The IBO Chronicles

This has just been on my head lately. We just experienced another burst of growth that we had a personal hand in (in other words, it wasn't sparked in depth.) To an outside observer or a naysayer, the growth came out of luck or being "in the right place" at "the right time." If you consider being outside of my home offering the opportunity with people being in the right place at the right time, then yes, I was in the right place at the right time.

It doesn't take a magical or extraordinary level of determination to keep going through the mechanics of the business as you search for people that truly have an interest in building it. The importance of what you're trying to accomplish or fear of not accomplishing always gives the determination necessary if you're serious about what you want to accomplish. Since I've been involved in this business and have literally and with my own eyes watched men and women retire from their day jobs, the concept of working any longer than I have to turns my stomach. I know the successes in my upline had to go through numbers to find the real people. I've watched some of it happen with their businesses, yet they've always continued to meet people, continued to offer this opportunity to new people.

I personally showed the plan a good number of times before finding the person that has been the basis for our current growth spurt. Not only has he had special growth in his business, but to make sure I set an example, I have fought to add additional people in my width. He knows I can work anywhere I want, and therefore he and his new people respect my time much better. When I met him, I wasn't even planning on doing much contacting, but I hadn't hit my personal conversations goal for the day, so I stayed out and about on a rainy day when most people were trying to go home. He saw the plan, got excited and is currently on pace to hit 7500 pts in the next 3-4 months.

Your growth is out there for you too. "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." When it's not working - when people aren't getting excited, or you're getting some "no's" - that't the time to turn it up! If you slow down during this period, you'll feel even further in the dumps. Baseball players don't stop swinging the bat because they're in a slump. Basketball players with good jump shots keep shooting, even if their shot is a little off. Your next yes is just around the corner. Stick out your hand.

OneIBO

Action Cures Fear. It's a pretty simple equation, although I don't think I can find the appropriate symbols on a calculator. It truly is a tremendous truth. If you've been around the business for more than a week, you probably understand that the list of people that you know to talk to about this business is going to run out at some point. When that happens, unless you've got a stable business sponsored and your goal is identified and already in, you're probably going to have to make some new friends.

Some people look at this like the biggest problem with the business. I look at it like the biggest opportunity. Why? Because I look at this opportunity as a gift. Just me saying that I was interested when my sponsor asked me has had not only a positive effect on my income, but on my personal growth, my friendships and my relationship with my spouse. For me not to share that with someone else just seems wrong and selfish. Of course, I won't pretend to be the contacting master, but I've contacted my way to the growth I've had and contacting is at some point necessary for nearly any IBO that wants to go Platinum or beyond.

That freaks a lot of people out. Many of us are not used to just meeting people out and about. The very idea of it scares people. Here's what scares me more: working for the next 40 years. Telling my wife she's got to ask for a raise to help make ends meet. Waving goodbye to my kids for the next umpteen years until they move out. That scares me a lot more than whatever some guy in a shirt and tie looking at movies in Best Buy thinks. Besides, the worst thing that has ever come of sparking up a conversation with a stranger, is them saying they aren't interested. No one, in two years, has ever laughed at me, yelled at me, called me a name or anything like that. People are often very polite, even when they aren't interested.

Regardless, many people still have an instant of doubt before they open their mouth. If I could offer up one thing: Action cures fear. Just say anything. Even if you screw it up, you can recover if you're honest about what you're asking. "Hey man, I'm sorry about mumbling there, but I'm just excited about this business team I'm working with and you seem like a sharp guy and a good fit for what we do. We're expanding and so I thought it would be crazy not to at least see if you ever keep your eyes open for other ways of making money." That recovers just about any flub. Usually, you end up flubbing when you try and say the perfect thing. The perfect line is always whatever falls out of your mouth. Action cures fear.

Here's the other side, lack of action increases fear. Think of the first time you tried to dive off a diving board. Regardless of the height, the longer you stand on the end looking over, the tougher it becomes. Once you dive off, hit the water and climb out, you realize, there was nothing to be afraid about. Action cures fear.

I'm guessing that when you talk to a friend about this business, show the plan or do a follow-up, you sometimes here the same excuses that I sometimes hear. "Man, you had to get in that business a long time ago to be successful." "You can't make money in that anymore - it's saturated." I love it when I hear those excuses because it gives me a chance to at least inform, if not educate someone about the truth.

I was not in the business in the pre-internet days so I have no first-hand experience, however, did recently get some time around a guy at the Diamond-and-above level who was(for sake of anonymity, I'll leave his qualifications at that.) It is amazing how simple it is to build this business today vs. how it had to be built back then. Even something as simple as having a cell phone totally changes the business. It doesn't seem hard to wonder why some people who had experiences in with the old business might want to try to find fault, albeit grossly in error to do so. Today, I am constantly on the phone coaching and training new guys, while driving from place to place. How confused would they be if I wasn't readily available by phone? How inattentative can someone seem to be to their downline in a business like this when they don't have a way to be reached?

For those of you that don't understand (and there are still some of you out there,) this business used to be all paperwork and call-ins. Product pick-up and order forms. Here's how it was explained to me from the pre-internet mentor I got some time with: Say you're 5 in depth from the upline Platinum. You would put your order together and call that in to your direct upline, who would compile your order in with their other legs orders and call that in to their upline, who would do the same, on up to the Platinum in the group. That Platinum would then compile the orders of every person in their group and call it in to the corporation. Then, all the products would be delivered to the Platinum's house, and they would have to separate the products for each person in their group before having a "product pick up" day where you would have to go get your order (hence the term 'Direct Distributor' for Platinums and above.) Then the same thing would happen with ordering tools on the education side. He said that his wife spent anywhere from 30-40 hours a week on paperwork and product separation. And people went Emerald, Diamond, Double and so on in that system! It also makes it easy to see how too many cooks in the kitchen can spoil the recipe and why there were so many issues with the old business. Not every person is upstanding and when you put that much in individuals hands, you're relying very heavily on accountability every step of the way.

Today, not only is the whole product ordering part online with the direct fulfillment system, but many organizations now have their tool ordering online as well. I don't know about you, but to me that makes this a better business opportunity. It even makes it a different business opportunity. Same parent company, sure, but so is Chipotle and McDonalds and for some reason their output is different. From 30 hours of paperwork to a couple minutes online clicking a mouse. How long does it take to register someone? 15 minutes? How long does it take to do a little overview at a coffee shop? 15-20 minutes? How long does it take to place an order for CD's online? 5 minutes? This is literally a business that you can spend 10-15 hours a week on and be very successful at. The open meeting system available across many organizations is incredibly powerful. It allows interested people to see that the business works. You can actually sponsor people in other states and be sure that they're getting the same access to support and supply as you are.

I'm sorry, but if people can succeed in a dinosaur paperwork and phone call business, people can succeed in the business the way it is now, and should do so faster. There is a guy in Illinois who is in Diamond qualification right now and has been in business just over 5 years. Due to the structure of his business, he could easily start EDC qualification while still in Founders Diamond Qualification and when he is recognized as a brand new Diamond, get recognized as a brand new EDC. Just taking an extra 10-15 hours a week to create an extra $50,000 a year is something you won't accomplish with a second job. Any way you cut it, today's opportunity is better than the old one by leaps and bounds.

When people see this business and are trying to determine whether it's the right opportunity for them, there are usually two categories of questions that arise. One stream is generally about the validity of the opportunity: Is the opportunity real? Are the people involved real? Will they really try to help me? These are generally questions that fall into the "does the business/training system really work?" side. The other stream is just as important a line of questioning, and some would say more so because it is the prospective new business owner questioning their own ability and is usually summed up in one question: Am I the kind of person who can build this business? That is what this entry focuses on - a key ingredient to either being the person who is prepared to start building this business, or becoming that person. That key ingredient is self-image.

Self-image is vital to success in anything, and contrary to what some people think, is not determined by what other people think of you. There are people, that when they see this business, either don't have or falsely believe they do have a good self-image. It will take a willingness to improve your self-image to move on in this (or any other) business. Generally, people cover up a poor self-image by bullying others, being obnoxious or by acting snobbish. People that are very self-effacing also are usually playfully pointing out flaws they are very overly concerned about.

Ultimately, our choices in life determine our self-image. Yes, many people's self-image is originally determined by their upbringing, both in school and at home. However, maintaining a poor self-image once you're old enough to strengthen it is a decision. Sadly enough, the simplest things can hammer a decent self-image into submission.

College goers have all had the discussion with ourselves at some point when it came to a new semester at school: "I'm going to be the most prepared student ever! I'm going to read the syllabus on day one. I'm going to read ahead and outline important teaching points. I'm going to study for two hours every night - even on Saturday and Sunday." And we did - for about 2 weeks. Then all of a sudden we get invited to "the party of the year" and we think to ourselves, "it's just one night - I'll get back on the horse tomorrow." Of course, tomorrow comes and you're so blown out from the night before that you can barely sit up the next day, better yet study. BOOM: your self-image just took a hit.

Two nights later, the person you've been dying to ask out on campus just asked you to get some coffee with them, and it turns into a date that gets you back to the dorm so late you are too tired to pick up a book. BOOM: you just took another hit. The next day you start playing a pick up game of basketball and you get so into it that you play till about 10:30, roll into your room and crash on the bed. BOOM: your self-image just took another hit.

And before you know it, you've fallen behind. When you realize it, you want to catch up, but you also start beating yourself up inside. A lot of students don't ever recover when they fall of track like that.

The same thing exists in this business. You've set up 5-7 as your time to go out and make new friends, but when you go home, the couch and the remote keep sucking you in. BOOM: your self-image on being able to build this business takes a hit.

You mean to go to the Saturday afternoon training session, but you promised your buddies you'd go to the game with them. BOOM: your self-image on being able to build this business takes another hit.

You were going to go to the open meeting, but you were so worried about what your cross-line buddy was going to think since you missed the mechanics session, you skip the open meeting. BOOM: your self-image takes another hit.

It goes on and on and before you know it, you've been sucked out of the opportunity that at one point you planned on using to change your financial future. What improves a self-image? Action. Staying true to your word. Being accountable to yourself. How do you learn to start doing that? The books on the book list. If you can get committed to reading the books that have helped others become successful, there is a good chance the books will help you the same way.

Commit yourself, raise your self-image and change your financial future.

OneIBO

I've got updates coming. As previously stated, the business is growing and my time has pulled me away from posting as I'd like to. I'm going to try and revamp a little bit for the interests of posting more often. So, expect some shorter entries, but more frequent. If time goes right, I'll be back on tonight with a new post on one of the things that is most required for a business to move forward. See ya' later, gotta go STP!

OneIBO

Hey everybody! Hope everyone had a great Fourth of July. Thank goodness we live in a Country where we have the freedom to believe what we choose, chase our own dreams and succeed at the level we desire.

I've somewhat obstained from posting a bit because I for some reason, had it set in my head that every post had to be this multiple paragraph, super-informational diatribe, but on further thought, I think a simple consistent reminder that I continue to build my business powered by Quixtar along with updates of growth, etc. is enough.

For the record, the business is still growing. What I've had to learn to move towards success in this opportunity is what anyone would have to learn to obtain success in any industry: discipline and a work ethic. I don't know about you, but I'm not one of those people that can watch 10 minutes of TV and then turn it off and get the job done. Once it's on, I'm frozen for a half-hour. I can't just jump online and "check one thing." It's at least a four to five site journey every time I'm on. One of the things I've learned is that for me, I have to really delay some of the little things for the greater future.

In learning to understand this, the business moving forward PV wise. At last check in I was a 1500 pv'er. Well, we will finish July over 2500 and I'll have Eagle wrapped up before the end of the month. With the fast growth we've been putting into practice, we can actually go over in time to begin Q12 qualification for the next fiscal year if we do things right. Of course, that's a beneficial accomplishment and it will draw attention, but it's the team that is being put together under our umbrella that is starting Q12 qualification. I'll just be playing quarterback. In my eyes, entering Q12 qualification just proves my upline right, allows me to have a little more credibility when I'm helping people in my group and creates a pull for my frontline guys to want to move forward. Hitting 7500 pv doesn't retire me from my job, which is the long term goal, so to me it's a stepping stone. I'm trying to help some people hit that 7500 pv mark so they can fulfill their dreams. Mine will just be a by-product of their success and I'm excited about that.

Keep the posts and e-mails coming and stay strong! More to come...

OneIBO

Because I haven't been given permission to use the names of the people affiliated with this story, I'm going to just tell the story and substitute some names instead. What I can tell you is that this is not a fourth-party story. I know the gentlemen involved personally and it wasn't a "brother's-cousin's-sister's-friend's-dog's-old Aunt Nancy" thing.

John and Ed are both involved in the opportunity and ended up awake late one night, talking to John's uncle. John's Uncle, who was 57, was already a successful businessman, owning boat companies and such, consistently keeping his nose to the grindstone. He related his story to John and Ed, telling them about the fact that he loved his wife so much that his plan had been to work 12 hour days, six and sometimes seven days a week so that he could amass enough of a nest egg, so that at 55 he and his bride could live out the next 25-30 years in style. Going where they want, doing what they want with no financial worries.

Then the Uncle paused and said, "the only problem is that she passed when I was 54." He followed by saying, "there are only two words to describe all the effort I put out - wasted time." He told Ed that if he had an opportunity to create time and money for himself, that he needed to take advantage of it now and as quickly as possible.

I don't know what most of you do for a living, but if there is any worthwhile advice that can be given, it's to find something that will help you create more passive income. Money isn't everything, but neither is being broke. The income is necessary to be able to live the way you want to live, but if you're just trying to accomplish it working 40 hours plus overtime for another person - it isn't going to happen.