E-commerce and the Future: How to Regain Hope after the Failure of Corporate Communism as a Means to Achieve Financial Freedom. © 2003 By Jack Kettler
In his book Wave 4 Network Marketing in the 21st Century, best selling author Richard Poe quotes Barry Carter, a successful manager of a Fortune 100 company, in regard to corporate leadership. “There’s not much difference between a corporate bureaucracy and a communist one” Carter observes “Both are designed to squash initiative” (68). Not only is initiative squashed, but so is individuality. Moreover, corporate bureaucracies are constantly battling employee morale problems, most of which are of their own making.
The problem is far worse, however, than just corporate leaders who are themselves trapped. Corporations are legal entities and are therefore, by nature, impersonal. A corporate entity does not care if you have a job tomorrow. The bureaucracy of a corporation is driven to serve the corporation and its survival. This explains why, contrary to common sense and national economic survival, American workers are facing unparalleled loss of manufacturing and high tech jobs through a process of downsizing, relocating, and outsourcing as corporations strive to remain competitive in the global economy.
Current trends indicate that what our parent’s generation thought about finding a good company and staying with that company does not hold true anymore. Why? This writer knows personally many people, Information Technology (IT) professionals included, who have experienced their jobs moving to India and China. If this happens to you, what are you going to do? First on the chopping block are low level and mid level management jobs. Then full time employees are replaced with temporary workers from local day labor pools, thus saving the corporation money on sky rocketing benefit plans and state mandated worker’s compensation programs. Another contributing factor to the loss or death of corporate jobs is taxes and regulations, which are at an all time high. If you are next, where are you going to go? Many of your management brethren are already at McDonalds and Wal-Mart trying to stave off bankruptcy. You need to think outside the box, plan for the future and then take appropriate action. The information that follows will help you to do this.
Today, the American worker is faced with the grim reality of "Layoffs Ahead" and the "Death of Jobs." Yet, there is hope! In spite of the exodus of manufacturing and high tech jobs, the economy still has strength, resiliency and open opportunities. For those people with vision and who are willing to think outside the box, there are exciting opportunities, such as never seen before, providing the way to financial freedom. There are companies right now that are plugged into the “global economy” that are increasing their sales year after year and growing into billion-dollar a year companies. They are doing this by utilizing the most powerful business model known to man. Have you heard about this economic trend?
This article is about hope. It is about reawakening of the entrepreneurial spirit. It is about a business model that is ethical, innovative and levels the playing field so that everyday people have an opportunity to realize their hopes and dreams. It is about an industry that has created more millionaires than any other industry in American history. It is about an industry that has found a way to do an end run around the shackles of corporate America. It is about an industry that has matured into a major marketing force that is changing the way goods and services are moved through out our economy. It is about a marketing system that pays you to talk about and share products with others. It is about a marketing model so powerful that many Fortune 500 companies have begun trying to harness its power.
This article is about an industry and way of life that allows you to dream your dreams and how, combined with an entrepreneurial spirit, provides hope that your dreams can be realized. “Without a vision the people perish,” to paraphrase Solomon in Proverbs 29:18. The immediate context of this passage is about God’s redemptive covenantal purposes in history and His people losing sight of this. There is also a general principle that can be deduced from this passage that is timeless. Without hope, people give in to what has trapped them many times, even unto death. Do you need a vision and hope? Do you want to dream your dreams again? Your life can be exciting again!
The short title of this article is E-commerce and the Future. What do e-commerce and the future mean for you? In the Fifteenth Century, Johannes Gutenberg revolutionized the world with his invention of the movable type printing press. This allowed for a free flow of information printed in books, pamphlets, and tracts such as the world had never before seen. This free flow of information had profound consequences, influencing every avenue of life, including commerce. Additionally, Gutenberg’s printing press contributed to the advancement of the Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation that could not have been sustained without it.
In a similar manner, near the close of the twentieth century, the inventions of the personal computer and the Internet started a new information revolution that promises to be no less profound in its implications than Gutenberg’s printing press. This cyber revolution has the potential to connect people from all over the world, giving them the ability to engage in commerce (especially network marketing, a people business) and information sharing in a matter of minutes, if not seconds. With the technological advances in computers and the development of the Internet, this is now a reality. Even now, broadband connections are fueling more innovations in the development of the Internet
What has occurred is nothing short of a disruptive technology. A disruptive technology is something, not seen coming by the masses or powers that be, that literally puts existing technologies out of business and spawns whole new industries. An example is what happened to the typewriter manufacturers when the personal computer was introduced. Another example would be the impact of digital cameras, made possible through computer technology, on companies such as Polaroid.
The cyber revolution is still in its infancy and shows no sign of abating. This means the possibility for personal financial freedom is still a ground floor opportunity and is truly limitless. Many of you who are web savvy know the possibilities are there but are not sure how to take advantage of them. What follows briefly describes an incredible opportunity for average web users who want to share in and profit from this incredible new economic revolution. Many network marketing companies now use the Internet and are not limited to the U.S. or Canada. In fact, the biggest growth for some network marketing companies has been in the international markets. This means that you can truly join forces with international entrepreneurs. Building networks with other entrepreneurs is the road to financial freedom. Additionally, being leveraged into international markets can protect you from downturns in the local or national economy.
If you realize the potential that the Internet and computers offers and do not want to be left behind, consider the following. Many network marketing companies allow you to set up your own personal web page from which you can market products and educate prospective customers. In addition to Internet marketing strategies, a good company will have a team business building system in place that offers many support tools. Tools such as toll free calls, live conference calls, an online marketing system which helps sort and qualify leads, software that helps you manage your downline, three-way calls with your trainer, regional and national events, plus much more in the way of leadership development training classes.
In addition to all this, a good company will have professional marketing material. With the development of broadband communication, video conferencing and live internet feeds from national conventions are new and exciting ways for all associates to participate in product launches and incentive programs kickoffs. Incentive programs in many network marketing companies make traditional corporate incentive programs, if they even have them, look like a joke.
What exactly should you look for when searching for a company to partner up with? There are many network marketing companies with similar products that are competing with each other, plus the products on the retail shelves of every grocery and drug store. This means that finding the right product line is of utmost importance. In this writer’s opinion, a proprietary product line gives you an extra-competitive edge in the marketplace. A proprietary product line is one that cannot be duplicated or copied because of patent protection.
You need to spend considerable time researching and locating a company with a proprietary product line, as well as one that scores well in other important categories. You need to track a company’s financial history. Like any industry there are many-start ups and many failures. Find a solid company with a solid history with good prospects for continued long-term growth. Look at the company’s stock history. How are the members of the board of directors chosen or replaced? Are the replacement members guaranteed to share the same goals and vision of the company founders? If not, this could translate into problems for marketing associates, like having the company sold out from under them.
The compensation plan is another very important feature of a company to research before jumping in. Find what is best for you. There are good plans and not-so-good plans in the industry. You need a plan that will put money in your hands up front, which you can leverage as a tool to attract others. Many people dread the question, “How much are you making?” Why? If they are not having success with the program they are trying to sell you, why should you join? The plan should also have strong features for long term growth that truly compensate the consistent long term business builder. Features such as sharing in a dream pool of overall company profits.
Unfortunately, because of the policies and actions of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and pharmaceutical companies, nutrition companies are facing serious challenges. A case in point is Seasilver, a company that makes a liquid vitamin and mineral product, which was shut down by the federal government for violation of labeling laws in the area of product claims. If you decide to go into a nutrition network marketing company, make sure the company has solid science and medical research to back up their product line and does not violate labeling claim laws. Nutrition companies cannot claim their products cure or heal diseases. The political pressure being fueled by pharmaceutical companies who feel threatened by the nutritional industry should not be ignored.
The money and influence of what can be termed the “pharmaceutical, medical, insurance industrial complex” is enormous. However, on the upside of this, the baby boomers (those now turning 50 years old and a major political force) are not about to let the federal government shut down their Vitamin Cottages and General Nutrition Centers. When and if push comes to shove, the baby boomers will turn the heat on the politicians who will then, as always, see the light.
In spite of the political opposition facing the nutritional industry, this writer believes the nutrition industry is where the biggest market potential is and where the really big money will be made. This is largely due to the fact that the baby boomers are desperately trying to hold off the effects of aging while at the same time retaining a good quality of life. According to Paul Zane Pilzer, author of The Next Trillion, the baby boomers alone will drive the nutritional supplement industry into a trillion dollar a year industry by the year 2010. This is where you want to be.
Converging with this trend of increased sales of nutritional supplements fueled by the baby boomers, there is the impending collapse of the “sick care” industry (the current pharmaceutical, medical and insurance company complex), making the management of your own health care a necessity. Many health care problems are caused by poor nutrition and bad dietary habits, trends that show no evidence of correcting themselves. Additionally, insurance premiums will simply be out of reach in the very near future as the rates are increasing by 15 percent a year. These things, in and of themselves, will make taking control of your own health care with preventative nutritional supplements and life style changes the only option.
If the government steps in and nationalizes health care, health service will dramatically decline. Entrepreneurial minded medical professionals will simply quit out of frustration with trying to work through endless government red tape. If the trends in European and Canadian socialized medicine hold true in this country as will surely be the case, people will be on month- and year-long waiting lists for service.
The baby boomer spending trends plus the impending collapse of the “sick care” system add up to lots of money to be made by entrepreneurial minded marketers. A good nutritional network marketing company is well suited to provide natural solutions for better health. Moreover, compared to purchasing a traditional business franchise, entry level expenses when joining a network marketing company are affordable and within everyone’s reach. Also, the tax deductions from a home business can be significant. Network marketing is a vehicle that provides hope.
What’s more, network marketing is a business that connects people. This is why it is destined to succeed on the Internet where we have previously seen many of the big dot-coms shut down. Many of these companies represented nothing more than catalog sales, which in reality is a very small part of traditional merchandiser’s total sales. Remember the Sears Catalog? Where is it now? In contrast, many network marketing nutraceutical nutritional companies are just starting to heat up! Nutraceutical companies are defined by having scientific and medical validation to support their products. Nutraceutical network marketing companies are uniquely suited to use the internet. They provide information via the internet and then combine the high tech information sharing with a personal touch, which distinguishes network marketing as a powerful word of mouth movement as opposed to impersonal corporate adverting.
Nutraceutical products give the body the tools it needs to heal itself. If you have a passionate story with product testimonies to share along with scientific validation, people will listen. Consumers of today are increasingly sophisticated and want to make intelligent decisions about their health care and what supplements to take. Science tends to level the playing field when it comes to consumer choices. Either a company has it or it does not. A factor impacting the long-term survival of a company is its commitment to scientific research and development of its product line. Find out if the particular company has a research and development budget. Its long term survivability may very well depend on it.
In order to succeed, you must try. This means taking action. Network marketing combined with high tech tools is an opportunity to move beyond the old way of doing things, like trading time for money. Network marketing and the high tech industry have been merged, creating the most powerful marketing combination ever devised. Now all you need is a high tech personal touch. This personal touch is what makes network marketing so powerful. People talking to people or word of mouth advertising combined with the disruptive technologies of the internet and personal computer.
Another important factor to consider: do you want to be around other people who are positive and looking to improve their own lives and the lives of others? If so, network marketing attracts some of the best positive-minded, caring people you can find anywhere. Negativity breeds negativity. Stay clear of it. Never give up on your hopes and dreams and do not let others rob you of them through their nay-saying. You can’t convince everyone of a good thing.
Finally, for your own personal education you need to read anything and everything by Robert T. Kiyosaki, Richard Poes’s Wave 4 books, The New Professionals by Charles W. King and James W. Robinson, The Wellness Revolution by Paul Zane Pilzer and Your First Year in Network Marketing by Mark and Rene Yarnell. These books will give the network marketing entrepreneur the insights and encouragement to press on until success is achieved.
A political Note: When you hear the call to take action concerning the impending onerous political legislation designed to rob you of your choices in the area of nutritional supplementation, jump into action and let the politicians know that you will not stand for further regulation of the nutrition industry and you as the consumer are perfectly capable of making your own intelligent choices about what you want for your family, period! We all stand or fall together on this issue!
Biographical information:
Mr. Kettler is an ordained Presbyterian Elder and the owner of Undergroundnotes.com where his theological, philosophical and political articles can be read. He has worked in corporate America for over 25 years and is now realizing his dreams as a successful home business entrepreneur. Mr. Kettler can be reached through his business site at: http://www.Undergroundnotes.com. Permission is hereby granted to reprint this article as long as my web site is retained in the biographical information.
Jack Kettler
Top 20 Global Business Builder Award Winner!
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