How A Part Time Income Saved My Bacon!

Back in 2000, I was struggling. My main gig was operating festivals, where thousands of people would attend lectures, be entertained, and buy stuff from stall holders. It took huge effort, massive advertising, but I had a great time at the events. Along the way, I ventured into Network Marketing, as a means of adding more income. This gave me a steady stream of prospects, and my Networking business grew slowly.

It came to a head when I added up my finances and realised I was fast losing a grip on my money, so I made some hard decisions. First, I got a job, and then I started a new Network Marketing business. I did the business part time.

I was disciplined. I made a list of people to call, and every day, I would call a few of them and offer a free sample of my product. I would call them back and see if they liked it. It was a simple plan.

Within 6 months, I had a fast growing organisation. I was holding meetings on weekends and travelling, but apart from that, 1 spent one hour a day building my empire. It was so much better without the pressure of keeping a roof over our heads, or putting food in our mouths!

The Difference Not Relying On Your Network Marketing Income Makes

Success in this industry does require you to be enthusiastic and motivated. The whole thing runs on infectious enthusiasm. When we are in a position where we rely on our MLM income to pay the bills, it is easy to see things the wrong way! Many quit because they know how much they need to live, and see their income below that level. If they hadn’t quit their jobs, they would have an exceptional income, and that extra $500 a month would support a new car payment, bigger house, annual vacation to an exotic location, or many other items they could not afford but for Network Marketing! When you look at your MLM commission that way, it really is exciting. I can remember putting in orders at 5 to midnight, to get a trip to Cancun Mexico, with everything paid for my partner and myself. This is where this industry really gets exciting.

John And Linda In A Cancun Resort.

“I can remember putting in orders at 5 to midnight,

to get a trip to Cancun Mexico, with everything paid for my

partner and myself. This is where this industry really gets exciting”.

My point is that business is subject to constant change. There are highs and lows. When you have a baseline that pays for your lifestyle, this is the greatest industry in the world. Just one hour a day devoted to building your network marketing business, is enough to create that huge residual income. The question is, why would anyone pass that up? The answer is, they simply either think they don’t deserve the money, or they don’t get what the business can do for your lifestyle.

Now, will you spend an hour a day improving your family’s lifestyle?

John Gaydon

Personally, I have always taken a different approach, a business one. It stems from the fact that I go into a business to make money, no matter how much the product saves the world! I pride myself from making at least enough to cover my regular product order in the first month – and so should you!

If you have read a few of my articles you will know that I see a network marketing business like any other except it has the power of leverage and residual income. There are very low overheads, and yet many have unrealistic expectations.

So, you have invested in a few hundred dollars worth of product and you really believe this is the best stuff you have ever seen. Now what do you do? Sit down and admire the packaging? No you are in business so you need to find some customers. Get them using your products and if they are anything like you think, some of them will want to keep taking them and others join your business.

How do you find your prospects. Well, not everyone is a business prospect. Your relatives may strike you down, ridicule you, and generally demotivate you in a hurry. Better start with the products and sell off some of that stock you just purchased. Sometimes we purchase thin air, or a business without products. If you wish to do that good luck, you can’t run a business without stock, so I suggest you join something that includes products. When you start recruiting you are paid commission on product purchases. It is the law. Anything else is an illegal pyramid just like everyone tells you!

At this juncture you have a choice. Option a is to do everything free or relatively cheap. These days there are massive options. You can hand out flyers, put posters on notice boards in your community, call friends, relatives and acquaintances, participate in internet forums, google search and post on bulletin boards, write articles and have them posted, etc, etc.

Option b is to do some advertising, attend markets or festivals, do a mailout, distribute a newsletter, etc. Again there are an unlimited number of ways to get the message out.

What about making a profit?

Well this means getting more in than you spend! The trick is to cover your promotional activity with direct bonuses from enrolment and then build residual as your pay plan. When you get good at it, you may only require 20% of your commission to pay for ongoing expenses, or even less. It depends on how good you get at marketing.

By taking action fast and approaching lots of people, you will get some if you believe enough in what you are doing. If you don’t get a return, work on your skills and beliefs until you get things happening. Once you are equipped with the necessary skills and belief, then approach the larger market and your success will snowball.

The point here is that making a profit means being careful with investments, learning the conversion skills, and then approaching enough people to make an impact. Personally I use web sites and CDs as calling cards, once someone contacts me, they usually end up purchasing at least a starter kit I earn a nice commission from.

John Gaydon is a successful network marketer with 10 years experience. Having built a growing 6 figure income, John devotes his time to teaching others the considerable skills he has learned in Internet and Network Marketing. He is personal earnings last year were $177,000 and his networks have sales of over $1m a year. He is always looking for those who are ready to take up the challenge and move into the world of abundance that awaits those who make the effort.

Even if you are foolhardy, at most it is likely you will lose less than $5,000 before you give up! Of course, if you quit your job and don’t have other income sources while you are building your business, you may end up broke.

OK, what about unrealistic expectations?
You would never believe that people would go into business with stars in their eyes and the idea that they spend a little money and talk to a few people they will be rich? Yet, that is what many recruiters in MLM would have you believe. Of course you can earn $100,000 or even $1m a year in an MLM business. You may even get lucky, but for most of us, an extra $500 a month would make a real difference. Many experts believe that for most people enough to cover the cost of their product would keep them involved.

When you go into a “normal” business, there are many expenses. First you spend money on premises, advertising so people will know you are there. You may do a publicity campaign, opening specials or other way to get people into your shop. There is shopfitting and display and all the cash registers and other logistical stuff. Oh yes, you have staff to pay as well. Finally you need products to stock on the shelves for people to buy.

For many small business something from $20,000 to $1m or more is put at risk when starting out. This is before a single customer walks through the door!

In MLM, we spend money on initial stock, some promotional material, web sites, telephone and mail. Typically you could run an MLM business including autoship, initial pack purchase, and promotions for less than $2,000 for 6 months. With that small an expense, there is little motivation to succeed. If you have $1m hanging over your head, are you more or less likely to get up in the morning and get going than if it is a mere $2,000? The answer is obvious.

MLM is a sales business and with my methods, we are looking for customers who pay us money and help us recover our costs. We want to get more back from fast start bonuses than we spend on recruiting new distributors. Some of the people will introduce others, and some will place a regular order. It is this money that builds our passive income base.

Monetising your business means receiving more in direct bonuses on new business than you spend on promotion and your monthly autoship. Pretty simple, isn’t it!

What this means.
I would consider the initial pack purchase as a necessary expense.  It is like the shopfitting costs to a normal business. Your internet, telephone, mail, promotional and other expenses are your ongoing business expenses. Your autoship is an expense less the retail value of the product you and your family consume.

When you get your monthly commission cheque, it usually consists of fast start commission, organisation commission (from ongoing purchases) and volume bonuses. So the income from new business is the volume bonuses you wouldn’t get if you weren’t spending the money on recruiting, plus fast start bonuses.

An example of my own. I spent $109 a week on a local paper ad. Over the year, I spent $5,668 In that year I received as a result of that ad income of around $7,000 in fast start bonuses and volume bonuses. I also won two overseas trips! This was a profitable venture. As well as this, my volume commission rose from less than $1,000 a month to nearly $3,000 a month.

Now this didn’t all happen in the first month. Most of it was after 6 months. I attracted a number of business partners and was able to add many customers, some of whom are still purchasing product!

Now imagine if you did this and found 3 other partners who did the same. Imagine if you encouraged and coached them so they received a positive cash return for a year while building an organisation. Yes, you are going to be very successful! The trick is to make a profit from all your recruiting efforts and not rely on your MLM income to pay your household bills.

There you have it, a way to build a long term residual income that doesn’t send you broke and doesn’t cost the earth.

John Gaydon is a successful Internet and Network marketer. He has over 10 years of success with a variety of MLMs and has developed his own unique style of building an organisation. John stays away from the hype and teaches how to build a solid business. He can be contacted at john@pems.com.au