The next time someone trys to tell you a brick and mortar business or a traditional internet business is safer and more productive than a home based network marketing business, have them read this.
"What's Real"
Do you want to see what real businesses sell for?
________________________________________
These are businesses for sale recently on bizbuysell
A couple things I want you to pay close attention to:
1. Look at the cash flow. Let's pick number 3 for example: That means that for you to make an extra $7,000.00 this year you are going to have to spend $50,000.00
2. I want you to also look at these, and I want you to notice the years established! These are established businesses that people like you and I got in as early as 1988 and have put in all the blood, sweat and equity to get them going and still make only $35,000.00 a year!
I had to find this out the hard way, so please stop searching for what doesn't exist. I would also recommend you stop trying to get something for nothing, it's not going to happen.. Why, because real businesses cost real money!
By the way, why do you think these people are selling?
"Can you say burnt out!!"
THE SWEET TASTE OF REALITY
First Example:
Retail E Commerce DVD Sales Profitable
Ohio
Financials (glossary of terms)
Asking: $1,550,000
Gross: $2,800,000
Cash Flow: $300,000
FF&E: $10,000 (included in the asking price)
Inventory: $400,000 (included in the asking price)
General Information:
Year Established: 2004
Employees: 4ft; 1pt
Facilities: The business is currently housed in 485 sq feet of office space and 800 sq feet of warehouse space. This business can easily be relocated.
DeluxeGrills.com Fully Developed -
Second Example:
Turnkey Website
Fully Developed - Turnkey Website
Buffalo, New York
Financials
(glossary of terms)
Asking: $50,000
Gross: $50,000
Cash Flow: $7,000
FF&E: 0 (included in price)
Inventory: 0 (not included price)
Real Estate: 0 (not included price)
General Information:
Year Established:2001
Employees:1
Facilities: This business can be run from anywhere in the world as it is all web based.
Third Example:
Online Retailer of high-tech Home Security
Another Hot eBizBrokers Internet Business for Sale
Arizona
Financials (glossary of terms)
Asking: $125,000
Gross: $85,300
Cash Flow: $37,500
General Information:
Year Established: 2003
Employees: 1
Facilities: (home-based) Home Office, or small office would allow to perform daily operations of this business.
Fourth Example:
Easy to Run Drop Ship Kitchenware Site WaterlessCookware.com
North Carolina (relocatable)
Financials (glossary of terms)
Asking: $15,000
Gross: Not Disclosed
Cash Flow: $3,200
General Information:
Year Established: 2002
Employees:0
Facilities:(home-based) Website and shopping cart (developed in ASP), domain name, customer list, manufacturers info, etc.
Fifth Example:
Internet Book Sales/Training
Louisville Metropolitan, Kentucky (relocatable)
Financials (glossary of terms)
Asking: $280,000
Gross: $76,000
Cash Flow: $35,000
Inventory: $60,000 (included in the asking price)
General Information:
Year Established: 1998
Employees:0
Facilities: Can work from home or small shop.
Sixth Example:
Online Baby Store, Great Domain Name
California (relocatable)
Financials (glossary of terms)
Asking: $385,000
Gross: $300,000
Cash Flow: $65,000
General Information:
Year Established: 1999
Employees: 0
Facilities: Home-based
All of the above examples involve significant overhead and risk and none has paid off yet. There are many fine network marketing opportunities that can show thousands in earnings weekly in the first year. That's why famous investors like Donal Trump say that if they had to start over again, they'd invest their time, effort and money in network marketing.
In your service,
Richard Loewenhagen, Lt Col, USAF (ret)
CEO
Living My Lifestyle
www.LivingMyLifestyle.com
480) 600-6859
richardloewenhagen@libertyleague.com
P.S. If you enjoyed this blog entry, hang tight. There are many more coming. The network marketing and home business opportunity arena is massive and growing. There will be a lot more material to cover.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Can a Direct Marketing Home Business Come to the Rescue of A Brick and Mortar Enterprise?
One of the nice things about a blog (even one on Marketing and Home Business Opportunities) is the ability to take it down a path other media won’t explore. This post is one such example.
I was recently asked whether a serious home business opportunity could be used as a cash machine for a brick and mortar facility that needed shoring up financially and liberation from market pressures driving it in directions the owners didn’t want to go. The short answer is, “Without a doubt!” Let’s take today’s typical martial arts school and its marketing challenges as an example.
Martial arts schools today have evolved into overt baby-sitting services. Master instructors have been forced into the role of Social Activities Directors? They are literally holding kid’s Kung Fu birthday parties on Saturdays and teaching ladies aerobics classes, all while trying to figure out how how they evolved from ‘Warriors’ to ‘Dance Instructors’?
Two problems have driven this transition:
Problem 1:
Adult students can’t continue classes because they have no time…. Employers are pushing overtime, wives are complaining about husband’s long work hours and won’t share his remaining time with martial arts training, etc (the real problem is 60 hour work weeks on the J-O-B)….
Problem 2:
Students can’t pay their bills for a myriad of reasons: Wife loses job, gas prices rose too fast, home mortgage interest rates rose, credit card rates rose, etc…. (bottom line: the school owner is expected to solve everyone else’s financial problem by cancelling the martial arts training contract).
School owners are protecting themselves to some degree from these problems by enlarging curriculums to include a lot of social activities that appeal to new fads, ie. ladies aerobics classes, children’s martial arts parties, tournaments for kids where everyone gets a prize….
Then one day they wake up and realize they’ve become what I mentioned above - baby-sitting services run by very physically fit social activities directors. But their real goal was to teach serious martial arts to adults who can handle both the physical and mental rigors of warriorship. How did they end up here?
They ended up here because they started training bodies for physical survival in hand-to-hand combat scenarios, but never trained survival in life itself. Unlike the teachers of the past, they didn’t train life skills.
In today’s society, Masters didn’t have the means to teach their students how to stand on their own two feet financially and to own their lives and their time. So they allowed martial arts to degrade into sports for increased enrollment and then took on kids as a primary customer base.
In short, school funding structures forced this. Masters needed a ‘Cash Machine’ to keep their schools alive and child-care, sports, and social activities became that cash machine.
Enter the home business “Cash Machine.” Aren’t all home businesses (properly run) cash machines? Some may be better tailored to the goal and image of a given business.
In the case of the martial arts schools, they need a business opportunity selling self-development training built around Chan (Zen) philosophy. This enables them to offer an opportunity to their students and families that broadens their martial training to encompass whole person development. Voila! A cash machine that enables them to maintain their high standards of martial science training and preempt curriculum degradation into social activities and sports.
In contrast, a real sports training school or clinic might find a home business focused on health supplements a better fit for their image and activities.
Our initial question has been examined and answered. Properly chosen and implimented, a direct marketed home business opportunity can easily help a brick and mortar entity stay its course amid market pressures to lessen standards or alter its identity.
In your service,
Richard Loewenhagen
CEO
Living My Lifestyle
www.LivingMyLifestyle.com
richardloewenhagen@libertyleague.com
(480) 600-6859 Cell
P.S. If you enjoyed this blog entry, hang tight. There are many more coming. The network marketing and home business opportunity arena is massive and growing. There will be a lot more material to cover.
I was recently asked whether a serious home business opportunity could be used as a cash machine for a brick and mortar facility that needed shoring up financially and liberation from market pressures driving it in directions the owners didn’t want to go. The short answer is, “Without a doubt!” Let’s take today’s typical martial arts school and its marketing challenges as an example.
Martial arts schools today have evolved into overt baby-sitting services. Master instructors have been forced into the role of Social Activities Directors? They are literally holding kid’s Kung Fu birthday parties on Saturdays and teaching ladies aerobics classes, all while trying to figure out how how they evolved from ‘Warriors’ to ‘Dance Instructors’?
Two problems have driven this transition:
Problem 1:
Adult students can’t continue classes because they have no time…. Employers are pushing overtime, wives are complaining about husband’s long work hours and won’t share his remaining time with martial arts training, etc (the real problem is 60 hour work weeks on the J-O-B)….
Problem 2:
Students can’t pay their bills for a myriad of reasons: Wife loses job, gas prices rose too fast, home mortgage interest rates rose, credit card rates rose, etc…. (bottom line: the school owner is expected to solve everyone else’s financial problem by cancelling the martial arts training contract).
School owners are protecting themselves to some degree from these problems by enlarging curriculums to include a lot of social activities that appeal to new fads, ie. ladies aerobics classes, children’s martial arts parties, tournaments for kids where everyone gets a prize….
Then one day they wake up and realize they’ve become what I mentioned above - baby-sitting services run by very physically fit social activities directors. But their real goal was to teach serious martial arts to adults who can handle both the physical and mental rigors of warriorship. How did they end up here?
They ended up here because they started training bodies for physical survival in hand-to-hand combat scenarios, but never trained survival in life itself. Unlike the teachers of the past, they didn’t train life skills.
In today’s society, Masters didn’t have the means to teach their students how to stand on their own two feet financially and to own their lives and their time. So they allowed martial arts to degrade into sports for increased enrollment and then took on kids as a primary customer base.
In short, school funding structures forced this. Masters needed a ‘Cash Machine’ to keep their schools alive and child-care, sports, and social activities became that cash machine.
Enter the home business “Cash Machine.” Aren’t all home businesses (properly run) cash machines? Some may be better tailored to the goal and image of a given business.
In the case of the martial arts schools, they need a business opportunity selling self-development training built around Chan (Zen) philosophy. This enables them to offer an opportunity to their students and families that broadens their martial training to encompass whole person development. Voila! A cash machine that enables them to maintain their high standards of martial science training and preempt curriculum degradation into social activities and sports.
In contrast, a real sports training school or clinic might find a home business focused on health supplements a better fit for their image and activities.
Our initial question has been examined and answered. Properly chosen and implimented, a direct marketed home business opportunity can easily help a brick and mortar entity stay its course amid market pressures to lessen standards or alter its identity.
In your service,
Richard Loewenhagen
CEO
Living My Lifestyle
www.LivingMyLifestyle.com
richardloewenhagen@libertyleague.com
(480) 600-6859 Cell
P.S. If you enjoyed this blog entry, hang tight. There are many more coming. The network marketing and home business opportunity arena is massive and growing. There will be a lot more material to cover.
Some Basics About Business Opportunities
Business Versus a Job
With over 40 million people now engaged in working from home, I get a lot of questions these days about Home Based Business Opportunities. ‘How do I know if an opportunity is legitimate?’ and ‘Should I have to make an initial investment?’ are two of the most frequent questions I’m asked.
A third question that often comes up is, ‘Will I have to sell anything?’ In short, if an opportunity is legitimate, you will most definitely have to make an investment and you will most definitely have to market something – whether it be products or services.
Remember, we are talking about a ‘Home Business’ opportunity – not a home J-O-B. This is where the greatest confusion lies.
Most people looking for a home based opportunity list ‘being their own boss’ as the primary reason for their search. Next come ‘controlling my own time’ and ‘significantly increasing my level of income’.
In contrast to these stated objectives, many say they don’t want to sell anything. Others say they want an opportunity that requires no investment. What they are truly looking for is a home job. What they fail to recognize is that jobs always come with bosses, corporate policies and politics, corporate production pressures, the lowest pay possible for the work accomplished regardless of where they are performed, and absolutely no security.
Whoa, you say. My job has benefits and tenure protection and retirement plans, etc. So What! Just ask the millions who have been ‘outsourced’ and ‘downsized’ how secure those benefits and protections are. Jobs are jobs and they are always at risk. Home jobs are good for removing commuting from the work picture, but rarely address any of the other reasons for seeking a home based business opportunity.
A Serious Business Requires an Entrepreneurial Mindset
If you are looking for true independence and self-determination, then you must begin to think like an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs rarely, if ever, trust anything that is ‘free’ of investment. There is always a catch and its usually too expensive in the long run. Entrepreneurs expect to work hard mentally so they can make money efficiently without great physical effort.
Entrepreneurs expect to exercise their creative processes rather than wait on others to do the thinking for them. For home based businesses, most of this creative work will be in the marketing arena. For Brick and Mortar store fronts, creative efforts will also be required for facilities management and administration, inventory management and distribution control, and human resources management.
Paying Up Front for a Marketing Guru Will Yield Greatest Long Run Success
The real money in any business venture comes from quality marketing. Whether that venture is located in a brick and mortar storefront or is located at home is irrelevant when it comes to the basics of marketing. At some point, you are going to have to sell your products and/or your services.
Finding qualified customers requires true marketing knowledge and skill. Notice, I said ‘marketing skill’ – not necessarily ‘sales skill’. Good products and services virtually sell themselves when they are introduced to qualified customers. Bringing qualified customers to quality products and services is the art of direct marketing. In a storefront business, this marketing expertise often comes from franchise training.
In a home based business the same can be true, but there are also some legitimate organizations that provide the same depth of training without the enormous investment fees associated with most franchises. An independent marketing consultant can also be employed. Careful research on the internet can reveal some serious marketing training opportunities.
In any case, some legitimate expense will be incurred for training and ongoing marketing assistance. Expect it, plan for it, embrace it, for it will be the lifeblood of your success.
What Should I look for In a Successful Opportunity?
First and foremost, find a product that is actually needed and in-demand. Make sure that product or product line is one you personally embrace. If you’re not proud of it, you cannot move it! This is especially true in a home based environment where you must communicate with people to make money. Your sincerity means everything in this arena.
Second, look for the benefits of an established franchise - a well defined support system that provides for on-going product development, ongoing product training and personal development, and advisors financially committed to ongoing marketing training and support. As noted earlier, some well-established opportunities exist that provide all of these franchise-style services without the stiff up-front capital investment.
Note: I didn’t say ‘free’. Quality service must always be paid for or it won’t be ‘quality’ for very long. However, there are legitimate opportunities that make this payment virtually painless because it comes in conjunction with significant realized earnings. Look for them. Do your homework!
Third, look for outstanding computer support. Your entire business should be manageable from a laptop computer and a cell phone. Any legitimate opportunity will have both up-front marketing and top-notch back office management support available at all times online.
Facts About Franchises and Franchise-Style Opportunities
Why do I keep coming back to franchise type structures and systems? Because they work! Simply put, franchises succeed at a 94% rate and non-franchised new business start-ups generally fail at greater than a 60% rate. That means franchise-style businesses are 10 times more likely to succeed! Why? Because they are employing proven products, proven marketing systems, and proven delivery methods.
If you follow the system and can resist ‘reinventing the wheel’, success is virtually guaranteed. Keep these numbers ever-present in your mind as you examine opportunities to invest your time and future in.
Last, But Not Least
Never forget the real reason for a Home Based Business Opportunity – control of our lives! Significant income has no meaning if it must be attained through slavery. Time truly is our most precious commodity. Time with our family, time with our friends, and time with ourselves is what ‘significant income’ should offer us.
Look for an opportunity that affords us as much time to live as the income it promises to generate. The latter without the former will be no better than the J-O-B we gave up in the first place.
Richard Loewenhagen, Lt Col, USAF (Ret)
CEO
www.LivingMyLifestyle.com
(480) 600-6859
richardloewenhagen@libertyleague.com
With over 40 million people now engaged in working from home, I get a lot of questions these days about Home Based Business Opportunities. ‘How do I know if an opportunity is legitimate?’ and ‘Should I have to make an initial investment?’ are two of the most frequent questions I’m asked.
A third question that often comes up is, ‘Will I have to sell anything?’ In short, if an opportunity is legitimate, you will most definitely have to make an investment and you will most definitely have to market something – whether it be products or services.
Remember, we are talking about a ‘Home Business’ opportunity – not a home J-O-B. This is where the greatest confusion lies.
Most people looking for a home based opportunity list ‘being their own boss’ as the primary reason for their search. Next come ‘controlling my own time’ and ‘significantly increasing my level of income’.
In contrast to these stated objectives, many say they don’t want to sell anything. Others say they want an opportunity that requires no investment. What they are truly looking for is a home job. What they fail to recognize is that jobs always come with bosses, corporate policies and politics, corporate production pressures, the lowest pay possible for the work accomplished regardless of where they are performed, and absolutely no security.
Whoa, you say. My job has benefits and tenure protection and retirement plans, etc. So What! Just ask the millions who have been ‘outsourced’ and ‘downsized’ how secure those benefits and protections are. Jobs are jobs and they are always at risk. Home jobs are good for removing commuting from the work picture, but rarely address any of the other reasons for seeking a home based business opportunity.
A Serious Business Requires an Entrepreneurial Mindset
If you are looking for true independence and self-determination, then you must begin to think like an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs rarely, if ever, trust anything that is ‘free’ of investment. There is always a catch and its usually too expensive in the long run. Entrepreneurs expect to work hard mentally so they can make money efficiently without great physical effort.
Entrepreneurs expect to exercise their creative processes rather than wait on others to do the thinking for them. For home based businesses, most of this creative work will be in the marketing arena. For Brick and Mortar store fronts, creative efforts will also be required for facilities management and administration, inventory management and distribution control, and human resources management.
Paying Up Front for a Marketing Guru Will Yield Greatest Long Run Success
The real money in any business venture comes from quality marketing. Whether that venture is located in a brick and mortar storefront or is located at home is irrelevant when it comes to the basics of marketing. At some point, you are going to have to sell your products and/or your services.
Finding qualified customers requires true marketing knowledge and skill. Notice, I said ‘marketing skill’ – not necessarily ‘sales skill’. Good products and services virtually sell themselves when they are introduced to qualified customers. Bringing qualified customers to quality products and services is the art of direct marketing. In a storefront business, this marketing expertise often comes from franchise training.
In a home based business the same can be true, but there are also some legitimate organizations that provide the same depth of training without the enormous investment fees associated with most franchises. An independent marketing consultant can also be employed. Careful research on the internet can reveal some serious marketing training opportunities.
In any case, some legitimate expense will be incurred for training and ongoing marketing assistance. Expect it, plan for it, embrace it, for it will be the lifeblood of your success.
What Should I look for In a Successful Opportunity?
First and foremost, find a product that is actually needed and in-demand. Make sure that product or product line is one you personally embrace. If you’re not proud of it, you cannot move it! This is especially true in a home based environment where you must communicate with people to make money. Your sincerity means everything in this arena.
Second, look for the benefits of an established franchise - a well defined support system that provides for on-going product development, ongoing product training and personal development, and advisors financially committed to ongoing marketing training and support. As noted earlier, some well-established opportunities exist that provide all of these franchise-style services without the stiff up-front capital investment.
Note: I didn’t say ‘free’. Quality service must always be paid for or it won’t be ‘quality’ for very long. However, there are legitimate opportunities that make this payment virtually painless because it comes in conjunction with significant realized earnings. Look for them. Do your homework!
Third, look for outstanding computer support. Your entire business should be manageable from a laptop computer and a cell phone. Any legitimate opportunity will have both up-front marketing and top-notch back office management support available at all times online.
Facts About Franchises and Franchise-Style Opportunities
Why do I keep coming back to franchise type structures and systems? Because they work! Simply put, franchises succeed at a 94% rate and non-franchised new business start-ups generally fail at greater than a 60% rate. That means franchise-style businesses are 10 times more likely to succeed! Why? Because they are employing proven products, proven marketing systems, and proven delivery methods.
If you follow the system and can resist ‘reinventing the wheel’, success is virtually guaranteed. Keep these numbers ever-present in your mind as you examine opportunities to invest your time and future in.
Last, But Not Least
Never forget the real reason for a Home Based Business Opportunity – control of our lives! Significant income has no meaning if it must be attained through slavery. Time truly is our most precious commodity. Time with our family, time with our friends, and time with ourselves is what ‘significant income’ should offer us.
Look for an opportunity that affords us as much time to live as the income it promises to generate. The latter without the former will be no better than the J-O-B we gave up in the first place.
Richard Loewenhagen, Lt Col, USAF (Ret)
CEO
www.LivingMyLifestyle.com
(480) 600-6859
richardloewenhagen@libertyleague.com
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Network Marketing and Home Business Opportunity
What the Experts Say
Warren Buffet, the world’s top entrepreneur once said, “It's better to be medium-good in a great field than great in a medium field.” There are some great fields where a lot of money can be made, and the absolute top one of those today is Network Marketing.
At a recent financial workshop, Donald Trump listed the top five income producing business opportunities today as follows:
Network Marketing
Public Speaking
Real Estate
Internet Business
Stock Market
Today, several months following Trump’s presentation, number 3 and number 4 have actually switched places. Since Network Marketing, Public Speaking, and Internet Business are frequently employed in tandem with many home-based business opportunities, some very exciting potentials arise here.
What You Question
Hold on, you say! Haven’t you heard the statistic that most people (95%) fail in Network Marketing? How about the statistic that 95% of small businesses opened each year do not make it past their 4th year?
Yes, I’ve heard those numbers, and I have good reason to suspect their legitimacy. For instance, the 95% statistic actually applies to Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) – NOT Network Marketing.
Second, the 95% figure for small businesses is tracked through SBA and Bank loan data, yet many small businesses never use SBA or Bank loans in their first four years of operation. Nevertheless, a strikingly high failure rate for new opportunities is still sobering.
On closer examination, I can’t help wondering about a potential correlation between these two numbers? Is it possible that there is nothing wrong with Network Marketing per se and nothing wrong with the concept of a Small Business per se?
Is it possible the failures were due to similar causes? Is it possible that in both statistics the majority of failures were due to a lack of preparation, planning, training, and systematized implementation? Is it possible in both cases that the lack of planning stemmed from a lack of self-development and goal setting.
Without defined personal and professional goals, did the prospective entrepreneur commit the fatal error of losing track of his or her dream?
Potential Answers to Others Poor Results
Perhaps goals were initially set, but were not placed at the forefront of every daily activity? Did they form the root of every marketing decision and every business expenditure?
Goals change mindsets and habits. Embracing goals throughout the day’s activities helps every prospective entrepreneur accomplish more than he ever imagined and become everything and more than he ever dreamed.
How True Entrepreneurs Get Results
True entrepreneurs believe that they have the power to change anything they choose in their lives. They do not have an ‘either / or’ mentality. They don’t evaluate choices by weighing ‘this versus that’.
Accountants weigh a pool of resources and say, “You can have this, or you can have that.” Entrepreneurs see both as necessary and align goals to expand the pool of resources to make both choices possible.
Goal oriented thinking leads to positive behavior in all aspects of a small or home-based business. We can take any aspect of a business and examine it closer to see how this is true. Let’s pick the least understood (and potentially most powerful) area – marketing.
The real money in any business venture comes from quality marketing. Bringing qualified customers to quality products and services is the art of direct marketing.
In a storefront business, this marketing expertise often comes from franchise training, because experts have previously set goals and measured their effectiveness in the process of building their turnkey system.
If you follow the system religiously, you are actually achieving goals set by others who paved the road before you. In a home based business the same can be true, but there are also some legitimate organizations that provide the same depth of training without the enormous investment fees associated with most franchises.
An independent marketing consultant can also be employed to help us set and target goals. Careful research on the internet can reveal some serious marketing training opportunities. In any case, some legitimate expense will be incurred for training and ongoing marketing assistance.
Expect it, plan for it, embrace it, for it will be the lifeblood of your success.
Let’s see how preplanning and goal setting are important here. If my product is consumable and low value, I need large volumes of customers looking for inexpensive consumables.
In contrast, if my product is high value and related to self-improvement or growth, then I need a few customers each month who want to grow beyond consumption and are looking for major changes in their lives. The goals we tailor to reach either audience will be radically different.
The measures we create for utilizing advertising resources will be radically different. These in turn will determine which advertising resources we choose and the messages we communicate to potential customers.
In the case of the low value – high consumable item, we’ll want to target our marketing to large groups of people noted for high consumption spending.
There are advertising resources who specialize in capturing leads specifically in this marketplace. Find them, set some goals and establish effective units of measuring them. Then target your advertising campaign to this audience.
In the case of the high value – self improvement item, we’ll want to target people who accept responsibility for what happens to them in life. They never blame their failures (or successes) on others.
Any entrepreneurial thinker falls into this category: business owners, investors of all kinds, professionals continuously seeking self-improvement training, etc. In short, we are looking for pioneers in almost any field.
These are not sheep looking for jobs. These are self-determined leaders or people who have finally achieved the realization that they must determine their own destiny.
Direct targeted marketing can be employed to reach these audiences. Large numbers of responses are not necessary. Our goals and units of effective measure should help us find the few who truly want our message and opportunity.
As indicated at the start of this post, it is better to be medium-good in a great field. The experts tell us the top money-making opportunity in the world today is network marketing.
Don’t let others’ failure to plan and goal-set deter you. Do your homework. Develop goals (or pick an opportunity with a proven track record that can teach you how) and start each and every day with a reexamination of them.
Keep sight of your dream and it will take you places you never imagined.
In your service,
Richard Loewenhagen, Lt Col, USAF (ret)
CEO
www.LivingMyLifestyle.com
(480) 600-6859
richardloewenhagen@libertyleague.com
P.S. If you enjoyed this blog entry, hang tight. There are many more coming. The network marketing and home business opportunity arena is massive and growing. There will be a lot more material to cover.
Warren Buffet, the world’s top entrepreneur once said, “It's better to be medium-good in a great field than great in a medium field.” There are some great fields where a lot of money can be made, and the absolute top one of those today is Network Marketing.
At a recent financial workshop, Donald Trump listed the top five income producing business opportunities today as follows:
Network Marketing
Public Speaking
Real Estate
Internet Business
Stock Market
Today, several months following Trump’s presentation, number 3 and number 4 have actually switched places. Since Network Marketing, Public Speaking, and Internet Business are frequently employed in tandem with many home-based business opportunities, some very exciting potentials arise here.
What You Question
Hold on, you say! Haven’t you heard the statistic that most people (95%) fail in Network Marketing? How about the statistic that 95% of small businesses opened each year do not make it past their 4th year?
Yes, I’ve heard those numbers, and I have good reason to suspect their legitimacy. For instance, the 95% statistic actually applies to Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) – NOT Network Marketing.
Second, the 95% figure for small businesses is tracked through SBA and Bank loan data, yet many small businesses never use SBA or Bank loans in their first four years of operation. Nevertheless, a strikingly high failure rate for new opportunities is still sobering.
On closer examination, I can’t help wondering about a potential correlation between these two numbers? Is it possible that there is nothing wrong with Network Marketing per se and nothing wrong with the concept of a Small Business per se?
Is it possible the failures were due to similar causes? Is it possible that in both statistics the majority of failures were due to a lack of preparation, planning, training, and systematized implementation? Is it possible in both cases that the lack of planning stemmed from a lack of self-development and goal setting.
Without defined personal and professional goals, did the prospective entrepreneur commit the fatal error of losing track of his or her dream?
Potential Answers to Others Poor Results
Perhaps goals were initially set, but were not placed at the forefront of every daily activity? Did they form the root of every marketing decision and every business expenditure?
Goals change mindsets and habits. Embracing goals throughout the day’s activities helps every prospective entrepreneur accomplish more than he ever imagined and become everything and more than he ever dreamed.
How True Entrepreneurs Get Results
True entrepreneurs believe that they have the power to change anything they choose in their lives. They do not have an ‘either / or’ mentality. They don’t evaluate choices by weighing ‘this versus that’.
Accountants weigh a pool of resources and say, “You can have this, or you can have that.” Entrepreneurs see both as necessary and align goals to expand the pool of resources to make both choices possible.
Goal oriented thinking leads to positive behavior in all aspects of a small or home-based business. We can take any aspect of a business and examine it closer to see how this is true. Let’s pick the least understood (and potentially most powerful) area – marketing.
The real money in any business venture comes from quality marketing. Bringing qualified customers to quality products and services is the art of direct marketing.
In a storefront business, this marketing expertise often comes from franchise training, because experts have previously set goals and measured their effectiveness in the process of building their turnkey system.
If you follow the system religiously, you are actually achieving goals set by others who paved the road before you. In a home based business the same can be true, but there are also some legitimate organizations that provide the same depth of training without the enormous investment fees associated with most franchises.
An independent marketing consultant can also be employed to help us set and target goals. Careful research on the internet can reveal some serious marketing training opportunities. In any case, some legitimate expense will be incurred for training and ongoing marketing assistance.
Expect it, plan for it, embrace it, for it will be the lifeblood of your success.
Let’s see how preplanning and goal setting are important here. If my product is consumable and low value, I need large volumes of customers looking for inexpensive consumables.
In contrast, if my product is high value and related to self-improvement or growth, then I need a few customers each month who want to grow beyond consumption and are looking for major changes in their lives. The goals we tailor to reach either audience will be radically different.
The measures we create for utilizing advertising resources will be radically different. These in turn will determine which advertising resources we choose and the messages we communicate to potential customers.
In the case of the low value – high consumable item, we’ll want to target our marketing to large groups of people noted for high consumption spending.
There are advertising resources who specialize in capturing leads specifically in this marketplace. Find them, set some goals and establish effective units of measuring them. Then target your advertising campaign to this audience.
In the case of the high value – self improvement item, we’ll want to target people who accept responsibility for what happens to them in life. They never blame their failures (or successes) on others.
Any entrepreneurial thinker falls into this category: business owners, investors of all kinds, professionals continuously seeking self-improvement training, etc. In short, we are looking for pioneers in almost any field.
These are not sheep looking for jobs. These are self-determined leaders or people who have finally achieved the realization that they must determine their own destiny.
Direct targeted marketing can be employed to reach these audiences. Large numbers of responses are not necessary. Our goals and units of effective measure should help us find the few who truly want our message and opportunity.
As indicated at the start of this post, it is better to be medium-good in a great field. The experts tell us the top money-making opportunity in the world today is network marketing.
Don’t let others’ failure to plan and goal-set deter you. Do your homework. Develop goals (or pick an opportunity with a proven track record that can teach you how) and start each and every day with a reexamination of them.
Keep sight of your dream and it will take you places you never imagined.
In your service,
Richard Loewenhagen, Lt Col, USAF (ret)
CEO
www.LivingMyLifestyle.com
(480) 600-6859
richardloewenhagen@libertyleague.com
P.S. If you enjoyed this blog entry, hang tight. There are many more coming. The network marketing and home business opportunity arena is massive and growing. There will be a lot more material to cover.
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