Posts Tagged "survival"

Creating Income in the New World. Where do we go from here? Part 3

Posted by Larry Pollock on Aug 6, 2010 in Entrepreneur | 4 comments

In parts 1 and 2 I spent a lot of time talking about the mind set and how we got to where we are. When people are living in survival mode it's hard to find time or even the energy to learn something new, start a new project or move forward toward our dreams. Years can go by and suddenly we are looking back over 10, 20 or more years and we are no closer to our dreams.

Remember that 5% more Bear Grylls was talking about? That extra effort that makes all the difference? I know what that is. Faith and and I had a dream and wanted to realize it. We found ourselves a Network Marketing Company that we believed in and went to work. Faith would make appointments for us and as soon as I got home from my job supervising for a pool company I would shower dress up a bit and head back out into traffic. We would drive to a presentation, get back after 10pm. This went on for 2 years. Finally we had created enough income to replace my construction income. I started to phase out over a period of 6 months. It's now been 7 years. I get to be home and work and have lunch with Faith everyday. We still have dreams and aspirations. The story continues.

Where do we go from here?

It's funny, there are so many options out there. It seems the more you open up and travel down the entrepreneurial path the more things are presented to you. It then becomes a matter of choosing and discernment.

What are some of these options?

Affiliate Programs - This is something everyone should take advantage of. Companies have a digital or physical products and if you bring them a customer you get a percentage of the revenue. This can range from 10% to 50%. Sometimes more. All you do is sign up, usually for free, get your affiliate link and post in on your website and share it with others. The products you choose to place on your site should suit the theme, subject and people who are visiting your site. You wouldn't post links to rock n roll music on a website about classical music. Article marketing is one avenue for this. Creating articles for article sites or blog post on your own site with a few affiliate links can work too. But don't over do it.

Network Marketing - This is one utilized by millions around the world. It's a growing industry. Especially since the down turn in the economy. To me this is one of the last ways the average person can do what we call in America; "pull yourself up by the boot straps" and become a self made person. Well, almost. Network Marketing requires team work to make the dream work. With some sweat equity and only a small amount of capital anyone can create an additional source of income. That could be a few hundred a week or thousands depending on the program, the efforts put in, and many other factors. Those who deride Network Marketing are often those who have never really been involved or had a bad experience and decided the whole industry is bad. That's about as smart as saying you had a bad real estate deal happen and all real estate agents and the industry is no good. Find yourself a good company with products you love, do your research and get involved. This one can change your life and finances forever.

Your Own Products and Marketing Funnel - Branding yourself has become the buzz word online in the entrepreneurial circles. Everyone has something they know, can teach and be a guru in. It could be as simple as how to use worms in organic gardening or getting started with watercolor painting. Creating an ebook, online video tutorials and webinars and personal coaching programs can all bring in money. With millions online at any given moment it's a matter of creating a following and having the people who are looking for what you have find you. Blogging and having a great free offer is part of this picture. Both should give value to the reader. You give away value first. Create Trust. You must be authentic and personal. No slick marketing tactics here. Good teachers excel at this one. Taking the time to design the marketing flow is important. You must have a vision of what it is your are providing and where it all leads folks to. In the end, good value will prevail.

All of the above take time and effort. No big investment needed. The tools area simple and most people can learn to use them. A website, like this WordPress Blog, is a main component. Facebook, twitter, linkedin, and many other social sites are another piece. Putting it all together and presenting a consistent and focused message can build you a list of followers. People who like what your are about, trust you and want to know what you are doing. All three of the above need this to work.

You can do these from home, online, over the phone and in the spaces between your busy life. How? By giving the 5% more on a consistent basis. Eventually you will find you are no longer in survival and now have choices in your life.

I could not even begin to scratch the surface or get into detail on each of these options in this one post. More will be written as this blog continues to grow and expand.

What ever you do, quit doing what you dislike or even hate and start creating your new life. You'll be glad you did. You'll meet the most amazing people on the journey, including yourself!

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Creating Income in the new world. Where do we go from here? Part 2

Posted by Larry Pollock on Aug 4, 2010 in Entrepreneur | 2 comments

A few days ago I started this line of thought. It will probably continue and come back around in my posts as it is an ever evolving question and solution.

If jobs are not coming back, like call center jobs, manufacturing jobs and many more thing, what are our options? Obviously there are many people who will find a job working for someone else. Restaurants still need cooks, bottle washers and wait people. There are still factories here that need positions filled. Stores need stocking, mail needs delivering and parks still need cleaning. As the population continues to grow more options are needed. Not all will have college degrees will get jobs in their chosen field.

I mentioned in Part 1 that we need to stop listening to the nay sayers and folks who thrive on stirring the pot to get folks riled up. This is great for the radio or TV show ratings but truly does nothing to contribute to the solution. Nor does it foster a creative and constructive conversation toward solutions. It’s time to step back and throw away what we think we know. Much is it was taught to us by other who learned if during a different time in history. Factor in that most folks don’t like change and you have a recipe for the current situation many people find themselves in. They are frozen, unsure of what to do next, not trusting of their own sense of purpose and waiting for someone to come along and tell them what to do. And that’s it, being told what to do. Remember, we were all taught to go to school, get to College, get a degree, automatically find a good job and be told what to do for the next 40 years. Habits are often hard to break and this is one that a number of generations need to unload.

It’s obvious that we need to re-train ourselves, teach ourselves new tricks. When so many people are in survival and just making it through the day, how do we obtain these new skills?

First, it’s good to understand how change happens for most people. They don’t change or move from their perceived place of comfort until it becomes more uncomfortable than the unknown space they need to move into. Change by discomfort. New beginnings by force. Why wait until you get backed into a corner to start moving toward new and greener pastures? Certainly it would be less of a traumatic situation if you where proactive!

Bear Grylls

I was on a webinar with Bear Grylls, the Man vs Wild guy on TV. The topic was “Essentials for Everyday Survival“.  Now, I don’t have cable or satellite TV hooked up. Faith and I chose to not participate in that time waster 15 years ago. But I do see things while traveling and staying in hotel rooms. Bear intrigued me. I grew up hiking, backpacking and studied survival skills. I wanted to hear what he had to say about life lessons learned by experiencing the things he does. He broke his back many years ago and it took 18 months in a military hospital to heal. Just a few years later he climbed Mt. Everest!

In essence what Bear has to say said was, he is an ordinary family man. He learned that by continuing to make decisions and moving forward he could accomplish his goals. To excel at something does not mean you need to be the smartest, most well educated, or strongest person. You only need to have the willingness to make decisions, act on them and keep moving. Did he make mistakes on his program? Yes he said, lots. But you simply make a new one and keep moving. You don’t get out of the jungle you’re in by moping about, deriding yourself for making a bad choice. No, you buck up, reset, choose again and put one foot in front of the next. When 150 people tried out to enter the British Special Forces Bear had a vision of himself achieving his goal of being accepted while standing in a pressed uniform, polished shoes and a clean shave. The reality was, after all the time spend going through the trials with the 150 others, he found himself in a room with 3 others. They were muddy, had blood on their faces, where sweaty and tired. The officer who came in the door said he had found the ones he needed because he knew the when asked they would give just 5% more than anyone else. That 5% would make the difference.

Are you willing to step out of your comfort and give just 5% more? Is your dream and goal large enough to get you to do things that others won’t?

On Friday I finally get to answering the original question. I will post some of the ways we can participate in a global market, economy and the new Tribes. Part 3 should be interesting. Please come back and join in the conversation and post comments.

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