Howdy, Bubba! Hey, if you're new around these parts, I just want to say how much I appreciate you dropping by! Oh, and you may want to subscribe to my feed. Thanks, and a tip o' the hat to ya!

Note: This is my entry for September’s What I Learned From… group writing project. Our topic is CHANGE – don’t be the only one left out! Join the fray, if you dare!

The Big Question

I recently heard on the radio a commercial for speed-reading courses. One line in it goes, “learn to read 1000% faster, and it will change your life and the lives of your family” (or something like that – I’m afraid my “listener” usually clicks into standby mode during commercials).

True, sometimes seemingly insignificant things can lead to big changes. But do you think something as simple as learning to read a lot faster can actually change your life, and the lives of your family? Well… I suppose. I mean, it’s not that hard to come up with a line of reasoning that supports that conclusion.

Anyway, while you’re thinking about that one (sound of grinding gears), how about this? You may remember a few weeks ago my casually mentioning (Eek! Look out – he’s about to mention it again!) that I started a network marketing business on the side. So (once more, but with feeling) let’s consider the question once again: Can network marketing change lives? (Sound of crickets)

(Warning: You are about to enter the multiple-choice portion of the post. Please pick one from each set of options. Then rinse and repeat as needed.)

I don’t mean in the sense of “If you’ll buy (this, these) (vitamin pills, health potions, makeup or perfume, diet foods, etc.), you’ll (feel better, look better, be smarter, be a better person, win friends and influence people, etc.)”.

No, let’s look at it in a somewhat larger sense. The question, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, is this: can a network marketing business serve as a vehicle for improving life on this planet for one or more people? Well, you’re likely to get a multitude of answers on that one, but for my take, read on…

Possibly Boring Information

(If you already know all about network marketing, you have my permission to skip this section. As if you needed my permission!)

The nature of the network marketing business is its multiplicatability duplicatability the way it grows by repeating itself. Thus, as I gain a few new customers (only 10, actually), I also look for a few folks (Associates) who want to do the same thing. (We sign up electricity customers here in Texas. Soon, we’ll be signing up natural gas customers in Georgia.) And so it builds.

See, there’s one thing about electricity that makes it a nearly ideal “product”: it’s pretty much a universal need (along with the obvious ones like air, food and water – and Blue Bell vanilla ice cream). Literally everyone we know needs electricity. (And, come to think of it, everyone we don’t know probably needs electricity, too.)

Often incorrectly labeled a “pyramid scheme” (a con game which is quite illegal), this type of business is usually called an MLM, for Multi-Level Marketing. The concept is simple: every Associate is responsible for signing up 10 customers and three Associates. As each Associate does the same thing, it builds into a huge network (at least in theory). But then diagrammed, it naturally builds an organizational chart shaped like a pyramid. (Hey, think about it – what businesses’ organizational chart isn’t pyramid-shaped?)

We Can Change the World!

So here’s the thing.

Our very first Associate revealed the other day that he’d been feeling kind of depressed lately. See, over the years he’s been involved in quite a few of the ministries at our church: prison ministry, host family program (being a friend to an international student attending local Universities); he’s a deacon – well, let’s just say this guy gets around.

The problem is his hearing is going bad. He’s worn hearing aids for a long time, but lately it’s been getting so he can hardly hear at all. Because of that he’s had to drop out of most ministries because he simply can’t hear well enough anymore. It’s been understandably getting him down.

Then we came along and offered him a chance to sign up as an Associate, and Wow, what a difference it’s made!

See, among other things, he also owns quite a few low-income rent properties. And being the kind of person he is, he immediately saw an opportunity to help his tenants save money on their electricity bills. Not only that, but he’s known a few of his renters for quite a while (some as long as 20 years!) and they, if given the opportunity, would be great candidates for starting their own businesses as Associates.

Imagine that – give someone a chance to own their own business! Just for fun, try this mental exercise and put yourself in their shoes for a moment.

Here’s a person with the drive, the ambition and/or the talent to make something of themselves, but simply can’t see an affordable opportunity? Well, this is something he could share that is genuinely doable. Talk about a change in attitude! It’s completely turned his outlook around, and given him a new enthusiasm his wife says has been missing for quite a while!

Now, I realize the cynics in the audience might still insist on seeing this business as opportunistic, simply “because it’s an MLM”. Hey, no problem – everybody is free to have their opinion with no arguments from me! (We, of course, have our own opinion; it’s one of the reasons we liked the business model.) But the reality is that for our Associate is he’s found a new way to make a difference in people’s lives.

Now he’s changing the world, one person at a time!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!