My heart sank a little today when I read the news that Arbonne (Natural Products Group, LLC) has officially filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy.  Why?  Because hopes and dreams of a home-based business income were shattered.  Contrary to what some of the ‘gurus’ might say these are not just numbers, they are people like you and me.  Mothers, fathers, grand parents. sons, daughters, people trying to live their version of the American Dream.  I am blessed that I found out the truth about what it takes to succeed in network marketing without having to witness the news about my company filing for bankruptcy.

Several things have to be in place to avoid such news, first and foremost is company management experience with integrity.  Man is this so important for the success of the average network marketer.  Why?  Because, believe it or not, not all of the superstar ‘top income earners’ built their way into their position.  Kinda hard to believe but it’s true.  I have been offered the ‘opportunity’ to bring my organization over to another company.  But this ‘opportunity’ as they put it would eat like cancer upon my moral fiber and destroy all my efforts of building a solid future.

Let’s just assume that all network marketing companies have killer products because they probably wouldn’t remain in business if they didn’t.  So the sale of products would be where the company’s main source of income resides, right?  Only if those products are value priced.  Otherwise the main source of money would come from signing up new distributors.  The proof is in the financial filing of bankruptcy of companies without integrity and run by greed and ego.  I hope you’ll join me in a little prayer for all the families affected by this news, my hope is that they may find the right community and company to call home.

Network marketing is about building relationships with people not about buying leads, promotional materials, paying for the tools (like replicated websites) to build their business for them. The question that you should ask yourself, “Can the average person work to achieve above average results?” Is this even possible in your company? How can you know for sure? There are a few ways to tell. One, read the policies and procedures and decide by asking your upline about them (hint: if it’s changed often, more than 12 pages long, or you need a lawyer to understand it-there might be a problem). Two, is there a proven, duplicable system that is provided for free to help you every step of the way? Three, what kind of compensation plan do you have and does it drive the right behavior in the field? And most importantly if you don’t understand it can anyone in your upline team explain it to you?

I came into network marketing with a few assumptions. The biggest and most costly assumption was that my upline superstar, space commander guru was actually doing it themself. What am I talking about, you might ask? Are they building a network marketing organization by training their organization how to be successful? I mean, charging you hundreds of dollars for a collection of cd’s in a shiny folder and telling you to make a list of friends and family is NOT training you to succeed. It is a good formula to become alienated from family and in some cases that might actually be beneficial but that’s not the point. Next, I assumed that since my company was publicly traded that this made them credible. And finally, that I would be able to follow the techniques they did offer to success instead of being offered every affiliate scam disguised as a viable tool.

Again I find myself grateful and consider myself VERY lucky that I haven’t been in this wonderful industry long enough to experience all of the horror stories told by some of my team members. I mistakenly thought that MLM is about the lifestyle, then I thought it’s about the money, now I understand it’s about the people. In the words of my personal friend and mentor, “Build the people and the people will build the business.” I know that building a house is easier to do with construction workers, so building a network marketing organization will require training network marketers to be successful. I sure am glad that recruiting friends and family didn’t make sense to me and that I found a 5 pillars company that is owned by people who understand the nuts and bolts of this wonderful industry.

I’m feeling a curious sense that like most people who have made a one year commitment to a specific goal I will be amazed before I am halfway through the year as to the power of this process. What will it mean to my personal life, business life, or spiritual life? What will it do to my motivation in my day job, my on-line business, wellness, or more importantly to my self-confidence?

I believe that the first opportunity it will provide me with is being accountable to myself, my team, and help with focus as I work from home. I can see that it will also allow me to free up time for self-improvement, time for meetings, and increased productivity. And who couldn’t use help in these areas while building a wildly successful, highly profitable, fun-loving/having, network marketing organization?

I suppose it’s the difference between a professional and a wannabe home-based business builder. There’s no doubt my upline will agree that being coachable, having a yearly commitment to self-improvement, and a definite business plan are the essentials that lead to success. I will commit to a year for these reasons, and besides what’s to lose? A few bad habits, a few beliefs that weren’t mine to begin with, or more importantly fear of failure. Can you imagine a year with commitment and purpose-I can, starting today!