Pay It Forward

I happened to find the movie "Pay It Forward" on one of the channels this past weekend and watched it with my wife. I thought it was one of the most inspiring films I've ever seen. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen the movie yet. It also dawned on me how this movie was a perfect demonstration of how being involved in the network marketing / MLM industry enables us to potentially positively influence so many people around us by the use of the same "leverage" depicted in the movie.

The story line goes something like this... Beginning as a seventh-grade social studies class assignment to put into action an idea that could change the world, young Trevor McKinney (Haley Joel Osment) comes up with a plan to do good deeds for three people who then by way of payment each must do good turns for three other people. These nine people also must pay it forward and so on... if succussful, the resulting network of good-doers ought to comprise the entire world. Trevor's attempts to get the ball rolling include befriending a junkie and trying to set up his recovering-alcoholic mother (Helen Hunt) with his burn-victim teacher (Kevin Spacey), who posed the assignment.

I don't want to spoil it for people who have not seen the movie, so i'll stop here... but I think this is precisely what we in the industry aspire to do - to change the world by providing superior goods and/or services to the marketplace (e.g. bring better health to the world through superior dietary supplement) and also by introducing the opportunities to people the possibilities of financial/time freedom... "paying it forward" and eventually bringing health, wealth and happiness to the world just like Trevor did.

One of the quotes from the movie by Haley Joel Osment (Trevor) that stuck in my mind was this:

"I guess it's hard for people who are so used to things the way they are - even if they're bad - to change. 'Cause they kind of give up. And when they do, everybody kind of loses."

Hmmm... food for thought...

Enjoy the movie!!

What Network Marketing / MLM is

In the previous post, I briefly discussed about what Network Marketing / MLM is NOT. In this post, I wanted to take a stab at describing what it IS.

If you have ever been to a restaurant and loved it, or saw a great movie, didn't you tell your friends and family about them? This is called "word-of-mouth" advertising. It is the most effective form of advertising. Network marketing / MLM is a way for businesses to leverage this powerful form of advertising - "word-of-mouth".

Here's a hypothetical example to illustrate. Suppose you found a great restaurant and recommended it to your best friend. Your friend and his/her boyfriend/girlfriend decides to check it out themselves. They go to the restaurant and loves it too... just as you told them. During the meal, the restaurant owner drops by their table and asks how everything is, whether this was their first time at the restaurant, and how they heard about the restaurant. Your friend tells the owner that you heard about the place from you.

A few days later, you receive a letter from the restaurant owner with a coupon for a free meal thanking you for your recommendation of the restaurant to your friend explaining how the restaurant has gained a potential long-term customer. The letter goes on to say that anytime your friend visits his restaurant in the future, he will send you a check for 8 percent of the value of the meal as a continuing appreciation.

Sure enough, you begin receiving a small thank-you check every so often. You are so impressed that you start telling others about the restaurant. This generates more free-meal coupons and more 8 percent word-of-mouth checks. After a while, you begin to receive small checks each month. After several years, you have helped the restaurant to have repeat, long-term monthly customers, generating you hundreds of dollars of extra, no-hassle income to you. The restaurant appreciates this word-of-mouth advertising since it is less costly than their traditional yellow pages and newspaper ads.

This, in theory, is how network marketing / MLM works.

What Network Marketing is NOT

Today, I wanted to touch on a very common concern people tend to have when they hear the terms "Network Marketing" or "Multi-Level Marketing (MLM)" (yes, i also used to be a skeptic!). There are so many misconceptions out there about what network marketing is or is not. Here is what network marketing is NOT.

Network Marketing is NOT an Illegal Pyramid scheme

Pyramid schemes and network marketing are not the same thing in any way shape or form. Pyramid schemes are illegal. They are illegal financial engines where there are no products or services being sold. Pyramid schemes are systems to redistribute money from one person to another.

Network marketing, on the other hand, is a legal business model where real and legitimate products and services are distributed between large networks of customers.