reason I am so sure about this is because once you have grasped how residual income works and the “light bulb” goes on, you will see it as the only way to build yourself a retirement income. With the Utility Warehouse you get paid every single month on your customers utility bills. You do the job once, you get paid forever (as long as the customers stays with the company), how good is that? Songwriters get paid a royalty every time their record gets played on radio, songs that were written 30 years ago, same principle.

I believe this business is about financial independence and time freedom. To create a lifestyle for you and your family. So when I talk to people about NM I talk to them about lifestyle. I ask them what do you want to achieve in your life? What were your dreams when you started out? It is never too late to start.

Don’t listen to the dream stealers; take control of your life.

Network Marketing is about a lot of people each doing a little bit. If the time is now right for you to join this business I need you to phone me to discuss you joining my team and in time you to will also become a Network Marketing Professional.

My question to you therefore is, “Are you ready to become a Network Marketing Professional”?

Telephone now on: 0800 458 3940

Network Marketing, what are you waiting for?

Can I come back to pensions again, because it quite frankly does my head in. As I have mentioned before pensions in this country are a complete scandal, (beyond belief, staggering, shocking), why do we put up with it?

Is the government going to look after you in your retirement, what do you think?

There is a better question here and that is what will the government retirement age be in a few years time 67, 68, 70, 75, 80. ?

You are not concerned that the government is going to scrap the retirement age because they do not have the resources to pay pensions in the future or if they can it will be an utterly derisory amount, because you have made an adequate pension provision for yourself and your family. I hope you truly are OK but I can tell you I have hardly met a single person who has made adequate pension provision and for those who thought they had, it had been screwed in the stock market downturn.

I believe people want freedom, they want to enjoy life, they want safety, they want to protect their families and want to feel like they are contributing. How are they going to do that when people are being treated with utter contempt by governments and employers?

The world of work has changed forever and we need to get use to the idea. People in future will have frequent job changes, their salaries will max out when they are between 35 – 40 years old depending on how well they do. From then on their income will fall as they try to hold on to employment, remember there will be no age limit on retirement you will end up in B&Q aged 85 sweeping the floors, also in this scenario it will be impossible to save up for any significant pension pot.

So here is the killer guys, start a NM business, work it for 10 years and have an income of £10K (depending on your efforts) per month, yes guys per month, (even if it was £5K per month after 10 years that would be fine for most people), which keeps on going up for the rest of your life, Job done.

Your NM business is your pension. When you look at it like that it is so simple. I predict NM is going to boom from now on in. Hundreds of thousands of people are going to join this industry over the next five years and you probably only need 4 or 5 superstars in your downlines for you to be very successful in this type of business. That is all, how brilliant is that?

I also predict that many more professional people will be joining network marketing businesses in the future. They will see the business model and will run with it. They will invest in making themselves successful, you want these people in your business. This essence of this business as you are aware is that you have a lot of people, each doing a little bit.

This is your pension.

Network Marketing is a business

Can I be frank, if you know me that is what I do most of the time.

Network Marketing is not for the faint hearted is requires you to work the business hard, just like any other business. The problem (and brilliant opportunity) with this business is that the entry fee or start up is very low with some companies charging as little as a £100 to join.

When I say problem what I mean is that at £100 or £200 people do not give the opportunity the justice it deserves and will “play with it” as I call it. They test it out on friends and family, get a bit of rejection and “park it”, it’s not for them, the company products were not good enough, (some companies will even give them their money back if they do not like it). Little do they realise it was not the company but their attitude towards the opportunity in the first place. This scenario is very common indeed and this gives our industry the poor reputation in that it has high failure rates.

Perhaps the NM companies should charge say £10,000 for the “franchise” that way you would get serious people who would treat it like a business. I could discuss this all day, however it would not get us anywhere as that is not the case.

So the answer here is that we pay £200 for the franchise, but treat it as if we paid £20,000 and therefore have a £20,000 mentality to it. And then put a business plan in place to work the business part time for the next five years. If you do that you will be successful in my opinion.

So in four short lines I have told you how you need to operate to be successful, this is not a complicated business. What you also need to do is to have an upline mentor who will work with you to ensure you are on the right track. I work closely with my team ensuring they get the best advice and help.

The brilliant opportunity is that for as little as £100 you become a business owner and if you treat it like a business as I say many times, you will over a five year time frame will have built up a significant residual income, and here is the best bit, which will continue to grow and is totally yours. So you can tell your day job boss that you no longer need to work for them, because you are now earning far more from your part time than you do from your day job.

If you join my team I will help you become a Network Marketing professional.

Are you re-visiting Network Marketing?

The scenario goes something like this.

You have had your fingers burnt in the past, company went bust, your upline gave you no support, the products did not sell and everybody you spoke to was not interested, including your partner.

But fundamentally you had brought into the concept of residual income being a great way of earning money and that possibly it was a way of giving you a level of financial income that would pay off the mortgage, maybe.

The reason then you may be reading this blog is that you are checking it out again and maybe if you could find the right company and an upline that would help you, you might again be interested. Please read on.

Network Marketing has evolved rapidly in the UK over the last ten years, however it has never had a high profile unlike some other parts of the world. This is partly due to the conservative (negative) attitude to this business in the UK.

In Network Marketing you are buying into a lifestyle opportunity, which takes some people a long time to realise that they could actually break out of their routine existence and take control of their lives. The British have been conditioned for routine and mediocrity and to look disdainfully at successful people. (If you don’t agree with that, comment on my blog please.)

As I have said in my previous blogs “the times they are a changing” and it is the responsibility of people like me to promote the very positive side of this industry and to attract a new generation of people who want to take control of their lives and create a lifestyle for themselves and their families where they do not have to worry about the stock market and the size of their pension pot.

What you are looking for is two things; one is the right company and secondly to be a successful team and upline.

The industry has now got its act together, gone are the days when it was a numbers game, recruit enough people and some would be OK, that is not the way to do it. Training is now the priority; it is all about 100% confidence giving everybody the chance to be successful. Your upline is responsible for you being successful.

What determines whether you are successful however is not necessarily the company and its products, it is fundamentally about your inner belief / drive / commitment / passion. If you have this then I will work with you to provide you with the necessary skill sets and mentoring to be successful in this business. If I can give you that then you will be successful. There are now a large number of very successful Network Marketing professionals in this country and it is my aim is to work with you to give you the best opportunity possible to be successful and for you to become a Network Marketing Professional in your own right.

Those skill sets will also include embracing all the various technologies including maximising your presence on the internet and being able to attract people to your sites.

How much is your pension worth?

Have you watched the Panorama program entitled “Who will save the savers” yet? You can still check it out on bbc iplayer.

Comments made include:

Average pension pot is £25,000 paying £1800 per year, (that is astonishing and frightening at the same time)
Government has let us down, people feel aggrieved and betrayed
Government does not know what it is doing on pensions
People having to work until they are 70 -75
We are heading for a disaster if we do not get a grip, what are we going to live on?
Share prices down 30%, could take decades for the markets to recover, (if they do)
Spain property prices down 40%
UK property prices down 20%
91% of final salary pensions in the private sector are now showing a deficit.
Public disorder could happen

Observations
I hadn’t realised that the pension situation was a bad as it obviously is. We all want to live to a ripe old age, but it is looking like the majority of people are going to live in poverty.

People need to review their pension pots urgently in light of the recent stock market and banking turmoil and ask themselves four questions.
What sort of lifestyle do I want (deserve) when I retire?
What date am I going to retire?
Will my pension give me that lifestyle?
And if not what am I going to do about it?

What is my point here?

My point is that there is another business opportunity out there that will give you the security you are looking for. Network Marketing will pay you a residual income every single month and your income is willable in full to the next generation so that your children can carry on earning the ever-increasing income for years to come. How fantastic is that?

There are record numbers of people who are now joining this business, why?

Because they have had enough of the system, (because it clearly doesn’t work) and they more than anything want to take control of their lives.

Have you got what it takes?

Network Marketing is not a job in the strictest sense of the word, because the way it pays you is different from the normal. You get paid on your efforts and your results. So the opposite is therefore true, no effort no results, no pay. Lots of people in hourly paid work can get away with not doing a lot and still get paid. That doesn’t work with NM.

As I said in blog 3 what you are doing is “Creating a life for yourself where you take personal control and responsibility”

Can you do this business, seriously, can you?

This is the key to you being successful, because the one thing you have to have to do this business is belief in yourself. If you have this then you will achieve your goals for your life. Because when you believe you will focus on your goals. This is why so many people fail in this business. It is not the products or services necessarily it is their commitment.

Belief = Commitment + Focus

Another issue with NM is that people will do it part time, a “bolt on” to the day job and therefore it is very easy to get blown off course and also the compensation plan will not reward you in the early days, (remember it is an exponential curve). So in the early days you will not earn as much as you thought you would. This can be difficult to explain to the “other half” and is another major reason why people fall off. However having said that once the curve starts to really bend you will earn a lot more than you thought were going to earn. So what is five years in the scheme of things, if you believe in the company and you believe in its products and services?

Look at it like this, in the early years you are putting down a foundation built on rock, (we will come back to this later). You are not going to earn a life changing income for 2-3 years maybe, (some people will blitz it in 18 months but I am talking about most people here). But as long as you keep doing it you will be successful. I say to people do as many hours as you can, because the more hours you do the quicker you will achieve the goals you have set for yourself, (obviously) and I also say, never give up.

The problem for many people is that they are looking for quantum leaps, get rich quick schemes, they don't happen guys. I think five years in the course of your life is a pretty quick time period if you think about it. No plan, no success is also the reality, what is your plan B?

Network marketing is the ideal vehicle for people who seriously want to take charge of their lives and are ready to do it. If the “light goes on” you are there. There is nothing stopping you.

Network Marketing and Pyramid Selling

Did you know that NM is a 120 billion $ industry operating in 100 countries and involving 67 million people. All those people cannot be wrong.

The definition of Network Marketing

“Network Marketing is the dominant form of Direct Sales where there are two opportunities; the first is the Direct Sales income opportunity to build a customer base. The other is a business opportunity to develop a Marketing Network from which you will earn commissions on the sales of multiple levels of Networkers. This is why it used to be called Multi-Level Marketing, or MLM”.

The excitement of Network Marketing is that with a minimal investment there is the possibility to create an enormous and residual income. The flexibility of the opportunity allows for incomes from a few hundred pounds to many thousands of pounds (and even millions are possible) from the same basic Network Leadership franchise concept.

What I want to do now before we move forward is to nail the bane of our lives The Pyramid, save to say it has proven to be the most resilient structure ever to be built by man, (ironic).

People bracket NM and Pyramid selling as one and the same, questioning whether it is legal or not. We are plagued by this phantom beast called “Pyramid Selling”. It is the tool used by sceptical and uninspiring pessimists to attack less confident distributors. As I have also explained people do not know what they are talking about when they ask is it a pyramid?

The facts are:
· The term Pyramid Selling is coined when the majority of income for the company is made from the money people invest when they join, rather than from product sales. Companies that employ this Strategy are no more than recruiting schemes where for every winner there is a loser. Customers are the only people who can introduce profit into a business and make it legitimate.

· Franchising was originally called Pyramid Selling because companies made their money based on people joining rather than customer sales so many people failed, losing their investment in the process. The British Franchise Association was created primarily to try to disassociate reputable franchisors from pyramid selling operations which had proliferated in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s.

So you can see that Pyramid selling came out of the franchising industry and not the direct selling industry. See you didn’t know that and neither does anybody else. So when the next person says is it a pyramid ask, “Please tell me what you understand is pyramid selling and then please tell me how that relates to Network marketing”?

A pyramid scheme is simple to detect. You do this by looking at the product and by asking yourself whether it offers real value and excitement to a set customer target market? If it does not and customer sales are unlikely then the scheme will eventually be totally focussed on recruiting people and is, therefore, a pyramid.

Misconceptions

I just want to expand on yesterday’s blog where I said that “There is something going on that has to be put right” in that we need to sort out the image for NM.

Two more people asked me yesterday. “Is it a pyramid” I might as well left the room at that point because I could virtually see the shutters coming down. I asked one of them, (a professional mortgage broker working for a bank) “Please tell me what you understand is pyramid selling and then please tell me how that relates to Network Marketing”. Reasonable question don’t you think? Guess what he said. “I don’t really know to be truthful”.

That my friends sums it up. If a professional mortgage broker hasn’t even got an inkling then we have a credibility problem caused by misconceptions and misinformation. I have always known this, but this just reaffirms my perceptions. So what are we going to do about it?

Firstly lets discuss another strand at this point, Careers and Jobs, as this puts NW into the picture, I will come back to what we are going to do about it later.

Would you not agree that the career landscape has changed forever? Its scary out there, lay offs across the board, very challenging for everybody. There is no such thing as job security any more, (we have known about that for a long time). This is now reality, it’s happening all around us every day. Annual pay rises will no longer be a given, any bonuses will be based solely on performance. Companies are using the credit crunch to cut out any “dead wood”, impose wage freezes and short time working. If you want to keep your job you will have to take a wage cut.

I could go on but what is the point, if you do not believe this yet wait and see what happens, the recession has only just begun. The stress and anxiety levels within the working population over the next few years is going to be enormous.

That is my quick take on what is going on out there, I am sure there are people who would argue with aspects of what I am saying, but no one can argue with the fact that we are living in very challenging times.

In Network Marketing we have an alternative career path.

Because of the state of the economy people are now “open to looking” and we therefore need to get the message across that NM is indeed is an opportunity you need to explore.

NM is also performance based strangely enough, you perform you get paid. But fundamentally what you are doing is “Creating a life for yourself where you take personal control and responsibility” You are your own boss.

So there are three strands we are going to pursue.
· Re-educating Jo Public on NW
· Re-educating Yourself, the skill sets to be successful
· Educating you on how to go about finding the right company.

As I said it is education, education, education.

Good Press Bad Press, straight talking

What is it with NM; people have this fear, concern or downright aversion to it. You must agree it has a stigma attached to it. Having said that I have met very few members of the public who knows what they are talking about when it comes to Network Marketing. There is nothing funnier than listening to someone who thinks they know what they are talking about when they have obviously done zero research on the subject. It’s pretty sad don’t you think? If I had a pound for every time someone asked, “is it a pyramid”? I would be rich by now. And I am not even going there.

There is something going on that has to be put right.

There is nothing wrong with Network Marketing, in fact in my opinion and in many other peoples opinions it is an excellent opportunity for people who would like to earn extra income and lets say it also, if you want to get filthy stinking rich it can also provide that for you as well, your choice. Even the likes of Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki (Rich Dad Poor Dad fame) are now extolling the virtues of NM as a business opportunity for people.

But there is a problem and that is that most people do not know this. So it’s all about education, education, education, (I think someone else said that first). What people like me have to do is to give you the information so that you can make a valued choice yourself as to whether you want to pursue an NM career.

Fundamentally when people are shown this business they have to be made aware that they are going to be the key element as to whether they are going to be a success. It does not matter how good the NM company is or how good the products are, or how good the training is, if you are not going to work the business then you will not succeed.

Whether you are a success or not is nothing to do with Network Marketing.

With conventional businesses I think the statistic is that 80% of new businesses will go bust within three years. So do we talk about that statistic in the same light as NW, no we don’t. The reason conventional businesses go bust is because it was the wrong type of business in the wrong place at the wrong time. The reason why people are not successful in Network Marketing is exactly the same.

So it is about personal education, making sure you have the right skill sets for you to succeed and making sure that you are joining the right company at the right time with the right products.

Network Marketing

Network Marketing

What is going on in the market place?

Background

Consumers are now choosing to save rather than spend, and retailers are cutting back on inventory, not just in anticipation of weaker sales but to conserve cash flow for survival. Governments around the world are printing money and pumping millions or trillions into their economies in a bid to kick-start their battered industries.

However as you realise the damage has already been done and we will have to wait to see how it will play out. We are certainly in a period of economic weakness lasting between 2 and 4 years, depending who you are listening to at the time. Where is the bottom to the housing and stock markets? The recessionary cycle has only just begun, and business will almost certainly get worse before it gets better. My take on this is that it will last between 3 and 4 years. One inevitable outcome will be a very large rise in unemployment whichever country you are looking at. Thriftiness is now becoming the new badge of honour.

So where does that leave the Network Marketing business model. The weakened economic environment will clearly have an impact. According to DSA data from the US it appears that the most severe impact on US sales trends has been in the party-plan model, where more discretionary products are generally sold. In the traditional person-to-person side of direct selling, there has also been economic impact on sales trends, but for some, particularly in the nutritional-products segment, sales have held up relatively well to date.

The downturn is offset some what by improved recruiting due to people looking for secondary income streams to bolster there main income. Many workers have been put on reduced hours and have taken a consequential pay cut. These people are looking for additional income streams and many have as much as 10 hours a week or more available for a part time business opportunity.

My background is that I have been made redundant twice and companies have gone bust on me twice in the course of the last 20 years. Enough is enough I told myself; never again will I work for a company where at the end of the day I am expendable, anytime. I also worked in manufacturing which has taken a particular hit in the UK in the last 20 years and I would also be deluding myself if I thought I would fall into another senior position, it just doesn’t happen any more. I had my personal reality check and decided to become my own boss; that was 5 years ago.

Becoming your own boss will be the no:1 aim for many more people in the future. Like me many people have had enough, they want to control and manage their own futures. I opened my eyes and my mind to what types of opportunities were available to me and that was when I discovered the Network Marketing business concept. My “light bulb” moment.

The right business at the right time.

If you are going to be your own boss then you need to get it right first time, (you have all heard that before). Your key to your Network Marketing future is finding the right company to be running with, ie the right business at the right time.