When you have a mentor and a good friend or family member that is truly a 'ride or die', you gotta thank them from time to time. You really can't be great in this world without some loyal people behind you. So I'll go first…
Shout out to my mentor who showed me that I could level up whenever I was ready. She never made me feel alone even when she reminded me that this is mine to build whenever I was ready. When I was ready to test the boundaries of what I was capable of, she’d be right there to support me. Since I began this journey, she has given me resources, got on calls, when I was confused she gave me clarity and most of all she was just THERE❣️
She never let me feel alone. 🤗 She always plugged me into the community of other women trying to do the same thing that I’m doing. I am now on pace to achieve my goals this year to help as many people as possible GET THEIR LIFE and prosper while doing it. So thankful to God 🙏🏽that he placed you in my path when I was looking for more. I’m so glad I said yes. 🙋🏽♀️
Are you a diamond in the rough? We should chat!
I remember reading this for the first time and being like “Dang David! You didn’t have to come at me like dat!”
Buuuut...
He is 1000% right!
If you tryna do something big, i. e. accomplish great things and/or create an impact, and you’re not getting results or making the milestones toward your goal, then it’s time to take a looooooong look in the mirror and deal with some stuff.
Connect with some people that will hold you accountable and give you courage to do big things.
Simply put…
Clear the cobwebs out yo mind and spirit that keeping you from gettin the bag 💰
If you're really trying to reach some crazy, scary, I can't believe I'm even thinking about this, kinda goals, I encourage you to get Can't Hurt Me by David Goggins
One thing I’m know I’m really good at is suffering😂but any success I’ve had in life has been because I pushed past pain (try saying that 5x fast😆) and I was relentless in achieving my desired outcome.
After all, I raised a whole human for God’s sake! I don’t mind telling you that she is an amazing and fantastic human with the biggest heart I’ve ever known. I can’t take all the credit tho… I had a little help from the Almighty🙏🏽
It takes courage to put your trust in God! For me, that’s the pushing past the 40% that David is talking about in his book, Can’t Hurt Me. Anyone can push up until it hurts. But it takes a whisper in your soul to make you take action and push past pain to get to where you wanna go. It’s the mind, soul and spirit vs. the brain for me.
Your brain is there to protect you. But your mind, soul and spirit will take you where you want to go❣️🧠🧐🙏🏽🤗
I used to be so overwhelmed with self-doubt that
often I wondered if I could do anything right. Whether it was struggling with
my weight, my relationships, at work or business, I never felt good enough and
so I often struggled with meeting my goals.
I became so frustrated I said to myself,
“something’s gotta give”. I started to pray. I started looking for ways that I
could overcome these problem areas in my life. I started researching these
different areas and see if there was any insight into how I could turn these
things around.
Eventually what I found was that I needed to conduct
a self audit.It looked a little
something like this:
🤔Was I doing the work necessary to get results in these different areas
of my life where I was having the most difficulty?
🤔Was I following a meal plan and exercising to reach my health goals?
🤔Was I trying to find common ground with people I work with so that we
can have a more collaborative relationship rather than a combative relationship?
🤔Was I talking about and promoting my ideas for new business ventures
in a way that made people want to invest in new products or services?
When I realized that I was coming up short, it was
time to start soul searching. It was time to start crafting a plan for every
area of my life where I wanted to see significant improvement. It was time to
start crafting a plan for success.
I began to take control of my life. I began putting
things in action. Then I started to get the results I wanted. I recognized that
I had the power to manifest my dreams into reality. I took ownership and things
started to turn around.
This process is simple but never easy. It is a
renewed commitment you have to make every day to move the needle forward in
your life. If I could do it I know that you can. You have that power. Never
surrender it to someone or something else. 🤗
This is such a taboo subject to write about and discuss but
I think that is because there is also a lot of confusion around Network Marketing
and how it is mistaken for what is known as Pyramid Schemes. In my humble
opinion, I believe a lot of people want nothing to do with it
because there are a lot of misconceptions of what network marketing actually is
and what it is not. I would like to take a moment to dispel some myths about
this business model and if nothing else, provide a better understanding of why
it is a valuable source for a side income.
Have you ever felt like there's
never enough like no matter how much money you make? Even when you take that
promotion, get that raise in pay doesn't it always seems like the
harder you work and the more you try to climb up the
ladder, there's always a thing associated with that come up that is just
draining you financially and you can’t seem to get ahead? I think that’s what happens to
most of us. Let's just be all the way real... that's most of us. On the other hand, there's a lot of us
work two and three jobs just to keep food on the table. We could all use a part-time job. I've been there, done that and I got the t-shirt, coffee mug, writing pad and pen to match, ok? But is network marketing really a better way?
Let me just be all the way real, ok?There's a lot of stigma attached to this
network marketing thing. But I think you
gotta go into any new situation with your eyes wide open. You also gotta go
into it with a certain amount of optimism and belief in yourself
and what it is you are capable of doing given the opportunity. So, let me just
dispel some of the myths and confusion because honestly a lot of the misunderstanding
of network marketing and pyramid schemes is not based in fact or supports the
legal definition of either. So what’s the difference between a network
marketing company and a pyramid scheme?
Pyramid schemes are, first and foremost, ILLEGAL. So, the
long and short of it is, if you ain't got no (yeah, bad grammar, my bad) product
to sell but you’re selling people a promise on being able to make money, you’re
probably in a pyramid scheme. If you can't make no money unless you have a
bunch of people investing and you rely on those investments to make money, you’re
probably involved in a pyramid scheme. If only the people who are at the top or
the first to invest are making the most money in the business, you are probably
involved in a pyramid scheme.
The defining factor about pyramid schemes is that there is
no product or service involved and your return on investment relies entirely on
people who sign up after you to invest and you get a piece of the sign up fee. Therefore, there is a ceiling on the
amount of money you can make. In other words, people are giving money to
something but there's no exchange of products or services. So, if you’re #500 of five hundred people that
invested in a “business” where no product or service exists, you're never gonna
make as much money as the first person. That’s
the makings of a pyramid scheme my friends. Here's where those pyramid
schemes comes up short …if for any reason the person who's doing allthe recruiting can't bring nobody else and those
“early investors”, top people don't get paid, people get mad. They should
because the entire enterprise is biased toward the first to enter scheme. That
is why it is illegal.
This could be confusing to some people when you think about
how traditional business is operated every day.If you think about early
investors in like Amazon, you recognize that when the stock sold at $5 a share
(just an example probably not the actual price) early investors are
now wealthy and someone who bought stock today at about $2,000 a share (approximate value as of the date of this writing) is not going to make as much money unless Amazon comes up with something
so extraordinary that it shoots the stock price sky high.
I can't tell you how
many times how much wanted to kick myself for not putting my $5 when they had
their initial public offering. I had already been spending money on textbooks
and trading textbooks on Amazon for years during my college years. I was doing
a lot of business with Amazon and I wish I invested because I knew what that
what they were offering in 2002 was an example of innovation in the online
space.However, you have to keep
something in mind…if a company is particularly successful over a period of time,
their stock prices will rise. All kinds of things influence the price of stock.
So as long as Amazon remains profitable,
those first investors will continue to reap the most profit.
Here’s the thing…Amazon has a product to sell to the end
user. Therefore, investors will receive
a dividend from their investment as a result of sales revenue and
innovation. So, this should clarify the
legitimacy of companies like Amazon and frankly, network marketing companies.
So, for people who think that network marketing are pyramid
schemes on the basis that only the people that get in first make the most money, I
have to say, you’re argument is weak at best. We have a legitimate system that
people invest in every day called the stock market and a concept called first
to market. First to market is when a company is first to bring product to the
market that meets the need of the consumer.When a company is successful at that, they will get the benefits of the
first fruits as they should.Once other
companies get wind of what is going on, and create their own version of the original product, the profits becomes more evenly
distributed based on the successful execution of the other companies that enter
the market afterward.In fact, companies
that come afterward, if they are really good at what they do, they may even
over run the company that was first to market. It's capitalism at its best. In this principle alone, I argue
that network marketing companies become more credible.
Now I can’t say that all network companies are created
equal. In my partnership agreement, NO ONE, no matter when you became a distributor, holds the market on how much
money can be made or whether the first to arrive will continue to make the most
money in comparison to those who join the company after they did. First fruits
may belong to the first to get into the business but if they are not working
hard to corner the market on profits they are not guaranteed to make the most money in the
long term.
In my company, there are some
people who came in at the beginning are
either not there anymore or they are not engaged in the business and therefore,
are not making any money or not nearly as much as people who came in 5 years
ago who are committed to becoming a millionaire and succeeds. I know that there
are probably other companies out there but I can't really speak to those because
I am not involved with those companies. What I do know from my own experience
is that as a new distributor, you can make money in retail (selling products to
customers) and building team (people on your team also sell to customers and
build teams of their own). Network marketing (aka multi-level marketing) is defined on the FTC website as follows:
Multi-level marketing is one form of direct selling. Generally, a multi-level marketer (MLM) distributes products or services through a network of salespeople who are not employees of the company and do not receive a salary or wage. Instead, members of the company’s salesforce usually are treated as independent contractors, who may earn income depending on their own revenues and expenses. Typically, the company does not directly recruit its salesforce, but relies upon its existing salespeople to recruit additional salespeople, which creates multiple levels of “distributors” or “participants” organized in “downlines.” A participant’s “downline” is the network of his or her recruits, and recruits of those recruits, and so on. (ftc.com)
Like most businesses, network marketing is a business model where
there is a product or service in exchange for an investment from the distributor or sales person. If you decide to become a distributor, you are going
to pay a nominal sign-up fee and possibly buy some products at sign up. However, the purchase of products is not a
requirement to become a distributor with my company. Other companies may have different rules. Having said that, it only makes common
sense that if you sign up to distribute a product for a company that you are
actually a consumer of the product.
This is where a lot of the confusion lies with some apparent
similarities between network marketing and pyramid schemes. Incoming team members in network marketing are placed under the
recruiter in a binary structure, such as it is in my company. For skeptics, the pyramid shape of a binary structure is seemingly not differentiated from the investment for no
product or service exchange that is characteristic in illegal pyramid schemes. However,
the appearance of a binary structure is where the similarities to a scheme begins and ends.
Now, I want to be very clear… there is a some language in the
FTC explanation that says if the bulk of your income is gonna come from
building the team that doesn't consume the products then there is a question of whether the company is a network
marketing company or the makings of a pyramid scheme. I can tell you from
personal experience that building a team doesn't mean anything if the people
that you're building the team with aren't buying products. Why? Because we are not paid a percentage of fees. Also, by design, the team bonus is significantly
smaller than that which a distributor can earn in commission by selling
directly to the customer.On the other hand, you
can’t get into the pyramid or Ponzi scheme without a minimum investment when there is no product in exchange.
In my company, you don’t have to buy product
to become a team member.It’s a little
less effective from a business perspective but I think what the FTC is
concerned with is a company making this a hard and fast rule. I can tell you I
have had team members that have never bought anything except for the first time
they signed up. There is no team bonus, no commissions or any financial reward
when people don’t buy products. No business makes money without repeat business
or new customers. No surprise there, right?
There are people in my downline right now that are just
sitting there paying a monthly fee just to be a distributor but they're not
really taking advantage of the of the wide array of products that'll help them
to live a happier, healthier life. They're not doing it so the company does not pay me. As a business, they
are not making any money either. The
monthly fee that they pay goes to the parent company not to me.
I think the key
here and where you actually build a business in network marketing is when you
have people who are actually buying and using the products that they need and I think that that is the key
for skeptics to understand. Like I said, I don't know how other companies do
what they do and what the compensation structure looks like elsewhere but what
I know about where I'm at. At the end of
the day, you won’t make any money if nobody's buying product. Period.
When I compare
network marketing to traditional business, I find that McDonald's don't make no
money if nobody is in the drive thru or the dining room. Staples doesn't make
any money if businesses aren’t buying office products. If the company doesn't have a
customer and team members are not buying product no one is making money in my
network marketing business.
Why should I listen to you?
Having said all of this, you must be asking yourself, “Why
should I listen to her?” I have a Bachelor of Science degree in Legal Studies
with a concentration in Business Law and Public Policy and a Masters in Business Administration.One of the fundamental things about the
program and my formal training is that you need to know how to do legal
research and analysis and critically assess information so that you can come up with a recommendation for your client. Not only have I been formally trained but I've
also done compliance work for big companies and universities where I have built
compliance programs around doing effective legal research and analysis.
Tips for finding a company to partner with
I have a deep appreciation for doing the research making intelligent
decisions on your own based on the facts found in that research.To be clear, I'm not even advocating that
network marketing or any other business model is for everybody because I really
don't think everybody should be doing it. However, I do believe that it is for
some people who want to create a side income doing something that they actually
really, really love and they know can serve people in a profound way AND are
willing to work really hard to accomplish that goal.
So, I think you can find
your fit out there among the many opportunities available in a way where you
don't have to put up a huge investment.I
think that network marketing is a very economical way to start a business.
Find leaders who are willing to share their secrets
If you pick the right one, the company will have
really good leaders that will share their secrets and teach you some business fundamentals
to help you succeed. A company worth its salt is gonna have extensive training in how to build a business and will teach basic business principles with really good leaders in your company that's willing to share what they've learned and implemented to build their business.
Do your own research
At the end of the day, do your research and
make an educated decision for yourself. Don’t depend on word of mouth and definitely
don’t listen to anyone saying that being in business for yourself is easy.
Follow some people who you know are in network marketing or doing
what you like to do you know and see what a day in the life looks like for them.
Make sure the company and its products align with what you already like
One of the first things I do when I'm
exploring a new industry, I evaluate whether it is aligned with the things that
I like. So if it's book club, makeup, hair, or fashion accessories, then I'm
gonna be looking for somebody who's doing that and doing that well or at least appears
to be doing that well. Then, I see if they have a social media outlet (other
than the one I found them on) dedicated to talking about the things
I like and other topics such as how to start a business or how to create a
product or any kind of teaching content. It’s clear they’re really adding value
to their community and they're really showing you how to do things.They're giving you business tips and they share
things you need to know and how you need to be thinking about business.
Let me be even more clear.This article is intended for intelligent, grown folk who are inspired or
need to start something on their own and is interested in a low cost of entry
in an industry that can turn into a significant income.This is not intended to try to convince
anyone who does not have an entrepreneurial spirit and is not open to learning
about better ways to create extra streams of income. Basically, I'm talking to
grown folk who are responsible, got homes of their own, got families of their
own and they want to make responsible choices in line with those priorities. I'm talking to those people who are of that age where we can make intelligent decisions
about our lives and about the risks were willing to take for the greater good
and who want to level up their lives. At the end of the day, don't automatically
dismiss network marketing as some kind of scheme or you think the products are
overpriced.
I haven’t addressed this in this article until now, however, I will say this.
I think that the differential in the price of the products in network marketing
companies and retail markets, is 1) the quality of ingredients, and 2) the time
and method it takes to sell the product.Again, this is my humble opinion based on the company I am with and the “belly
to belly” method with which we share and sell products. Personally, I think
that mass market products don’t come with 30 day money back guarantees even if
you consume all of the product.They
also include a lot of artificial ingredients and fillers in order to sell more,
in the least amount of time to the most people.If they sell it for an inexpensive enough price, most people will at
least try it.However, it is unlikely
that you will be able to get your money back if you so much as crack the seal
on that product.
When I tried my first program,
I invested because of the money back guarantee.Frankly, it did what it said it was gonna do if I did what the program
directed so I didn’t return it.I
believed in the system so much that I decided to become an advocate.Then I talked about it when people asked
about it because I then became I walking billboard not by harassing friends and
family.I started my business on being
an example of what works and I have found that people will invest in what has
been proven to work.
It would be worth the investment to find that company that
you connect with who has something that you want and that you would enjoy using
and consuming. That, in and of itself, for me as a consumer is worthwhile. I
think it’s really worthwhile to invest in when you know you can get your money
back. So, if the investment to get started as a distributor is $500 and you get
a guarantee from them that if it didn't work for you, you can't sell this thing
and you can send it back to the company and they’ll give you $500 back, you should go you should definitely invest in that product or
service-based company. With my company, you can invest as little as $160,
use the products for a month and then go about your business. If you don't like
it, return it, cancel your membership and go about your way. At least you gave yourself and the products
and the business a chance and you don’t have the regret of saying ‘what if’.
Bottom Line
A couple of things I want you to
take away from this article. First, know the difference between network
marketing and a pyramid scheme. Network marketing is legal. Pyramid scheme is not
legal. Only people at the top (early investors) make money in a pyramid scheme
while this is not necessarily true in network marketing (at least in my company).
In my company, some people who came in at the beginning, may not necessarily be making as much as someone who came in 5 years ago. My company has been
around for over 20 years the network has been around for 15 years. Someone who came in
12 years ago may very well be making no money at all if they are not treating
their business like a business.Meanwhile,
someone coming in a year ago could be killing it and become a
multimillionaire.Your level of income
in my business is truly going to depend on what level of time and grind you are
willing to invest in it not when you started your business.
Second, pyramid schemes don't have
products and services to exchange. Network marketing does. I believe in any
business you have to have something to offer people in order to justify the money
changing hands between the business and the consumer.You have to be selling something to be in a legitimate
business. There has got to be an exchange of goods and services. As with any
legitimate business there is going to be some skin put in the game in order for
that business to be profitable at some point. The harder you work in business
building activities, the more your reward. Anything worth having is going to
require a good amount of hard work. So do your research, be accountable to what
it is you're investing in, be smart, use your God-given intelligence to make a
good decision for you and your family and don't just listen to what everybody
else got to say about what it is you want to do in your business. Make
intelligent decisions by doing your own research.
Feel free to get a comprehensive overview of network marketing (multi-level marketing) on the FTC's website. They do a good job of laying out a layman's version of what it
is you need to be looking at when deciding to join a company as an independent
contractor. Do your research and figure it out for yourself. You don't wanna
get yourself involved in mess that is not above board.
So, if you're struggling financially and you need something beyond your full-time job to help ends meet, you need a side hustle and retail ain’t doin’ it for ya, this might be a cost-effective way to get started doing something on your own. It could be something that can be turned into something big, like a legacy for your children. Networking marketing could be something where you should shoot your shot.
Understand that every business, network marketing or traditional business is going to take hard work, determination and time to build into something that can replace your 9 - 5 income. I'm just saying if you think, “I was meant to do something more with my life, damn sure more than the hell I'm doing right now”, then investigate and find something that suits you.Find something that you love and go for it!
I hope this was helpful and it
cleared some of the mystery and misconception about network marketing. If it was
helpful, great! Share this article with your community.Comment below and let me know what you
think.Be constructive, not mean (cuz that
doesn’t serve anybody) then we can still be friends.Subscribe to the blog. There is always more
to come.
Connect with me on Instagramand
Facebookto
view some content there about improving your health, get tips on nutrition,
beauty and all kinds of fun stuff. If you want to start something new and
interested in what I do, fill out
this short questionnaire and let’s set aside some time to chat. Take care.
I have noticed that whenever I have to do or learn something new or trying to make a positive change in my life, I will stare at it for a long time before I start get started. I will procrastinate and get in my own head and spend a lot of time wondering if I will be successful at this new thing. Will I learn what I need to learn in order to implement it effectively in my own life? Will I get it right? What if I fail? Blah, blaah, blah…Intellectually, I know better, but I still have moments where I serious doubt myself.
In my business, one of the things that you have to do, is engage in personal development. This basically means that if I have areas of my life where I know I need improvement, I need to invest in tools, resources and time to improve in those areas so I can be more effective to the people I am trying to serve. One of the primary areas of my life that needed improvement was my health. The truth is, when I finally plugged into the resources that I knew would help me reach my goals, I had to stop asking questions that only served to fill me with more doubt and DO ME! Whatever that is, I just needed to be true to myself. During my journey, I had to realize that living a healthy lifestyle is not perfect. I am going to backslide. I am going to have that piece of cake at a birthday party or enjoy ribs at a barbeque. And you know what? That’s okay! I still managed to realize a lot of success and definitely more than everyone else sitting on the couch!
The improvement in my overall health took place, first, in my mindset! I started asking better questions like, “What is it that I want to accomplish? “Lowering my blood pressure?” “How about my cholesterol?” “Could I be borderline diabetic?” “What needs to change in my diet that could help in all of these areas?” Maybe I just want to lose weight to improve my respiratory function so I can play with my kid.” These were definitely better questions I could ask myself that could help me live a healthy lifestyle. I realized that whatever my “WHY” was I needed to do it because I recognize the value of living a healthy lifestyle. I needed to do it because I know it will help me have a better quality of life…more energy, less constipation (haaaaaH) more stamina (aaaaaoooooowwwww!) I had the power within me to make the changes I need to make because I want to change for the better more than I want to stay the same. It’s definitely not about being perfect all the time! It’s about taking action every day to see the change I want to make in my life. It doesn’t matter what anybody else thinks or says about what I am doing. I know I am doing a good thing for me. I am not competing with anyone outside of myself! I am only competing with the person I was yesterday. I AM DOING ME! DO YOU! As long as you are not intentionally hurting anyone else, do what makes you healthy and happy!
Sometimes I read a book 📚 to learn something new and sometimes it validates something I already know and practice. So when I read The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy, it drove the point home that every choice I make today will define the choices I can make in the future. It also taught me that is never too late to begin making better choices to re-define my future. Reading this book allowed me to take an honest assessment of what I am not so thrilled about in my life and make a decision to make changes that will literally change my outlook and quality of life. Personal development is something I practice daily to not only improve my and my family's life but to share with everyone. When I learn something this good, I just can't keep it to myself!