In my inbox this morning was a fascinating e-mail from my friend _____ (I’ll keep him anonymous) whom I met at a personal development seminar several years ago. The addressees were blind-copied so he evidently sent it out to his entire network. Here’s the gist of his request:
This last year as everyone knows there has been a lot of change, from stock market to real estate market. Our new president Obama and change has happened. I have made money and lost lots of money over the last few years and am reaching out to my network to find out what they are doing to make money in these changing times. I am interested in finding out the items you have been investing in that you think I will be interested in. Please contact me. Thank you in advance for your knowledge.
It’s not every day that an idea for my blog appears first thing in the morning. Many days go by without me writing in my blog at all. Now, this is my third blog entry in four days.
Here is the answer I sent to _____. It is fitting that I re-post it here for my readership, as many of you wonder just what it is that I spend my days doing. Now you’ll know wherein my passions lie.
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Great to hear from you, _____. Excellent topic for discussion. I’ll be interested in hearing the range of replies you get back. Perhaps you and I can compile them into “Recommendations for Surviving and Thriving in the Current Economic Downturn” … or some such thing.
As for what I’m doing to make money, you’re asking at an opportune time, as income is beginning to pick up in all three areas of pursuit:
- Web work. I still register domain names and host Web sites, and I’m beginning to do a bit of low-end website design—what I call electronic brochures with a blog. I’m also creating a seminar titled “Blogging and Social Networking for Professionals,” and speaking gigs are beginning to flow in.
- Network marketing. I joined USANA Health Sciences in October of 2002. Since then I made a series of mistakes, most having to do with diverting my focus to other opportunities that have since come and gone. Then in the middle of last year I came to my senses and realized that USANA was the best network marketing opportunity around, and I am focused entirely on that now. It is also the main reason I am writing my book on network marketing (more below).
- Direct sales. I joined Global Resorts Network in March of 2008. I did this primarily because of the promise of joining a team that focuses almost entirely on the Internet and so-called “attraction marketing” techniques—techniques that I knew I could also use in my USANA business. Also, I’ll confess that the generous commission structure helped. GRN helps me pay my bills today, while USANA will help me pay my bills on into the future. I consider USANA my pension and retirement plan, such is the power of residual income.
In addition to these three sources of income, there are two more that will come into play in the near future:
- My book. Demystifying Prosperity™: Why You Should Take a Serious Look at Network Marketing has already opened doors for me, even before it is finished. I’m sure this will add to my credibility with USANA as well as being its own income stream.
- My prior career history in IT. Years ago I specialized in IBM’s database DB2, and now I find my expertise being sought after once more. What form this will take remains to be seen, though I am open to all possibilities: full-time employment, contract work, or putting on my own seminars with my own course materials.
These are exciting times we live in, _____. Let me know what you are doing these days to pay the bills.
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And now I’ll open this up to the rest of you. What are you doing these days to pay the bills? Is it enough? More importantly, is it fulfilling work? Post your replies and let the discussion begin.
