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Do It Now!

Guest post by: Kathy Paauw

Article Overview: Recently I spoke with someone whose mother just died. During our conversation, I asked how his father was doing. He said, "My dad is doing amazingly well under the circumstances. Mom was not well for a long time, and Dad stayed by her side every day. He has lived each day with no regrets." If someone you loved were to die tomorrow, could you say the same thing? You CAN'T turn back the hands of time. You CAN live your life so that there's no unfinished business at the end of each day. Never put off something important for tomorrow if you can do it today. Take some time now to identify what you can DO OR BEGIN TODAY that will enable you to live a life with no regrets down the road.

Do It Now!

Lots of people know what to do, but few people actually do what they know. Knowing is not enough! You must take action." --Tony Robbins

How often during the course of your everyday life do you put off doing something. Here are some things that often show up on people's unfinished to-do lists:

• Calling someone who needs to hear from you
• Apologizing for something you said or did
• Following up on a great idea you have
• Sending a note of appreciation, encouragement or congratulations to someone you care about
• Spending time with the people most important to you
• Self-care (exercise, healthy diet, stress reduction, rest)
• Weekly planning

There's one thing in common with every single one of these activities. They are all important, but there is no deadline by which you must do them. That makes it easy to keep putting them off, since many of us live in such an "urgency" mindset that if it isn't urgent, it doesn't get done. If you put these things off until you find the time, they'll never happen! You must make the time.

The old adage, "People don't plan to fail, they fail to plan" certainly holds true when it comes to small business success. Small business owners need to go into business with an understanding that it may take a couple of years before they'll even begin to see a profit.

So what is a person to do? Good jobs are hard to find, and starting a business can be costly and usually does not provide reliable income for a while. One thing is for sure. If you keep doing what you're doing, you'll keep getting what you're getting.

Unless you are happy with what you're getting, I suggest that you work a day job AND start your own home-based business on the side. Although starting a business will not provide you with immediate income, it will create security down the road if you choose the right business for you AND you work your business consistently. A home-based business can also provide you with some great tax benefits.

There is only one business model that I know of that can be done alongside a day job and that has a low start-up cost. The business model is called network marketing. If you have never heard of network marketing, I suggest that you read an excellent book written by Robert Kiyosaki: The Business of the 21st Century, to learn more about it.

My first experience with network marketing was in 1980 and it was a negative one. Therefore, I had crossed the network marketing model off of my list of possibilities when I decided to start my own business 15 years ago. Instead, I started a traditional business, where I traded time for dollars. Seven years later, my coaching and consulting business was "successful" and I could not take on any more clients. I was disappointed to discover that my income was capped--I couldn't work any harder--and my take-home pay was not what I thought it would be once I had attracted all the clients I could manage.

Have you ever been in a bad relationship? If so, did you cross all men/women off your list forever? Probably not. As I've become older--and hopefully wiser--I've learned that it's not fair to paint everything with the same brush, based on one negative experience or based on someone else's opinion.

In 2005, I decided to be open-minded when a friend introduced me to a network marketing company that was a perfect fit for me. It offered a product that I loved and I knew that I would share it with others whether I got paid to or not. To my surprise, within two years, I was earning more from my part-time network marketing business than I was from my full-time coaching and consulting business.

If you've had a negative experience with network marketing in the past, I invite you to continue reading with an open mind. This article is not intended to pitch you on any particular network marketing company, but rather to encourage you to simply consider the business model itself.

Here are several reasons why I believe that right now is the best time to be part of the network marketing profession:

• Although network marketing was born in the 1950s, the mainstream has not embraced this business model until recently. We are now seeing people from all walks of life joining network marketing companies and promoting this business model, including many professionals like doctors and lawyers who are tired of working such long hours and want to generate passive income.
• 
  
  Because baby boomers started reaching retirement age in 2011--an estimated 77 million baby boomers turning 65 over the next twenty years--a staggering number of retirement-age people are excited about network marketing business opportunities. Many of them have lost retirement funds in the stock market crash and are highly motivated to work from home.
• 
  
  College graduates are finding that a degree does not guarantee them a job. In addition, our emerging generation has seen what the "corporate" model has done to their parents, and many of them do not want to follow in their parents' footsteps. Lifestyle freedom is of high importance to this generation. No special education or previous network marketing experience is necessary to do well. They love being able to pursue their passions while building residual income on the side.
• 
  
  When the economy is in a recession and unemployment is high, network marketing companies experience exponential growth. Bad economic news for most people is good economic news for network marketers.
• 
  
  Many countries around the world have unstable economies, and this profession offers global financial solutions. One of the benefits of having a global business is that you can write off the cost of trips to other countries if you spend time doing business while there.
• 
  
  In today's economy, people don't have access to the hundreds of thousands of dollars necessary to start a traditional business. Because start-up costs are so low for network marketing businesses, there is essentially no barrier to entry. If someone really wants to get started, they will find a way to manifest the resources necessary to do so, which in most cases is under $500. Network marketing allows you to be in business without taking on the typical financial risks associated with starting your own business.

People starting a traditional business or a franchise have done their homework and know that they will have high start-up costs and will also need to have other means of support in place for at least two years. They are also prepared to work long hours those first couple of years, even though their take-home pay may be little or nothing.

In network marketing, we are fortunate to have low start-up costs,and we can work part-time to achieve business growth, as long as we work consistently. Just about everything any of us do requires consistency for best results. For example, when you consistently eat a healthy and balanced diet and you exercise regularly, you will have different results than if you use the start-stop-start-stop method. The same holds true with building a business. One loses a lot of momentum with the start-stop method.

Although the income generated is usually low at the beginning, working part-time consistently for 2-7 years can create residual income for life. Residual income means that you work once to create something and you get paid on that work for a lifetime. (Think of it as money in the bank that generates interest income forever.)

Here are eight important factors for success in a network marketing business start-up:

1. The company you choose needs to be the right fit for you. You need to be passionate about what you have to offer, either because of the product or the offer itself.
   
   You are probably already a network marketer...you are just doing it for someone else's business and you aren't getting paid for it. When you see a great movie or you dine at an amazing restaurant, do you enthusiastically tell others you know about it? If so, you are "marketing" that movie or restaurant to your network of friends, family, and others you know by sharing your enthusiastic response with them. Enthusiasm is the key driving force that makes you want to share something with others. That's why it's so important to find a network marketing company that you are passionate about. When you share from enthusiasm and passion, it does not feel like work. It's fun!
2. 
   
   Be clear about your financial goals. Do you just want to pay for your own product usage? Do you want to generate a few hundred dollars extra each month? Or do you want to generate lifetime residual income that will enable you to enjoy financial and lifestyle freedom?
3. 
   
   Although you do not need to fully understand the company's compensation plan, be sure you choose to work with a company whose compensation plan meets your needs. If your goal is to eventually retire and live off of residual pay (income that comes in whether you work or not), be sure that the compensation plan is designed to provide that for you.
4. 
   
   Create a culture and a community with attributes and values that attract others: integrity, authenticity, encouragement, recognition, empowerment, generosity, respect, kindness, friendship, and fun.
5. 
   
   Be clear about why business success is important to you. What is your bigger WHY for doing this?
6. 
   
   Be a student of personal development. Your own belief system provides the foundation upon which your business will either grow and thrive or fail. Build a solid foundation that will support solid growth. Let go of limiting beliefs and learn how to get out of your own way and believe in yourself.
   
   In The Slight Edge, Jeff Olson says this: "The greatest gift you could ever give yourself is also the wisest business investment you could ever make. It is also the most critical step in accomplishing any challenging task, and is the one step without which all other success strategies, no matter how brilliant or time-tested, are doomed to fail. What is this mysterious gift? It is your own personal development. Investing in your own improvement, your own personal growth and betterment, is all these things and more."
7. 
   
   Be disciplined. Any good network marketing company teaches a simple process that can be duplicated. When you create duplication, you also create passive income. Discipline yourself to do the right activities consistently over time, and teach others to do the same. Do what you are committed to do, whether you feel like it or not.
8. 
   
   Never quit on a bad day. Because network marketing professionals have less "skin in the game" than a traditional business owner, it is much easier for some to quit when they encounter disappointments. All network marketing professionals experience some disappointments that are normal and predictable in our profession. Those who are not prepared for these inevitable experiences may quit.
9. 
   
   Be responsible and do whatever is necessary to take care of your basic needs while you are building your business, so desperation does not creep in. Desperation kills opportunity.

I want to emphasize this last point. You may dislike your current job, or you may currently be unemployed. Free yourself from the deadly emotional bind of feeling desperate by doing whatever is necessary to take care of your basic needs while building your business over the next several years.

Network marketing is not a "get rich quick" scheme. Unfortunately, a small percentage of network marketers have tainted our profession by telling people that it requires very little work and the money will just roll in. When someone does this, it gives our profession a black eye and sets up unrealistic expectations. The statistics show that a large percentage of network marketers don't make any money. That's because they quit before they ever get started. They get discouraged when the money doesn't just roll in.

Network marketing is a business model that thrives on a simple concept called duplication. Although you can leverage your time through the efforts of others who choose to build a business, it requires some work, and the income from that leverage takes most people few years to experience. I have personally sponsored about 150 people over five years in my business. Today those 150 have grown to more than 3600 people who generate a volume of business. That's duplication!

Network marketing is well worth the effort for those who work consistently to build their business over a 2-7 year period. Why such a range of time? It depends on whether you work your business part-time or full-time. If you want to build faster, you can do so by investing more hours of your time each week. However many hours you choose to work each week, the key is to be consistent.

"Network marketing is the most giving form of business model in existence. Giving the gift of freedom, the gift of employment and the gift of a future opportunity is the greatest gift ever. I believe network marketing is the key to solving the economic problems of our time." - -Mark Victor Hansen

If you are already involved in a network marketing business, or you are considering getting started with one, I suggest that you remain gainfully employed until you can meet all four of these conditions:

1. You are covering your business expenses (your own product use, personal development books and CDs, travel costs to attend company events, etc.).
2. For at least six consecutive months, you have generated enough income from your business to meet the basic needs of you and your dependents. (Your income may be combined with reliable income earned by other members of your household to meet your family budget.)
3. You have paid off all debt (exception: affordable mortgage on your home).
4. You have enough cash reserves to support you and your dependents for at least six months, in the event that something unforeseen was to happen.

Without all four of these conditions in place, you could be setting yourself up for financial disaster. Avoid creating an environment where you feel desperate, since desperation becomes deadly when you want to build something!

One of my passions is helping people find out who they are so they can give themselves away. I've been able to do this because I started working with a network marketing company in October of 2005. Today I provide my coaching and consulting services free-of-charge to people on my team. I love what I do, and I also love that I do not have to advertise or invoice anyone for my services. I earn a great living through my network marketing company, so that frees me up to provide coaching at no charge.

If you are sick and tired of being sick and tired, I encourage you to consider another way. The corporate world has certainly not created stability for the masses.

If you are looking for a way to leave your current job or retire in the next several years, I strongly urge you to take a look at a home-based business with a network marketing company of your choosing. There are literally hundreds of companies to choose from. Finding the right one for you is important.

If you are passionate about your current work and you choose to continue with it, you can do that while building a part-time network marketing business on the side to generate extra income (college tuition for your kids, dream vacation, dream home, etc.) that can also provide for you in your retirement years. One of my colleagues is a primary care physician who loves taking care of his patients but hates dealing with the business part of running his medical practice (Medicare reimbursement and dealing with insurance companies). He and his wife are building their network marketing business on the side so he can eventually be in a position to see patients and not worry about if or how he will get paid for his work as a physician.

My boldest dream is to free millions of people from a life of limitation, helping them to achieve financial and lifestyle freedom, while sharing their gifts and talents in a way that makes their heart sing.

Network marketing provides people with the opportunity to do all of this. If you have questions about this profession, I am happy to have a conversation with you.

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