Surviving and Thriving in Network Marketing: A Path to Wealth and Freedom

introduction according to Webster's Dictionary to survive means to remain alive or in

existence particularly to live on after the death of others the fascinating thing about network

marketing is that in many instances survival I.E staying in existence after others leave the business is precisely

what leads to dramatic wealth attrition is a considerable factor in our business yet we have rarely met

anyone who has worked steadily in network marketing who doesn't eventually achieve success

and those rare individuals who do not succeed are usually their own worst enemies constantly Reinventing the wheel

and complicating the simplest path to prosperity in the history of capitalism of course priorities vary as widely as

do people while some choose network marketing as a means to an end wealth others simply enjoy it for its own

merits these folks join multi-level marketing to build their confidence widen their

circle of friends and feel more productive and in spite of the fact that they'll never earn huge incomes you

couldn't pry them away from this business with a crowbar that kind of money was never really

their goal and you'll read many of their stories in this book in fact were we to double the number of

stories of success we still couldn't possibly elaborate on all the remarkable benefits to be derived by those who have

chosen to participate in this wondrous industry in network marketing you persevere or

you perish quitting is the one sure way to fail surviving the first year establishes a

new distributor with a good basis for Success our analysis shows that an estimated 95 percent of those who

survive 10 years in network marketing become wealthy beyond their wildest expectations these survivors have

achieved either staggering Financial rewards and or total time Freedom that is having all the free time to do the

things that really matter to you with the people you love most at this particular time in history when

traditional business offers so little security network distribution is literally the last Bastion of free

enterprise it's a system in which common people can invest a small sum and through sheer tenacity and determination

rise to staggering levels of financial reward and personal freedom it's a field devoid of the pitfalls of

traditional business payroll employee benefit costs advertising overhead bookkeeping and accounts receivable

network marketing has an entirely different set of entrapments of its own but once understood these problems are

easily overcome We Believe success is critically dependent on awareness from the very

beginning of what these hazards are and how to overcome them hence this book the network marketing industry traces

its roots to the 1940s when neutralite Products Incorporated launched the sale of food supplement products and 10 years

later Amway introduced the sale of household products over the past 50 years the industry has

matured into a legitimate and efficient channel of distribution ideally suited for the next wave about to break in the

world of business all we can say is thanks to Rich DeVos and Jay Van Andel for having the vision

to Pioneer this industry network marketing annual sales are nearing 20 billion dollars in the United

States alone being moved by an estimated 8 million people worldwide more than 100 billion dollars of a broad spectrum of

products and services are being sold by an estimated 30 million independent Network marketers

and keep in mind that we are still a very young industry with an expansive promising future

several studies have predicted that a third of all goods and services will be moved via network marketing in Western

Nations shortly after the turn of the century and this could be as high as 50 percent in developing nations by the

year 2110. historically the industry has been product driven selling from the traditional categories of personal care

vitamin slash nutritional supplementation Home and Family Care Leisure and educational products

starting in the 1980s Services became a growing component particularly in the deregulated telecommunications industry

other services have included credit cards Financial Services Insurance Prepaid Legal Services travel

self-development and motivational programming with the forthcoming deregulation of the

public utilities Industries between 1998 and 2002 network marketing companies are positioning themselves to enter this

Market as well the evolving maturity of our industry is clearly demonstrated by the 20 network

marketing companies now traded publicly on NASDAQ and the New York Stock Exchange and many others are preparing

to go public in order to file an initial public offering IPO companies must establish

standardized accounting procedures and be open to Securities and Exchange Commission SEC scrutiny and control

therefore those companies that do go public must establish and maintain high standards of business practices which

elevates the character of the entire network marketing community investors response to the publicly

traded network marketing companies has been outstanding upline magazine and Industry trade publication maintains an

upline index that tracks the financial performance of these public network marketing companies

in 1996 this index showed an increase in stock market value for the industry of more than 63 percent as compared to the

Dow Jones industrial average increase of only 33 and the standard in Poor's 500 Index increase of 34 percent

this nearly twofold gain of the network marketing industry over traditional corporations has created considerable

excitement among Savvy investors the average person needs as little as 200 or 300 to get started in network

marketing included in this figure is the purchase of some widely accepted products or services to be personally

used and shared with others our industry is based on simple word of mouth recommendation of products and

services distribution moves directly from the producer to the consumer which cuts out all the intermediate agents and

dealers who have nothing to do with production or consumption as goods are distributed the Network

marketer then receives compensation equal to the advertising budget of most large corporations

we've all known for years that word of mouth is the best form of advertising therefore should it not also be the most

lucrative we have recorded a couple of dozen audio tapes during our Collective 20 years in

network marketing and the one that is still the most requested is entitled if nlm is so great why am I so depressed

we think the reason people enjoy that tape is because we dared to tell the truth about the pitfalls in this

industry we admitted that in spite of our success we both considered quitting many times

during those first years unfortunately many people heard that audio tape far too late in their network marketing

careers and while they enjoyed a good chuckle because they could identify with our admitted first-year problems most

had already lost their upstart enthusiasm so necessary for success and once people lose the drive and

enthusiasm to carry them through the tough months once that excitement is gone in many cases so too is the chance

to achieve dramatic wealth there is an often quoted adage in this business it's much easier to give birth

to a new distributor than it is to resurrect a dead one and yet as the stories poured into our

Swiss Chalet from across the Atlantic we realized that this book May indeed resurrect thousands of discouraged

Network marketers once they read some of the truthful anecdotes shared by so many Legends of this industry

as a Prelude to these stories that we hope will impact your life it seems appropriate to introduce you to one of

the Legends Doug weed who is with the oldest and largest MLM company before we tell his story we would like

to tell you a little about the man the night the Gulf War Began you may have seen Doug weed interviewed on

television by Dan Rather Doug was then serving as Special Assistant to President Bush

he has been quoted in time Newsweek U.S news and World Report The Washington Post The Wall Street Journal and

hundreds of other major Publications and his 26 books have sold over 3 million copies in 15 languages except for his

six-year political sabbatical Doug weed has dedicated his last 20 years to building his organization as well as

researching and writing about network marketing Doug has filled auditoriums and soccer

stadiums in Poland Hungary France turkey the United Kingdom Australia Indonesia and the United States with eager Network

marketers in just the last year so what does a legend like dougweed do with his money credibility time freedom and Power

in 1979 working side by side with Pat Boone and Archbishop Bernard Cardinal law of Boston Doug found that what is

today one of the world's Premier relief organizations Mercy Corps International last year it distributed 73 million

dollars worth of medicine and famine relief to the troubled areas of our world

let's now visit Doug's first year in network marketing through his own eyes as he writes powerfully and humorously

about his life experiences most of us involved in network marketing are gluttons for punishment subconscious

cetomasochist basically we hate ourselves that's why we get into networking in the first place we see it

as almost guaranteed suffering I need this this will really make me feel bad which I so richly deserve

wouldn't you know that I would end up successful making money traveling the world meeting presidents feeding the

hungry see for me nothing happens the way it's supposed to I can't even fail right

in that sense my early anticipated struggles in network marketing were a disappointment I had no problem with

rejection I enjoyed every one of them I was much quicker to respect and identify with the people who turned me down than

those rare prospects whom I was actually able to recruit each rejection was only positive

reaffirmation of my own negative self-image likewise going without food or sleep or

money was only what I deserved for making such an arrogant assumption that I could survive in network marketing

Dreamland no for me the very real problem was not physical at all it wasn't money it

wasn't people it wasn't product and it wasn't time for me the challenge was entirely

between my own ears it still is incidentally for me the early struggle was only philosophical of course I can

do it anybody can do it the question the very real nagging haunting question was should I do it is it right is this what

I'm supposed to be doing with my life nothing is more worrisome and draining than self-doubt nothing is more

effective at stripping off the fine Edge from everything you say or do nothing can empty your emotional gas tank

quicker in that sense for the first time in my life I had met my match network

marketing which we see as such a sensitive machine easily influenced my attitudes was not a bit impressed with

my emotional and psychological drama it only seemed to crunch numbers like a Mindless calculator the secret for me I

was to learn was simply to survive and then plot on above all I couldn't quit over time as I slowly fed this monster

it grew and grew exponentially believe you have to believe they kept telling me I didn't even have to do that

two times two equals four you don't have to believe it it is four anyway and my business grew in spite of myself

tough emotionally maybe spiritually maybe but those battles manifest themselves in

Failure as well as success poverty is no refuge for the war shocked weary soul

and so I conquered and with the money I co-founded Mercy Corps International last year we gave away 73 million

dollars in food and Medicine around the world I found my why we hope this book will help you find

your why too it is our hope that this book will be given to new network marketers immediately after they sign up

in order to warn them of the pitfalls before they lose their initial excitement because once it's gone the

chances of ever getting that driving enthusiasm back are virtually nil the first year in this business is not

just challenging it is more akin to going into combat it's about survival in the midst of widespread failure you may

not even sense the impending danger and then all of a sudden you've been ambushed and have lost an entire leg of

your downline one of our primary objectives in writing this book is to take the stealth out of

your battles so that you can see your adversaries well in advance instead of having them creep up and catch you

unaware but equally important is that once you see The Clash coming you are equipped

with the necessary skills and tools to win each confrontation and thus survive your first year in MLM

believe us in year one survival is the name of the game we know this both from personal

experience and from statistics compiled by several companies that suggest well over 60 percent of all new network

marketers quit in their first year during the most important phase in the learning curve

given the possibility of earning more each month working from home than a Pediatric Cardiologist with a staff of

10 earns in a year at his clinic and it is possible wouldn't any sane person be willing to invest a year or two studying

MLM and compared to the 12-year learning curve of doctors isn't a year more palatable

while our industry's attrition rate is perhaps no higher than other professions involving overrides and straight

commissions it is nevertheless critical that we do our best to help new Associates anticipate the inevitable

conflicts that will arise and equip them with the weapons they'll need to win those battles

it has been suggested that every great mlmr was a lousy mlmr first and we concur

unfortunately it's a fact of life that when any of us first begin a new Endeavor we are at least initially

vulnerable novices although the educational process in network marketing is relatively brief it

can be devastating to many new Associates the main reason is quite simple to understand we all hate

rejection and none is worse than when we are mocked by friends family and acquaintances

it doesn't take very long for people to become discouraged when every day for the first four or five months they are

subjected to eye rolling ridicule from everyone they know love and respect however if you know exactly what to

expect and you aren't forced to appear foolish by cajoling deceiving or pestering those close to you network

marketing even in the early stages is quite fun and relatively painless preparation and anticipation are both

critical in this book we will prepare you for most of the inevitable first-year

challenges we will teach you how to survive those conflicts by providing you with tactics that work no theories just

facts most importantly by preparing you in advance and sharing practical ways to survive each of these first-year

challenges we want to assist you in persevering and if you do manage to survive the first year without quitting

and without losing your sense of humor the odds are great that you will continue long enough to become quite

wealthy and successful we've had a tremendous resource pool from which to draw our lessons and

examples for the past several years we've been fortunate to teach America's only

college-level certification course in network marketing with Harvard PhD Charles King at the University of

Illinois at Chicago many of the top networkers from every company both in America and abroad as

well as many network marketing CEOs have attended our classes and we've spent quality personal time with many of them

as course instructors we learned a great deal from our students the experiences we share in this book have all happened

if not specifically to us than to other leaders who have shared them with us you'll recognize many of their names

so we feel confident that we've left very few Stones unturned in our efforts to teach you the best survival

strategies available to first-year distributors some of our industry's most successful International leaders

survived their first year by utilizing the simple Maneuvers laid out for you in this book

survive your first year and you've got a tremendous opportunity to join those Legends

from Mark's father telling him that he is ruining the family name by doing MLM to a hungry reporter asking the Attorney

General of Nevada to investigate our company in hopes of uncovering a scandal or conflict of interest while Renee was

serving as chairman of the County Commission the two of us have survived some fairly devastating ambushes we know

what it's like to lose six of our seven best leaders to a new upstart scam that is a company that misrepresents its

earnings and or product efficacy and we've endured the humiliation of a close friend stealing an entire downline lag

both of us fell into the management trap at different points in our respective First Years and wound up babysitting

people who never would have succeeded no matter what we had done because they weren't willing to do what we did

both of us suffered the misplaced personal guilt of signing up a close friend who just couldn't make it in this

business we'll teach you how to survive all of those booby traps in fact we'll show you

how to avoid them all together on your path toward achieving all the money you aspire to earn and the time to enjoy it

in our first book power multi-level marketing we presented the theory behind MLM achievement we tried to provide a

paint by numbers system for both part-time and full-time success but in this book we are vitally concerned with

practical applications that is with giving specific examples of what can and does happen to cause potentially

successful Distributors to prematurely end their careers many psychiatrists subscribe to the

theory that ninety percent of the solution to any problem consists in the awareness of that problem's existence we

agree our fervent hopes and prayers are that by bringing to your attention all the problems that successful Network

marketers face in their first years we will enable you to survive yours we are sharing with you the Practical proven

survival tactics used by many of the legends of this industry so that you also can prosper abundantly

we're honored to have Dr Charles King add a dimension to our book never before available a quantitative analysis of

network marketing from an academic perspective much of our most important data has been

exhaustively researched and compiled by him we've learned a great deal about the inner workings and Technical marketing

strategies of our profession from Dr King many of his overviews are sprinkled throughout this book his Keen insights

have been invaluable to us over the years and his Dynamic wife Sandra has directed all of our College

certification courses nearly 1 000 students have graduated from our course to become network

marketing professionals so many thanks to Charles and Sandra King network marketing is indeed the greatest

opportunity in the history of capitalism and we consider ourselves very privileged to be able to participate in

the industry so naturally when Prima publishing contacted us about doing a book not long

after its marvelous success publishing Richard Poe's legendary Wave 3 books we jumped at the opportunity with

tremendous enthusiasm as industry Advocates we believe that when any network marketing company fails

we all suffer the future survival of our industry depends now on cooperation not antagonism

industry-wide success depends on elevating MLM companies and products rather than destroying the reputations

hopes and dreams of our MLM competitors only then will network marketing become the most lucrative profession in all a

free enterprise some Network marketers mistakenly believe that the systematic ruin of

their competitors is their best strategy for success little do they know that's exactly why

they haven't begun to reach their potential unlike pioneers of the old west who circled their wagons to fight

off attacks whenever one or more companies in our Industries threatened we Circle our wagons and fire inward

the old tactic of divide and conquer has been quite effective in the traditional business world the traditional corporate

pyramids have skillfully utilized the media and government Regulators to similarly attack and stifle our growing

industry and all along they have hoped and prayed that we'd just go away but we think it's time for them to stop

fighting us we respect all companies not just those in our own industry and we think they should do the same

spanning our Collective 20 years in the field of professional network marketing we've been blessed to speak to hundreds

of thousands of marvelous people in every part of the world and while we've heard our industry denigrated in a

variety of ways not once have we heard it referred to as the rat race this graphic description has been used

on every continent and translated into every language to depict a traditional business

Rat Race literally means a Sprint between the world's most deplorable rodents those who actually wiped out

half the population of England during the Black Plague and what is it they are so steadfastly

pursuing refuse and rotten green in a hopeful pursuit to eat enough to see one more

day if for no other reason than to help people avoid that we feel that this is a

book whose time has come because The Human Condition should be a joyous flight among Eagles not a frenzy Dash

among rodents Betty Carter formerly senior vice president for the Pacific Stock Exchange

recently shared a graphic comparison between the rat race of traditional business and the freedom of network

marketing in her own words when traditional business grows an entire population can be reduced to rats I

moved to Seattle several years ago because of the quality of life today as two corporations expand the entire city

has been forced into a Mindless Trek for several hours each day the average speed on major highways has

been reduced to 21 miles per hour crime and other societal problems are rising dramatically no one can yet

predict the negative ecological impact of the several thousand person influx each month but environmentalists are

clearly worried the point is this when MLM corporations experience explosive growth thousands of

people go home and soar like eagles when traditional corporations explode people from all over the world assume the

posture of rats and take to the streets thank God network marketing has given me the freedom to run errands during the

times when others are confined to their little cubicles but it will just be a matter of time before I have to look

elsewhere for tranquility we feel we have an awesome responsibility to educate as many people

as possible to the fact that they need no longer participate in the god-awful stress of traditional linear business

we wholeheartedly agree with Art Williams the author of all you can do when He suggests that we should all

become Crusaders in an effort to save the masses at least those who will listen from their headlong Pursuit into

80-hour weeks mediocre incomes and stress-induced coronaries because the American dream has become a

nightmare for so many and because Network distribution is such a viable alternative to more traditional business

professions it is incumbent upon those of us who have reaped so much from this industry to begin to sow seeds for

others the book you are now holding in your hands is the ultimate survivor's manual

thanks to the hundreds of unselfish leaders from diverse and numerous companies Who Rose to the occasion by

contributing their stories you will learn how to dramatically alter your life knowing full well that they would

be educating their competitors they all dared to tell the unadulterated truth about how to succeed in our industry

that kind of unselfishness alone makes us proud to call ourselves Network marketers

if only this book had been written a decade ago we might not have had to witness the unnecessarily Hasty Retreat

of so many Dynamic people from our industry who were simply unprepared for the first Year's battles because of this

book you won't have to endure the same unnecessary losses we did and there is one promise we will make to you without

reservation there will be times when your eyes will well up with tears or you'll laugh so hard at some of these

Legends anecdotes about their early challenges that like us you will have to put the book down until you can wipe the

mist from your eyes these stories are commensurate with ushering in a new industry we believe

the next decade will bring a noticeable decline in these types of challenges as new technology and distribution channels

Make Way for network marketing in our world we received countless illustrations and

anecdotes all of which were heartwarming and inspiring we regret that due to editorial restrictions we were unable to

include each and every narrative we want to offer a special thanks to those Legends of network marketing who by

sharing their stories did something unprecedented in business they dared to admit after becoming Legends their

innermost vulnerabilities and bouts with anxiety and depression so that millions of others including their own

competitors might be inspired to exit the 40-year plan and share in the American dream

enjoy and whatever else you do in the first year just don't quit because surviving is synonymous with thriving in

our industry Mark Yarnell and Renee Reed Yarnell gestad Switzerland