a life unaccounted for

Meredith Grey (Grey’s Anatomy) deliberated, “Why do I keep hitting myself with a hammer? Because it felt good when I stopped.” For the majority of the viewers, it was perceptive and touching. For some, however, it was deliberately annoying, melodramatic to some extent, and downright stupid. For these people, once is enough. When failure creeps in, it is game over for them. No ‘try again’ and no second chances. Be it in finding their one true love, their quest for success, and yes, their venture in the networking industry.

Who wouldn’t want a lucrative income? Networking promises that. It is depressing though that because of some persons’ greed and scheming to take advantage of those who are just trying to make their life easier by earning more, networking scams were developed. Day after day, we are bombarded by negative news about this to the point that networking became synonymous with fraud, sham, swindling, and deception.

The predicament is this: how do we distinguish the real ones? Here are some pointers I learned:

1. There must be a revolving product. A networking company that doesn’t offer anything is not a company. It is not even a legal business at all. Unless they figured out a way to sell promises (which I bet they did, if they were able to fool a lot of people), look for their flagship product.

2. A limitation for bonuses must exist. So they say they are offering “unlimited referral bonus!” don’t shout “Whoopee!” just yet. Think, and think hard: if they are giving away all their receipts as bonuses, how can they earn? Ano ‘to, lokohan?

3. You WORK in order to EARN. It is the basic—and the only—rule in the corporate and entrepreneurship world. Simply put, your investment will not multiply by itself. Say a networking company urges you to invest a certain amount of money, earning as much as 3% a day with you not doing anything at all. It is unbelievable and by itself doubtful, but some people are still hooked. Why? Because it is too good to be true, and they are fervently, zealously hoping/wishing/dreaming for it to come true. Come on! Even long-term deposits only go up as much as 12 to 15% a year! Three percent a day equals 90% a month, which is a long way from 20% like your good old 5-6 lending system. Also, some people who are joining the real networking groups are expecting checks when they are not doing anything at all. Excuse me, you paid for the products, as well as the right to become a dealer/partner; you did not buy a share of stock in that company to be waiting for some kind of dividend to come rushing into you. You want to earn? Sell your products! You want to earn? Refer your friends and relatives! Ganun lang kasimple.

I know, I know, your first venture into networking turned out to be a hoax. But don’t let it stop you from wanting a better life. Did Colonel Sanders stop persisting after 1,009 rejections on his chicken recipe? If he did, then we would never know Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). Did Thomas Edison stop after failing thousands of times before inventing the incandescent bulb? I could give you a thousand more success stories, but you can just Google it for yourself. (All thanks to the World Wide Web and wireless fidelity, which are also success stories on their own.) Don’t rob yourself of the chance to try one more time. Who knows? Today might be your day.

Okay, so what I really want to say is that opportunity knocks just once, and if you won’t grab it now, we’ll make sure all your friends and relatives will grab it, and by the time you believe in the business, they are already financially successful. Will you let yourself be left behind? Skeptics ask me, “Why networking?” and to them all I say, “Why NOT?”

P.S. Okay, so I am an Accounting graduate, and by profession, I should be cynical about this. I had been in this industry for just a WEEK when my whole family (Mama and 4 sisters) and my boyfriend became members last Tuesday (02.23.10). Next week at the release of checks, Mama will receive Php9,000.00, oldest sister will receive Php7,000.00, and both me and my youngest sister (who haven’t referred anyone yet) will receive Php1,000.00 through matching bonus. Not bad, huh? Also I've met there RNs, engineers, realtors, and students from FEU, CEU, Lyceum, and PUP, just to name some.

P.P.S. Also answering “Why NOT?”? Contact me, and I’ll tell you the story of “Barya King.” -09234788688

P.P.P.S. Fellow networkers, if you can add something to my list of pointers, that would be awesome. ^_^