Work From Home Choices

In Wave 4, Richard Poe brings up a fact that I have never considered: the meaning of the word “job”.  He quotes economists James Dale Davidson and Lord William Rees-Mogg who claim, “ The twenty first century will see the death of jobs as we know them.”  The author goes on to explain that it has only been the past few generations that considered a job a permanent form of income. In days goes by, a job was a task that had a beginning and an end. For instance you may be paid to repair a wagon wheel and once that wheel was repaired, the job was over. 

Our modern view of a job came with the industrial revolution. Suddenly there were assembly lines always running, always needing manning. The task never ended, therefore the job didn’t either.

The job market today is not governed by the industrial revolution however. We are in the beginning of the Information Age. It is the Information Age that is molding the current employment situation. The Information Age is making jobs no longer permanent.  The Information Age is taking jobs back to the day when they were simply tasks that had a beginning and an end. 

The Information Age is ushering in at light speed and changing the economic landscape just as quickly. Obama and McCain cannot stand in the way of this force. No politician can change what is happening. We can only adapt.

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Richard Poe’s Wave 4 continues to be a source of great information and has me considering me aspects of MLM. One such element is “The Turnkey Revolution”. Speaking of this revolution, Poe quotes Michael Gerber saying, “Not only is it changing the way we do business in this country, but it is changing who goes into business, how they do it, and the likelihood of success.”

Poe adds, “Turnkey systems have shown the same McDonald’s-like ability to replicate themselves thousands of times over, even in non-franchised businesses. Network marketers gain the benefit of proven systems and trademarks, just like franchises. But they replicate even faster.”

What it all boils down to is that network marketing is turnkey because it is duplicatable.

However, only certain aspects of network marketing can truly be duplicated by the masses and therefore only certain aspects are truly “turnkey”.

Tools are turnkey. Hurray for turnkey tools! I have a few e-commerce sites as part of my business opportunity package, which would have cost me six figures to have built. The company stocks the sites, handles customer service, drop shipping, etc. This is turnkey because anyone can let someone else build a site, stock that site and handle all of the issues that arise with e-commerce.

However duplication ends with tools. People are not duplicatable – especially people who are good at presenting an opportunity or closing prospects.

Several years ago, I was a distributor for a nutritional supplement network marketing company. I was desperately working with my highest of my upline members to find a system that anyone in our group could use.

My upline devised a script. It was an EXCELLENT script – the best I have seen. I would call a prospect, 3-way a five minute pre-recorded sizzle message, and then go through the script. What could be more simple?

I spoke with a woman who was genuinely interested in my opportunity. I got to the end of the script and then asked her the closing question, “Could you do what I just did?”

She responded that she didn’t think that she could.

I responded back, “All I did was call you, 3-way a five minute pre-recorded message, and then go through the script. Could you read a script?”

“Yes, I can – but I wouldn’t sound like you when I did it. You sound really good.”

Her response typified my problem in my last company. Tools, not people are duplicatable. Therefore, the tools provided by a home-based business opportunity company are all that is truly turnkey.

(It would take a few more years before I would find a tool that could solve the people duplication problem.)

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My friend Alisa was tossing out some books and wanted to know if I wanted some. I love books, even when I am too busy to do anything but have someone dust them. However, when the box arrived yesterday afternoon, I set all else aside and began reading. I had read through / skimmed through two of them and then decided to start on Wave 4. I figured it would give me plenty of material for a blog or two.

I am probably the only serious network marketer on the planet who has not read it yet. After the first few pages, I understood why. It is the kind of stuff that those of us in the MLM industry revel over. The pages are filled with proof you knew what you were doing when you got involved in the industry.

My husband and I were sitting on the couch together reading this evening – He was reading the Holy Scriptures and I was devouring Wave 4. (Not sure what that says about the two of us.) I turned to him and read a quote from the book. We discussed its implications and then my dear husband said something that stunned me.

Suddenly from his mouth came the profanity, “I hate network marketing.”

Just to help you understand my dismay, let me explain that our LIVELIHOOD comes from network marketing. We are neck-deep in this business. Without MLM, we would be mighty hungry right now.

(Silence)

“No, you don’t.”

“Yes, I do. I hate traditional network marketing.”

Traditional was an important description that he managed to leave out of his first statement. Now I understood. What he meant was that he hated the practice of marking up items seven to ten times and making them impossible to retail. (He wasn’t acting too impressed by a book that would defend this practice either.)

Fair enough. I get embarrassed to think that I once bought into it and caused others to do the same. Sure, I had all the great excuses for the outrageous prices – exclusive patent, expensive research, etc.

I wasn’t heartless however. Because of the out of reach prices, I sold product at wholesale –not a great business model. (I am sure Donald Trump would have fired me.)

Being in a hybrid MLM that doesn’t mark up their products sometimes makes me forget that the rest of the network marketing world still operates by this out-dated business model.

Wave 4 is defined in the book as an era when network marketing is a universally accepted legitimate form of business that is spreading like wildfire.

I don’t know if the author, Richard Poe, ever envisioned a day when gas was well over $4.00 a gallon and inflated fuel prices would be understandably abhorred. The traditional network marketing industry may want to swig some of their magic drinks and put on their thinking caps - America is impatient with over-inflated prices.

Right now, oil speculators and oil companies are an enemy to happiness. Overinflated traditional network marketing products – as wonderful and amazing as they are – may soon follow down the same unpopular path.

Is it my crazy fantasy that hybrid MLMs’ popularity will grow as a result of inflated product prices in a suffering economy just as hybrid car popularity has jumped suddenly with fuel prices inflating?

No, I don’t have to fantasize. It’s happening.

Maybe hybrid network marketing will usher in Wave 5????

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On Thursday, Team Everest unveiled their new Premium Free Member Benefit Plan.  (It has better coverage than I anticipated that it might be able to.)

The following slide show tells you all about it.

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If you chuckled at this presentation, please vote for it while visiting the link below.

World’s Best Presentation Contest

You may think because of the previous article that Team Everest is
trying to be the MLM version of Overstock.com. It is a great idea, but
almost impossible to achieve. Even Overstock’s prices can be beat if
you look hard enough online. No one company can have the best price on
every product that they carry every day of the week. Team Everest soon
realized that while “product A” beat the competition most of the time,
“product B” may sometimes be a dollar cheaper on eBay or some other e-commerce
store.

Reality being what it is, Team Everest decided to focus mainly in
areas that they could beat the competition on a regular basis. Travel
is one of these areas. (Team Everest travel will be discussed in a
later article in this series.) Health products are another. Because
Everest’s pricing structure, they blow the competition out of
the water – even beating other MLM’s at their own game.

Everest’s Extreme Buys have featured products from other MLM
companies, like Xocia Chocolates, at prices WELL BELOW what Xocia
distributors pay for them.

The same company that makes Team Everest’s essential oils also makes
oils for another well-known MLM, who charges 2-4 times as much for
them. The list goes on and on.

You can learn more about Team Everest’s health products by visiting
http://www.squidoo.com/Team_Everest_Home_Business_Opportunity.

You also find anything from affordable handmade mineral cosmetics to golf clubs at Team Everest.

Services include a lead generating program for insurance agents and discount programs on many financial  services.

As fortune would have it, Everest has been blessed with the right to incredible market fuel saving devices - so incredible that the savings is hard to believe. Everest corporate even tried it on several cars first before choosing to participate.  The devices are the HAFC and PICC.  (Imagine being able to get 100 miles per gallon in the near future.) They will also be discussed in another article.

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One day, Randi and I were visiting the office of a whole food vitamin
manufacturer. He told us that he had an idea beyond vitamins that we
might interest us. It all stemmed from one of his former businesses.
Actually, as he explained the concept, we were more than interested.
We were genuinely excited.

Back in the day before internet access was common in most households,
this man had a business faxing people a notice about fantastic
closeout deals. Once a week, in the middle of the night, the fax would
go out. Individuals paid about thirty bucks a month and stayed up all
night long for the fax. It was an addiction.

This business grew and one of the employees took the idea and started
Overstock.com.

The question was did Randi and I think that Everest would be
interested in a similar online concept to his weekly fax business.

Randi and I had no doubts whatsoever. We sped over to Team Everest and
stood outside of Dave’s (Team Everest President) office until his
meeting ended. The rest is history. Within a week, Team Everest had
introduced their Extreme Buy program.

Every week, Everest offers a product or service at blow out prices.
Some deals are good ones. Others are beyond fantastic.

This makes for a great online business – especially if you have a
subscriber list. Even if you don’t, people like to be kept in the loop
and you can easily establish a list of individuals who would like
Extreme Buy email notifications.

If you want to know more about Extreme Buys, you can visit my Squidoo
lens on the subject at http://www.squidoo.com/Extreme_Buys.

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The word “wholesale” in the network marketing community and the rest of the world mean two very different things. In the real world, wholesale represents a price close to production, warehousing, and delivery cost with a reasonable profit margin built in.

In the MLM arena, wholesale is simply the price the company sales a product to its distributors. However, traditional network marketing “wholesale” generally represents a seven to ten times mark up. This is because their wholesale price needs to pay the cost of producing and warehousing a product plus paying a gazillion distributor roll-up on that product.

The problem with traditional network marketing pricing structure is that the outrageous wholesale price means that the retail price must be astronomical. This makes a profitable retail business unrealistic at best, which means that distributors are limited to a recruiting business.

Team Everest does not need to mark up their products in order to pay commissions. Because of this, the company distributors actually buy products at true wholesale. They are also able to develop a true retail business because the prices are kept low.

Let me give you a prime example-

I once was a distributor for another network marketing company. The company had wonderful supplements, which helped me to overcome many health challenges. But one day, that company decided to reinvent itself and change its product line. A product that I desperately NEEDED was being discontinued. I purchased that product “wholesale” from my former company at $55.00 per bottle.

Team Everest was able to contact the manufacturer of that product and carry it. Team Everest’s wholesale price on that product is about $10.00. The retail is about $17.00.

Same benefits at a much lower price and realistic retail possibilities.

See what I mean?

What makes more sense to you?

 Team Everest provides their distributors with an e-commerce site to sell online. To visit my ecommerce store, click here.

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Team Everest is a home based business opportunity headquartered in Orem, Utah. The company was founded by David Call and Eric Raymond. David cut his teeth as one of the original founders of Synergy WorldWide.  Eric also had his start at Synergy Corporate.

Straying from their Synergy roots, David and Eric have made Team Everest a totally unique home business opportunity. Explaining Team Everest is much like describing a work of modern art – everyone sees it differently.  Everest does have some classic home business opportunity elements. However, the mlm doesn’t really fit into any standard network marketing category or any cookie cutter home business opportunity explanation. 

Do they have a super juice? Sure. The super juice has an ingredient list and ORAC score that puts many others to shame. However, no one on the inside looking out would call Team Everest a juice MLM.  

Do they have a travel site? Yep. It’s a nice one too. The Everest travel packages are guaranteed to beat Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity. You can save money booking your own travel or make money having others book through your personal travel site. However, Team Everest isn’t just a travel MLM either. (Although some distributors focus on the travel.)

Do they have a personal growth and development program? The company at one time was a personal growth and development MLM. However, it has grown to the extent that Team Everest no longer fits neatly into that category either.

Are you beginning to get the picture? 

Team Everest provides so many products and services in so many areas that it is a customizable home business that doesn’t fit the traditional network marketing company mold.

The following series looks at what Team Everest is and isn’t. We examine where the business opportunity is now and where it is going in the future. We will also offer suggestions on building and making money with a Team Everest powered home business.  

For more information, you can also visit my Team Everest Squidoo lens http://www.squidoo.com/team_everest.

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Being busy with our families and other pursuits made us even more determined to build our Team Everest Home Business the easiest and most efficient way possible.

A Little Bit About Team Everest

Team Everest is unique in that it is many business opportunities rolled into one. It is customizable, which is one reason that it is perfect for busy moms of various interests and abilities.

The Busy Chicken Method

For us, this method is not just the smartest way - it is the ONLY way to build a home business.

What is “The Busy Chicken Method”?

It is letting trained sales professionals at MXM do what you are too busy or too chicken to do.

MXM is a marketing company created to help you build your Team Everest home business. MXM provides you with a professional marketing staff that will contact, present, follow up and close new business for you. Our staff has been trained and educated to assist you with all your marketing efforts. In addition to our professional staff, MXM will provide you with an automated marketing system designed to work for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The system is priced so all Team Everest distributors can afford the luxury of a million dollar sales and marketing staff for the price of a few office supplies.
Be the Pursued Instead of the Pursuer

Let’s face it. There are hot sellers, REALLY HOT SELLERS, and then there is the HAFC and upcoming PICC. The HAFC is a device that guarantees to increase the gas mileage of any vehicle by 50%. The PICC promises to increase the gas mileage of any vehicle to 100 miles per gallon.

How popular is the HAFC?

Randi told just one person about the HAFC, but by the end of the week, at least 15 people had approached her about it. Recently, Randi’s husband was literally nearly run off the road by a neighbor who was wanting to to know about the HAFC.

Team Everest has many fine products, but focusing on products that “spread like wild fire” will save you time and effort. Just like using MXM allows others to do your work for you, promoting products that create a lot of buzz will allow others to do your work for you by helping you to spread the word.

To learn more about Team Everest, visit the corporate site at http://20again.teameverest.net. To learn more about the HAFC or PICC, visit http://20again.myteameverest.com/Template1.aspx?PageId=36. To learn about more home business ideas powered by Team Everest, visit http://www.squidoo.com/Best_Home_Business_Ideas. To learn more about MXM, visit http://www.squidoo.com/MXM. To speak with a helpful and friendly MXM staff member, fill out the contact form at http://www.mymxm.net/rt/lead/.