Gratefully, I was raised in an entrepreneurial family. My Dad was trained as a tool and die maker but wanted control over his destiny and the destiny of his growing family. He first accomplished that by going into sales and ultimately by forming a business of his own.
My stay-at-home Mom eventually became part of the family business and because of the flexibility that being an employer allows, she was able to follow her dream of public service.
At the age of 14, I became part of that “family business”, performing all of the basics (cleaning, maintenance, stocking shelves, and the many menial tasks required to keep a business running smoothly). I was provided with an entrepreneurial and goal-oriented example from my parents that unknowingly pushed me in a direction that ultimately led me to the joy of working with key leaders in network and internet marketing.
During college and graduate school studies, I enjoyed the challenges and benefits of working in a family business over which I had partial influence…… but as anyone in a family business can tell you, there are also many challenges. It is difficult to know what “hat” you are wearing — son or employee or employer. Thinking that I knew more than I did, I left the family business and worked for several small companies in sales and sales management positions.
During that time of self-discovery I found MLM or multi-level marketing. It was the ’80s and the concept was exciting and presented a compelling vision of what the future could be with a few years of effort in building a business. I could finally work toward my dreams by helping other people. But most other people did not want to be helped. They just wanted to stay safe and secure in their role as an employee… or so they thought. Working for 40 years and getting a pension was still part of the industrial age thinking and reality. Nevertheless, I built my MLM business by sponsoring a few people(and I do mean a few) and by selling soap, vitamins and alarm systems to friends and family (they did not want anything to do with this “pyramid scheme” but some of them did use the products).
Those who I sponsored kept waiting around to “get rich” and complaining about their lack of progress. Even with limited sponsoring success, my dreams and goals were still alive and well and my family was starting to grow so I was still motivated. I worked through the constant rejection using the typical recruiting techniques of those early days. I was able to attain a “profit sharing” level with my MLM company but I was spending a ton of time and money that was only partially offset by the bonus checks. Plus, my method could not easily be duplicated. People wanted the results but did not want to have anything to do with “selling”. It was almost a four letter word to them. Over a two year period of limited recruiting, costs higher than profit, meetings several nights per week and weekend seminars and retreats and the pressures of a growing family and other distractions, I faded away from MLM. I still had the dreams and goals and the MLM concept or more appropriately Network Marketing concept was forever etched in my brain. It was a viable solution that anyone could master with the right guidance and effort. I had met some of the amazing MLM business builders of the 70’s and 80’s and learned enough to know that my decision was correct but my methods were not.
During these early MLM years my “job” path eventually led to a corporate sales job with a large global corporation. I experienced various sales and marketing jobs within this company and traveled extensively in North America, Japan and Europe. Before you think that it was glamorous, let me tell you that it may be fun when you are on vacation but it is definitely NOT fun when you are gone from home several days every single week. You wake up and cannot remember what city or state that you are in and what color rental car you are driving — definitely not fun.
I obviously lost sight of my entrepreneurial roots. It took me almost 15 years to regain my “vision”. During that 15 year period, I participated in a business partnership —- business was great, partnership was not. Lesson learned about the potential hazards of partnerships but the entrepreneurial spirit was alive and well!!! And most recently, after the downturn in 2008 and 2009 that led to layoffs and financial disaster for many, many people, I received an interesting email from a nationally known CPA and business strategist who was looking for business partners. Despite my previous “partner” experience, I knew that I needed to find out more. I live in Ohio and her meeting was in San Diego. I have a son in San Diego so I asked him to go and represent me at the meeting. My wife Pam and I were both very interested to hear the details.
With this simple email invitation from a person that I respected, the door to network marketing was open once more. But this time the possibilities were even greater. There were several doors.
Door #1 – Conventional offline face-to-face recruiting with family and friends.
Door #2 – New offline recruiting techniques from leaders in the “NEW” network marketing industry
Door #3 – Online recruiting through “attraction marketing”
Which one did I use. Well, I tried all three.
I quickly found with door #1 that not much had changed. If people did not have a reason “why”, then you would get the same “friends and family” results — very few recruits who eventually dropped out.
Door #2 was definitely an improvement but my exposure was still limited. The techniques were geared to discovery. Who was this person that you were talking to and did he have a need that your opportunity could fill? Greater success rate recruiting but your daily contacts were limited.
Door #3 seemed very exciting but very daunting. How was I supposed to “conquer the internet” on my own? Well I sought out the best and brightest that I could find. My sponsor was geared to weekly meetings with limited internet exposure. Several levels above me in my business opportunity was a “master of online search engine optimization” who began building his businesses in 1998. Definitely someone whose knowledge I should seek. Well, this search led me to many great leaders who are at the top of their companies in recruiting, SEO, PPC, Social Media, Article Marketing, Blogging and on and on. Each one has provided knowledge and experience that has helped me through the maze of online and offline marketing success.
I am committed to success in Affiliate Marketing, Internet Marketing and Network Marketing. I have hurdled many obstacles and I continue to learn to hurdle even more and share these experiences so others can find their individual path to success. Network Marketing and Internet Marketing has enough room for your success. I want to help in any way that I can as I move through a journey that started almost 30 years ago.
