You've heard the saying
that network marketing is all about caring and sharing,
right? Sadly, all too often, it's really about upline "leaders" caring only about how much they'll be sharing of
the money you bring into the system.
We want to change that – and the best way to change it is by setting an
intelligent, practical example. So we're putting our own Fourth
Generation™ teachings to work. (See The
Fulfilment Spiral for details of this unusual concept.)
Why do we give
away our knowledge free of charge?
We only discovered and articulated that knowledge. We didn't create it. It already existed, one way or another. It's about the
right things to do and the right reasons for doing them... the Law of Success. We can't lay claim
to natural principles and laws. (As Albert Einstein so perceptively stated,
"all truth is revealed." We agree with him. It's all about integrity and intelligence.)
But we created our own practical, useful implementation strategies, systems, tactics,
tools and techniques and adapted others. These are HOW to do those
right things for those right reasons. They're our intellectual property. We're
entitled to be compensated for sharing them.
We even give a written guarantee with our free seminars and web sites – you cannot pay for your own participation, even though it costs real money
to provide them.
For offline participation, advertising, venue hire, equipment hire, catering,
travel, accommodation and meals, workbooks and resource notes, administration, staffing,
etc all have to be paid for.
For online events and web sites, there are costs as well, including domain
registration, site design and development, hosting, site and server maintenance and
the BIG one... bandwidth used for data transfer. For multi-media presentations, data
transfer costs escalate dramatically.
So how can
we afford to give it all away when it costs us money to do it?
We can't. And we don't. The simple truth is this...
Someone else hasalready
paidfor YOU to visit our sites or attend our seminars.
If you participate, and you
gain a worthwhile benefit, then you're welcome to pay for someone else to participate,
anonymously. But here's the real kicker...
YOU decide IF and WHEN
you'll pay – and YOU decide how much! (See below.)
We've used this approach
successfully since 1991. (It terrifies the National Speakers Association!)
But people really appreciate it, because it allows them to show how much they care
about the benefits we offer, and share them with others in a practical way, according
to their own ability to contribute. And, just like network marketing itself, it's
all about a lot of people each contributing a little so that everyone benefits...
but especially their NEW people who are looking to learn as much as possible, as
quickly as possible, usually at a time in their lives when they can least afford
to pay for it!
Our seminars and web sites are really promotional vehicles that deliver genuine value
and recover what they cost. But the implementations – our workshops, Master Classes, books, multi-media programs, consulting, coaching and professional services – are where the realusefulness lies, and for which seminar attendees willingly pay.
Our knowledge give-away creates genuine excitement. People recognise the VALUE
of the knowledge they gain. That, in turn, creates interest in, and desire for, the really USEFUL, PRACTICAL stuff – the implementations – because very
few people have the knowledge, skills, talents, abilities or resources needed to
create their own.
But they need to be educated to realise the true value of what we offer, and that's
where the freely-available knowledge comes into play. Knowledge really does want to be free, because it's not particularly useful or practical on its own!
We enjoy two other major benefits from giving away our knowledge...
People who purchase our implementationsalready understand the underlying principles. This
shortens their learning curve dramatically, and puts us all on the same page. We
all know what each other is talking about. So communication is easier, faster and
more accurate. There's measurably less risk of misunderstanding, confusion, error
or costly waste of time, money, effort, resources, hope and self-confidence.
People get very excited
by that knowledge, and they tell other people – people who then want
that same knowledge! This brings increasing numbers of people into contact with us.
Once they have the knowledge, they're more likely to want our implementations. It's
just intelligent marketing!
People who refuse to give
away knowledge because of fear of loss fail to understand the truth that, in fact, they have nothing to lose. Knowledge is useless until it's applied. Owning a book does not make you smarter. Reading it doesn't, either. It just
makes you more knowledgeable… until you put it to work. That requires more
than just knowledge. It requires skills, strategies, systems, tactics, tools and techniques. And that's where our solutions
become vital.
Applying what you've learned is what makes you smarter.
Don't get me wrong here. I'm not suggesting that knowledge has no value. But value and usefulness are not the same thing. And most people, in business
at least, prefer to pay for usefulness.
As I used to tell my students when I was an academic... "an education has value
for its own sake. Just don't expect to make a living from it. It's what you DO with
that education that will make you successful or not."
