Would you believe it – network marketing is 60+ years old! Isn’t it surprising that so many people still consider it as “this new thing which seems to be a pyramid”?

It just shows how long it takes till something sinks into the mind of a society. many people stick to their habits and thought patterns without discrimination if they still serve them or not. For all of those who have been in the industry longer this picture collection will match with memories – good ones or other.

Let me go through a fast motion  re-view of the business model of network marketing until we arrive at network marketing today.

Basic idea:

• connect a producer and the customers  with less/no steps in between.
• let the money go to active consumers rather than to advertising, trade partners, etc
• people have been giving referrals all their lives – use this capacity to create and income, to build a network marketing business
• company benefit – more money for research, as a result better products, press pressure
• customer benefit – people they know can answer their questions and provide service to them

All these points are valid and valuable. So why has this fantastic concept of network marketing still not conquered the market as the dominant way of moving products?

Stay tuned – we will talk about it!

To Your Success

Frieke Karlovits

A Mentor With A Servant’s Heart

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How do you find out “who is who”?

In the old days we used to say in German: “Paper is Patient” – which means  that anything can be put on paper and unless you have the knowledge or the means to find out you can believe it or not. It may be the greatest of wisdom, yet it may be the greatest of rubbish. The sheer fact that something was written down is not a sign of quality.

Today the internet is a far more challenging place to be when in comes to searching for information, people, a business, or whatever comes to your mind. Anyone has the possibility to put up anything and it is up to the user to distinguish what is what.

So what is happening? At all times there were quite a lot of people who were born actors – they can produce themselves in a way that makes a lot of noise, a lot of glamour; they write/speak big words, yet when you think what they say it is hot air. I am sure you know what I mean.

Anyone who looks for information on a topic and or person  within their own sphere of training and knowledge will find it comparatively easy to select and find the right thing; there are enough templates in the mind to give the guide lines.

However, when you go out and try to find out about a topic you are not familiar with –  what do you take for true and what do you take for false?

Especially in new business areas, where many people do not even know the precise definition of what they are looking for – for instance, who will be able to distinguish precisely between affiliate marketing, direct selling, internet marketing or network marketing. Most people very likely will not be able to specify these business models – all the more so as each model has so many varieties again. It is obvious that those who scream at the top of their voice how excellent their offer is and how advantageous newcomers will find it, that they will make the newbie a millionaire in less than no time and many other flashy things  are wide spread on the internet…

It doesn’t surprise me  that so many people are taken in, are trustful believers until they are burnt heavily by loosing money and more.

You need to be aware – opportunity comes on cats paws – those who are excellent as a rule are not showy, they see the big picture and they are far too busy building their business in a thorough and solid way. They have learned to make the law of attraction work for them and pick up the volunteers and train them well so that they can walk in the footprints of success they have left as a trail.

Real personal achievers are humble – they know how life works, they have faith in the process and follow it with dedication and ethical methods.

This doesn’t only apply to modern business you find it everywhere – those who are really knowledgeable need not speak big words, they can, as a rule explain the most complicated things in simple words so that even the man in the street can understand. they don’t look down on people who haven’t learned as much. They actually practice that the only time you can look down on a person is when you help them get up!

Resume – when you are looking for something worth while, don’t fall for the boasters, the screamers – take  the solid, ethical and long-term variety of the offers, those which you might have to find!

To Your Success

Frieke Karlovits

A Mentor with a Servant’s Heart

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MLM software is expensive. That’s why most MLM companies rent their software. In most cases it cannot be adapted fully to fit their business model, and the distributor base suffers as a result.

Let me tell you a story about a network marketing company. They had a binary compensation plan, which is a plan where you build two legs – a left one and a right one. Unfortunately the software they rented did not permit changing from left to right and vice versa and they had to have programmers in to do it and of course that cost time as well as money. It took them about half a year to get it sorted out.

In the mean time there were people who had already built one strong leg. In a binary plan you then need to re-adjust in your back office and get the new sign-ups on your weak leg so that you get paid. You get paid on your weak leg! And in that case people thought that the new sign ups were going in your weak leg.

What happened with that company was that this change over just didn’t work and after a while distributors found out and approached the company to move the new people. The company hired lots of people to handle the changes yet couldn’t cope. They even started to charge the distributors per change-over although it was the company’s mess and in the end they stopped doing it altogether.

This is a perfect example of buying software which doesn’t fit the purpose at all.

On the other hand when you rent the software, you better read the fine print, as you don’t own the database! You have heard right:

You Do Not Own The Database!

Michael Dlouhy told us that he saw a downline genealogy for sale on the internet and he happen to know the owners of the company. So he called them and asked them what was going on – if the company wasn’t doing well. He heard that the company was doing great yet had had to rent the software and the software company owned the data base.

This software company made a nice lump sum of money by selling the data base to a bunch of companies. It had been in the Policies and Procedures, that the software company owned the genealogy!

 How would you like to build your business and then have your organization for sale on the internet?

It has to be one of the critical questions when you check out a company, if they own their software. Renting is a lot cheaper and most companies don’t have the 2 million dollars to buy it when they start.

It certainly is the best choice to opt for a company who had their software custom built! When the company had it built and owns it, the distributor base is safe. Instead, for starting a network marketing company quickly, the owners rent the software and are in business in no time. If it is your business – what do you do?

They know that network marketing is a tough business. They know that most companies don’t survive the first 2 years. So renting software minimizes the risk. But how about you? This is a dangerous secret!

What about another well kept secret: The software company will be a partner of the MLM company – it means that the MLM company builds an organization, a leg,  for the software company. It creates a retirement income for the software company on the backs of the distributors. Is it a problem for the owners of the MLM company to move all their orphan distributors underneath the software company so they receive a nice check? What a secret!

It is one more reason why you need to base your future on a company with an owned custom made software!

Do you start realising why education in this industry is critically important – especially when you are capable of building a downline well. Background knowledge saves you from having to cry over spilled milk  at a later stage!

To Your Success!

Frieke Karlovits

A mentor With A Servant’s Heart

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