Benchmarking....

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit."
Aristotle

I haven’t written anything in this blog for a few days now. Over the last few days, I’ve had writers block (that’s the excuse anyway). I just couldn’t think of anything to say. But now, I’m back.

Every year, there are three dates on which I look back upon the year before and contemplate what I’ve achieved throughout the year. Every year, on the eve of New Year (31^st December) I look back at the year that has just passed and analyze and contemplate all the things that I did during that year. I will look back at the year that has gone by, evaluate all the things that I did during the year, and decide if I achieved my goals for the year.

To be honest, many times I came up wanting, not being able to achieve the goal that I set for that year. 2008 was one of those years. I didn’t really achieve much. In fact, it turned out to be a really bad year. Not the worst, but pretty close.

The second date I use as a benchmark is my birthday. On the 30^th of March every year, I will find some time to look back at the things that I’ve done between my birthdays. On this date, I usually don’t bother looking at my achievements. I look at my life from a different angle.

Since I’m not a very religious person, I don’t evaluate myself from a religious point of view (I know if I do that I will definitely fail). So I look at the things I did during the year more from a moral and ethical point of view. I try to assess the things that I did during the year looking at everything I did, trying to determine all the contributions I made, wondering if I helped to improve anyone’s life or did I make their lives worse.

The final day I use as a benchmark is 12^th April every year. This is the anniversary of my divorce. On this day, I look at my life from a more personal point of view. I look at my relationships with people, and decide which direction I want those relationships to go.

These are usually the two date that I use as a benchmark, looking back at my life the year before and deciding how to move forward and face the year ahead. As of today, I will have another benchmark. 31^st January of every year will be another benchmark for me. This is the day that I will use to reflect every aspect of my life. The starting point will be today.

I guess you might be wondering why today. The main reason is because today, I’ve decided to take positive action in my life. I’ve decided to take control of my life, point it in the direction I want it to go, and not let other people determine the direction of my life. Basically, the rest of my life begins today.

P/s: Sorry, no photos today. Will try to think of something for the next post

Strategy Time....

"Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall." - Confucius

Now that I’ve set my goals, (Short term goals anyway) I guess I should start outlining my strategy. To be honest with you, I don’t really have much of a strategy. I’m not the gung-ho type of person who would go all out to recruit my friends and family into the business. With all the skepticism out there and the bad experiences of people joining dodgy MLM programs, I’d probably lose a lot of friends that way (I don’t have that many friends to begin with).

So I’ve got to come up with something a bit more relaxed approach. Definitely not the hard sell approach. The good thing about the 4Life Research business, it’s a great product coupled with a wonderful rewards plan backed by a fast growing company. Shouldn’t be that difficult to sell then.

Actually it isn’t. I just have to have the right strategy. After a few weeks in the business, I think I’ve got my strategy. I’m still testing to see if it works so you’re going to have to bear with me for a few more weeks to know if my strategy works.

My strategy is split into 2. First is the direct approach or more like the face-to-face approach. The second is the internet marketing approach. We’ll start with the first one.

The face-to-face approach is probably the easier of the 2. But in using this approach, I have to be careful not to push too hard. First of all, I have to identify the people I’m going to talk to about the business and divide them into 2 groups, those who probably would be more interested in the products, and those who would be more interested in the business.

For those who are more interested in the products, I will talk to them about the products. The good thing about this strategy is that 4Life Research products are unique. They’re one of a kind and they can really help you stay healthy. I’ve got a few people who I’ve given samples of the product to and the response has been very favorable. Now all I have to decide is whether I’m going to talk to them about being customers or joining the business.

For those who are more interested in the business (Mainly those who have been in MLM before and know the potential of the business), I am going to talk to them about the Rewards Plan. Shouldn’t be that difficult to sell either since it is the best Rewards Plan in the industry.

Finally, the internet marketing approach. This takes time to build as most of the people I will talk to would probably be contacting me via email or instant messaging. Most of these will be people who are familiar with network marketing and all their advantages and pitfalls. So it could go either way, either it would be easy to get them to join, or it would be difficult/

Looking at it this way, it’s not really a difficult business to do. It just takes time. You have to be patient, ready to face rejection and ridicule and like any other business, you have to be ready to face the challenges.

Setting Out My Goals

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds."
- Albert Einstein



I’ve been working on the 4Life Research business for the last 3 weeks or more. It’s been a very interesting 3 weeks or so. I haven’t recruited anyone as yet but I am very hopeful for the future. The reason why I haven’t recruited anyone is not because of lack of interest. Just that I haven’t really spoken to many people about the program as yet.

What I've Done So Far

Besides writing posts in this blog, I’ve spent quite a considerable amount of time translating materials about the business. It is quite inconvenient to have most of the materials in English, especially since I’m targeting mainly a Malay market. But I do believe once I’ve got all the materials properly translated, I will find it easier to talk to my target market about the product, the compensation plans and the company.

In the mean time, I will continue to talk to friends and family about the products. My main aim is to get my friends and family to consume the product first. I’ve given some samples to friends and family and so far the response I’ve got from them is quite favourable. Everyone who has taken the sample has felt better from consuming the product.

Now that I’ve got them interested in the product, it’s time to decide which avenue I’m going to pursue next. I have 2 choices, I can either try to recruit them as distributors, or I can just continue to promote the product to them and get them to become customers. Either way, I get to earn an income from their consumption of the product.

Besides these family and friends, there are other friends who I think would join as distributors. These are the ones who will help me build my own mini empire. Pretty soon, I will start building my mini empire and hopefully by May this year, I’ll be earning a reasonable income from this business.

My Goals

I guess since I mentioned the month of May already, I should tell you my immediate targets for this year. My first target is in April 2009. My first target is by April 2009, I won’t have to spend any more money to maintain myself in this business. I’m hoping that the business will pay by itself. The minimum 100LP required to keep me as a distributor will be paid by the commissions I earn from the business.

My second target is May 2009. This target is a bit more ambitious. I’m hoping by end of May 2009, I will make it to the rank of Diamond. It is ambitious but I’m hoping that by my business will grow exponentially. It has started a bit slow due to the language barrier, but once things have settled down, I have all the materials ready, I know the business will take off.

So, by May 2009, I will have started earning a reasonable income from this business and this business will just take off from there.

Been through it all before....

"The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible."
- Arthur C. Clarke

I know I’ve said before that there’s so much I feel like writing about the 4Life Research business opportunity, but somehow today, I’ve hit a brick wall. I can’t seem to think of any particular topic to write about. So be warned, this might end up to be just ramblings with no direction and no point made.

If I remember correctly, I did that once in another blog. I wrote a whole post without making any kind of point. I got smacked in the head for that. The post was pretty long and one of my friends read it. She read the whole post before finally realizing that I wasn’t actually saying anything or even trying to make a point. I’ll try not to do that here.

MLM Junkies

I think what I’m going to do in this post is to tell you about my previous experience in MLM and network marketing. There are some members of my family who are MLM junkies. They go from one MLM company to another every 6 months or so and make money by recruiting people. I don’t think they believe in the product or the company much. But they do make money recruiting people.

At first, my aunts and uncles, the MLM junkies couldn’t really figure out how to rope in my siblings and I into the MLM business. We were a bit sceptical about the whole thing. But then one day, one of them talked to my dad about their latest MLM program at that time, and he bought into it. So he joined and made a few of us, his kids join too.

The first MLM business I joined was a local company selling daily household products. Some of the products were quite good, so I thought since I was already in, might as well give it a try. So I did the business. I managed to recruit a few people, make some money on the side, all this while working a full time job. After a while, I was following my uncle all around the country on weekends on his recruiting talks. He was a pretty good speaker and he did quite well in the business.

Jumping From One Program To Another

But one of my aunties wasn’t very happy with the way things were going. She wasn’t earning much so she decided to move to another MLM program and she managed to convince her downlines, and some of ours to join her in the new program. I lost quite a considerable income. After she had done that, she convinced my dad to do the same, move over to the new MLM program and he brought us with him. So that’s when we started to move from one MLM to another.

I think in the space of 6 years, I probably joined and left more than 10 different MLM programs. Some of the programs I followed my dad (after the 3^rd program I was already very reluctant) and a couple of them I joined on my own (Amway, via Network 21 and Enrich). Some of the programs I joined were quite good.

Had Enough

In 2003, I had enough. I had been to probably a few hundred talks on MLM programs. I realized I wasn’t building a business of any kind. I was just earning from the recruitment. In fact, when I think back, probably more than half of the products weren’t any good. We just made money from recruiting. That’s when I decided to quit. I didn’t want to be a part of this industry anymore. I wanted to build a business, watch it grow, earn from the hard work and contribute back to the people and the society that helped me build my business.

So I guess you must be wondering why I decided to join 4Life Research after 5 years being out in the cold. I can’t really say why. I looked at the product, looked at the company and the rewards plan, and thought “Hey, this is something I can do.” I’ve done it before with crappy products, built networks selling junk, this should be much easier. It’s a superb product. The rewards plan is great and we’re partnering up with a company with lots of potential. I guess it was time for me to start building my business.

Making A Comeback

So here I am, back in the network marketing industry, a new program and a new product. I haven’t spoken to anyone from my old networks about it yet. Most of them have become sceptics and wouldn’t go anywhere near another MLM program. I will talk to some of them one of these days and explain to them the business, but only after I’ve proven to them that it could work. I know a couple of them are watching me, wanting to know how I progress. If I do well, then I know they will join me and bring their network with them.

As for now, before I can bring them in, I’ve got a lot of recruitment to do and a lot of translations too (Very inconvenient to have most of the literature and materials in English).

P/s: Sorry I haven't got any photos again. I'll try and find something and paste it her in the some other day

Misconceptions about the MLM Industry (Part 2)

"It was a high counsel that I once heard given to a young person, "Always do what you are afraid to do." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

This is a continuation from the previous post. I first thought that this topic was going to be a rather short one. But then it turns out I’ve got a lot of views about this topic. I don’t think it will exceed 2 posts. Although I might decide to add on other views in future posts.

You only make money if you’re at the top

I think this is most difficult point to argue because to a certain extent, that statement is true. If you look at the way all the Rewards Plans is structured from any MLM company, it will look as if only the top people make tonnes of money. As the person on top, you will receive commissions from everyone below you.

But, if you look closely at the 4Life Research Rewards Plan, it is possible for someone lower down the order to make tonnes of money. I think I’m going to have to use a chart for this to show you how you could make more money than your upline.

Now for example, let’s say A recruited B who in turn recruited C and D. C then recruits E and F while D recruits G and H. If this were to remain constant, then in any given month, A will earn 72LP which is equivalent to USD 72.00, while B will earn 104LP or USD 104.00

As you can see, B is earning more than A. Some of you might look at this and say that this is all theoretical. It doesn’t apply in real life situations. Give it a try. Join 4Life Research and go out there and work harder than your upline. You will see the results in 3 months. The 4Life Rewards Plan was structured in such a way that the people who work hard at hard doing the business will enjoy the most benefits. It doesn’t matter where you are in the order of things.

It’s a pyramid scheme

I can’t deny this one. When you present the Rewards Plan, show it in a chart, it does look like a pyramid scheme. But, I guess most people don’t see that the organization that they work for is also built based on a pyramid structure (That is unless their organization has 10 directors, 5 GM’s, 3 Managers and 1 Exec).

The way I see it is that the biggest difference between both of these pyramids is, the person above me doesn’t determine how much I get paid for the work I do. I’ve worked for a few companies before under the same pyramid structure. I’ve had managers, deputy general managers, general managers, chief executive officers and directors above me in the pyramid structure. All of these people determine how I get rewarded at the end of the year. They decide on my increment and how much bonus I deserve.

Now, in 4Life Research, I determine myself how much I get rewarded every month. If I work hard enough, I get paid more. Ever feel like your monthly salary isn’t worth the amount of work you do? That’s how I felt every month when I was working in full time employment. You work your a** off trying to please the bosses and getting your work done, and at the end of the month, you get a measly paycheck.

Okay, once again, it’s getting a bit too long. Plus the fact that I’ve run out of points to argue at this moment. I’ll continue this post another day (If I’ve got time, tomorrow) and try to come up with more points to argue.

Misconceptions about the MLM Industry

"Keep steadily before you the fact that all true success depends at last upon yourself." - Theodore T. Hunger

Earlier on, I was going to write more about Platinum Networkers. I know I’ve got a whole post dedicated to them, but I feel that there’s a lot more to what Platinum Networkers does for their members which i have still to write down. Instead I’ve decided to write about the misconceptions about the MLM industry, especially in Malaysia.

I decided this while I was listening to one of our team members talking about his difficulties in making calls to potential recruits. These recruits signed up on his website, but wouldn’t pick up the calls when he tried to contact them to make appointments. This was during a Platinum Get Together session (more about that later).
It was while he was talking about his experience that I started to think about all the unfair generalizations and misconceptions about the MLM industry and those who participate in the industry. So, I decided to write my views on this topic.

Direct Selling

The general perception about MLM anywhere in the world is that you have to do direct selling. You have to go out there, meet people and try to sell the product. I guess the perception came about way back in the 70’s. I remember back then when Amway distributors went from door to door selling their products. They would go from house to house either trying to sell their products or to recruit new distributors. I remember my mom used to buy some of Amway’s products from a friend who was a distributor.

This perception of MLM was true back then, but not now. Most MLM companies have evolved to a point where you no longer have to do direct selling (although some still do). MLM companies now have structured their business plan to focus on recruiting new distributors. They stress more on the consumption of the products by the distributors rather than the selling of the product by these distributors.

For example, the 4Life Research business plan emphasizes the “Prosumer” concept. It’s a concept where the distributor is both the producer (seller) and the consumer of the product. The distributor isn’t required to sell any of the products, just consume the products themselves. New recruits are also encouraged to do the same and distributors earn from their consumption of the product and the consumption of their downlines. No selling involved. But of course you can sell the product if you want to.

Low Quality Products

I have to admit, there are some low quality products being marketed through the MLM industry. But this is basically a generalization and doesn’t apply to all products. In fact, I’ve mistakenly joined some MLM’s in the past market low quality products and have left once I realize my mistake. Although there are some scrupulous companies marketing their low quality products through the MLM system, not all of them are. In fact, if you were to study the industry closely, you will find something worthwhile. 4Life Research products are one of them. The products are so good that they can in fact sell by themselves.

I gave a sample of 4Life TF Plus Advanced to a friend of mine 2 weeks ago. She’s a sceptic. She’s not interested in MLM, in fact, she tries as much as possible to stay away from MLM companies or their products. So when I mentioned to her about 4Life TF Plus Advanced and that I wanted her to start consuming them (She had a flu at that time) she wasn’t very thrilled, especially since they came in capsule form. But she said “For you, I’ll do it” (She’s a good friend). I met her again a couple of days ago and now she’s quite happy to taking TF Plus. I promised her I’d try and get her a bottle of RioVida (Since she hates taking tablets or capsules) and I know once she’s tried that, she’ll probably sign up as a preferred customer (That’s if she doesn’t want to do the business).
Since I’ve got some more of the 4Life TF Plus Advanced, i think I’ll give some of it to one of the biggest sceptics in my family, my Dad. He’s done a lot of MLM’s before with his sister, one of my aunts, and has generally been unsuccessful. The main reason is because of the quality and effectiveness of the product. Most of the products can’t do what the producer claims they can do. Now it’s time for me to give him a try.

So, if you do want to join an MLM company or Network Marketing company to try and makesome extra money, try to do your own research. Research the company, the products, and the effectiveness of the product. Try to surf the net for testimonials or discussions in forums about the products. Research the claims of the company producing the product and the background of the company too and i guarantee you will find a gem like 4Life Research.

Hmmm... looks like this post is getting a bit too long. Think I’ll stop here for now and continue this topic in the another post.

Platinum Networkers, a great team...

"We never touch people so lightly that we do not leave a trace."
- Peggy Tabor Millin

I’ve done quite a lot of MLM businesses in the past. And most of these MLM programs would have at least one area which is lacking, either the product isn’t good enough, or the rewards plan isn’t much good or sometimes the support just isn’t there. In some cases, all three areas are lacking (I didn’t even bother to join). In one case (I’m not going to mention the product), they had a good product and rewards plan, but the support was really bad. I left that program too.

As I said before, these three factors are crucial in determining whether an MLM program is successful or not, the product, the rewards plan and the support you get from the company and your uplines. 4Life research has got one of the best products on the market. The product basically sells by itself. The product is the scientific breakthrough of the century and has helped thousands of people improve their lives and their health.
As for the rewards plan, it is the highest in the industry. It pays more than 20% more out of their sales compared to any other program. The average payout is 57% of the total revenue earned and the highest is 64% at each level. That is the highest in the world.

But like I said, there’s no point in having a great product and a great rewards plan if you don’t have the support you need to make the business work. This is where Platinum Networkers comes into play. 4Life Research provides their distributors with the “Compass Kit” which is everything you need to know about the business and also some additional materials about the business and the products. It also organizes some training sessions especially for new distributors. But that alone is not sufficient to provide you with in-depth knowledge of how to run your business.

Platinum Networkers provides more in depth training to new distributors. They start off with training on the rewards plan and the products, and then they go deeper into the business. They provide suggestions as to how you can approach potential customers or distributors. They do role plays with one member being playing the role of the potential customer, asking questions to one of the distributors. They also show you how to present the business plan based on a presentation prepared by their leader, Cheanu Chew.

One of the most important aspect of what Platinum Networkers does for new distributors is that they try to build your confidence. In this business, confidence can make the difference between success or failure (Looks like a lot of things can make a difference between success or failure. But that’s the way business is. Your success depends on a lot of factors). Platinum Networkers provide all kinds of training, role playing, and other activities, mainly targeted at building your confidence. The more confident you are, the higher the chances of success.

But I think the most important thing that Platinum Networkers provides is moral support. Like any other business, doing the MLM business is not easy. It does involve a lot of work, but you can do it on part time basis. Not every day will be a good day. There will be rough patches, especially for new beginners. Platinum Networkers is always there for their new distributors, each member ready to give a helping hand when required. That’s why they have the motto “Leadership with Heart”.

This is why I chose 4Life Research as a business. Not just because of the products or the rewards plan. But also because of the support and teamwork given by Platinum Networkers. They are there when you need them the most, that is during the first few months of your business, when you think nothing in this business is working for you, you’re struggling to recruit your first downline or find your first customer, they will be there behind you all the way. That is the most important part of the business.

Platinum Networkers, a great team...

"We never touch people so lightly that we do not leave a trace." --Peggy Tabor Millin

I’ve done quite a lot of MLM businesses in the past. And most of these MLM programs would have at least one area which is lacking, either the product isn’t good enough, or the rewards plan isn’t much good or sometimes the support just isn’t there. In some cases, all three areas are lacking (I didn’t even bother to join). In one case (I’m not going to mention the product), they had a good product and rewards plan, but the support was really bad. I left that program too.

As I said before, these three factors are crucial in determining whether an MLM program is successful or not, the product, the rewards plan and the support you get from the company and your uplines. 4Life research has got one of the best products on the market. The product basically sells by itself. The product is the scientific breakthrough of the century and has helped thousands of people improve their lives and their health.

As for the rewards plan, it is the highest in the industry. It pays more than 20% more out of their sales compared to any other program. The average payout is 57% of the total revenue earned and the highest is 64% at each level. That is the highest in the world. But like I said, there’s no point in having a great product and a great rewards plan if you don’t have the support you need to make the business work.

This is where Platinum Networkers comes into play. 4Life Research provides their distributors with the “Compass Kit” which is everything you need to know about the business and also some additional materials about the business and the products. It also organizes some training sessions especially for new distributors. But that alone is not sufficient to provide you with in-depth knowledge of how to run your business.

Platinum Networkers provides more in depth training to new distributors. They start off with training on the rewards plan and the products, and then they go deeper into the business. They provide suggestions as to how you can approach potential customers or distributors. They do role plays with one member being playing the role of the potential customer, asking questions to one of the distributors. They also show you how to present the business plan based on a presentation prepared by their leader, Cheanu Chew.

One of the most important aspect of what Platinum Networkers does for new distributors is that they try to build your confidence. In this business, confidence can make the difference between success or failure (Looks like a lot of things can make a difference between success or failure. But that’s the way business is. Your success depends on a lot of factors).

Platinum Networkers provide all kinds of training, role playing, and other activities, mainly targeted at building your confidence. The more confident you are, the higher the chances of success. But I think the most important thing that Platinum Networkers provides is moral support. Like any other business, doing the MLM business is not easy. It does involve a lot of work, but you can do it on part time basis. Not every day will be a good day. There will be rough patches, especially for new beginners.

Platinum Networkers is always there for their new distributors, each member ready to give a helping hand when required. That’s why they have the motto “Leadership with Heart”. This is why I chose 4Life Research as a business. Not just because of the products or the rewards plan. But also because of the support and teamwork given by Platinum Networkers. They are there when you need them the most, that is during the first few months of your business, when you think nothing in this business is working for you, you’re struggling to recruit your first downline or find your first customer, they will be there behind you all the way. That is the most important part of the business.

Everything you need...

The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack in will.
Vince Lombardi

Sorry I haven’t written anything in a while. All of a sudden, things started to move from “Nothing to do” to “Some things to do” and finally to “I haven’t got enough time” in the space of a week. Now it seems I have to squeeze time to be able to write this post. Not to worry. I’m not going to compromise on my writing. I will still try to provide you with as much detail about the business as possible.

Coming back to topic of the factors that will make a good multilevel marketing program, the third and final component is support. Support comes in 2 forms, one is from the company, and the other one is from your team.

Support from the company is crucial. You need this support in order to grow. I’ve seen a lot of MLM programs right here in Malaysia dwindle down just because the support from the company is lacking. When we talk about support, we’re not just saying that the company has to support their distributors with products, but a whole range of other things.

Materials are one of the most important tools for a distributor. The company needs to provide sufficient materials for the distributor to approach and recruit more distributors. Apart from that, the company must also provide training and also a place where distributors can meet with potential recruits or customers.

The company itself must have a solid background. One of the problems with a lot of local MLM companies is that they don’t have much of a background. Their foundation isn’t strong and when their products do not move as fast as they expect, the company dies.

4Life Research has 10 years of solid experience in the industry. They were formed in 1998 and in 2003, they were recognized by Inc 500 as one of the fastest growing companies in the world. They have now expanded to 22 countries around the world and they are still growing. They currently have a monthly turnover of about USD 4.5 million a month.

Another area of support every distributor needs is from his or her team.

This support is in 2 different forms, one is training and the other one is moral support. A lot of people who join an MLM business will not have much experience (Although there are those with too much experience). They need to be trained and the team members, especially their uplines, will have to provide this training.

Platinum Networkers is one such team. They provide training on the products, the rewards plan, approaching prospects, talking to them and answering their queries. This is all essential training for every new distributor.

Another thing that Platinum Networkers provide is moral support. Like any other business, MLM is not easy. It’s not difficult but without the right support it could be. Every distributor will go through times when they think that it’s impossible to do the business, especially at the start. Most MLM distributors, quit within the first 3 months. It is crucial for the team to provide moral support and encouragement during this time. Platinum Networkers does exactly that.

I guess that covers most of the things about the things any MLM business needs to have in order to succeed. These are the main reasons why I chose 4Life Research. It has a great product, one of the best rewards plan in the industry and also great support from both the company and the team I joined, Platinum Networkers.

P/s: Photos of training sessions will be posted soon. Have to get Cheanu's permission to take the photos first

A very rewarding business (Part 3)...

“The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.”
Earl of Beaconsfield

From now on, I’ve decided to start all new posts with an inspirational or motivational quote (That is until I get too lazy to search for more quotes). That’s what you see up there. A quote from the Earl of Beaconsfield (Do not ask who he is. I don’t know).

Continuing from the last 2 posts, this should be the final post in the series (Unless I run out of room towards the end). This post will explain to you the final two methods in which you could earn a nice income from the 4Life business. This post explains the bulk of the income, the “Generational Bonus”, and maybe, if I have room at the end, the "Power Pool".

Generational Bonus

The “Generational Bonus” could potentially make up the bulk of your income. Basically, this is the income you generate from the consumption of the 4Life products by the distributors that you recruit and the ones that they recruit. How much income you receive depends on how many LPs your distributors earn.

I’ll give you an example somewhere further down. For now, let me just explain how you earn from here. For your first level downline (distributors recruited directly underneath you), every month you earn 2% of their LP. For your second level downline (distributors recruited by you first level downline), you earn 25% of their LP. You can also earn from downline further below. The following chart shows you how you can earn from them.

Come to think of it, maybe I won’t give you an example. It’s a bit complicated. Just check out the chart below and use that as a guideline.

Power Pool Bonus

To me, this is how you can almost double your monthly income. If you recruit 3 new distributors in one month, and these 3 distributors maintain their LP the following month, in the 3^rd month you will receive 3% of the global sales.

Now, I don’t know how much the global sales figures are and I have no idea how many distributors qualify for this every month. I was told, it could amount to the same amount as your monthly income effectively doubling your income for the month. But then since you only receive it 2 months after you recruit the 3 distributors. So effectively, it doesn’t double your income.

Okay. That’s about all the methods you have to earn an income. I guess the most important question that everyone wants answered is, “Can I do it?” As for me, I’ve decided to give it a try. I’ve decided to set a target of 2 new distributors per month. Based on my calculations, if I recruit 2 new distributors per month, and all my downline do the same, I could be earning around RM 4000.00 in 5 months time. That’s my target.

P/S: I was going to post the charts, but then I just realized they're copyrighted. So I have to get permission from Platinum Networkers to do that first. I'll do that soon. Promise

A very rewarding business (Part 2)...

Seems to me that there’s so much I want to write about the 4Life Transfer Factors business. I want to write about the products, the business plan, the rewards, the training, and I also want to write about my strategy and my targets and also how I’m getting along. I just can’t seem to find the time. When I do find some time to write, I prefer, as much as possible, stick to the topic I was discussing and try not to veer too far away from the topic of the previous post. Hopefully I’ll get around to writing about all these when I’ve got a lot of free time.

Before I get too far into this topic, I’d like to apologize for a mistake I made in the earlier post – “A very rewarding business (Part 1)...”. The mistake that I made was saying that LP meant Leadership Points. It actually means Life Points. I have, upon discovering my mistake, amended that post. My apologies once again for that mistake.

Preferred Customers

In my last post, i explained the first method where you can earn an income from this business which is through the Rapid Rewards. Just to remind you, Rapid Rewards is the amount you earn when you recruit a new distributor which is 25% of the new distributors LP when they sign up.

Another method you can earn income is when you sign up a Preferred Customer. A Preferred Customer is someone who just wants to consume the products but does not want to do the business. You can sign them up as a Preferred Customer, and once they are a Preferred Customer, they can purchase products directly from 4Life Research. You will earn 25% of the LP for the products purchased by Preferred Customers.

As of today, I have yet to sign up a Preferred Customer, so I can’t really give you an example of this. In fact, I haven’t even signed up a Distributor either, but then this is my 2^nd week in this business and I do have high hopes for it.

Personal LP Rebate

As a distributor, you are supposed to maintain a minimum of 100LP every month. There are times when you LP will exceed this minimum. When your own personal LP exceeds the minimum, you will receive a 25% rebate from the total LP that exceeded the minimum.

As an example, when I joined the business, I bought a package which earned me 115LP. As a distributor, I am required to maintain a minimum of 100LP every month. I will get a rebate for any amount of LP that exceeds the minimum, in my case 15LP. So next month, I should be receiving 25% of my excess LP which is equivalent to USD 4.75 which is roughly RM 12.00 (Once again, just an estimation. Don’t have a calculator)

Continued in the next post (again)

Sorry, since the next method in which you receive income from this business could potentially be a very long post, I’ve decided to cut this one short.

A very rewarding business...

My internet connection sucks. As of a week ago, I am 6 months overdue on my internet connection bill. Not that it’s too expensive or I couldn’t afford to pay or anything. Just that every time I’m about to pay, something else comes up. A burst pipe in the bathroom, a seized radiator fan and air-conditioning fan, a burst tyre, kids school fees, and a bunch of other problems keeps cropping up. I have to get around to settling my internet connection bill soon.

Since I haven’t got any broadband connection, I’ve got to rely on my GPRS connection (if anyone knows what that means, please enlighten me). All I know is that it is so slow and highly unreliable. I’ve been getting booted out too often recently. I definitely have to sort out my broadband connection bill soon.

The Rewards

At this moment, I am not connected to the internet. This post is being written in Microsoft Word and will be copied to my blog once I’ve got my connection back. In the mean time, I do what I have to do to keep this blog going. Today’s post is about the Rewards Plan for those who decide to join the 4Life Research business. I would love to do the explanation in one post, but then it would be too long and I would probably lose your attention half way through. So I’ll start with the first method in which you can earn income from this business and see how things go at the end.

Life Points (LP)

Before I go on, let me explain about LP. Every time you buy a product from 4Life Research, you earn LP. How much LP you earn depends on the product you buy. For example, buying 1 bottle of 4Life TF Plus Advanced Formula (which is what I first bought) earns you 50 LP. The same goes for 4Life TF RioVida, But if you were to buy 4Life TF Advanced Formula instead, you would only earn 35 LP. 4Life TF Renewall earns you 16 LP and other products would earn you different amounts of LP too.

Becoming a Distributor

In order to become a distributor, you need to purchase products which would earn you a minimum of 100LP together with the “Compass Kit” (I think I already explained what this is in a previous post. Not sure which one though). In order to attract more distributors, 4Life Research has offered different packages for potential distributors to buy which results in massive savings. For example, when I signed up, I bought a package which consisted of 3 bottles of 4Life TF Plus which is worth RM 696.00 and the “Compass Kit” all for a very low price of RM 615.00 (Mentioned this before too). This package earned me a total of 115 LP

There are other packages available. If you’re interested, feel free to send me an email and I can send you more information on the packages.

Rapid Rewards

Now that I’ve explained what LP is and how you can become a distributor, I guess I should move on to the rewards of being a distributor. Like any other Multilevel Marketing Program, you earn a commission every time you sign up a new distributor. I’m not sure about some of the other programs, but with 4Life Research, you earn 25% of the Leadership Points (LP) each time you sign up a new distributor.

As an example, I earned 115 LP when I signed up. So in recruiting me, my upline earned 25% of my LP which is equivalent to 28.75 LP. Each LP translates to USD 1.00. So my upline has earned USD 28.75 by recruiting me. The exchange rate used by 4Life Research in paying Malaysian distributors is RM 3.775 for every USD 1.00. Since I don’t have a calculator handy, and trying to calculate this amount using just brain power is so taxing, I’m just going to estimate the amount, It should be somewhere around RM 90.00 for each new distributor you sign up.

Continued in next post

Since this post has gone on a bit longer than I expected (mainly due to my rambling at the beginning), I’ll have to continue this in another post. In that post, I hope I can finish explaining to you about the next 2 methods you get to earn from this program which is Preferred Customer and Personal LP Payout.

What's happening to me???

Okay. The title is a bit misleading. I'm pretty sure that when you read the title, you'll be under the impression that something bad is happening to me and I have no idea what it is. In fact, good things are happening to me right now and I'm not entirely sure how. I have my suspicions, but like a good scientist (which I am not) would say, "No scientific evidence, it's all opinions". But heck, I don't care. As long as it's good.

You all know I've been taking 4Life TF Plus Advanced Formula for the last month or so. I thought before I move on to the compensation plan (Probably what all those who are interested in this business want to know more about), let me just tell you what I feel the product is doing to me (Once again, my opinion).

First of all, I get to sleep better at night. I used to lie awake in bed every night thinking about all my problems and my life (Someone who's BROKE like me has a lot of problems). I still think about my problems, but somehow, I get to sleep at night. Before I started taking 4Life TF Plus, I used to turn off the lights at 2.00 am hoping to get a good night sleep. Then I'd turn them on again half an hour later knowing that I wouldn't be able to sleep. I'd end up sleeping at 6.00 am or even 7.00 am and waking up at 1.00 or 2.00 in the afternoon feeling all tired and aching all over.

Well now, since taking 4Life TF Plus, I've been able to sleep better. At most, I'll fall asleep half an hour after I turn off the lights. No more switching them on again after that. In the morning, I feel much fresher, I feel like I'm more prepared to deal with my problems and that I'm thinking more clearly. I still have the same problems, but now I feel as if I'm more enthusiastic to face these problems and get them sorted out once and for all.

Another change that's happening to me is when I go for my weekend hill climbing trips at the Forest Reserve Institute of Malaysia here in Kuala Lumpur. There's 2 parts to the hill climbing track. The first section is a dirt track which has been cleared out. A car could easily pass through this track meaning although in some sections it's steep, it's not a difficult track to climb.

The second part is the challenge. It's the climb to the 1000 ft point. It's not a long climb. From the first section, the dirt track, it's only probably 400 ft, maybe less. But it's a very steep climb and it's a jungle track. I've only been up to the 1000 ft point 3 times. The first 2 times I was there, was way back in Spetember. It's not that I can't make it up there. It's just that every time I do, I'd end up with an aching body, especially my thighs and calves, for at least a couple of days.

The third time I went up there, I went with 2 of my friends Juliana and Alfie (The guy that took the photos). This at the end of December, 3 months after the last time I was up there. In fact, when i made the third climb, I had only been to on my weekend climb once since October. So I hadn't been doing any climbing for a more than 2 months.

By this time, I was already taking 4Life TF Plus. I had already taken it for 2 weeks. Since I hadn't been up there in a while, it was a struggle trying to get there. Juliana had some difficulty getting there too as she hadn't been to the gym in a while. We had to stop quite a number of times along the way. After we were done, all of us was pretty tired. I was expecting that I wouldn't be able to walk for at least 2 days which was more or less how I'd feel everytime I'd make the climb. So we all went home to rest.

I was shocked when I woke up the next day. I was all fine. I didn't have to struggle to get out of bed. My body felt fine, no aches at all. I could walk like I usually do, without any problems at all. Walking up and down stairs felt normal. I felt gooooodd.

I guess these are the two major improvements in my life after taking 4Life TF Plus. There might be other differences that I have yet to discover and I'm looking forward to finding out more about what 4Life TF Plus is doing to me. Some people might be sceptical about all this. But as for me, it's done a lot of good. I'm loving this.


P/s: Sorry I've had to recycle some of the photos. Running out of photos for this blog. Also my apologies because I have no photos of me sleeping.

Here we go....

Now that I've joined the business, I have to continue writing this blog. Don't really have much of a choice since this blog is supposed to help me promote the business. I guess the first thing that I should explain is, out of all the thousands of products out there, why did I chose 4Life Transfer Factors?

As I mentioned in an earlier post (Memory very bad right now. It was only a few posts ago and I already can't remember the title), I believe that for any multilevel marketing program to be successful, there are 3 key factors that you will have to consider. Product, rewards plan and support.
In any multilevel marketing program, the product is one of the most important factors which can determine the success of the program. Having a great rewards plan is good. But there's no point earning lots of money through the program if you can barely use the product. Eventually, those who join the program will stop buying the product and will leave the program.

So let's talk about the 4Life Transfer Factors product. What this product does is that it fortifies and balances your immune system (Mistake in earlier posting saying it boosts your immune system. My apologies). Your body's immune system is the number 1 defense against all kinds of health problems. When a bacteria or virus enters your body, the immune system will take action by attacking the bacteria or virus.

Having a balanced immune system is vital in being able to withstand most health problems. A weak immune system could lead to various infections and in some cases, cancer. But having an over active immune system would also lead to allergic reactions and in some severe cases, autoimmune problems.

So what does Transfer Factor do to fortify and balance your immune system. Well Transfer Factors provide your immune system with the knowledge and information required for the immune system to fight off various health problems. Our body already contains Transfer Factors which help our immune system fight off diseases. When the body is under attack from bacteria or viruses, transfer factor will identify the threat, i.e recognize the treat, respond towards the threat, then remember the nature of the threat and store this information for future reference.

What 4Life Transfer Factors does is to fortify the immune system. It provides the body with more Transfer Factors, which would then boost the ability of the body to fight off various diseases and health problems.

Another thing that 4Life Transfer Factors products does is it increases the effectiveness of Natural Killer cells (NK-Cells). NK-cells are a major component of the innate immune system. The innate immune system is the first line of defense in fighting against infections. In the body, the NK-cells play a major role in rejecting tumours and also cells infected by viruses. According to studies conducted in Japan, individuals with low NK-cell activity develop cancer at a faster rate compared to those with a higher NK-cell activity.

4Life Transfer Factors product increases the effectiveness of NK-cells. 4Life TF Plus Advanced Formula is 800% more more powerful in increasing the effectiveness of NK-cell compared to any other nutritional substance. It can increase the body's NK-cell effectiveness by a staggering 437%.

Now, I guess I've established the reason why I chose this product. 4Life Transfer Factors product is a scientific breakthrough. It balances and modulates your body immune system and it increases the effectiveness of the body's NK-cell effectiveness which targets tumour cells, cancer sells and infected cells. As I am a pretty heavy smoker, the effectiveness of NK-cells in my body is important as I have a higher risk of getting cancer. And since I have no plans to quit smoking soon, I guess i should beef up my body's defence against cancer while fortifying my immune system at the same time.

Finally....

As of today, I am officially a 4Life Transfer Factor distributor (I think that's what I'm called). I joined the 4Life business yesterday evening at 6.30 p.m. So as of the 6th January 2009, I've officially joined the 4Life Transfer Factor business.

Now that I've joined the business, let me tell you where my starting point is. I'm BROKE. As I have established earlier, I have no money. Hopefully, this business will help me alleviate this problem. Although I'm starting from a very helpless position (Starting any business requires capital), I do have high hopes for this business. I will do what I've always done before whenever I have had limited resources, use whatever resources that is available to me at that particular point.

Joining the business cost me RM 615.00, and for this amount of money, I got 3 bottles of 4Life TF Plus Advanced Formula and the "Compass Kit". As I mentioned before in an earlier post (Refer to "What I'm taking..."), the 4Life TF Plus Advanced Formula is one of the products that I'm already taking.

As for the "Compass Kit", it's a kit which comprises of a lot of information on the 4Life Transfer Factors product range and also on the business model. It comes complete with a product catalogue, brochures on the business and the lifestyle, the policies and procedures for the 4Life Transfer Factors business, the rewards plan and a step by step guide to succeed in the business. There a lot of other informational material contained in the "Compass Kit" which provides information about the products, the company and the business model. It also contains some video cds which I have yet to find out what they contain (Quite obvious I haven't gone through everything yet but I have opened the kit).

Now I have joined, I've got my "Compass Kit", I've got a couple of bottles of 4Life TF Plus Advanced Formula which I can distribute as samples to potential customers, I'm ready to start the business. But before I do that, Maybe I should attend a few meetings just to get to know more about the business and the products. There's one tonight which I guess I should attend. And now I think I should really start promoting this blog and the business.

Internet Marketing...

Internet Marketing or Network Marketing, took the concept of Multilevel Marketing one step further. Before the internet, the reach of multilevel marketing programs was limited to just your local area, or your state or in the case of a country as small as Malaysia, the entire country. Companies who wanted to venture on an international level would first have to establish an office in another country before recruiting their distributors.

Trying to make a sales or recruiting a new distributor involved a lot of hard work too. Distributors would have to do a lot of direct selling, door to door marketing and try to persuade the potential distributor to join the MLM program. That was the case when Amway started out back in the 70's. In fact, some of the direct selling practices are still being in use.


With the introduction of the internet MLM programs found it much easier to overcome the obstacles of direct selling. It became much easier to cross international borders. All these companies needed was a presence on the internet. Since venturing into internet marketing, a lot of distributors have found that they do not need to make direct sales. All they have to do is promote the product and the sales would be done through the internet.

Nowadays, to build a network marketing program is much easier. All that a company needs to launch a massive internet marketing campaign is to recruit some of the internets top network marketing specialists. These are people who are hugely successful in network marketing and have made millions from promoting other peoples product. Over the years, they have built huge networks consisiting of millions of people. Companies have found that this is the easiest and quickest way to promote a product on the internet.

So the biggest question here is can network marketing work for everyone? The simplest answer is it can. But it does involve a lot of work. Like any other merketing program, network marketing involves a lot of research, a lot of writing and also a lot of promoting. However, the beauty of network marketing is that you can do it from the comfort of your own home and at your own pace. You do not have to travel miles to get to an office at an unGodly hour. You do not have to sit idling in your car, while traveling at 5 mph through some of the worst traffic on the planet. And the most beautiful part of it, once everything is set up, it's all on autopilot. You don't have to do much work.

The MLM system...

I know I said I wasn't going to write anything until I joined the business. But then I thought since I already have this blog, I might as well write something. It might not even be related to the 4Life Transfer Factor business. It just might be my own personal thoughts.

Thus, that was what happened with the last post. I wrote that last week. I don't usually post anything that personal on any of my blogs. In fact, it took me a whole week before I decided to post that. I wasn't too sure if I wanted anyone to know my most intimate thoughts. But since I already had it written, and I didn't have anything else to say, I thought I'd just post it.

Now that that's over, I guess we can get back on track. By now you'd probably have guessed that I haven't joined the business yet. I have however attended one of their presentations. This presentation was by a group within the 4Life organisation called Platinum Networkers. They are mainly based in Malaysia but I think they will expand internationally pretty soon.

Platinum Networkers is led by Cheanu Chew, a veteran of network marketing. He's been with 4Life for about 3 years and and has been involved in network marketing for 7 years. He was formerly an accountant who just got sick of counting other people's money and making them rich. So he ventured into network marketing to make money for himself. I guess he's one of the top network marketers in Asia.

Most of the 4Life Transfer Factor business in Malaysia follows your standard multi level marketing model. This standard MLM model basically requires you to recruit people on your team. These people will then in turn recruit others to be under them, thus making your team a reverse christmas tree. Those who join the MLM progam, will be required to maintain a certain number of points every month. This is done by purchasing products from the company.

In order for you to earn commissions, you will have to recruit other people to join under you and these people will have to recruit more people under them. All these people who join under you will then have to maintain their points requirements and so will those who join under them. Only then will you earn commissions which is usually a percentage of the points accummulated by each team member (I'll explain in more detail when I explain the 4Life Transfer Factors business compensation plan).

This MLM system has made a lot of people a lot of money. The system works. The only problem most people have in this system is that they are required to do a lot of talking, they have to meet a lot of people, and in some cases, they even have to sell the products, i.e. direct selling, in order to succeed.

In my opnion, there are 3 important factors which make up a successful MLM system.

1. Any product can be sold using the MLM system, but having a good product is the biggest factor that will determine the success of the MLM system. People join MLM systems because of their potential earnings, but if the product promoted through the system does not meet their requirements, they will leave.
2. The compensation plan is also an important factor in determining the success of the system. People who join an MLM system would want a reasonable return within a specified time frame. If they do not get what they think is worth the effort they put into the system, then they will also leave the MLM system.
3. Finally, teamwork is also an important factor. In any MLM system, if people don't get the support they need to make the business work from their uplines or even their fellow teammates, they will leave the system too.

These 3 factors are very critical when it comes to deciding the fate of the MLM system. The success or failure of the MLM system rests on peoples opinion of the product, the compensation plan, and the support they receive from their upline, teammates and the company.

What Platinum Networkers has done is to take this system, and put it on the internet. So rather than the members having to do all the talking and the selling, the internet does it for them. This isn't a new development in the MLM industry. There are a lot of other products out there using the internet to promote their MLM system. But what's important is that this method works, and most of those who use this method doesn't really have to do much. Everything is automated. I'll explain how this works in another post.

As for now, suffice to say that the MLM system works. Millions of people out there are making a comfortable living through the MLM system. Most are earning a residual income from the system while holding on to a full time job. Some are earning from the MLM system from the comforts of their own home.

P/s: I hope Cheanu doesn't mind me using his photo. I hijacked it off his website www.cheanu.com