A few years later when I was first introduced to true network marketing, I saw immediately that it was a fantastic idea. It is residual income in the best possible form-because it comes from people helping people. The company I joined is called Melaleuca. They sell all sorts of products. I liked the products and got on the autoship right away and started off on my selling career. I failed to make any money.
The problem was that everyone didn't like the products. The smell that I loved and thought kept my house perfectly clean, and that made it so that my skin was never dry, drove other people crazy. But more than that... My experience with Melaleuca revealed to me a very important fact. I had spent decades pulling myself tooth, nail and claw out of my conditionings around money... everyone else I knew had not done so. People had heard about residual income, and would nod their heads and say, "That's nice, I wish you luck." But obviously they had no idea how it actually worked, that you had to DO something to get it.
The biggest thing I saw in my friends was that they did not understand cash flow. Instead of having an intuitive feel that money flows in and out, people seem to think of money as "mine!" By that I mean that everyone has tight and restrictive emotions around money. The fear of losing money is an all gripping emotion that quickly labels anything new a "scam". This seems very strange because people will go into debt to buy some fancy doo-dad, but won't risk a cent on a business opportunity.
To someone who understands cash flow, there is no such thing as losing money for a business asset. You may have a deal that doesn't turn out exactly as you expected. But how can you "lose" something that is flowing through your fingers anyway? It's like sitting by the river and going all crazy over the fact that you can't hold on to a handful of water. Cash flow can't be lost! The very worst thing it can do is go in the wrong direction. That wrong direction can be a huge temporary disaster, but if your eyes are wide open, you'll always learn more than the cost of the lesson. So nothing is lost.