If you are considering starting your own business, and you've got access to, let's say, $50,000 in start up funds (a very modest assumption), imagine how profitable you could be, and how quickly, if you didn't have to hire employees, you didn't have to lease an office and/or store front and/or warehouse, you didn't have to pay sales or payroll taxes, you didn't have to spend one penny on R&D, graphics design, or development of promotional material, and you didn't have to hire an accountant, lawyer, or business consultant.

And, imagine how much more money might go into your pocket if you didn't need business partners to help you finance and run business. Think about it, and try not to become giddy.

Now for really fun part.

Imagine buying a McDonald's franchise for modest sum of one million dollars. The business fails. You call up McDonald's corporate and ask for a "Return Authorization Number" so you can get your franchise fee back along with a reimbursement check for your unsold supplies and stock.

While imagining this scene, also imagine sound of sirens wailing in background. That would either be paramedics coming to assist poor corporate officer who you've just induced into a fit of hysterics, or an ambulance coming to take you to a really nice, soft room.

In network marketing, not only is this not an absurd scenario, it's law! One of aspects of a legitimate, legal network marketing company is ability of a failed distributor to get a full refund (usually less a 10% restocking and processing fee) on all product and marketing material that is in resalable condition. So, if pursued conservatively and intelligently, there is a monumental reduction in risk relative to conventional business start ups, yet with a comparable or even greater profit opportunity.

Those of you who are already actively involved in network marketing, be aware that vast majority of your "outer circle" prospects (those who've never been involved in network marketing) do have at least desire to own their own business, as opposed to working for someone else.

You don't have to talk them into benefits of something they're already dreaming about having. But, they also have some very powerful, legitimate fears about starting their own business. You've first got to open their mind to idea that there is still a realistic way to achieve that dream, and then define, or perhaps defend, concept of network marketing (gratuitous plug: my "Case Closed" cassette tape is designed to accomplish both of these steps for you). Only then should you introduce benefits of your particular network marketing program.

Think of it like this: before you can pour fresh, hot coffee into a thermos, you must first open it, then pour old, stale coffee out, right? Think of your business-phobic prospect as a sealed thermos full of cold coffee.

Now, if you are considering starting your own business, or you want to but have always been apprehensive, open your own mind to network marketing.

Think it's too good to be true?

I challenge you - find catch! If you've never pursued a network marketing venture it must be for one of two reasons: you just didn't know about it, or you have a prejudice against it. And that's exactly what it is, a prejudice. You have prejudged this business based on what someone else has told you about it (usually someone who has failed at it, or who has also never been involved themselves).

In other words, you've chosen to adopt someone else's opinion of this business. Don't let other people do your thinking for you. Make your own decision based on your own evaluation.

Check this business out. Really do your due-diligence. And when you are done, I would defy anyone, even most devout skeptic, to not experience a significant paradigm shift. I dare you to look and not be intrigued!

Leonard Clements has concentrated his full-time efforts over last 10 years on researching and analyzing all aspects of Network Marketing. He is a professional speaker and trainer, and currently conducts Inside Network Marketing seminars throughout U.S., Canada and Mexico. He is also publisher and editor of MarketWave Alert Letter, an analysis and "watchdog" newsletter focusing on MLM industry. Mr. Clements is author of controversial book Inside Network Marketing. Len is also author of best selling cassette tape Case Closed! The Whole Truth About Network Marketing. Mr. Clements has also been actively involved in MLM industry for fourteen years.

And you're right. It is that simple.

But it all takes time.

You won't upload your site today and have it indexed by search engines tomorrow. You'll send first issue of your ezine to maybe 10 people. Or fewer. Your first attempt at ad writing will bring you zero sales. It takes you three months for it to actually sink in that you have to run your ad for a minimum of seven times before readers will act. And that it's seven times to SAME audience.

And then, when your site is *finally* indexed by search engines, it doesn't appear in first three pages of search results for your keywords. In fact, it doesn't appear in first *thirty* pages. So you learn about importance of high-profitability keywords and you create new web pages just for those keywords. And submit them to search engines. And then wait until they're indexed. And then check again.

In meantime, four months have passed, you now have over five hundred subscribers to your ezine and you're starting to see maybe fifty site visitors a day. And not a one of them is buying anything.

You've been working hard, long hours in your business but, quite frankly, you consider it a good month if you can (just) cover your web hosting fees with what you're bringing in.

So you start feeling like it's just not worth time and effort and sacrifice. You're spending at least half your waking time on this thing and you're not getting anywhere.

A few more weeks pass with no results and you start getting seriously dejected. You're disillusioned and disappointed. You're frustrated and generally P.O.'d that everyone else seems to be able to do this but you.

Your day job, which you detest with a passion, starts to feel like not such a bad way to spend 8 hours. Hey, it beats sitting before a computer screen day in day out trying to market to a bunch of ingrates with nothing to show for it.

So you petulantly start watching TV in evenings after work instead of tending your garden. You completely miss tender young shoots that suddenly appear in corn patch. You don't see that birds are picking off strawberries and that carrots and broadbeans need watering. You don't notice you have a whole field of potatoes that are ready for harvesting or that soil needs to be turned where silverbeet was planted six months ago.

Finally, corn is ready to harvest but half-formed cabbages and asparagus are rotting because you didn't notice it was time to water and protect them from parasites. Soon corn will join them.

You don't see any of it because you're busy watching TV. If you'd just hung on a little bit longer, you'd be starting to reap a healthy crop from your efforts by now. But you didn't hang in there. You gave up too soon.

Don't let this happen to you. Don't let your business die on vine. Continue to feed, water and protect it. Even when you don't feel like it. *Especially* when you don't feel like it. Success in this business has as much to do with patience and perseverence as it does about creativity and talent. Success could be just around next corner. Just wait and see what's waiting for you before you flip switch.