The Honest Truth About Network Marketing

This post may come as a surprise to you. In fact some might find it down right blantant and convince themselves I must be lying. Why? Because I am not going to sugar coat network marketing. I'm not going to try and convince you to do this business. And I certainly am not going to try and convince you this is an easy way to make quick money and replace your current income (or past income if you've recently lost your job).

Often when people get involved in network marketing for the first time they assume it will be easy. They feel that because they have only made a small investment to get started that it isn't a "real business". They assume they shouldn't have to invest any money above and beyond their initial start kit or their monthly auto-shipment. And last but not least they certainly shouldn't have to invest much time into building their business.

Well I'm here to tell you the truth. Network Marketing is not easy. In fact it's really, really hard. I mean let's be honest. You got into network marketing to make some money. Maybe it's a little money, maybe it's a lot. So please tell me, what business can you get involved in and make money if it you don't work hard at it? What business can you do that you don't have to invest money into? And most of all what business can you make money at that you don't actually spend some honest time building? Honestly I'm challenging you to tell me what business out there is easy and takes almost zero serious commitment to make a serious return? If you can think of one please show me. I'm no idiot, I'd go for a guaranteed business that requires no work and no money too. But alas, I guarantee, none exist.

So let's paint a picture of the typical business model. Let's say you just bought a McDonald's franchise. Depending where you live,your price may range from about $500,000 to a cool million. Now that's just for the rights to sell the burgers and fries. You still have to set up shop, find a place to lease, hire staff, an accountant, a manager etc. etc. etc. I'm just guessing (because I've never done it), this is going to take some serious hard work, and months of planning and preparation. I'm also guessing your monthly overhead for product, staff, advertising is oh maybe $50,000+/month minimum. So after taking all this time and spending all this money and obviously taking on all this risk, just to open your doors and sell your first burger, my question is this...... Are you guaranteed to make a profit? Are you guaranteed to make your initial investment back in the first week, month or even first couple of years? I going to make an educated guess here and guess the answer is no.

So my question is this.....why would anyone in their right mind do all that work and put themselves at that much risk if they aren't guaranteed a profit? Why? Because if they work hard and they do everything right, they should start to see a profit in about 3 to 5 years. Yes I said it, 3 to 5 YEARS. Not 3 to 5 weeks!!!

So why is network marketing viewed by the average individual as a lottery ticket with the "lucky set of numbers"? For some unknown reason, people believe that when they get into network marketing, it should be easy. They believe they should be able to recoup their investment in weeks and be able to pay for the product in a few months. They believe they shouldn't have to invest into marketing, phone bills, courses, books, travel or anything but the monthly autoship. They believe they don't need to attend meetings, go to trainings, attend conventions or any other event where they might, god forbid, network!! And after not investing anything into their business, they believe they should be guaranteed a profit. Stop and think for a moment. Does that make any reasonable sense what-so-ever? Do these people really think that someone is going to hand them a successful million dollar business on a platter?

Let's look at this another way. Let's see, in order to obtain a college degree it takes anywhere from 2 to 4 years. It takes a heck of a lot longer if you actually want to specialize or become a master or doctor in your chosen profession. So let's estimate it costs anywhere from $6000 a year to $20,000 a year to get a degree. Are you paid while you go to school? Last time I checked not very likely. In fact last time I checked you aren't even guaranteed a job after you commit yourselves to all these years of study. And yet, every year thousands of students all over the world spend thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours in pursuit of a 'Job" that may or may not exist when they are finished.

So if you are looking for a "get rich quick", sit on the couch and roll in passive income, then pass on network marketing. Because this is a real business. Network marketing takes hard work, dedication, education, consistency and yes you actually have to talk to people, a lot of people. So if you thought this was going to be easy, think again, you are about to get a reality check!!