Analysis, Projections, Observations & Proposals For The SDI Industry
Excerpts from a videotaped presentation about the SDI (Self Directed
Income) Industry by Neil Anderson with additional commentary from Tom
J. Kennedy aka ?Tommy UsuryFree? and notes from other 21st Century
leading authors and researchers.
Note: The SDI industry is otherwise known as the Multi-Level Marketing
or Network Marketing industry.
On Saturday, September 16th, 1996 Neil Anderson was a guest speaker
for The Cyberclass Network at Ottawa, Ontario, Canada wherein he gave
his analysis, projections, observations and proposals for the SDI
(Self Directed Income) industry for the 21st Century.
As of 1996, Neil Anderson had 25 years experience within the SDI
industry. The basic content of this article is excerpted from the
video which was made on that day. I have added to Neil's analysis with
my own learning experiences to enlighten those who "don't know they
don't know" and who wrongly presume that in the field of SDI marketing
all of the answers are connected with traditional retailing and
orthodox institutions. In fact, the SDI industry is becoming more
attractive to community-minded people as it offers diversity and
actually has the potential to re-build local community.
In the early 1970's Neil set a goal to earn a solid income from a
secondary source which was not related to his full time employment.
After exploring many business opportunities he chose the Amway SDI
opportunity and began building an SDI Portfolio. He quickly recognized
that while the quality of the products was important, ultimate success
in SDI industry was dependent upon marketing the networking concept.
In 2001 I have set a goal to earn sufficient income(s) from my SDI
Portfolio to cover my living expenses so that I can devout my time and
energy to advancing The UsuryFree Resolution and teaching "universal
truth" to those who are ready and willing to be "re-educated."
Neil therefore, studied the SDI industry meticulously during the
1970's and early 1980's while he was working the Amway SDI
opportunity. Neil experienced the negative press centered around Amway
in the early 1980's when the Canadian federal government confronted
Amway of Canada with a significant tax challenge.
I have been earning regular income from some of the SDI opportunities
in my SDI Portfolio, though certainly not sufficient to cover my
monthly living expenses.
Beginning in 1985, Neil started to develop a projected model for the
SDI industry by examining who the resistors and adapters were in this
fledgling marketing industry. The greatest resistors have been the
institutions and corporations of the "usury" elite who stand to lose
the most as this industry is embraced by the mainstream.
The print media have historically tended to write negative stories
about SDI failures. The electronic media likewise has tended to
broadcast negative experiences about SDI companies which failed to
deliver on their promises. Both the print and electronic media have
seemed very anxious to focus on stories about the charlatans whose
greed and selfishness have done so much harm to the SDI industry.
Orthodox bankers and their ilk commonly belittle the SDI industry and
spread misinformation about the "pyramid" marketing model, probably
because neither the SDI companies nor the SDI entrepreneurs need or
want to apply for their usury-based loans. Noteworthy companies within
the the SDI industry have a reputation for being debt free.
Neil was noticing that the SDI industry was experiencing a downward
trend in the early 80's as evidenced by Amway, Herbalife and Mary Kay
Cosmetics. He continued his research on the SDI industry. In all other
industries of the early growth into the mainstream, a company emerges
with a product or service and a strong education and marketing program
that changes the image of an industry and their brand name becomes
synonymous with the industry itself. Examples include: McDonalds,
Ford, IBM, Microsoft, Kleenex, Xerox etc.
Likewise, Geoffrey Moore in his book "Crossing the Chasm" describes
the same curve related to the technology adoption cycle.??I actively
worked the Amway business from 1979 until 1991 BUT with the high rate
of attrition and the high cost of doing business I cannot brag about
any consistent earnings, though my learning curve about the SDI
industry constantly skyrockets.
During the 1990's and continuing to the present I have been sponsored
into numerous SDI opportunities, driven by self-imposed learning and
devoted to finding the one SDI company which will either make the
"usuryfree" LETS software an integral part of its infrastructure or
create an improved model of ?usuryfree? software for its employees and
its networks of distributors and their customers.
Neil commented on the major shifts that were occurring in the
mid-1980's as we began entering the digital economy. He explained that
in 1996, 4% of the agricultural producers were creating more than 80%
of the produce whereas early in the 20th Century 80% of the workforce
earned a living in the agricultural industry. In 1996, 15% of the
workforce was engaged in manufacturing and the projection was that
this would decrease to approximately 10% before 2005. Towards the end
of the 20th Century and continuing into the 21st Century the
Industrial Age has been evolving through a era similar to that which
the agricultural industry evolved earlier during the 20th Century.
Neil explained the opportunities surfacing in the new Information Age
are about equivalent in number to the jobs lost in the Industrial Age,
but they are different. The Federal Government of Canada Departments
often refer to this new workforce as the "contingent workforce" where
financial security is becoming detached from the job. Indeed, the
reality of financial security being attached to the job has been but a
splitting instant in the history of economic development.
In the early 20th Century any young man/woman who chose the profession
of a doctor as a form of self-employment would seek a spouse, set up
an office in the local community and arrange barter deals with local
farmers and serve the sick - whether they afford to pay for the
service or not. There is no leverage attached to such self-employment
where the person simply trades time for dollars whereas within the SDI
opportunity where there is significant leverage attached to a unique
brand of self-employment whereby you succeed when you work with
like-minded people to help them succeed.
There is a definite shifting occurring from "jobs" to "incomes" and
the SDI industry is leading this shift as we progress into this 21st
Century.??Neil pointed out that in the 21st Century we would be
finding new ways to secure the necessary income(s) that were formerly
attached to the job. Historically, investments have been with money
and/or time. Examples of money investments are: stocks, bonds, mutual
funds, real estate and RRSP's. The best examples of time investments
are: pensions and business and some people consider education to be
categorized as a partial money investment and a partial time investment.
For 30 to 40 years we give the government a very large portion of
money earned in our respective careers in "illegal" and ?unlawful?
taxes and the banking cartel extracts a very large portion of our
monthly earnings in immoral "usury." Other amounts go to our pension
boards who transfer it to the money managers who invest it in business
where they hope it will be leveraged. We must understand that our
money is never in the bank because at the speed of light any deposits
are invested in business to grow big dividends and agree to pay us
small bits of "usury" for which we are forever grateful. It is also
noteworthy that commercial banks do not lend out depositors' funds to
borrowers, instead they create and lend out the principal BUT they
never create and lend out the "usury" portion of any loan. More
details at the Economics Cyberclassroom:
Real estate is somewhat different. The entrepreneur can add value or
historically there has been increasing demand for housing because of a
strong economy coupled with inflation. Inflation which has been in the
state of decline since the G7 leaders vowed to hold down inflation in
the early 1990's. Inflation has been coming down everywhere and
eventually inflation will become history as the scam of "usury" is
exposed for the fraud that it really is. To learn more about the real
cause of inflation review the information posted at this website:
Free enterprise is where it's at in the 21st Century. Leverage is only
possible in free enterprise and the optimal form of leverage is only
offered within the SDI industry where people can become entrepreneurs
and teach others how to become entrepreneurs instead of passively
accepting the role of a controlled employee who is dependent on an
employer telling him/her what to do and how to do it. When people work
hard and achieve success in the SDI industry, they make profits and
are successful.
The key element to success in free enterprise is that other people's
time is leveraged through business ventures whereby entrepreneurism is
encouraged and applauded. It is unfortunate that our institutions of
formal learning do not teach entrepreneurism to our youth.
Original marketing practices from the early 20th Century clearly
favoured corporations in general and the giant retail store in
particular, where there were 1000's of employees and one owner
(employer) and financed by some wealthy shareholders. Paul Pilzer has
been writing and speaking about Ron Coase's work since the early
1990's. His books Unlimited Wealth, God Wants You To Be Rich, and The
Next Trillion are definitely worthy of being shelved in any SDI
entrepreneur's library. To read a review of Unlimited Wealth by an
Australian writer click here.
Ron Coase, won the Nobel Prize in Economics in October 1991 even
though he was not an economist. He was granted the award for a paper
entitled "The Nature of the Firm" which he wrote in 1931 after
studying entrepreneurism in North America. He was only 21 years young
at the time. Ron Coase was motivated to research why people in North
America were choosing to work as employees for someone else when the
United States of America was heralded as 'the land of opportunity' for
entrepreneurs.
In his research, Ron Coase came up with the concept of "transaction
costs" - the costs of doing business such as, writing cheques,
wage-slaving for governments by collecting illegal taxes, supervising
workers etc. Ron Coase found out from people in the 1930's that
transaction costs actually inhibited people from running their own
independent enterprises. In it interesting to note that Ron Coase
determined that as the firm grows so do transaction costs and as
transaction costs increase so does the inefficiency of the
corporation. The optimum size of the corporation was determined to be
established when the transaction costs equalled the inefficiency
costs. Presently, large corporations and bloated governments are prime
examples of high transaction costs and high inefficiency.
Ron Coase created a mathematical model with his research in 1931 and
he actually predicted the evolution of giant corporations like General
Motors within its 800,000 employees who are really not paid for
individual performance. During the 20th Century, Ron Coase's paper
become the most quoted document for those who studied the economics of
large corporations.
In 1991, Paul Zane Pilzer and his wife closely re-examined Ron Coase's
mathematical equations and found out that transaction costs were
declining as computer technology was replacing human labour. Paul
Pilzer's research began questioning the ongoing existence of larger
corporations in the early 1990's. Today, in the 21st Century we are
experiencing significant downsizing by traditional corporations as top
level executives are released with up to two year's annual salary. It
is curious indeed that the stock prices of a larger corporation
commonly increase some time after a massive lay off of employees.
The Wall Street Journal reported on July 17th, 2001 that 900,000
people in the United States of America lost their jobs in massive
layoffs and applied for unemployment insurance between January 2001
and May 2001. It is common to attribute at least 10% of that amount to
Canada which would mean that approximately 100,000 would have become
unemployed in Canada during this same time period. The downturn
predicted by Paul Pilzer in the early 1990's is definitely happening
in North America as evidenced by the job casualties of 2001.
At the same time we see evidence of considerable growth of SDI (Self
Directed Income) companies which have within their infrastructure not
only the ability to maintain minimal transaction costs but also to
foster the entrepreneurial spirit of decentralization and
individualization of those who choose to become SDI entrepreneurs. A
peculiar term "prosumer" which was coined by Alvin Toffler, author of
"The Third Wave" can be applied to those SDI entrepreneurs who
commonly engage in barter and/or trade within their respective local
communities. "Prosumer" refers to those who produce (of producer) and
consume (of consumer) at the same time. Therefore, active
community-minded SDI entrepreneurs are commonly known to be
"prosumers" meaning that they not only consume but also produce and/or
distribute goods and/or services needed by any local community.
Ultimately, as the SDI industry evolves through the decentralization
process we will progress to opti-centralization when the design flaw
of "usury" is exposed for the evil that it is, and "usury-free" time
currency becomes accepted as the local and global exchange currency of
choice. The decentralization of the conventional marketing industry is
being fuelled by the SDI industry. This is actually a timely
preparation and it needs to be embraced as a necessary step for the
future, paradigm shift of our conventional global economic system
towards opti-centralization.
We - the usuryfree creatives - who are aware of the power of
"usuryfree" economics must ensure that the ultimate global currency is
structured to be "usuryfree." This will permit everyone to experience
the benefits of opti-centralization, though a new usuryfree banking
industry of the 21st Century is likely to become more personalized and
decentralized when 'usuryfree' time currency comes of age. This is
because everyone will be able to operate their own 'usuryfree' time
currency bank online independent of any centralized bank.
With the advent of opti-centralization and a "usuryfree" global
currency, everyone will be experiencing abundance and prosperity so
local production will become more popular than foreign production.
Since only true costs of production will influence retail prices,
those foreign products which incur high transportation costs will not
be able to compete with products and/or services produced locally.
All of the former irrationality about the fears of globalization will
be gone because big corporations will no longer have an advantage over
small independently-owned enterprises - unless of course it is deemed
to be more efficient for a bigger corporation to create and deliver
the product and/or service. Though the SDI industry is playing an
important intermediary role in the unraveling of the current
"usury-based" orthodox economy, its role may very well be
significantly altered when we are all experiencing prosperity and
abundance through "usuryfree" living.
In 1923, A&W opened a fast food shop with privileges and rights
granted by the owner to others who were willing to follow his system.
This marketing concept become known as franchising. Bill Marriott Sr,
a Mormon from Utah met a the A&W founder in Sacramento, California.
When he took the concept of selling fast food and cold drinks to the
Washington/Baltimore area he found out that hot foods sold better in
the colder climates. Consequently, he launched the Hot Shoppes
restaurant chain. J. W. "Bill" Marriott, Jr learned the trade and
worked with his father to develop the franchising concept. At one
point, in the early 1950's the USA Congress came within 7 votes of
declaring franchising an illegal method of marketing.
Nutrilite founder, Carl F. Rehnborg first became interested in
nutrition when he lived and worked in China from 1915 until 1927 where
he witnessed poor nutrition among the people. As a solution, he
envisioned the idea of creating plant-based food supplements to
fortify the human diet. He returned to the United States in 1927 and
set up a laboratory on California's Balboa Island to pursue his plant
and nutrition research. By 1934 he had produced the world's first
multi-vitamin/multi-mineral food supplement originally called
California Vitamins which evolved to become known as Nutrilite in 1939.
Carl Rehnborg wanted to dedicate his time and efforts solely to
producing Nutrilite products so he came up with the idea of selling
Nutrilite to some friends and while encouraging them to share their
experiences with their family, friends and associates. In 1945, he
developed an innovative marketing structure to advance the marketing
of Nutrilite's high quality products. Carl Rehnborg is credited with
pioneering the Multi-Level Marketing industry or the Network Marketing
industry which is now commonly called the Self Directed Income
industry by more and more active participants.
From the very beginning, Carl Rehnborg armed his distributors with
sales tools designed to explain the benefits of supplementation in
general and the Nutrilite products in particular. ??In 1949, Jay
VanAndel and Rich DeVoss, two young entrepreneurs from Grand Rapids,
Michigan purchased a sales kit and began marketing Nutrilite products.
During the early 1950's Jay and Rich often attended leadership
seminars complete with tours of Nutrilite's processing and
manufacturing facilities Buena Park, California as they became more
familiar with this new marketing concept.
In 1959, Jay and Rich founded the JaRi Corporation which was soon
changed to The Amway Corporation. They adapted Nutrilite's marketing
plan to create the Amway Sales and Marketing Plan. They continued to
sell Nutrilite products and added the landmark household cleaner
called LOC. Jay and Rich added many more household products as they
grew through the 1960's. Shaklee, another of the pioneering SDI
companies was founded in 1956 by Dr. Forrest Shaklee and yet another
respected SDI pioneer, Mary Kay Cosmetics was founded in 1963 by Mary
Kay Ash.??In 1964, Amway of Canada opened and in 1972 Amway purchased
Nutrilite Products Inc. Carl Rehnborg passed away at the age of 82 in
1972 comforted that the Amway Corporation would continue to nurture
Nutrilite's growth in the future.
Amway has continued to grow as one of the respected leaders of the
Self Directed Income industry. As of 1991, there were more than more
than 3 million independent business owners distributing Amway products
in more than 80 countries and territories. In 1999, Amway generated
US$5 billion in sales at estimated retail through its global product
distribution network.
Amway has become to the SDI Industry what the Marriott Empire is to
the Franchise Industry. During the 1970's Amway, the pioneer of this
new and different marketing concept was harassed by the FTC in the
United States of America. After lengthy court challenges it was
verified that indeed the Amway SDI opportunity was a genuine business
opportunity and not an illegal "pyramid."
In the 1980's Amway was attacked by the Federal Government in Canada
over disputes re: taxes. Again, Amway weathered the storm and it was
not until January 1993 that it become technically legal for network
marketing companies to function in Canada when the political parties
made an all party agreement about the SDI marketing concept and passed
it through The House of Commons. Until that time, it had not been a
priority to initiate the legislative infrastructure for the SDI
industry, even though many SDI companies were already operating in
Canada.
??The SDI industry is advancing towards acceptance by the mainstream
because of Amway's commitment to the concept during the latter half of
20th Century when few people were even aware of this innovative
marketing phenomenon which has since evolved to a point where astute
consumers now actually embrace the efficient, direct delivery of
selected consumable products and/or services. Those manufacturers
which are networking with the SDI companies are keen about delivering
products and/or services directly to homes rather than stocking
merchandise in giant retail stores. According to Network Marketing
Lifestyles Magazine, July 2001 there are 1500 SDI companies and over 7
million active SDI entrepreneurs in the United States of America with
thousands deciding to participate on a daily basis.
Driving this trend is the fact that unique products and/or services
require one-on-one client education that only a trained user of the
product/service can explain. An example is the various discounted long
distance service companies which are widely available and less
expensive than Bell Canada's long distance service. Such long distance
services are optimally suited to netpreneurs working the in the SDI
industry which is continually expanding. What is really significant is
that the growth of the SDI industry doubled the growth of the
traditional retail stores during the latter years of the 20th Century.
Projections are that the SDI industry will experience a spiking growth
curve early in the 21st Century - with no worry about saturation.
Marketing analysts are projecting that there will be in access of
200,000 million active SDI entrepreneurs by 2010.
We have come a long way indeed since 1000 AD when employees first
tasted independence. Until that time the boss actually owned the
employees. In 2001 and beyond, the (Entrepreneurial) E-Generation -
typically those between the ages of 18 and 30 do not want any boss
telling them what to do. Together, this E-Generation, accompanied by
women of all ages will create the predicted spiking growth curve for
the SDI industry. This is because women network well in their
respective circles of influence. Women tend to work not only with
other women but also with men and their children while historically
men tend to associate with other men of their peer group rather than
with women and/or youth.
Improved communications will likewise facilitate the growth of the SDI
industry which is thriving because of its movement towards
decentralization and the reality of more and more people aligning with
the purpose of individualization. With the introduction of 'usuryfree'
time currency people will be empowered to operate their own
'usuryfree' time banks online thereby decentralizing the banking system.
Both the concept of decentralization and individualization are
fostered by SDI entrepreneurism. Let's explore more about the
decentralization and individualization of marketing during the 20th
Century - from giant retailing to franchising to the SDI (Self
Directed Income) industry. One of the first major shopping centres in
North America was almost forced out of business because they permitted
their stores to sell merchandise below the suggested retail prices.
Such is the challenge to change human habits in regards to shopping
rituals.
These giant retail stores which commonly dominated retail marketing
during the 20th Century commonly were centrally owned by one person or
one family. They employed multiple thousands of people following the
model predicted by Ron Coase. This is an example of centralization of
the retail industry which only began the evolution towards the
decentralization process with the introduction of franchising by the
mid-20th Century. Franchising still maintained varying degrees of
centralized control whereby the franchise entrepreneur dictated that
the owner/managers of the franchise follow their respective system.
Franchising did however, offer the opportunity for more people to
become business owners - if they had accumulated sufficient wealth to
purchase the franchise. Management began to become more decentralized
as franchising evolved. Those people who understood goal-setting as
having a goal to get to work on time so that the boss could tell them
what to do excelled for the franchise owner/managers. The franchise
owner/managers likewise excelled at taking orders from the their
respective franchise bosses as they had learned to take orders in
their former jobs as wage-earners and earlier they had learned to take
orders from our system of formal education which is often more
concerned about conditioning and disciplining than it is about learning.
With the introduction of the SDI industry whereby the concept of
network distribution was implemented we see the management style
further decentralized whereby everyone becomes an owner of their own
independent enterprise. Though the SDI industry permits everyone to
become the CEO of their own enterprise for the first time history,
many people do not achieve success as an SDI entrepreneur because they
expect a boss to tell them exactly what to do just as they are told
what to do as wage-earners. The greatest downfall of the SDI industry
has been the high rate of attrition. The cause of this high rate of
attrition is directly linked to the wage-earning mentality of
expecting a boss to tell one what to do, when to do it and how to do it.
All industries go through three distinct stages of growth and the SDI
industry is no exception. Though some researchers may come up with
slightly different percentages re: the rates of growth, I am using 3%
to identify the first stage, 15% to represent the second stage and 75
to 80% to recognize the third stage. The first stage is commonly
called the "good news cycle" since exceptional marketing ideas are
considered newsworthy. The SDI entrepreneurs who are active in this
first stage are true innovators and some even become zealots and
oversell their respective opportunity and/or products and/or services.
Such action creates false expectations which are often not lived up to
and this leads to a bad news cycle.
After the bad news cycle passes, the SDI industry will move on to the
second stage where there will be approximately 15% market penetration.
It is during this second stage that the essential marketing
infrastructure is built as the true builders solve any problems that
arise. The SDI industry is just moving towards this second stage of
growth as we enter this new millennium.
When the infrastructure is solid, the SDI industry will move on to the
third stage of approximately 75 to 80% market penetration. It is at
this stage that the former skeptics get on side as diversification now
offers additional opportunity and competition creates an almost
universal awareness so that almost everyone will not only know about
the SDI industry but will actually seek to become an active SDI
entrepreneur to earn income from an SDI Portfolio.
Let's explore how some other industries moved through these three
marketing stages. In 1983, one in eight households had a computer at a
time when Commodore was looking like a leader. Then the high tech
shakeout began and it did not end for a very long time. The Apple 2
computer entered the market at the beginning of Stage 2 of the
computer industry when about 15% of the people were aware and
interested in purchasing a home computer. Macintosh evolved but did
not take the lead into the third stage. Finally Microsoft became the
leader by making the software industry its client as the computer
industry entered the third stage where approximately 80% of the
population are aware of and/or using computers.
It is worthy of note that in 1983, 3% of the people were ready and
anxious to purchase their first computer. As the group approached the
15% many expressed a desire to see spreadsheets and other proof of
enabling structures while those at the third stage whereby 80% would
become active participants within the computer industry still remained
skeptics and considered computers a threat to our society.
Another interesting industry wherein one can observe the three
marketing stages is the auto industry. In the early 20th Century those
3% who were the innovators drove their new vehicles in circles around
oval race tracks. Very soon 15% saw the potential but they saw the
need for roads, service stations, etc. as infrastructure essentials.
During these first two stages of marketing autos, the skeptics who
made up the 75 to 80% group, the third stage were adamant that they
would never drive one of those horseless carriages. They bragged that
their horses would never run out of gas. Then along came Henry Ford
claiming that he could make an auto which his employees could afford
to buy and very quickly the automobile industry moved to its second
stage where more and more people wanted a vehicle. Henry Ford told his
workers that they could have any colour of car that they wanted as
long as it was black. General Motors became a fierce competitor and
later the Japanese auto makers found their niche in the auto industry
as it advanced to the third stage where there is general acceptance
and genuine need for the product and/or service.
All industries go through this shift of perception as the product
and/or service becomes accepted by the mainstream. Historically, the
leaders of the respective industries at the 3% stage are not the
leaders at the 15% stage nor the 75 to 80% stage. Consider that Henry
Ford entered the auto industry at the 15% stage just as Apple entered
the computer industry at the 15% stage and Xerox entered the fast copy
industry at the 15% stage and MacDonald's entered the fast food
industry at the 15% stage. In the SDI industry Amway has been the
leader at the first stage but Amway is unlikely to remain the leader
at the SDI industry moves towards the 15% stage, though Amway will
remain steadfast and become a noteworthy competitor at the 75 to 80%
stage. As the SDI industry moves towards the second stage of growth
companies in the telecommunications and/or the green industry seem to
be well positioned to lead the way as they blend person-to person
marketing locally and globally with advanced internet technology
services while outsourcing their respective delivery systems for
selected products.
Upon examining the leaders of the various industries which have
entered the marketplace at the 15% stage it becomes clear that they
enter with three distinct characteristics: (1) increased capability
(2) increased reliability and stability and (3) reduced costs. Within
the SDI industry, increased capability translates to increased dollars
in the marketing plan while increased reliability and stability is
defined as better payouts in greater depth. Reduced costs are self
explanatory.
As the SDI industry advances to the second stage it demands that the
leading SDI entrepreneurs professionalize the industry whereby
educative advertising and quality training become the landmark
characteristics of the industry. Just as MacDonald's created a
"Hamburger University" in Chicago because one did not exist for the
fast food industry, any would-be leaders in the SDI industry must
create the SDI University because it does not yet exist. This is
necessary because what is required of the SDI entrepreneurs at the 15%
stage and the 75 to 80% stage is very different than what has been
provided by the network marketing leaders at the 3% stage. In fact,
one can visualize multi-level marketing and network marketing as being
at the 3% stage of the SDI industry, while referral marketing and/or
affiliate marketing are noteworthy at the 15% stage.
Recompense marketing may very well become commonplace at the third
stage of the SDI industry when 75 to 80% of the population are fully
aware of the concept. This may well happen before 2020 and then we
will no longer have to explain the industry as everyone will want to
be an active participant. Recompense is defined by Webster's
Dictionary as "an equivalent returned for anything given." Recompense
marketing occurs when one person refers another person to quality
sources of products and/or services and gets paid a commission every
time that the referral makes a purchase from the source. An new
example of recompense marketing is when a person buys a membership
card and shops at a particular community enterprise repeatedly. The
person who recommends the product and/or service and offers to sell
the membership card is recompensed for every future purchase because
s/he cared enough to share pertinent information. Recompense marketing
within the SDI industry offers every participant great leverage and
leverage is the greatest tool that the SDI industry has to attract
multiple millions of participants in the 21st Century.
People may commonly decide to buy business positions in several SDI
networks BUT choose to actively build only one or two SDI
opportunities within their respective portfolios. Some people will
make a one-time purchase of a non-depreciating asset such as
jewellery, become a satisfied customer and qualify for legitimate
business deductions. By recommending their products and/or services to
others they can guarantee themselves a significant part-time income.
Other people will earn solid sources of secondary income(s) by
agreeing to set up a home-based enterprise to market selected products
and/or services such as alternative health products,
telecommunications services etc. by making purchases of
non-depreciating assets and/or regular consumables.
Likewise, they will purchase these products and/or services on a
regular basis from their own enterprise and recommend them to others
thereby qualifying for the legitimate business deductions when they
file income taxes - if indeed they are still filing. This trend of
alternative shopping from the home will continue to grow and be driven
by the concept of re-building community while the giant retail store
industry will hit the skids as we progress into the 21st Century.
The barter industry which promotes trading with a "usuryfree" currency
could very well be the glue that will bond with the SDI industry to
re-build local communities which deteriorated greatly during the 20th
Century when we mistakenly gave our trust and money to institutions
and giant corporations whose leadership no longer commands loyalty
because they are intent on playing in the unfair and immoral "usury"
game of economics.
People are becoming less committed to orthodox institutions and
corporations. The institutions are not delivering what the people
expect and since the corporations are not giving the job security the
workers are no longer giving loyalty. The respected social contract of
working for an employer is in jeopardy.
People now prefer to be loyal to smaller entities in their respective
local communities. Loyalty is really about allegiances and loyalty
when tested is failing within the traditional, orthodox structures.
Now loyalty is being tested and succeeding within a new model whereby
people in local communities expect their mutual benefit from
exchanges. SDI entrepreneurs are adept at building loyalty among their
customers as they know their products and/or services from being their
own best customer. The SDI industry in co-operation with the barter
industry is positioned to better serve smarter and more demanding
customers within the respective local communities. Robert Passikoff,
the president of Brand Keys, a customer-loyalty research organization
says: "A satisfied customer has to do with the last transaction. A
loyal customer has to do with the next transaction."
The marketing power of merchandising in local communities is magnified
by adding the element of bartering and/or trading with others. The
ideal method to maximize local trading is to get to know one's
neighbours and build a database whereby each household and/or small
community business lists the contact details of its residents who can
double as entrepreneurs. Additionally, a list of their talents,
skills, products and/or services that can be offered in exchange for
products and/or services wanted is prepared. Each person is cautioned
to request cash to cover any wholesale costs in federal
"usury-bearing" dollars and to agree to negotiate a portion of
"usuryfree" community currency for the profit margin. As long as
people know they can spend the "usuryfree" community currency for
their needs and/or wants they will accept it.
Any local merchant will be happy to share their profits from any
customers who are referred by SDI entrepreneurs who will reciprocate
by sharing their profits with the local merchants who make referrals
to them. The twinning of the SDI industry with the barter and trading
industry will create more profits for all who participate as well as
promote loyalty in the local community. As local residents and
merchants catch on to the "bonding" that is being created within the
SDI industry they will see the potential of new sources of monthly
residual income by encouraging their existing customers to
participate. Learn how to set up your own "usuryfree" time currency
As the SDI industry evolves through the second and third stages of
growth, there will be plenty of competition at the product and/or
service level but not at the network building level. There are only
potential clients (retail buyers) and/or free enterprisers
(wholesalers who double as buyers and sellers) in the world's six
billion population. The SDI industry may very well be experiencing
saturation at the 3% level, the potential market is the 90% of the
people who have never yet heard of the SDI industry. Education and
advertising must be developed for the SDI industry to advance beyond
the 3% churn. The SDI entrepreneurs need tools of education, training
and communication so that as self-imposed leaders they can optimally
multiply what they learn.
The first SDI company to create quality education and build public
awareness outside their respective SDI network will likely lead the
way towards the second stage of growth. Training which is internal to
the respective SDI networks likewise must address the necessary shift
from a wage-earner mentality driven be a boss to self-driven
entrepreneurial mentality as we approach the 15% marker of the SDI
industry. The SDI professional entrepreneurs must set themselves apart
from those who just want to buy a business position in any network.
Some will be consumers and provide referrals and that's it.
The stockbrokers' industry went through this cycle in the latter years
of the 20th Century whereby a few began to acquire some specific
skills and excel at what they were doing. The more skilled
stockbrokers set out to distinguish themselves from those who were not
professionals. The financial planners' industry did likewise as did
the insurance industry. Just because a person has money in the stock
market and s/he reads the financial pages of the newspaper does not
make him/her a stockbroker. Similarly, just because a person buys a
business position in an SDI opportunity and s/he consumes the product
and/or service dies not make him/her a professional SDI entrepreneur.
The SDI industry needs leaders and co-operation from corporate teams
who understand how to structure self-directed programs that will
continually evolve and grow as our numbers increase exponentially. One
of the keys to success is simplifying the communication process
whereby one stays in question mode until all objections are overcome.
Indeed, the SDI entrepreneurs of 2002 are creating a new marketing
(retailing and/or wholesaling) trend which builds community while
improving the physical distribution of products and/or services. The
SDI industry is destined to become the fastest-growing marketing
concept of the 21st Century. SDI entrepreneurs live in every local
community and they have the capacity to facilitate the purchase of
unique products and/or services as well as the common products and/or
services that have been sold through mass-merchandising. Once a
satisfied customer tries a product and/or service and has a positive
experience s/he typically becomes a loyal customer and tell others
about their positive experience(s).
SDI entrepreneurs have access to a widening variety of products and/or
services at competitive prices. No longer do people have to travel
great distances to find the products and/or services that they need.
SDI entrepreneurs can be referred to as "prosumers" - a term coined by
Alvin Toffler - because they consume and market products and/or
services at the same time. SDI entrepreneurs are free to focus on12
intellectual distribution since their suppliers have mastered the
element of physical distribution which embraces direct delivery of
products by courier. Any costs incurred are often lower than the
effort, time, and travel costs for consumers who formerly shopped in
giant retail stores. According to Paul Pilzer, the greatest retailing
opportunity of the 21st Century will be in intellectual distribution
which teaches consumers about products and/or services. (page 55, The
Next Trillion)
This is because new and/or unique products and/or services require
one-on-one customer education that only an experienced user of the
product and/or service can explain. The SDI entrepreneurs are well
positioned to advance intellectual distribution since they are the
optimal prosumers of their selected products and/or services. Examples
of items that require one-on-one education are telecommunications
services, health and nutritional products, alternative energy and
green energy 12products and/or services etc. It is to the advantage of
the SDI entrepreneurs that the giant retail industry is failing
miserably in regards to person-to-person marketing.
Individualization and decentralization means that more and more people
will be attracted to the SDI industry. In a sense, what many people
are experiencing is "freedom adolescence" whereby people are feeling
younger when they are able to throw off the yoke of "usury" by earning
sufficient secondary income to pay off their debts and thereby avoid
being saddled with "usury" payments in the future. The SDI industry is
working in the 21st Century.
Likewise the SDI industry is expected to take a leading role in the
decentralization of the banking system with 'usuryfree' time currency
as the ultimate token.