They Make It Easy To Join For A Reason -

It seems like everyone wants to have a side-hustle. With today’s economy that seems logical. Wages are lower than they should be. Everything costs more. Extra income isn’t just a wish anymore it has become a necessity.

The problem then becomes, if money is tight, how do we get our business started? Also, what type of business should it be?

Should you create your own product? Maybe write and sell eBooks on Amazon? Or, how about creating a course to teach folks how to do a particular skill?

If you have that kind of skill…great! Then it becomes just a matter of setting up a website, an eCommerce account, a CRM site, a fulfillment platform. And then you’ll need some Creatives to advertise. You’ll need some type of Call Center to handle questions and you’ll also need a way to offer Refund for the few people who changed their mind.

Remember, you wanted this business because you need extra money to pay the bills. What I just described would run you around $5,000.00 to get set up. That expense will come before you earn your first dollar.

Now let’s look at Affiliate Marketing. Everything is already done for you. The Website, Customer Service, eCommerce, Shipping, Returns, Creatives and Products are there and ready to go!

All you need to do is signup and start advertising the link they gave you. Cool…you’re in business. Now what?

It will soon become apparent that selling a few little bottles of something won’t really generate a lot of income. For example, if you sell a $40 bottle of pills and your commission is 15% you’ll make $6. Okay. You’d need to sell 100 of those bottles in order to earn $600 for the month. That’s approximately $150 per week which would mean you’d need to sell 25 bottles each week or 5 per day if you worked a 5-day week.

Is $600 extra per month enough? Can you sell 5 bottles per day? Did you happen to check and see if Target, Amazon, or Walmart sell the same or similar items…usually for less?

You can’t compete with their AD Budget!

Of course, you can recruit people to work in business with you but they will face the exact same problems you’ve experienced. It’s no wonder 97% of people drop out of networking. It’s a huge uphill climb. At the end of a year if you enrolled 100 people into your Team, you’d end up with 3 still producing commissions and trying to build their own businesses!

So, if you’re making 15% yourself, typically you might be making 4% on your next level team members. Your $600 commission for your own sales plus your 4% on their volume.

Do you see the main issue here?

The main problem with all this is: Neither you nor anyone on your down-line is probably going to sell 100 little bottles of anything! It’s just not going to happen.

For one thing there is too much competition. Everyone is trying to sell little bottles of pills or oils or lotions. The only reason anyone is talking to anyone else nowadays is they're either trying to sell you something or they are trying to have you join them in their business so you can sell their stuff!

The only people selling a lot of product are the few that already had a big following and they brought them all into your business opportunity to begin with! Hardly anyone builds a business up from scratch anymore. The system is stacked against you. Don’t believe me?

Go out and try to find someone that has never heard of mlm or network marketing before! Heck, it’s hard to find someone that hasn’t been in network marketing!

Now, while looking for that person, find someone that has ever been successful in network marketing. They are few and far between.

Do you know who really, really makes the money in network marketing? The owners. They rake in all that enrollment fee and/or monthly ‘administrative fees’ and they profit on every little bottle that leaves the warehouse! They don't care if you're a success. They care only about Volume!

And no…I’m not suggesting you become an owner. What I’m suggesting is, you should find an Affiliate Program that doesn’t have Products! Huh? Yep! This will automatically eliminate 90% of all the issues we just mentioned.

So instead of selling products, find a business that offers Services! If you’ve read this post this far you’re still on my Blog Page at Living Beyond 9 To 5. If you look to the right on this page, you will see at least two Service Oriented Offers. They also happen to be our Top Income Producers.

Just saying…:-)

All the best,

Donald

 

The First Choice Means Everything -

Our thinking about what business (s) to finally settle on were shaped by our over 20 years of being self-employed.

These decisions were also shaped by our failures. By being misled by ‘gurus’ touting the ‘next best thing’ and by our inexperience when first starting out.

In the beginning we had setbacks. We lost money. We wasted money due to our gullibility. We got discouraged and came close to quitting a few times too.

We were even lied to. Cheated by scam artists. Ignored by sponsors and conned by some well-known, so called ‘legends’ in the networking arena.

Oh well…

I mention this to show you why we have the business we have today. Why it is successful and why we hope you gain some insight into what you do to grow a successful enterprise for yourself.

We learned that instead of dwelling on our failures we should learn from them and try our best not to repeat the same mistakes again.

“A Set Back is Just a Set Up for A Comeback!”  I heard Bishop T. D. Jakes say that a couple of years ago and it has help me maintain a very positive attitude when times get tough.

So, after all the starts and stops and starts again…here is our what became of our criteria for what we should look for to have a successful business that we could count on.

Our goal was to create lifetime, monthly residual income.

Here’s our checklist:

1.    The business had to be low-cost. (After all, we were about broke after years of failure)

2.    It had to have little to no competition. (You can’t compete if Walmart and Costco are selling similar, less expensive items)

3.    Our business needed to have an exceptional pay plan with no breakaway clause. (We once enrolled 423 people in one month only to receive a $68.00 commission. Talk about frustration)

4.    The company and/or owners must have a lot of experience running other successful businesses and they must have an impeccable reputation.

5.    Finally, there must be pro-active, weekly training and access to an interested and caring customer service department.

That’s it. That’s what we looked for when getting started the final time. I say final time because this short checklist is the key to our have success and it’s the reason, we are earning every week.

I hope this helps you. If you’d like to talk with us our contact info is below. By the way, we are strong believers in Incentive Marketing. People that partner with us get a little ‘extra’ for joining. (just saying) ☺

All the best…

Donald

 

Things To Look For When Becoming An Affiliate -

All of us have fallen for a few get rich quick programs. It seems at times that that is all anyone promotes.

Anyway, you can save yourself some frustration by following a few simple guidelines.

1.    Who is running the show? In other words, who owns the company? What’s his experience? Has he had any success online or with networking? Does he have any negative items in his background? What does Google say about him and about the company you’re looking at. Ask on Facebook if anyone knows anything about the company.

2.    How long has this company been in business? If it’s a startup statistically it has a high risk of folding within a couple of years. Whereas, an established business, over 5 years in operation, is a safer bet.

3.    Do they manufacture their own products? A company that does not do its own manufacturing is at the mercy of their suppliers. They have little control over the quality of the products and even it the products will always be available. Nothing bothers a customer more than telling them something isn’t available. Also, prices can easily go up when you don’t control the manufacturing of whatever it is that you are selling.

4.    The pay plan. Is it weekly? Do they do direct deposit. Do you have to maintain a certain about of volume before you can get your money? In a related note…can you purchase products from them using your debit/credit cards? If not…beware. If they can’t qualify for merchant accounts, they have serious issues. I would avoid them. And see if the pay plan allows for breakaway. If it does, the company can take your downline which some do if you’re successful and have a big downline. Why should they pay you all that commission every week or every month when they can just take your team and keep the money for themselves.

5.    Finally, do they have any type of product guarantee or refund policy. Also, do they require autoship and how much. This is an expense you must cover if you sign up with them. And are there any fees to join and any fees to maintain a website or back office? Again, something you’ll need to cover.

Okay…that’s just a few items you might want to look for when considering an opportunity. I might mention that there are still some people touting the ‘next big thing’ only they don’t really tell you what they are selling. Again beware. No real product means it’s probably a scam and will soon be shut down.

Here's a list of a couple of real businesses Lisa and I are in and after 20+ years in business we know these are real and trustworthy. In other words, they are legit.

Not going to bore you with links to these. Get in touch if you’re ever interested. We’d be honored to work with you.

ASEA – a scientific health breakthrough. Patented and no competition.

Savings Hwy Global – a membership savings club and awesome pay plan.

Marketing Boost – offering real value incentives to grow any business.

CannaGlobe – virtual dispensary with over 100 products. In the U.S., Canada, and 21 other countries. Totally legal. Also a great pay plan.

Hope that helps you.

All the best…

Donald