1st Year Survivor......not a 97%er!!
Read More: This past July, I didn't even realize was my 1 year anniversary to "officially" start my home business with a Top Tier Direct Sales company. Here it is August 26th, and I just realized that I didn't become a statistic. Everythng I have read from many of the experts, reports and sales pages throughout the industry point out the fact that 97% of home businesses fail, most in their 1st year. If not worse, few every make any money worth reporting. Hmmmm.....well, I'M STILL HERE!!! And while I haven't yet claimed my financial indepedence yet, the ship is still above water, and the sails are flying higher and higher. Ok, maybe not a very good analogy, but its late, and I wanted to post something that might give someone some encouragement and hope out there. Here are my financial facts. I invested a little over $27,000 in products, marketing and training over the past 12 months. My commissions for this same period were just under $62,000. All together, almost a $25,000 profit. (or $24,562.52 exactly) To some, they might say I was a 97%er with those resutls. For me, being a part timer in my home business and having a full time income from my medical distributorship, I was ok with my first year. Certainly no where close to my goals, but a decent start in a industry that was tougher than I originally throught. Now, back to the 97% failure rate. I'm not sure who takes credit for this statistic or what study it was documented in, but I sure see it quoted everywhere. While it may be true, sometimes I like to question statistics, even if there supported by double blind studies. Here's my point. Over this past year, I have heard so many testimonies from successful entrepreneurs in the network marketing industry, who usually start off their story with a 2 - 6 year trial and error period. They tried different things, it didn't work, and then they tried something else. They kept repeating this process until they ended up with a bunch of money in their bank accounts and are now referred to as "Guru's", "Leaders", "MasterMinds", etc. They are also usually selling e-books and courses on how they did it. And, they usually have a very large list of people in their autoresponder account. So here's my question, were these now very successful entreprenuers once considered or classified as a 97%er? Here's an even more important question.........Does it even matter?????????????? When I started my business last year, I did my research and I saw all the horrible statistics and read all the "so called" scam reviews. I made a decision. Actually 2 decisions. First, if I am going to do this, then QUITING IS NOT AN OPTION. Secondly, the only person who can determine my results and success is me. There can be no excuses laid on my sponsor, the company, products, marketing tools, economy, gas prices, or global warming. My success and my results are mine. I own them. With those 2 decisions, I started my business and probably made just about every mistake a new network marketer could make. If Perry Marshal could have seen my PPC campaigns, he would have become sick. What's even sadder is that I bought his courses, skimmed through, and just through something out there so I could create some kind of action. To this day, I still need to spend more time in all the materials he gave me for just $47. Talk about giving 10 times the value for the price. It could take me a good month or two just to get through everything he gave me in downloads. I also just kind of played shotgun marketing as well. Buy some leads (never call them), send out postcards, and spend more and more money on PPC with Google and Yahoo. Now here's the crazy thing. I also did spend a lot of money on personal training as well. Even attended some live events and personal training courses as well. As a matter of fact, at one time I told my sponsor that I thought I was spending too much time training and developing and not enough time doing things that create income.....He agreed. Somehow, I managed to produce over 2000 leads for my primary business, and over 60 applications for serious inquirers. I made some commissions on the applications, and I also made 1 sale, which netted me about $900. From that point on, until the third week of December, everything went silent. Here I was, the companies only person with our new marketing system, that had the most applications and no sales. I was the "ANOMALY". Boy did that suck!! Thank God my sponsor kept my spirits up and remained confident. There were times that I was ready to pull my hair out. Especially all those emails with new consultants making $20k - $30k their first month with the most complete and comprehenive marketing system the direct sales industry had ever seen. Where were my sales????? Back to the start. Quitting is not an option and I own my success. (or lack their of in this case). With this in mind, there was only one thing I could do. Keep marketing and keep believing that success was on its way. I was determined not to quit right before my all my efforts paid off. Boy was I glad I stayed the course. I would have never predicted it, but the week of Christmas and the week after, I made over $15,000 in commissions. The first 2 weeks of January, the sales kept coming. In about a 5 week period, I went from being big time in the "red", to being a profitable home business in my 7 month. Since then, I have learned how to build my home business with a stronger front end, through selling lower cost items that I have purchased myself and found valuable. I have also become more savvy in my marketing. At this point, I can see that my part time business has a part time income that is growing towards my full time income job. I can also see that my value is growing as I learn more about the marketing systems I work with and the people I am able to help who have started after me. You know, I'm sure there are many people who get in this industry try some type of business opportunity and quit after a few months and never come back. I can see how those would be considered "failures". However, I wold blame the company or opportunity in most cases. On the other side of the coin, I can also see that there are alot of people out there like me who have yet to ht that home run and produce an income that would retire them from their job or put them in financial indepence yet. But there not 97%'ers. No, many of those are the top 3% in the making. They, just like me, will have a story to tell. Some may take only a couple of years. Others, it might take 5 or more years. Regardless, what they share in common is that they never quit and take full responsibility for their success. That's one reason I love a sight like this. There are so many talented people in different stages of development with different skill sets. In some cases, we might even be considered competitors or at least competiting for the same market. Regardless, there is a since of team within here. We all respect what each other is paying to make it towards our own goals. It's good we have a place to exchange ideas and share successes. When the times get tough and there are peiods of time between sales, I know I have place to come read and gain some inspiration or an idea that just might make the difference. Nobody is a 97% really..........unless they say they are. Only I can decide to quit and only I can take responsibility for my success. Wishing all of you success and prosperity because I believe you richly deserve it!! Art Martinart@netbusiness.com713-828-8695 If you happen to know anyone who is serious about earning a 6 figure income and is willing to take responsibility for their own success, please invite them to view my marketing system and fill out an application. It will require at least $3k in start up captial. http://Mission100Millionaires.com
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