Opportunity Knocks. Will You Answer?
Presenting the Opportunity Knocks EZine

Produced by

Tim Johnson
and
No Time Lost Enterprises

Volume 1, Issue 17
November 3, 2001

Welcome to the OK-EZine! Presented here are ideas, concepts, strategies and tactics for those ready to embrace the New, the Daring and the Possibilities.

Feedback is always welcome. Please send all comments to timj@notimelost.com. Positive and Negative are welcome.

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CONTENTS:

1.) Power Thought - Watering the Tree of Liberty

2.) Main Article - Why wait until you are laid off?

3.) Guest Article - Getting Wealthy is not Convenient

4.) Subscribe/Unsubscribe Info

1.) Power Thought - Watering the Tree of Liberty

You know what happened on September 11, so I won't bother to detail here those events. But consider this, an old quote says that the Tree of Liberty must from time to time be watered with the blood of patriots. I had always heard that quote from people who so distrusted the government and those in it that they actually prepared to go to war against it. While I distrust big government, I never have believed that was necessary.

The September 11th attacks have shown the true meaning of that concept. We had become so completely secure in our beliefs of safety, power and distance from such acts of total barbarism. That stuff only happened elsewhere.

We are now at war... currently with Afghanistan and probably soon to be with several other countries. We are at war not to gain vengeance (though that will certainly be true for many), to gain land or treasure or to enslave others. We are at war to safeguard our future and the future of FREEDOM.

Do you understand the gravity of that?

Our country is the beacon of freedom and the principles that support it for the entire WORLD. We certainly are not perfect at it. We sometimes fail miserably at it.

But you know what?

We are better at it than anyone else on the planet.

Combined!

We represent the epitome of freedom, rights, responsibilities and protecting them. We are at war in order to safeguard those.

We are sending our patriots in the military to join the 5000 from New York, Pennsylvania and Washington DC who have already watered the Tree of Liberty with their blood.

And God help any who get in our way.

2.) Main Article - Why Wait Until You are Laid Off?

Why is it that most people seem to wait until they have been laid off or fired before they get serious about developing another source of income?

Have you noticed that?

Have you done that yourself?

The economy's future over the next year seems uncertain. Many polls say consumer confidence is high that the economy will rebound. That's great. But how far will it fall first?

Personally, I refuse to participate in any recession. It's all a state of mind in my opinion. Sure, you can lose a job, and that is not a state of mind. But they used to call them Depressions and Panics. Why? Because it's an emotional state of mind.

Part of not giving in to the fear and stress is being prepared for the possibility. Most people who are in the so-called Generation X age group have never truly known a recession of any kind in their adult lifetimes. Anyone in their mid-20's likely has nothing but vague memories (if that) of the "Stagflation" of the Carter Presidency.

This has left most of us ill-prepared for the economic and social shock our country has taken and will take.

How do you prepare?

First, you develop yourself into a desirable quantity. Do what you can to make yourself indispensable at your job. That makes the next part easier, because it's hard to develop a cushion in the form of a secondary income source when your primary source may go away!

Second, find some kind of home-based business to run. Home-based businesses are the best hedge against loss of income and also rising taxes (which may also be a consideration, unfortunately).

My advice is to choose something that can be done part-time and expanded later. It should require relatively small start-up and operating costs. By "relatively small" I mean $500 or so on startup and a couple of hundred on monthly expenses. Neither number is set in stone. Many home-based Businesses can be entered for as little as $20 with a $50 a month (even less) overhead.

Many require several thousand dollars to start and hundreds to operate. You shouldn't choose your business based solely on startup or operating expenses. Both are flexible. Most companies will have multiple amounts you can start for and your operating expenses are also largely up to you.

You can create a business from your own skills by marketing personal services such as programming, web design, resume services, courier services, etc. The only problem here is that you are trading dollars for time. You will likely be unable to build a stable income that continues when you stop working.

Or you can go the non-traditional route, and the one I recommend, by joining a network marketing or direct sales company. The really good ones offer low start-up costs, great training, mentoring and a good residual income... If you are willing to follow a plan and work it for anywhere from 2-5 years, you can replace your current income in that time frame with many companies. The key is to focus and not give up.

For instance, if you put $50,000 into opening a small flower shop for instance, if you are not making money after the first 2 months, are you going to quit? Of course not. It takes time to build a clientele of regular customers and to get referrals from them. The same is true of almost any business. Traditional small businesses leave you in debt when you start by tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. Rarely will you go into serious debt (and I don't mean putting the business kit and initial product order on your credit card) to begin a networking business.

When choosing a company, I recommend looking for several things:

1 - Established company with established products. This means a company that has been in business long enough to have their feet wet, but not to have hit a plateau level on growth, at least in your area. Established products means that the company shouldn't be betting the future on something new just as you join.

2 - Good Leadership - Is the company run by solid people with solid reputations, skills, vision, leadership, integrity and honesty? Are the people you are going to be working with compatible with you? Can you get along with them? Are your goals similar? Do you have a vision match?

3 - Great Products - Can you get excited about the products? If not, pass on the company... no matter how good, established, well-paying, etc. If you cannot get excited, then how can you get someone else interested?

4 - Solid Marketing Plan - In other words, is there a path laid out for you to follow? Are the goals attainable? Does the pay plan make sense? Do they pay out as much as they say or is it all smoke and mirrors? Can you make the promotions? Is pay based on product sales as opposed to recruiting new people?

5 - Training - What kind of training does the company and/or the local leaders provide? Are they there to teach you or are you left to your own devices? Are there training programs, books, tapes, step-by-step guides? Network marketing has been called a self-development program with a pay plan. The better you get as a person (belief in skills, abilities, knowing where you are going, etc.) the better you get as a networker. And you get paid for that and to help others do the same.

Network marketing gets a bad rap by many uninformed people or ones that have been burned by unscrupulous companies or so-called leaders in the past. Often people will say, "I was in one of those for a couple of months and it didn't work!"

Right... couple of months and you weren't making $10,000 a month. It MUST be a scam!

Remember that most people will take 2-5 years to develop the kind of income that will allow them to walk away from their day jobs. That is approximately the same time it takes traditional businesses to become profitable, if they keep their doors open. You can keep your doors open as long as it  takes.

Persistence is the key.

Where would you be right now if you had begun a networking business 3 years ago? Would you care if you were laid off tomorrow? Probably not. It would mean you could finally work your business full-time and REALLY start making some money!

It's not too late yet. Get started looking now!

Thanks and keep reading!

Tim Johnson
timj@notimelost.com

3.) Guest Article - Getting Wealthy is not convenient

Why would someone say, "getting wealthy is not convenient".

After all we all seem to gravitate towards being wealthy, "don't we". Well, here are 8 reasons why it is not convenient.

#1 To become wealthy (financially secure) it does come with opportunity costs (unless it is inherited). Opportunity costs are what you give up in return to do something higher up on the internal meter. For example, if I watch the Cleveland Browns play on TV at 1:00 p.m. (which is what I want to do) I  cannot also watch another sports program on TV at the 1:00 p.m. time slot. Therefore, my opportunity cost is not watching the second sports choice on TV (even though I wanted to see it as well).

Now let's look at this in perspective. It's 8:00 a.m. on Saturday morning and you are working on your opportunity. A very good friend of yours calls and says, "let's hike up to Mount LeConte Lodge, today". You of course are torn between two loves (your opportunity and hiking). Wealthy people make these sacrifices daily because they see the value in the future.

#2 Wealthy people do not get wealthy working 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. They work 12, 14, 17 hours a day. They love what they are doing, so it's not work. Work after all is desiring to be some place else while you are working. If you love what you are doing, you do not desire to be some place else (make sense).

#3 Wealthy people send time every month working on themselves by investing in personal development. This time could be spent watching television (opportunity cost).

#4 Wealthy people very seldom make it big trading time for money. They learn how to leverage their time. This could come from investing (having your money work for you or through something as simple as network marketing).

#5 Wealthy people do not follow the herd. They have a vision and step-by-step they start to achieve it. Walt Disney founded Disney World but it wasn't huge until after his death. Someone told his son one day. To bad your dad wasn't alive to see this. He replied, "He did see it".

#6 Wealthy people are open-minded. They are always looking for a better way to do something. They might go to a seminar and say, "if I learn just one thing today it will be worth it".

#7 Wealthy people surround themselves with positive minded and talented people. This might include changing or alternating peer groups.

#8 Wealthy people see an idea and act on it very quickly. Then move mountains to get it accomplished. The words I can't are not in their vocabulary.

A book that is worth reading is called Profiles of Genius by Gene Landrum. This book takes a look at traits that wealthy people have including: Steven Jobs (Apple), Tom Monaghan (Domino's), and William Gates III (Microsoft).

To your success,

Tom Veit
Tvuno1@bellsouth.net