Tag: network marketing

Launch

It took longer to “launch” me than anticipated.

It took a while for me to get my first (and last) paycheck from that phone job I didn’t want. This was on purpose.

There was a big conference in Denver at the end of July. My sponsor was putting pressure on me to go.

I didn’t want to go.

I couldn’t go without a ticket. I couldn’t get a ticket until I had “launched.” And I couldn’t “launch” until I got that paycheck.

So, rather than go in to pick it up, I waited for them to mail it.

It took even longer than I had anticipated. I didn’t get it until after the conference ended.

I met my sponsor at the coffee shop on August 2. We did some initial set up. I set up my Amway “Independent Business Owner” account, listing him as my sponsor. I ordered some samples as part of the signup process.

I set up an account with WorldWide. I signed up for their voicemail service, CommuniKate.

A week later we met again to finish setting up my Amway store and finish the signup process.

All this set me back $280.

But it was worth it.

I was finally my own boss.

Or so I thought.

The Offer

The vetting process should have taken a month. It took two.

I had broken a promise to myself. I’d taken another phone job.

Would it be enough?
There was a “Team Event.” It was at a university campus forty miles away. On a Saturday night.

There was a ceremony. My sponsor’s mentor’s wife had quit her job, because she didn’t need it anymore. There was a video of her leaving work for the last time. They had her smash an alarm clock with a sledgehammer. It was very emotional.

There were also some special guests. A family of singers. The father was also a minister at a church in Florida. He had helped “Mr. Millionaire” create the culture of his team. He was the “secret sauce.”

I didn’t mention the most important part, though.

As I was looking for parking before the event, my sponsor called me. He told me his mentor had offered to mentor me.

I was in.

KYMS :)

After the “Board Plan” there was homework.

Read another book: “Pro-Sumer Power II!”

Listen to five audio files my sponsor would send me.

Write down every question I could think of for my sponsor to answer.

Come up with a list of one-year, two-year and five-year goals.

Go to another “Board Plan.”

And most importantly, “KYMS 🙂 .” Keep Your Mouth Shut.

After “Mr. Millionaire” had finished getting the crowd motivated, he finally revealed the big secret.

AMWAY.

He was part of an organization called WorldWide Group, also known as WorldWide DreamBuilders.

WorldWide was a group of mentors who would teach people how to make lots of money. Partially by selling Amway products, but mostly by recruiting other people. Who would recruit other people. Etc.

But if you told people up front when recruiting them that this was Amway, a lot of them would never hear anything else you said to them.

Of course, it wasn’t Amway’s fault. It was just the fault of a few flaky Independent Business Owners.

I read the book.

I listened to the audios.

One audio was “Mr. Millionaire” and “Mrs. Millionaire” telling an expanded version of their story. It was mostly very motivational. One thing that I found off-putting, though, was “Mrs. Millionaire” bragging about how she had to have her closet enlarged to fit her collection of 300 pairs of shoes. Who was this woman, Imelda Marcos?

Another audio described why this business was the perfect business, partially because the things being sold were consumables. Customers would use them up and buy them over and over again.

I wrote down my questions and my goals.

I met with my sponsor again. He liked my goals. He answered my questions to my satisfaction.

We met a few more times, then had a conference call with his mentor. His mentor would also be my mentor, if he decided I was a worthy candidate.

His mentor didn’t like that I didn’t have a job. I would need some form of income to pay for business overhead.

I had promised myself I’d never take another phone job again. I ran out and got the first phone job I could.

I didn’t want to lose this opportunity.

Board Plan

I met with my sponsor (the young guy from the steam room) at a coffee shop.

He asked me if I was process oriented or outcome focused. Was I willing to do whatever it took to be successful?

Of course I was outcome focused.

There would be a vetting process. Most people didn’t get through it.

He gave me a book to read: “The Business of the 21st Century” by Robert Kiyosaki.

It was pretty short. I finished it in a few days.

We met at the coffee shop again and discussed it.

He had me go with him to a different kind of meeting. A “Board Plan.” His mentor’s mentor, a “Cash Flow, Debt-Free Millionaire,” would be speaking.

“Mr. Millionaire” told the crowd how broke he and Mrs. Millionaire had been. The duplex they had lived in, where there had been a fire. The owner had slapped paneling over the charred walls. It smelled like a hot dog roast, all year around. The cars constantly in need of repairs. The meager food they had to live on.

“Mr. Millionaire” had gotten two degrees: one in History (which apparently qualified him to operate a broom, job-wise), and one in Nursing.

He was the first male nurse at the Salt Lake City/County Health Department. A dubious distinction. He gave kids shots all day.

He hated his life.

Then he and his wife met some millionaires. Millionaires just looking for people to mentor.

Of course, he and the wife begged to be mentored by them.

Now they were millionaires. They made thousands upon thousands of dollars every month in passive income.

Wouldn’t you love the chance to have their life?

He emphasized that none of us would get rich quick.

Most people wouldn’t get through the qualification process. Only 2 out of 10 would make it.

It would be a lot of hard work up front, but it was possible.

You could have the life of your dreams.

Recruited

I was a mess.

I’d never been away from my boys that long before.

Last May my still-not-yet-ex-wife took my boys to California. They were gone for a week and a half.

They left on a Sunday morning.

Despite it being Sunday I went to the gym to shower. I hadn’t showered for a few days.

I steam for a while before showing. Then it’s less noticeable that I’m only there to shower.

That day a young guy walked into the steam room after me. He had a seat and started talking to me. I started thinking of excuses to leave.

He asked me if I liked to read. We started discussing self-help books.

He told me about a group of mentors he was a part of.

A few days earlier I’d watched a video called “DO NOT be a Lone Wolf.” It said to find help achieving my goals. So I’d decided to try to find a mentor.

He asked me for my phone number. I told him I never answer my phone.

Something inside said not to let him get away.

I gave him my email address.

The next day I was at Barnes and Noble. I was looking for Robert Kiyosaki’s Cashflow Quadrant. While pulling it off the shelf, I heard someone call my name.

It was the young guy from the steam room.

He hadn’t emailed me yet. I’d worried he wasn’t going to.

I thought this must be a sign.

What’s new?

In some ways, not much. I still live in my mom’s basement. My divorce still isn’t final. I’m still unemployed. My still-not-yet-ex-wife still lives in her parents’ basement with our boys.

In other ways, a lot. I’ve been reading lots of books, mostly self-help and business books. I’ve been going to an addiction recovery group for pron addicts. I joined an MLM, then realized it wasn’t for me and quit. I went to a free real estate thing, which was really a promotion for a three-day seminar. I quit Facebook again, this time I think it’s permanent.

I feel like it’s time to get things moving again. I need to start making money. I need to start making friends. I need to start applying the knowledge I’ve been getting from the books I’ve been reading.

I need to pick myself up, dust myself off, and start moving toward my dreams.