It was spring again. As the warmth of the morning sun tickled my feet through the soft blanket, an idea started forming in my mind.
By now I had one major success to speak of… I had cultivated an abundance-thinking mindset, which meant, regardless of the circumstances I could always find myself in a state of plenty. Whether that meant plenty of options, money, goodwill, grace… it was always there. Mentally, in a way, I had moved to the B-quadrant… from being a lone ranger to becoming a connected being. Connected to higher energy.
From being a ‘polyclinic’ to becoming a ‘multi-specialty hospital chain’, as a medico would think of it. In fact, medicine and networking did have a lot of parallels, I reflected.
Both had taken centuries in their evolution and both were continuously evolving. Like ‘energy medicine’ though, networking remained a subject of exploration.
Both supported life, though networking was proactive and medicine reactive.
Medicine was designed to help people physically. Networking was designed to help people financially. Both operated on the premise of helping others.
Both had a huge drop out rate. While millions applied for medical school, there were just a handful of top medical practitioners in any city. Likewise, while millions were recruited into various networks only a few made it to diamond and above.
Both paid exceedingly well to those who mastered the skills of the trade. Medicine however, still called for active work. Networking paid passive income.
Both also had ramifications and specialties that the majority did not understand. Networkers used less jargon however, and didn’t feel offended when people used terms like network distribution and network marketing interchangeably. (Call a cardio-thoracic surgeon a cardiologist and prepare for a funeral, I was told). Likewise MLMs and private franchises would be as apart as allopathic medicine and homeopathy… but for the world at large these differences did not exist.
Furthermore, both medicine and networking were divinely connected. Their biggest achievements required professional application supported by deep visualization techniques and belief.
And finally, with either, anything was possible.
I once met a gentleman named Doug Wead who was born a church minister’s son. He said he didn’t have any ‘silly dream’ of owning a house, a car or even of traveling the world. In spite of that, his sponsor insisted that he dig deep and put a finger on his dream. What would he really want in life? And Doug, being an avid follower of history, concluded, “I want to have a place in history.”
As Doug went though the motions of professional networking, days passed. Months passed. And in a few years, he found himself interviewing President Nixon, dining with Ronald Reagan, accompanying Gorbachev on his US tour. He found himself a place in the Whitehouse as special advisor to 2 US Presidents. He was traveling all over the world where history was being written. Berlin. Kazakhstan, Tiananmen. He wrote biographies of great leaders. He loved to write but had only 2 books to his credit before his network marketing days. Since then he wrote 26 more and is counting.
All because the passive income from his network gave him the much needed time. And the resources to publish what he chose to, and meet whoever he wished to!
He developed the contacts. And put the money to use for others. Doug’s charitable organization funds the Missionaries of Charity (Mother Teresa) in Kolkata. His resources support scores of AIDS affected villages in Africa. His trucks were the first to reach Tsunami victims in Indonesia. Doug is in history. And that was his dream!
Another gentlemen I came across was the former Vice President of Citibank in Indonesia. Robert Ankasa; a man who dreamed of being a top gun in his industry and a role model.
An ordinary middle class student, he cleaned toilets in Australia to finance his post-graduate management studies… but he says, that’s what taught him “to become a guy who could focus on the ends and not be stuck on the means.” That was the real education which helped him switch from management at the bank to leadership of his network. And before he was 30 he was hailed as a visionary and inspiration for many middle class Indonesians and people the world over.
Ankasa – through his network marketing opportunity – personally mentored over 50 families to diamond and above. His asset base would be worth several hundred million dollars. And it all developed over a decade, of which three years he spent building a network in parallel to his high pressure bank job. After which he was free. For life. Forever. To serve as an instrument of substantial socioeconomic change in Indonesia and – by example – in the rest of the world.
Jim Dornan made a special mention of Ankasa in his pathbreaking book co-authored with the legendary John Maxwell, ‘Becoming a person of influence’. In a lighter vein he’d said, “it is not falling into a lake that will drown you… it is staying there that will.” What he meant was, ‘it is not the fact that we are born in a poor environment that makes us miserable. It is our choice to stay in that environment that does that’.
So as we plunge into unknown waters, it is best to keep moving. Else we drown and that’s the end of our story in this life. Likewise in the unknown waters of network marketing. Unless we do the work (of guiding people), we would just be another failure statistic. And we’d lose the opportunity to really live our dreams.
*****I called Nama, hurling the blanket to a side as I was actually feeling quite hot. Was it the heat of my idea? Oh God… why does the phone ring longest when you want it picked fast?
“Morning boss… I have an idea… I want to structure the network marketing industry and build a specialized school to train people in higher consciousness.”
One could always share ones dreams with Nama. With any upline for that matter. Dreams are safe with uplines. And they are reinforced by teamwork. If your uplines know exactly what you want, they will help you get it. Because they know the universal law, ‘if you can help enough people get what they want, you will get what you want,’
“Splendid”, Nama replied encouragingly, “what do you mean by structuring the industry?”“Well, you know, I can think of multilevel marketing, network marketing, network distribution and private franchising as the four major ramifications of network building. I want to develop distributed centers that are like super-specialty hubs where networkers and other energyrelated professionals can come together and create vibrations that impact the world” I gushed.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, you’re going too fast… what are you talking about Sandeep?”That was one of my bottlenecks he’d hit on. I generally thought faster than I spoke and I spoke faster that others could comprehend and I never figured out whether it was my thoughts they didn’t follow or my words. Now thanks to my network mentors I had learned to ask questions… thus sealing the communication gaps that were inevitable earlier.
“Ummm… I think I should just organize my mind and call back. Is there anything you got from what I said so far? “I can tell you’re excited,” Nama said, “but do remember Henry Ford’s line… you can not build a reputation on what you are going to do.”
“Right.” That was what I had to hear. This was not the time to talk about it. But this was the time to set out my vision with clarity and work upon widening this holistic network of high consciousness individuals and structuring my financial plan to eke out an institution. “Thanks… will talk later.”
And I got back to study the components again. With a pen and paper in hand I began to write the major segments where I’d find the high consciousness people in network building… the diamonds and above attached to…
MLM: They practiced the traditional multi-level marketing model that worked on a multiple tier strategy to enable people on a network to create income through sales of product and the redistribution of commissions thereof.
Network marketing: These people operated on a relatively evolved mechanism of MLM involving various network structuring strategies (not just a binary or matrix model) and modular constructs for leadership development and independent business ownership.
Network distribution: The focus here is not as much on the network structure as on the distribution (as opposed to personal sale) of product. This was a system that any product company could leverage, while network marketing and MLM were systems they would need to own. Network distribution would not necessarily be multi-tiered and could involve redistribution of cash as well.
Private franchising: This combined the empowerment model of independent business owners in network marketing with the systematic cookie-cutter approach of franchising. People in this segment typically got off to a slow start but built solid structures of networks.
Now my idea was that whatever mechanism people might use… whatever product might flow… if they wielded a position of leadership in any such network they would have a high vibration and steady high consciousness. How could we harness that together? I thought I’d take an opinion of a friend outside of all this who had also read Dr. Hawkins’ book. His response, right off the bat, stumped me.
“Aren’t these pyramids that have people make money off the backs of others?” That was the only thing ‘industry structuring’ meant to him. And with that starting point I estimated it would be quite a climb to get him to appreciate that the leadership in these organizations vibrate at the highest levels.
“Is that really how you see it Suresh, or are you just echoing some hearsay?” I asked as naturally as I could.
“Well, that’s a common perception… I really don’t know this industry from inside” he confessed.
“Well,” I said, “you’ve just helped me identify my starting point then. And that is to counter all the ponzis who have made a quick buck from networking through the last century. They have capitalized on the potential of raising hope in the masses. And have let them down miserably.”
“Opportunists precede every revolution just as rats precede the flood. It’s is a law of nature…” remarked Suresh a little philosophically.
We talked of other things but obviously my mind was elsewhere. To me it was becoming increasingly evident that this industry was not the route. Energy was not the route. Perhaps Kiyosaki was the route. Since I too had entered that way. Could I get business leaders from all over … people operating B-quadrant enterprises … to come over and speak at my institute? Let students see the value and the apparent energy and correlate that energy with networkers and move into networking as the foundation themselves?
Or maybe I could call the owners of credible network distribution companies for starters… to maintain cohesiveness. The founder of Amway had served as the Chairman of the US Chambers of Commerce also. We needed people to know that this was mainstream stuff. I thought I’d take this into the next Sunday meeting. And so I started with a prelude that would get everyone thinking. “The world of network marketing is evolving and booming before our eyes. But that makes it vulnerable. I’d like to use the world of Internet as an example to illustrate my point. Today a technology can come which can wipe out everything that worked yesterday. Google did that when it wept out other search engines... not that Alta Vista was not a good search engine… but well, Google’s algorithms were worth billions more. Tomorrow there may be some other. So, it’s the same with network marketing… how do you pick a network marketing company that will be safe?”
Characteristically, Nama teed off, “Well, unlike Internet, networking companies with strong roots will always win. How old a company is, is critical. Whatever might be said about technology and methodologies, the saying ‘old is gold’ is sound. If you have been hearing of the Amway name since 50 years, it is because it’s the largest holder of product patents… has the most companies tied up to its distribution network… and is the most respected and awarded direct sales corporation according to United Nations and Governments worldwide.”
Quite true Krishna chipped in, “An older organization is ‘built to last’ as per the principles of any corporate business. Or put another way, the older a network marketing company is, the deeper its pipelines and therefore the more secure your future.”
“But an old company is saturated” someone said. “Saturation! That’s a joke. It will be real only when products moving through consumer networks will garner more than 10% share of their respective industries. In 50 years even Amway doesn’t have a 1% share in most categories,” countered Sai. “And it’s close to ten billion dollars in size.”
Sonia offered a different perspective. “I’d think the most important thing for a company to be safe is to know who its leaders are. Network marketing works on leverage, so if a company’s founding leadership is strong, it will duplicate well. There will be values, integrity and commitment. And adaptability to new circumstances as the need may be…”
The discussion was getting charged now. From across the room Srinivas couldn’t contain himself and interjected, “How about how widespread are they? If you are getting into a business of your own, piggybacking on the franchise of a known brand, you may as well pick the brand that is spread all over the world, right?”
Anant took over, “An international company also means it is one that has seen numerous cultures, legalities, psychographics and has prepared itself for success through all of that.”
Nand watched from the centre as the discussion pingponged around. I had expected him to say “match-point” or some such thing to lighten the discussion and tune it with the Wimbledon mood in the air, but he was actually looking for the space… and he got it. “Well, the good thing about network marketing is cash. It is a cash business - no credit. No debt. No liabilities. And that’s the mindset its partners also eventually get into… So you would like to check if this is true of your company. If not, why not? Is it a justifiable loan they’ve taken? Will the company repay or could they possibly pocket the money and fly away into the night?”
Peeved that he didn’t think of that in spite of his being a chartered accountant Anant added, “well, ‘how old it is’ helps. Plus there are published facts. This is not something you learn by hearsay… you find out from Euromonitor or some large data house.”
By now people were generally nodding their heads and wondering if that quick fire had left anything to be said before this subject could be buried. And Lakshmi brought out that there was.
“Without training your business is like a vehicle you don’t know how to drive… Just a shiny object in the garage. I have a bias to companies that have product training but also have separate Training and Support Systems set up by successful affiliates of the company. These are good because they are practical. What do you think?”
“Absolutely” I said for I felt that way too. “For example, a guy who works at the Ferrari factory would not be able to teach you how to drive a Ferrari as well as a race car driver would. So the System set up by race car drivers using Ferrari is better than Ferrari’s own training. That’s why it makes sense to look for a combination of two companies to make the infrastructure work harder for your success!”
Having said that I suddenly noticed that each point being made was a reflection of the individual’s own thought process… his or her own justification and reason why they had opted in to this industry. And that would imply, that as more people understood the reasons to pick a stable company, more people would get involved. ‘I must remember to publish this on my blog,’ I thought, happy to now have an internet presence as well.
Just then Nama piped in, “Before you conclude, allow me to mention that the Product and Compensation plan have not been forgotten. It’s just that they are not key. And the reason they really don’t matter is because every network marketing company does have products that are good for large numbers of people. And they do price them and distribute the monies in a way that maximum people benefit, whether new or old in their association. So if either of these things do not agree with a prospect, it just indicates that they’ve either not understood the opportunity or the network marketing model itself.”
“Rah rah! What a befitting conclusion” I said, happy to have got a lot of points from this exercise.
Next I moved the discussion to the key challenges before people making the choice for financial freedom, and networking as the means to it.
“Safety apart, do people have the requisite clarity on their dreams? Networking is a common practice in society. But coupling professional networking practices with a dream is what we do here. Generally people well-educated in the left quadrants scoff at the concept of dreams. But dreams are powerful,” I asked, sparking the idea.
“Well, Robert Kiyosaki says there are two types of rich, ‘the rich who have money and the rich who don’t yet have the money. And then there are the poor; who may or may not have money but it is never enough’” quoted Hari. “My guess is network marketing is only for the Kiyosaki rich… they are dreamers.”
“Not necessarily Hari. If ‘rich’ means you do not spend your time to earn money and ‘middle class’ means you do not abuse your body to earn money, ‘poor’ would refer to people who earn money using their physical body. And all three would qualify for our industry… whatever their upbringing”, challenged Aarti emphatic about including everyone as a prospect, as she got up to refill her glass of juice.
Walking along she continued, “Now there is a lot to be said about this ‘upbringing’ because it is often the main reason we stay middle class. The root lies in conformity. Do what the neighbors do! What will our friends think? But here’s news… hang out with rich friends and conformity will pull you up rather than keep you where you are.”
“Right… so the first step is to Decide to Be Rich” said Hari happy to find his point back. “Stop feeling sorry for yourself and start coming in awareness. Watch your words. You will stay middle class if you say… ‘We are setting a few bucks aside every month, so we can afford the down payment on our dream home.’ Or if you are focused on comfort, saying ‘I don’t want to be rich. I just want to be comfortable.’
The rich use the vocabulary found in the asset column. The rich are rich because they are not focused on comfort and the acquisition of liabilities using credit, as the middle class are. The rich are rich because they focus on the long-term acquisition of assets… assets such as stocks, bonds, systembased businesses and income producing real estate. Many times the rich will forsake meals, a steady pay check, a vacation, or the comfort of a nice home, to build or acquire real assets.”
Hari was on a roll! “Here’s how a Canadian teacher-couple I know stated it in their personal middle-class-to-rich story… I quote 2 gems of their exemplary advice…” and saying so he pulled out a folder with a printed email in it.
“‘If you’re a renter looking for a new place, don’t just accept what the market has to offer. Instead, put the word out about your good qualities. Great tenants are hard to find. My wife and I placed an ad in the local paper stating that we were two responsible teachers looking for a quality long-term rental. We mentioned the price we’d pay and the exact specifications we sought. Another teacher answered the ad, and offered her place for $180 per month less than nearby apartments. That saved us more than $8,000 over four years - equivalent to a $12,000 pre-tax bonus.’
Notice what they focused on? Their Assets… Themselves!‘Low-cost index funds beat most actively managed mutual funds over the long haul. So when financial planners try to put you into an actively managed fund, tell them thanks, but no. Sure, you might get lucky and pick an actively managed fund that does beat the market, but it’s nearly impossible to pick winners ahead of time. Looking at past performance doesn’t help: the top performing funds of one decade usually lag in the next decade. Pick a guru who buys and holds stocks for long periods (so you don’t end up buying after the guru has sold) then emulate what he’s doing. Warren Buffett would be my choice. His most recent large investments have been in Anheuser-Busch and Wal-Mart. Once you buy, hold on and be patient.’
Once again, their focus has been to follow the rich on assetlinked investments.”“Nice examples of a left to right quadrant shift. Did you contact these people online?” I checked.
“Yes, ” said Hari and the discussion floated on… Now as I was discovering during this time, the internet was a great place to get in a rich neighborhood or make rich friends. Why? Because many forums, and facebook too, housed communities of rich-minded people. And entry for anyone was on par. So it was easier to snap out of the middle class and ‘decide to be rich’.
Network with successful business owners . Watch what they do. Ask questions earnestly. Emulate. And be on the way!With the imminent social change network marketing is set to bring, it is the middle class mindset that will dissolve. Kiyosaki warns of this often and emphatically states that network marketing provides for self-reliance.
I believe ‘self’ is the key word here. Gandhi said, ‘be the change you want to see in this world’. 62 years after he left the planet, few people remain inspired to do so. All successful network marketers do, however. And the belief spreads as you meet them at the ever-growing meetings in every corner of the globe.
And shortly we would see them at my B-quadrants’ institution. I was convinced I had it there. As belief spreads, hope rises. And hope is the springboard for possibility thinking in a new orbit. The orbit we are moving humanity into.