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Should I Stick With It - Kim Paciotti
Don't think you're alone if you have asked yourself, "Should I stick with it?" Even top income producers, at one point or another, have asked themselves the same question. They wondered when they would start seeing the money that they so desired and deserved.
When these questions arise (and they will if they haven't already), put things into perspective. Ask yourself one very simple question, "What are my options?" Let's look at your of income options: 1) linear income and 2) residual income.
To determine the difference is easy. Ask yourself, "How many times do you get paid for every hour you work?" If you answered "only once" you're earning linear income. You work that nine-to-five job day after day and get paid for the hours you work, either hourly or by a salary. You may be paid a great price for your time and talent, but what would happen if you didn't work, or just wanted to take a year off to enjoy your family, or for other
personal reasons . . . would you get paid?
Easy answer there. If you don't work, you don't get paid!
Residual income lets us work hard today for practically peanuts, but allows the process of time and duplication to take its course. A perfect example would be to write and publish a book. You slave for hours on end to get it just right. Then you are paid on copies sold months and years down the road. Many of us are not writers, however. So where do we go to find that residual income? If you're reading this, you're one of the many who have chosen Network Marketing.
I have been plugging away at my business for a year or so, and I just don't see it (the money that is). Here comes that question again, "Do I stick with it?" I'm not going to tell you the answer. Instead, I am going to tell you a story I heard about two brothers. At the end, you decide your answer.
Here it goes. . . .
Two brothers graduated from college. We'll call them John and Bill. John was a great student, loved the thought of entering the business world. His goal was to hook up with a solid company and rise to the top! Bill, on the other hand, wasn't quite sure what he wanted to do. He was more the entrepreneurial type-- the kid you would have seen years before at the end of his driveway selling lemonade to people walking by. He just couldn't see himself taking the traditional road that his brother was so excited about.
Bill was introduced to Network Marketing through an ad he read in the paper. After looking over the information, Bill was very excited. "I can have my own business, time freedom, be my own boss, what could be better?" Bill thought.
John thought Bill was a sap. In fact, everyone in the family thought Bill was a sap. But Bill didn't care. He saw the power of working hard for a short time and then hardly working and getting paid for a long time. Bingo, residual income.
So let's look at what a ten-year period of time brought John and Bill:
JOHN |
BILL |
Year One:
John lands a job with a great company at the starting salary of $25,000. John is ahead $25,000. |
Year One:
Bill signs up with a Network Marketing company. Goes through a learning process, spends $2,000 that year on different types of advertising and tools to build his business.Bill doesn't make a dime! He is in the red $2,000. |
Year Two:
John is doing great, so well in fact that he gets a whopping $5,000 raise. He is up to $30,000 a year, for an accumulative total of $55,000. |
Year Two:
Poor Bill-- he is really getting beat up by his family. They keep telling him to get a "real job." He spends $4,000 this year on promotion his business, but he still doesn't make a dime. He is now in the red $6,000! |
Year Three:
John saved the company dollars on a big account. For his efforts, he gets another $5,000 raise. Boy,he's cooking now! $35,000 a year and an accumulative total of $90,000. |
Year Three:
Finally! Bill made $500 a month for a total of $6,000 that year. Of course he did spend $4,000 on promotion so his accumulative total is still in the red for $5,000. |
Year Four:
John marries the boss's daughter, and the boss pops him off another $5,000 raise. He is making $40,000 a year. His accumulative total is $130,000! He really thinks Bill is a sap now! |
Year Four:
Bill is working hard, spends another $4,000, but guess what-- his income doubled! He made $1,000 a month for a total of $12,000 that year. He finally is ahead $3,000! |
Year Five:
John's wife is pregnant, grandpa gives him another $5,000 raise. He is up to $45,000, with his total at $175,000 so far. |
Year Five:
Persistence is the key. Bill doubled his income again to $24,000. Actually, his expenses have even gone down a bit. Many of his distributors are doing their advertising, and Bill finds himself doing more trainings. He still did spend $3,000 though, so he made $21,000 that year, with his total at $24,000. |
Year Six:
Well, John's wife wants to stay home with the new baby. He asks for a bigger raise, but "dad" says he can only give him another $5,000. John figures, okay, it's an 11% raise, hey, that's better than he is giving everyone else. Guess it pays to be related. John is making $50,000 a year, with $225,000 total over the past six. |
Year Six:
The power of duplication! Bill doubled his income to $48,000 and spent $3,000, so he made $45,000 that year, and $69,000 so far. |
Year Seven:
John's wife is pregnant again. "Dad" gives him a straight 10% raise, putting him at $55,000 a year, and $280,000 for a total. |
Year Seven:
Bill wrote his first training manual. He really has learned a lot from his mentors. He doubled his income again to $96,000! Didn't spend too much again on advertising and promotion, only another $3,000. After all, he took a couple of months off, and met his new wife. They went to Hawaii for their honeymoon. Bill's accumulative total is $162,000. |
Year Eight:
Stock markets down, and raises are skimpy this year. John does manage to get his usual $5,000 raise. He is up to $60,000 and finally hit a total of $300,000 dollars accumulative. |
Year Eight:
Bill's new wife decided to help him a little with the business. Actually, it gave Bill a chance to do more of his hobby: hiking. They doubled their income to $192,000 that year. They did a little more advertising, wanting to test a new promo- tion, so they spent $5,000 that year. All in all, they have accumulated $349,000. Hey, guess what? They are making more than John! Now everyone at the family reunion wants to know what the heck Bill is doing. |
Year Nine:
John is finally made a partner! This year they are going to give him a $10,000 raise! Boy, is he excited. But of course, it will mean longer hours, more traveling, which is going to take him away from his beautiful wife and two kids. He is up to $70,000! His total for the past nine years is $370,000. |
Year Nine:
Bill and his wife decided to take off for six months and travel throughout England. A funny thing happened again-- his income doubled. Boy, he must have taught his people well! He made $384,000 that year and even spent another $10,000 on promotion, just to help his new people out while he was gone! So far, he's made $723,000!
|
| Year Ten: John's tired. He has been travelling so much. He misses his wife and kids. He even got another raise of $10,000 so he is sitting pretty nice with an $80,000 a year salary with four weeks vacation.He takes some time off-- after all, he's earned it! Boy, did those four weeks go by fast! Has anyone heard when Bill is coming back from England? John's total is $450,000. |
Year Ten:
The power of momentum! Bill is making ridiculous money and no one knows where he is now! He keeps in touch with his group by cell phone and laptop computer. We just haven't seen much of him because he is doing so many training seminars across the country. What happened to his income again? It doubled. He made $768,000 that year and has accumulated well over $1.5 million! |
Now, I ask you, "Should you stick with it?"
KIM PACIOTTI has been a USANA distributor for a year and a half. She lives in Strongsville, OH.
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Reprinted with permission from Upline, Paciotti Feature - March 1999, 888-UPLINE-1, http://www.upline.com
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