Many months ago, a friend of mine asked me who’s my model in entrepreneurship and I said - Rick Warren. He was surprised as I was with my answer. Who would ever think of Rick Warren as a model in entrepreneurship? (Well, at that time I was also surprised but later I found it was a good choice after all.)

When I was about to start my business 2 1/2 years ago, I virtually knew nothing about business. All I knew was I wanted to build a global team for my internet network marketing business and I was looking for a model.

I knew some people have been able to do that but what I wanted was a Christian model. I searched but I could not find one. It was also during that time that I was reading Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Church.

The more I read Rick Warren’s book, the more I could see its potential as the model for what I was about to build. I felt I was reading a book on entrepreneurship and how to build a global organization, God’s way.

Later, I read somewhere a confirmation that my choice of a model wasn’t actually misplaced. Rick Warren, in an interview, said - “That book I wrote for pastors and priest on how to manage their church. The Federal Reserve Bank of America, years ago, handed out the “Purpose Driven Church” to all its branch managers not as a religious book but as a book on classic management.Forbes Magazine said, if Saddleback church, where I’m a pastor, was a business it would be compared to Starbucks or Google (laughter), because we now have around 400,000 churches in our network, spread all around the world. I have trained around 400,000 pastors in 162 countries. But now, my staff and I are not just training church leaders but business and government leaders and helping them, too.”

Among the many things that I always remember from Purpose Driven Church was the way Rick Warren used the lesson on surfing for church growth.

“Surfing”, he said, “is the art of riding waves that God builds. God makes the waves, surfers just ride them. No surfer tries to create waves. If the waves aren’t there, you just don’t surf that day! On the other hand, when surfers see a good wave, they make the most of it, even if that means surfing in the middle of a storm.”

In my business, I’ve learned to say the same prayer taught by Rick Warren- “Father, I know you’re going to do some incredible things in your world today. Please give me the privilege of getting in on some of what you’re doing”. I’ve learned to stop praying “Lord, bless what I’m doing” and started to pray “Lord, help me to do what you are blessing”.

During my first months in business when almost no one was believing in what I was doing, I would always be reminded of how Rick Warren started his Saddleback Church in their living room with just 5 members. It’s now recognized as the fastest-growing Baptist church in the history of America. Rick Warren said “They forget that every large church started off as a small church. And no church becomes large without struggling through years of problems, setbacks, and failures”.

Although he acknowledged he “knew nothing about direct mail, marketing, or advertising”, he was already marketing savvy even right when he started to reach out to his large community.

If you browse through the book and simply read the headings, you can’t help but notice his marketing savvy. In Chapter 9 (Who Is You Target?), for example, here are the headings:

1)Targeting for Evangelism is Biblical

2) How Do You Define Your Target?

a) Define your target geographically

b) Define your target demographically

c) Define your target culturally

d) Define your target spiritually

3) Personalize Your Target

I must say that Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Church gave me the solid biblical foundation on many things I now know about business and marketing. That foundation enabled me to sieve good business advice from bad advice from various sources.

Whenever I felt impatient about not seeing visible results in spite of my efforts, I would always be reminded of what Rick Warren said about the bamboo tree. He said “Of all the growth patterns I’ve observed as a gardener, the growth of the Chinese bamboo tree is the most amazing to me. Plant a bamboo sprout in the ground, and for four or five years (sometimes much longer) nothing happens! You water and fertilize, water and fertilize, water and fertilize - but you see no visible evidence that anything is happening. Nothing! But about the fifth year things change rather dramatically. In a six-week period the Chinese bamboo tree grows to be a staggering ninety feet tall! World Book Encyclopedia records that one bamboo can grow three feet in a single twenty-four hour period. It seems incredible that a plant lies dormant for years can suddenly explode with growth, but it happens without fail with bamboo trees.”

I believe in my heart, that the “bamboo sprout” planted by God in my business 2 1/2 years ago will someday, in God’s perfect time, grow exponentially without fail just like the bamboo tree…

To God be the glory!

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In My Continuing Journey to Financial Freedom in Christ Jesus, I mentioned my first 8 months of being alone with God when I was starting in business. Except for a few, almost all my friends and relatives didn’t support my decision to leave my government job of 22 years to venture into the unknown. It was so difficult because I knew I wasn’t doing these things for myself alone. Had they known that all my sacrifices are dedicated to them and many more people, they would have supported me wholeheartedly.

But then God meant it to be that way. It was during those lonely months that I learned to be alone with God. God instilled in my heart Deut 8 (Do not Forget the Lord) and Deut 28 (Blessing for Obedience, Curse for Disobedience).

During those days, I would always be reminded of what somebody said “In the relentless demand of obscurity, character is built”.

That most difficult phase is over and am so grateful to God for giving me the strength to carry on.

As the year ends, I cannot help but be thankful once again for everything God has done in my life during this past year. Am facing the new year with bright hopes not because am now stronger and wiser but because am drawing strength and wisdom from God alone.

To God be the glory!

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As I mentioned in my previous post, since I had no sponsor who was a mentor when I was starting. I learned to somehow coach myself. I searched for a successful Christian internet entrepreneur whom I could trust and after a long search I found Terry Dean. I took his free intern program and I learned a lot from him. Although his expertise is information product creation and marketing, all the principles and practices I learned from him will be useful in building my internet network marketing business.

He is a trusted internet business coach and I would like to share with you what am learning from him. He said “We often push ourselves into confusion and despair…and can’t figure a way out of the “mess” we’re in because we’re asking ourselves the wrong questions. The reason you’re not achieving your goals, don’t feel fulfilled, and aren’t having the time of your life is simply because you have yet to ask yourself the right question.”

If you want to know the “5 Coaching Questions That Will Change Your Life” you may want to click here.

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When was the last time you thought you were solving a particular problem but you found out in the end your original problem got more complicated?

The first crucial step in solving a problem is identifying it correctly. Once we have identified our problem correctly, we are already half way in solving it.

Rich Schefren, the “guru’s business guru”, in his free ebook “The Entrepreneurial Emergency” claims that “99% of the time the problems you deal with and the obstacles that block your path are not your real constraints”. Correctly identifying, then focusing your time and energy on your real constraints is the only way to create the breakthrough you’re looking for.

Although the ebook is principally aimed for internet entrepreneurs, I believe struggling internet network marketers can also benefit from its insights.

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Am still far from achieving the kind of success I dream of but even at this stage I would like to know how it is to be up there at the top. I would like to know why some top earners, after many years of hard work, end up bankrupt. I have yet to hear stories which am sure I will benefit from.

But for the meantime, let me share with you what I learned from Todd Falcone in his article “Five Tips for Staying on Top”. He said “Imagine working for five years to get yourself to a $20,000 monthly income only to find it crumble, and have your life and your relationships come tumbling down. What happened? Why? Did it have to happen? Could I have prevented it? Could I have planned for it? There have been many top guns who have gotten drilled and ended up with nothing.”

He offers five tips for staying on top here.

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First let me tell you, you are not a failure. You can only say you failed when you finally quit. (But since you are reading this blog, you surely are a survivor. In fact, a winner.) Failure is part of success.

One thing I learned in business and life is to be totally responsible for your success. You cannot blame your family for your poverty. You cannot blame the government. You cannot blame the devil. You cannot blame God. And in your network marketing business situation, you cannot blame your upline either!

Not having a sponsor who was knowledgeable in entrepreneurship was a blessing in disguise for me. Because I didn’t have a coach, I learned to coach myself. It was difficult but that was the next best thing for me to do then. Because of what I went through, I vowed to myself to be a sponsor I never had to many Christians who are similarly situated when I was starting.

In an article of Aaron Rashkin in betternetworker.com entitled “Accountability 101- A Must Read Lesson in Leadership” he said: “With all the tools and systems available today, it hardly even matters who your sponsor is. If they want it badly enough, they will do what it takes to succeed. The evidence already points to this as many a Top Earner has horror stories of low grade sponsorship.”

In that article, Aaron shared his favorite story on leadership. It is a story about a butterfly coming out of its cocoon. The lesson is “Don’t rely on others to slice your cocoon open, because even if they do, you will not have the strength to fly on your own.”

You may want to read the full article to appreciate the story and the lessons here.

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Last night while I was looking for a book to read, I chanced upon my old file from the first network marketing company I joined more than two years ago. I could not help but smile when I read in their “Getting Started” brochure this one - “These simple, short, powerful steps are amazingly easy to follow and effortless to be duplicated again and again”. “Lies” like this one are so common in the network marketing industry that many people end up disillusioned. Am just glad I have never been disillusioned because I came into the industry with an inquiring mind. I knew there are many “lies” but I also knew that network marketing is “the most enlightened, ethical, egalitarian, efficacious and empowering business system in the world. But only when it’s run by people who are just as enlightened, ethical, egalitarian, efficacious and empowering” as John Counsel puts it.

Ann Sieg in her free ebook “The 7 Great Lies of Network Marketing” enumerated the following “lies”:

Lie # 1 - Everyone is your prospect!

Because of this “lie” being taught by many sponsors, many newbies suffer unnecessary rejection from friends, relatives and other people. Not everyone is your prospect. Christian author Todd Duncan teaches the Law of the Bull’s Eye in his best selling book High Trust Selling which says “If you don’t aim for the best prospects, you’re likely to do business with any prospect.” If you are aiming to “make more money in less time with less stress” as Todd Duncan teaches in his book, you should aim for the best prospects.

Lie # 2- This really isn’t selling. We just share products with prospects.

Perhaps this “lie” is peddled to attract people who do not like selling as I used to. But Todd Duncan and other trustworthy sales professionals opened my eyes that sales can be a noble vocation. And network marketing is sales, whether you accept it or not.

Lie # 3- Anyone can do this!

Network marketing is for everybody but not everybody is for network marketing.

Lie # 4 - We’ll build your business for you.

What kind of business is that?

Lie # 5 - We have the best product ever!

Almost everyone says that. You can only say a thing is “best” if you have personally evaluated all the rest and even then your “best” can be subjective based on your own personal criteria. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder as the saying goes.

Lie # 6 - You just don’t have enough belief!

Belief is necessary, no doubt about it. But it should be belief on the right thing. (And for Christians, it should be belief in Jesus Christ.) Many cult members were led astray because of their wrong belief.

Lie # 7 - The proven system.

Many teams actually do not have a system. Some may have a system but a system of trickery. But those who really succeed in the long term are those who have the right system.

Am dreaming of the day when network marketing will not only be widely accepted but admired. It surely is coming…

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When I was taking my PhD in Europe ten years ago, I felt discontent in my career. While I was advancing academically, my salary back home continued to be a pittance of $ 300/mo from my employer, the Philippine Government.

When I came home to the Philippines with that frame of mind, it was not surprising that I stumbled upon a book entitled “Earn What You’re Worth”. The book showcased success stories in network marketing. I immediately fell in love with network marketing as a people-helping-people business.

First impression lasts. That’s why even if I was seeing the rise and fall of many pseudo network marketing companies here in the Philippines over the years, I never doubted the potential of real network marketing to help ordinary people earn extraordinary income.

Although network marketing was always in my mind over the years, I didn’t actually start doing it until two and a half years ago when my career in government turned from bad to worse.

During my first eight months in traditional network marketing, none of my friends and relatives believed in what I was doing. Some were in fact ridiculing me. But God created a way for them to start believing on the ninth month. Some of them joined me and we got some customers. But in spite of our efforts for ten months, we were not growing. So, I went back to drawing board and searched for the right system.

After my long search and amidst increasing internal pressure to earn a living ASAP, God finally led me to a system which I believe will help me achieve the breakthrough I have been working and praying for these past many months. My desire to become an entrepreneur and help others help themselves become entrepreneurs too through the business of network marketing has been the only thing that kept me going through the most difficult moments in my journey. I thank God for faithfully guiding me in every step of the way.

To God be the glory!

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Pastor Rod Nichols is a good example of a servant leader in the network marketing industry.

More than two years ago when I was about to start in network marketing, he was the first person who guided me on how to get started right. He gave his precious time and wisdom even if at that time his company was (and still is) not operating in my home country The Philippines. He simply helped without expecting anything in return because it is his nature to serve people.

May I share with you the first two paragraphs from his article “What is a Servant Leader” :

Servant leadership has become a hot business topic. The funny part is that it sounds like an oxymoron. You know, like “original copy” or “alone in a crowd” or “exact estimate” and yet, it’s not. In this article we’ll examine this seemingly contractive form of leadership and describe the attributes of a servant leader.

Having been involved in the network marketing industry for 28 years, I’ve seen all types of leadership, but those who have enjoyed the greatest success over an extended period of time have all been servant leaders. So, what the heck is a servant leader, you ask? That’s a good question and I intend to answer it, but before we do that, let’s examine some descriptions of a leader.

You may want to read the whole article here.

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When I was considering to go into network marketing more than two years ago, it was from the many websites of John Counsel that I learned about Fourth Generation Thinking. He presents Network Marketing as “the most enlightened, ethical, egalitarian, efficacious and empowering business system in the world. But only when it’s run by people who are just as enlightened, ethical, egalitarian, efficacious and empowering.” I have since then following the Law of Success which says - Do only the right things for only the right reasons. Am still far from achieving my financial goals but I never doubt that I will someday. I believe that if I continue following the Law of Success, I will someday start to earn more, work less, and enjoy life without compromising my values.

If you want to learn more about network marketing as the Fourth Generation Business, you can get the free ebook here.

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