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[Tony Lauria Contribution Level: 3]

Man, I love these threads since they go off in unexpected directions.

Dave, sure you can make money without providing goods or a service. It's called a CRIME or, as you wrote, fraud since it's online and business/information related.

Used to work for a private investigator back in the '80s. Man, did I meet some passionate criminals! They LOVED what they were doing. It was mostly insurance fraud but they sure enjoyed it! I got my kicks by trapping them in their lies. Lotta fun!

Richard, you surprise me. Shying away from a thread? Everybody looks up to you! Thanks for sharing.

I'd say it is the money which gets me the freedom and the teaching that turns me on to networking. And if I'm feeling shy, I can hide behind my monitor.

Thanks guys.

[Melvin Goodrum Company: AdvoCare International, L.P. Contribution Level: 4]

*

Well, I've actually been avoiding this post... for fear of being strung up for heresy.
But honestly, I hate networking, in the way it has been associated with network marketing.
I'm a total introvert and meeting new people scares the hell out of me.
But don't get me wrong though.... I love my friends and family and I love making new friends.
And networking as it applies to this industry isn't one of my favorite parts of the job.

Trust me, I'd network the hell out of some mojitos, poolside, with everyone of you, if there was a push button solution for creating wealth. If all we had to do was party with each other and have good times, without the "networking" stuff... I'd be all over it.

But really.... I'm in it for the money!
And the reason is, because money affords the freedom I need to pursue what I'm passionate about.
Time. Mobility. Options.

Those three things are very powerful in the hands of the right people and can change the world.
This business model is simply a means to an end. And that's exactly what I try to convey to anyone that partners with me. It's not about mlm. It's about true, red blooded freedom. The kind stripped away from you when you're broke and powerless.

So my honest answer is it has nothing to do with networking for me...
I am passionately pursuing my freedom and trying to bring along as many friends as I can along the way.

~RB


PS:
Dave.... "sequitur"
Since you asked.

That's what I'm talking about. I am passionate about things that are dear to me such as cleaning up the enviroment, competing, writing, volunteer work at the animal shelter, etc.

However, network marketing is a business and while I've met some great friends, went to some crazy parties at conventions, and other stuff I am simply not going to mention because its Rated R and may not be suitable to all adults. Its not a social club and its still about paying the bills at the end of the day.

You can absolutely love what a business does and how they change people's lives but if you're not generating enough income to sustain the lifestyle that you desire and that you need, then you've gotten off the beaten path of your network marketing business.

[Melvin Goodrum Company: AdvoCare International, L.P. Contribution Level: 4]

Collen, thanks for sharing your PASSION! Indeed, success is not, I repeat NOT, possible without passion. Success for many is defined by passion. How else would you find the dedication and the persistence without passion? Passion is what drives you to keep going. But it certainly isn't the only thing to be passionate about.

Hello Melvin?

I mean, reserving my passion for non-profits only? What the devil are you talking about? And falling in love with a product? What flavor Kool-aid have you been drinking? People just may be passionate about their companies because of the people they work with or with the opportunity for successly fulfilling themselves that it affords them.

Three times I approached networking as you describe it: to make money and pay bills. It was hell. I hated it but I am passionate about OWNING MY OWN LIFE WITH NO BOSS EVER AGAIN! So I passionately searched for the people/company(more people)/opportunity (to fulfill my life)/comp plan (to enhance my life) that resonanted with me. And found it.

Never fall in love with a product. It is an inanimate object! Find a product or service that people WANT (not need) and find the market for it. Fall in love with 1) yourself, 2) your spouse or significant other, 3)people you work with and 4) what YOU do because it should define you and your purpose! Otherwise, you just have a JOB and are shackled to paying bills. You're just trading time for money. That's a form of slavery. Or servitude at best.

I reserve my passions for non-profit purposes because thats why I started network marketing. Its because I wanted to have more time for my personal interests which I now do.

If I happen to run into people I like, then I'll be friends with them. I help my people out because that's what's necessary to increase your income and I help out others because its a nice thing to do. I always share my techniques with everyone because in return someone else will share their techniques with me which will result in increasing my income using those techniques I picked up.


If you chose to dedicate your free time to help people make money, then that's great for you however I have a lot of things that I'm trying to do that doesn't have to do with making money. I would like to hike and climb more mountains, I would like to help clean up the enviroment, I would like to keep animals from being put to sleep in kennels and far away from dogfights.

That's where my passions are and while I dedicate some of my time to help people in business, I'm not going to be all of my time. Otherwise, I may as well get my job back at Alltel

[Cathy Fletcher Company: Life Plus International Contribution Level: 2]

Further to leverage:
that is the carrot dangling in front of me...that I may put in the hours and eventually get my mobility, freedom, and time as Dave and Richard mention. I'm still a slave now, I don't even know what it tastes like Just not sure whether my freedom is 6 months to 5 years away. It's like some kind of surprise game of "tag, you're it"...the legend (okay, okay...the self-deception) is that some foreign guy with a list is going to need what I have (uh...my obsession with file management, law, communications, technology, well-being) and boom! I'm going to turn that corner land in the lap of luxury. Hey, and I didn't say I was an absolute expert at any of those topics...it's just no one has to hold a gun to my head for me to continue to research, and enjoy these at the same time.

Tony, now I know why I always feel guilty around you...worked in the Waterfront Police Office in Vancouver for a bit, and low-level criminals (mug shots) look like criminals, but my police boss went on to work in white-collar crime and I bet they were harder catch (re: your pleasure at catching crooks in insurance).

Hate admitting it but years ago I did a stint in a call center selling lottery tickets overseas. Lottery tickets. Nobody needs them, but I had to work. I remember this one guy asking me point blank "Will I win?" and I flatly said "No." but proceeded to sell him $1,000 package anyway. People are funny...what I was really selling was his control of what money he did have (apart from wife's approval) and "the dream". So, I am not proud of "taking" $30,000 from the public in 4 months for something they don't need. That was my only experience in sales. Think it was my voice which sounds like a 12-15 year old. People that call my home ask to speak to my mother. (Get Smart: "If only she used her voice for good instead of evil.")

Getting back to the topic...Networking: it might be a passion or a necessity and either one is rocket fuel.

[Tony Lauria Contribution Level: 3]

Melvin, what we have here is a failure to communicate due to semantics - I think.

Certainly what you described - hiking, body building, cleaning the environment - are passions of yours. But isn't helping others

because that's what's necessary to increase your income and I help out others because its a nice thing to do. I always share my techniques with everyone because in return someone else will share their techniques with me which will result in increasing my income using those techniques I picked up.

That sounds like your pretty passionate to me but maybe you're not calling it that because money is involved. I don't know. Just asking. Maybe you're selling yourself short and calling a passion of yours just a Job.

Anyway thanks for posting your comment.

And for anyone reading this:

Doing what you love is the cornerstone of having abundance in your life.
-Wayne Dyer

You have to love what you do. Without passion, great success is hard to come by. An entrepreneur will have tough times if he or she isn’t passionate about what they’re doing. People who love what they’re doing don’t give up. It’s never even a consideration. It’s a pretty simple formula.
-Donald Trump

Follow Your Bliss and the Universe will open doors for you where there were only walls.
-Joseph Campbell

PROFITS ARE A BY-PRODUCT.
The bottom line has never been a reason for doing anything. It's much more the satisfaction of creating things that you're proud of and making a difference.
- Richard Branson

And of course it will usually always come down
to another principle that is all wrapped up in this
and that has to do with being your natural true self,
which in many cases is simply another way of saying
"Follow your joy".

Follow your excitement to the best of your ability
because the sensation that you call joy,
the sensation that you call excitement,
the sensation that you call unconditional love
is the frequency of the energy that represents
your natural…true…core…original self .
So when you are acting
on circumstances and opportunities
that bring with them the highest level of joy…
the highest level of excitement…
you are saying you have the faith
to take the steps to act upon your true self
and in so doing your physical reality…the mirror…
will support you
because it has no choice but to do so.

- Bashar

[Tony Lauria Contribution Level: 3]

Cathy,

Moi? I make you feel guilty? Why, what did you do?

[Melvin Goodrum Company: AdvoCare International, L.P. Contribution Level: 4]

Melvin, what we have here is a failure to communicate due to semantics - I think.

Certainly what you described - hiking, body building, cleaning the environment - are passions of yours. But isn't helping others

because that's what's necessary to increase your income and I help out others because its a nice thing to do. I always share my techniques with everyone because in return someone else will share their techniques with me which will result in increasing my income using those techniques I picked up.

That sounds like your pretty passionate to me but maybe you're not calling it that because money is involved. I don't know. Just asking. Maybe you're selling yourself short and calling a passion of yours just a Job.

Anyway thanks for posting your comment.

And for anyone reading this:

Doing what you love is the cornerstone of having abundance in your life.
-Wayne Dyer

You have to love what you do. Without passion, great success is hard to come by. An entrepreneur will have tough times if he or she isn’t passionate about what they’re doing. People who love what they’re doing don’t give up. It’s never even a consideration. It’s a pretty simple formula.
-Donald Trump

Follow Your Bliss and the Universe will open doors for you where there were only walls.
-Joseph Campbell

PROFITS ARE A BY-PRODUCT.
The bottom line has never been a reason for doing anything. It's much more the satisfaction of creating things that you're proud of and making a difference.
- Richard Branson

And of course it will usually always come down
to another principle that is all wrapped up in this
and that has to do with being your natural true self,
which in many cases is simply another way of saying
"Follow your joy".

Follow your excitement to the best of your ability
because the sensation that you call joy,
the sensation that you call excitement,
the sensation that you call unconditional love
is the frequency of the energy that represents
your natural…true…core…original self .
So when you are acting
on circumstances and opportunities
that bring with them the highest level of joy…
the highest level of excitement…
you are saying you have the faith
to take the steps to act upon your true self
and in so doing your physical reality…the mirror…
will support you
because it has no choice but to do so.

- Bashar

I love helping others but I think that cleaning up the enviroment, saving animals from euthanization, helping the poor, and establishing world peace are agendas that are much more important to me. I want to make this world a better place to live and network marketing allows me to make the money I need to pay the bills in the least amount amount of time so I can get back to doing what's important to me.

I see network marketing as a great thing but its still business. Look on the top of your browser..its says MLM Home Business Training Forums betternetworker.com. Most people join business opportunities for their passion of making a lot of money in that business, not for what they do.

There's nothing wrong with a person being passionate about making money in a business rather than actually caring about what the business does. You'll be more successful if you do but its not essential. Many people have been successful in network marketing without giving a crap about a businesses goal.

[Tony Lauria Contribution Level: 3]

Sorry Melvin, I'm just not buying it. I don't accept that, as you wrote,

Many people have been successful in network marketing without giving a crap about a businesses goal.

I just don't think someone can be successful in anything without paying attention and doing what's needed to succeed. That's certainly more than "giving a crap" as you put it. What you described is more like winning the lottery or dumb luck: success that drops into someone's lap.

No, I suspect you're as passionate about your business as the next person but just aren't calling it so.

Thanks.