Attract Abundance

Do you find yourself dreading having to get up and go to work each morning?

Has your work and your routine left you feeling you are stuck in a rut? You wake up each morning and go to the same job, driving on the same roads, walking on the same streets, and doing the same thing day after day. It gets pretty boring — and pretty depressing.

Perhaps you feel unappreciated at your work. You may be a hard worker but never get the true recognition you deserve from your boss and colleagues. Just once you would like your boss to pat you on the back and say, “Good job,” but unfortunately that day never seems to come.

If this describes you, it may be time to fire your boss and venture out on your own. Although this may seem like a completely overwhelming move, it may not be as hard as you think.

Often, when you are stuck, all you are really lacking is an idea. Consider some of these options for starting your own business that can become your path to firing your boss:

1. Become a Virtual Assistant. Being a Virtual Assistant allows you the flexibility of staying at home while managing tasks for other companies.

   This is a great option if you enjoy computer work, managing tasks, paperwork, or customer service. Though it may take a bit of time to get your VA business off the ground, virtual assistants can command a high price for their services, especially if they have technical skills.

2. Join a network markeing company. These businesses are quite popular, but they do have their pros and cons. If you think that perhaps a network marketing company is the business for you, be sure to do your research.

Make sure the company you decide to partner with has a good track record. You can confirm this by speaking with other representatives of the company, doing some basic research, and also by trusting your intuition.

Beware of exorbitant enrollment fees. To become eligible as a distributor should generally not cost you more than $100, since this is really simply an administrative fee. That’s not to say there won’t be products to purchase or investments required to position yourself favorably within the compensation plan, but those investments should be optional so that you are able to craft your own business plan that best works for you. If there are required purchases in order to join as a distributor, beware.

Many people succeed at a multi level marketing business, but countless others fail miserably. Research the details of what you’ll need to do to succeed in your chosen business and ask yourself if you can do what it takes. It’s a legitimate business model, but it requires hard work and persistence to succeed. So take the time to become informed and educated about the business before you sign on the dotted line.

Here are two resources to help you. First is an article that explains the history of network marketing. Second, we have an interview that answers your network marketing legal questions.

3. Make and sell your own crafts. Are your friends envious about the beautiful things you can make with your own two hands? Then this may be the business you’re looking for! With websites such as eBay and Etsy, as well as local arts and craft shows, many people are making a substantial living selling their homemade creations. Unique or one-of-a-kind items always sell at higher prices than the common ones.
4. Become a Life Coach. This business opens up a realm of possibilities. If you enjoy listening to people and providing advice, becoming a life coach may intrigue you. A life coach provides good, solid advice to individuals relating to a particular area in their life.

A life coach can specialize in many different areas. For example, some coaches only deal with stay at home moms, while others help those wanting to make more money or lose weight. The options are absolutely endless. You can go for training and become a certified coach at your local college or online.

To succeed, you must promote and market yourself strongly, and it may take awhile to get the business of the ground. But if this is something that you truly hold a passion for, it can turn into an extremely lucrative endeavor.

5. Become a Caterer. Does everyone say that no one can cook like you do? Do you get request after request for your recipes? Do you find spending time in the kitchen relaxing? Then starting a catering business may be something you’ll want to explore further.

As in any business, it may take a bit of patience and energy to get it started, but the benefits will be well worth the energy. Make sure to call your friends and family and tell them to spread the word about your new catering business. Once you can secure your first party or event, you’ll have word of mouth recommendations marketing your business for you. If cooking is your passion and you learn how to manage food costs and market your business, then you’ll have no problem succeeding in this lucrative industry.

These are just a few ways to fire your boss and start your own business. Your next step is to decide where your passion lies. Decide what you enjoy doing and go from there. Beginning your own business is not easy, but with a dash of hope, dreams, patience, and hard work, you’ve just won half the battle!

Would you like more tools to help you break out of your rut and live a happier, healthier, more abundant and fulfilling life? Our Self Help Store has a wide range of tools and programs to help you that you won’t find anywhere else

This personal growth article is brought to you by Inspired Abundance (InspiredAbundance.com)

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One of the principal foundations of effective entrepreneurship is the judicious use of OPM — other people’s money.

Financial Leverage

In business, a company utilizing only its own money severely limits its ability to grow and operate. In fact few can. Virtually every business utilizes an operating line to enable it to fund its ongoing cash flow and capital requirements.

The use of other people’s money is an example of financial leverage.

This application of financial leverage can be a very powerful way to accelerate your wealth building plan as well.

However, use caution.

I like the way Robert Kiyosaki explains the use of leverage in his Rich Dad book series.

As Kiyosaki explains, you want to employ leverage in a way that is cash flow positive. The specific examples he uses are related to real estate investing, but the principle applies to any type of leveraged investing.

You may consider employing the strategy as a way to accumulate a significant, income producing equity position — where the dividend income pays for the loan payment on the funds borrowed.

The use of other people’s money is also a key strategy for entrepreneurs.

But wherever possible, do it in a way that is cash flow positive. Think of it as renting the use of the money. Your return or potential return should be significantly greater than the cost of using the money.

This is financial leverage used to your advantage.

Technical Leverage

A second type of leverage is “technical” leverage. Have you heard that term before?

Technical leverage is the use of hardware and software that enables your business to streamline functions.

Marketing, administration and training systems are great examples of technical leverage. Anything that can automate or streamline key activities or functions and which allow you to work smarter rather than harder.

Technical leverage is ultimately going to translate into time leverage, but it tends to be technology driven. So there’s the distinction most often used when referring to the term.

So remember, you don’t need large stockpiles of cash to get your wealth building plans going, you can use other people’s money instead. Employ the use of financial and technical leverage to accelerate your wealth building plans, whether it be your investments or your business or both growing that much faster for you.

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by Warren Wojnowski

When you hear someone such as Donald Trump or Roberty Kiyosaki suggest network marketing, or MLM (multi-level marketing) is a terrific home based business vehicle for the average person, what reaction do you have?

Do you find yourself feeling skeptical or hold a negative opinion of the industry? If you already participate in network marketing, do you sometimes feel embarrassed to admit it?

Or, if you’re not in it yet, are you embarrassed to admit you are seriously considering it? If so, why? What is it about your beliefs around network marketing that lead you to have these feelings?

To put these feelings into some context, let’s take a look at the industry of network marketing.

MLM Network Marketing Today

Network marketing is a +$100 billion dollar per year industry which represents an accessible way for the average person to launch a legitimate business with the potential of generating very substantial income.

It offers the opportunity to launch a business on a part-time basis, and then growing that into a full-time (or more) income. And it requires the least amount of start-up capital and ongoing operating expense of virtually any legitimate business model.

It is responsible for enabling the creation of an untold number of millionaires.

Paul Zane Pilzer, a world renowned economist and college professor, goes so far as to predict that over 10 million new millionaires will be created through network marketing over the next 10 years.

If this is true, why on earth would you feel ashamed or embarrassed to be part of this industry?

Well, there’s a lot of history behind network marketing. So let’s review that history for a few moments and perhaps it will shed some light on where a lot of your feelings and attitudes around the industry may have come from.

The History Of MLM Network Marketing

Network Marketing as a means of product distribution – which is really all that it is – has been around literally forever.

You can go back through history and the establishment of trade routes and find examples of traders who distributed goods, food, and fur, face-to-face, on behalf of various backers. Sometimes these backers were rulers of a country, sometimes they were powerful individuals, and sometimes they were large businesses or companies.

The North American history of the notion of direct selling can be traced back to the 1600’s. For example, the Voyageurs established fur trading routes and posts on behalf of the Hudson Bay Company.  The Hudson Bay Company itself relied upon the influence of Prince Rupert, who was the cousin of King Charles II, to acquire the Royal Charter which, in May, 1670 granted the lands of the Hudson Bay watershed to “the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson Bay.”�

In New England, in the mid 1700’s, began the phenomenon of the Yankee Peddler, in which peddlers would travel in their cart home to home throughout the countryside, selling their wares.

From there evolved the concept of the door-to-door salesman. The Watkins Company was launched in 1868, selling a popular liniment. The late 1800s saw the spawning of new companies employing door-to-door salesmen to distribute bibles, books, spices, remedies, perfumes, tonics and the like. The California Perfume Company, which later became better known as Avon, was founded in the late 1800s.

The Fuller Brush Company debuted in the early 1900s and it was Alfred Fuller who is credited with transforming door-to-door direct selling into something different. Rather than positioning himself as a salesman who sold brushes and focusing on the features of the brushes, he instead focused his attention on selling the benefits of his brushes to the consumers.

This is referred to as “empowering the consumer”.  His entire company vision was crafted in the context of the service he was able to provide to his customer. The approach was revolutionary.

The early 1900’s also saw the emergence of vacuum cleaner and encyclopedia companies such as Electrolux, World Book and Britannica.

The Dawn of a New Age in Network Marketing

The term “network marketing” specifically is 20th century creation. Its genesis lies in the post World War era of the late 40s and early 50s. This was the dawning of the era of the subdivision in which genuine neighborhoods flourished with their own circle of trusting relationships and backyard barbeques.

It is out of this trend that the term “belly to belly” marketing – or warm market as you may better recognize it – was coined. A company named California Vitamins came to the realization that many of their new sales recruits were in fact friends and family of their existing sales force. These new recruits’ primary motivation to becoming a sales associate was that they wanted the products for themselves at the wholesale cost.

That led the company to recognize it was easier to build a sales force with a lot of people who sell a small amount of product, than it was to find a small number of top sellers who would move mountains of product.�

The Advent of MLM Multi-Level Marketing

And so California Vitamins designed a revolutionary sales compensation model encouraging their salespeople to invite new representatives from satisfied customers, most of whom were family and friends. Each of those new representatives in turn had the same right to offer the product and opportunity to become a representative to others.

This allowed the sales force to grow exponentially. The company rewarded its representatives for the sales produced by their entire group – or network – of sales representatives. And so multi-level marketing was born.

It was also during this time that the home party plan was introduced. The original party plan was the Stanley Hostess Party Plan, by Stanley Home Products. The focus of the party plan was to demonstrate the myriad of uses and benefits of the products right in the home. Out of the original Stanley dealer roster came the founders of such future marketing program giants as Mary Kay and Tupperware.

The introduction of the multi-level, person-to-person sales program in the mid 1950s coincided with another pair of new giants arriving on the scene. First, Shaklee was launched. Then, a couple of years later, in 1959, came the birth of Amway.

The term multi-level marketing, or MLM, became a part of the industry lexicon. And the direct selling industry would never be the same.

The Myth of the MLM Pyramid

The common notion that MLM companies are all pyramids really gained steam in the mid 1970s when the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charged that Amway and its multi-level marketing structure constituted an illegal pyramid.

This made lots of headlines in the mainstream press.

In fact, in 1979 the court sided with Amway and deemed its multi-level marketing structure valid and legal and that its model represented a legitimate business opportunity.

Out of that court decision, the “Amway Safeguard Rule” set the legal standard for direct selling, multi-level, and network marketing based companies going forward.

However, the myth of all MLMs being pyramids lives on.

Amway with its multi-level structure was targeted by the FTC partly in response to a proliferation of pyramid programs in the 1970s. In these illegal pyramids, money was the only commodity or “value” that moved through the program. There was no underlying product or service.

Schemes were developed whose only purpose was specifically to recruit others into the program. It was the emergence of several high profile schemes that led to a rash of regulatory requirements and the ultimate targeting of MLM as a structure. It also led to the clarification of speculative or fraudulent schemes and legitimate direct sales activities.

The Amway Safeguard Rule identifies three key points which ensure the validity of the opportunity. It was the existence of these three points as part of the Amway structure that led the court to conclude the business was not an illegal pyramid.

These therefore are important criteria with which to assess any network marketing or MLM opportunity and establish whether it is in fact legal as opposed to “one of those pyramid scams”.

1. Does the opportunity require the retail sale of products or services before one can qualify for any recruiting commissions or sales?
2. Does the opportunity have a mechanism in place to prevent the stockpiling of inventory of physical products with no intention of reselling?
3. Does the opportunity offer representatives who choose to leave a buy-back provision on unsold, unopened inventory or products?

Network marketing gains legitimacy

The term “network marketing” became popular in the 1980s. It was partly coined as a way of getting away from the stigma of MLM.

Ultimately, direct sales and multi-level marketing are distinct subsets within the overall network marketing industry. In simplistic terms, they can be defined this way:

• Direct selling is where the profit or commission for a retail sale is paid to one person.
• Multi-level marketing is where the profit or commission for a retail sale is shared with an up-line (or recruiter). Typically there are also bonuses paid based on recruiting activity, so long as the recruiting is accompanied with ongoing retail sales activity.

Finally, network marketing gained a strong degree of legitimacy in the 1990s and into the 21st century. A number of very well known and respected authors and business people began to lend their public endorsement to the industry. People such as Brian Tracy, Robert Kiyosaki, Paul Zane Pilzer, Jim Rohn, Donald Trump and even Warren Buffet began to openly talk about the merits of the industry and, in fact, encouraged people to consider it.

Corporate Advantages of a Network Marketing MLM Structure

At the same time, network marketing has morphed into a proven, preferred method of product distribution by some of the largest companies on the planet.

Corporations came to the conclusion that network marketing, as a distribution channel, offered many advantages, not the least of which is that it’s lower cost.

Commissions are only paid on the sale of product or services and the structure allows the companies to offload much of the time and training requirements onto its representatives, who are incented to train the new representative they recruit.

In particular for new product launches, network marketing distribution allowed companies to avoid costly traditional advertising campaigns.

Pretty soon telecommunications companies, travel companies, satellite providers, financial services companies, and many other industries joined the party. Today there are literally thousands upon thousands of network marketing based companies operating throughout the world.

Modern Day Network Marketing

Today, network marketing is a +$100 billion dollar industry.

So there you have it, we’ve come full circle. By reading this far you now know more about the network marketing industry than at least 97% of the population.

Now that you have this grounding in the history of the MLM network marketing industry, let me ask you a question:

Do you still feel as though there is a reason to feel ashamed or embarrassed to admit you are involved in or considering getting involved in network marketing?

Network Marketing Success Secrets

If you’re considering getting involved in the network marketing industry, or even if you’ve been in it a while, we’ve written a content packed, 37 page eBook with the straight goods about what we’ve found it takes to build a successful home based network marketing business. To get your free copy of our eBook entitled