Why Do You Recommend Network Marketing?
Robert Kiyosaki’s Answer:
When I first heard about network marketing, I was against it. But after opening my mind, I began to see advantages that few other business opportunities offer.
Long-term success in life is a reflection of your education, life experience and personal character. Many network-marketing companies provide personal development training in those key areas.
Most schools train people for the E or S quadrants, and that is great if those are the quadrants in which you want to spend your life. Most MBA programs are training students for high-paying jobs in the corporate world as an E, not a B.
What if you’re in the E or S quadrant and you want to change? What if you want to be in the B quadrant? Where do you find the education that trains you for that quadrant? I recommend a network-marketing business. I recommend the industry for people who want to change and get the necessary skills and attitude training to be successful in the B quadrant.
Being an entrepreneur and building a B quadrant business is one of the toughest challenges a person can take on. The reason there are more people in the E and S quadrants is simply because those quadrants are less demanding than the B quadrant. As they say, “If it was easy, everyone would do it.”
Personally, I had to learn how to overcome my self-doubt, shyness and fear of rejection. And I had to learn how to pick myself up and keep going after I failed. These are some of the personal traits a person must develop if they are to be successful in a B quadrant business, regardless of whether it is a network-marketing business, a franchise or an entrepreneurial startup.
An important personal skill required for any B quadrant business is leadership. Are you able to overcome your own fears and have others overcome their fears in order to get the job done? This is a skill the Marine Corps taught me. As Marine Corps officers, it was imperative that we be able to lead others into battle, even though we were all terrified of dying.
I meet many people in the S quadrant, the specialist or small business owners, who would like to expand, but they simply lack leadership skills. No one wants to follow them. The employees do not trust their leader or the leader does not inspire the employees to better themselves.
As mentioned earlier, Forbes defined a big-business owner, a B quadrant business owner, as a person who controls a business with more than 500 employees. This definition is why leadership skills are vial for the B quadrant.
Where could you find a business that will invest the time in your education, your personal development and building your own business? The answer is: most network-marketing business.
Building a B quadrant business is not an easy task. So you need to ask yourself, “Do I have what it takes? Am I willing to go beyond my comfort zones? Am I willing to be led and willing to learn to lead? Is there a very rich person inside of me, ready to come out?” If the answer is “Yes,” start looking for a network-marketing business that has a great training program. I would focus less on the products or the compensation plans and more on the education and personal development program the company offers.
A network-marketing business is a B quadrant business because it meets several criteria I look for in a business or investment. Those criteria are:
- Leverage: Can I train other people to work for me?
- Control: Do I have a protected system that belongs to me?
- Creativity: Will the business allow me to be creative and develop my own personal style and talents?
- Expandability: Can my business grow indefinitely?
- Predictability: Is my income predictable if I do what is expected of me? If I am successful, and keep expanding my business, will my income increase with my success and hard work?
Isn’t Network Marketing A Pyramid Scheme?
I am often asked if network marketing is a pyramid scheme. My reply is that corporations are really pyramid schemes. A corporation has only one person at the top, generally the CEO, and everyone else below. The following is an example of a typical corporate pyramid:
Compare that to a network-marketing business system:
A true network-marketing business is the exact opposite of a traditional business model. A network-marketing business is designed to bring you up to the top, not keep you down at the bottom. A true network-marketing business does not succeed unless it brings people up to the top.
Additional Points Worth Mentioning
The following are some other points worth mentioning:
- Tax breaks increase. By starting a network-marketing business in your spare time and keeping your regular job, you begin to gain the tax advantages of the rich. A person with a part-time business can take more tax deductions than employees can. For example, you may be able to deduct car expenses, gasoline, some meals and entertainment. Obviously, you need to check with a CPA for exact rulings on your situation. And the cost of your CPA is tax-deductible. In most cases, an employee cannot deduct CPA expenses. In other words, the government will give you a tax break for advise on how to pay less in taxes.
- Meet like-minded people. One of the advantages I had is that my friends also wanted to be in the B quadrant. When I first started out, most of my E quadrant friends thought I was nuts. They could not understand shy I did not want a steady job or a steady paycheck. So an important part of becoming a B is to surround yourself with other people who are Bs and want you to become a B.
- Give yourself time. It takes time to be successful in any of the quadrants. Just as it takes time to climb to the top of the corporate ladder as an E, or become a successful doctor or lawyer In the S quadrant, it takes time and dedication to become successful in the B quadrant. It took me years before I built a successful B quadrant business.
- Network-marketing companies are patient. One of the beauties of a network-marketing business is that it will invest in you, even if you are not successful.
In the corporate world, if you are not successful in six months to a year, you are often fired. In the network-marketing world, as long as you are willing to put in the time, most companies will work with you in your development. After all, they want you to get to the top.
- Leverage the systems that are already in place. These systems are already tried and proven, which allows you to hit the ground running instead of trying to build the internal system of a new company.
In conclusion
After opening my closed mind, I could finally see some of the unique benefits the network-marketing industry offers people who want more out of their lives.
Generally, it costs much less to get started in a network-marketing company than to build a business on your own.
-Robert Kiyosaki
Watch the full episode of Robert T. Kiyosaki on the Philippe Matthews Show
Donald Trump’s Response
Marketing is a powerful tool, and network marketing can increase that power, provided you are self-motivated. In a simple visual, see a product and then remove the advertising agency from it. It is up to you to do the marketing and advertising.
That’s a big job, but it can be done if you are passionate enough to get it going on your own and to jeep the momentum and motivation going at a high level. It requires an entrepreneurial spirit, and that means focus and perseverance. I do not recommend network marketing to people who are not highly self-motivated.
Another important aspect of network marketing is that it is inherently social, so if you are not a social or outgoing person, I’d think twice about going into it. Sociability is a requirement.
Just like in advertising, there’s no point in having a fantastic advertising campaign if the product isn’t equally fantastic. Also keep in mind that if you decide to become a distributor, you will be legally responsible for the claims you make about the product, the company and the available opportunities. But above all, make sure the product is worth your energy and total devotion. Otherwise, you could be energetically spinning your wheels.
Robert mentions the importance of going beyond your comfort zone when it comes to network marketing. He also mentions giving yourself enough time. These are good points to consider. I would also agree that having leadership qualities is critical for success. You definitely have to have a take-charge, can-do attitude.
As with any other undertaking, know everything you can about what you’re doing before you begin. Network marketing has proven itself to be a viable and rewarding source of income, and the challenges could be just right for you. There have been some remarkable examples of success, and those successes have been earned through diligence, enthusiasm and the right product combined with timing. As with so many issues we have discussed before, there are tangibles and intangibles involved, but success is not a total mystery, and that applies to network marketing as well.
Most people have heard of focus groups, a research tool that advertising agencies use when they are testing a new product. They will go out to different locations and simply ask everyday people what they like and don’t like about a new product. Its best if you can keep the focus group idea close at hand when you are deciding about a product. Just because you like it doesn’t mean everyone else will. Finding a common denominator in product appeal will matter.
My nutshell advice about network marketing is to do your research and then put everything you’ve got into your product. Genuine enthusiasm is hard to beat, and the odds will be with you.
-Donald Trump
The Donald Trump Library
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