Amazingly, these parameters are still valid in the 2010 EcoQuest Hybrid Binary Plan!

Eight months later I switched from Amway to Shaklee and again set out to build a full-time career. I drove from Texas to Louisiana and Florida. I flew to California and started a group. In my local area I worked like a banshee, hosting 2 meetings every week at my home. I supported and trained my out-of-state groups by writing 20 letters per day on a manual typewriter. By using 4 sheets of onion skin paper and 4 layers of carbon paper, I produced 5 letters at a time. The bottom copies were hard to read, but I added handwritten notes, such as: "These 3 pages were written to Betty Jones who is 3 levels below you under Adams and Baker. Many of the suggestions apply to you and your other Dealers, too. Please dig as many ideas out of this letter as you can and pass them along."

Even with a very major commitment, I still needed a job. In Jan 1971, I went to a week-long life insurance sales school. Then, for a few months, I was an insurance salesman on a modest draw. Finally, in April 1971, I quit life insurance (having been the top salesman from my class for 3 consecutive months) and did Shaklee full-time. But that's not the whole story...

The whole truth is that my wife and I sold our home. I used the equity from that sale to keep me afloat for another year...until my Shaklee business was finally big enough to pay our bills. And mine wasn't an average Shaklee business, it was a record-setting business.

The EcoQuest of 2010 is far more lucrative than Amway or Shaklee were. The product line is better. The compensation plan is better. A person with the kind of drive and commitment I had in 1971 could, indeed, start full time and make it. But I still want my readers to be cautious.

It is very rare that a person goes into a multilevel marketing program

and is able to support himself from Day 1. It can be done in EcoQuest.

But usually there's more to the story.

And consider these examples: ê Shar Weinrauch made a lot of sales in the beginning. That's what I've heard. But if she made $75,000 in just a few months, imagine how much cash she had to come up with to fill those orders! It's nice that she and her husband were business owners. ê Kristin MacPherson is a modern era example. She focused on selling for 2 years, moving 10-20 machines a month and making up to $6,000 in income. But she was sweating bullets. How did you keep up with your inventory needs? "You roll your money over with great skill," she says. "I became an expert at juggling my credit card balances. I also cleaned offices 7 days a week, starting my days at 4:00 AM. So I wasn't truly a full-time EcoQuester." ê Did AJ Krause (our US record-holder for making Master Manager in 16 months) go into EcoQuest full-time? Yes, but his Shaklee bonus check was still helping for a couple of months. During those start-up months he was recruiting like a Whirling Dervish. He was setting up the multiple Legs that eventually took him to the top.

Let me put this in its proper perspective. An ambitious guy can envision EcoQuest as his full-time career from Day 1. That's called vision, and it makes sense. But only in an exceptional case should a newcomer tackle networking full-time. NOTE: Going full time with the 2010 Hybrid Binary Plan is far more possible than ever before. See the Monopoly page:

http://www.ecoquestintl.com/dlrdown/website_convention/CompPlan8.13.pdf

There is nothing wrong with having a job or business. It usually represents a source of prospects. I was still in the navy when I got into Amway, and my best recruit, Jim LaRue, was also a navy pilot. Jim's best recruit, Randy Gunnip, came from the navy. Nine months later I took that life insurance sales job to support my Shaklee start-up. From my insurance contacts I recruited Rick Baird and Wallace Cooper. See what I mean?

In EcoQuest I was living in my mother's home, and I was able to borrow some money from a friend. But those first 5 months were lean and tough. My first bonus check was $28, then $1,200, then $2,300, then $3,300. I was kiting checks like crazy to keep up with my expenses and monthly IRS payment. My rent payment to my mother had to wait, and my car repair charge went on her credit card.

Nowadays, some people are full time because they can't get a job. Whatever the case, the important thing is to build something strong and lasting. Many people make a big deal over the concept of "firing their boss" and going full-time. It can be made to sound glamorous, but there's nothing glamorous about putting your neck in a financial noose.

2.  Learn the importance of being qualified every week, not just once

3.  Learn how you can strengthen a leg by working deep

4.  Learn how you can build additional legs in width to make up for weak legs

5.  Learn the difference between the Enrollment Tree and the Placement Tree

Some of you want big checks but you've never mapped out a plan. If you are really serious, start mapping.

Sincerely,

The plan will require at least 3 sheets of paper.

1. Page 1 will show your understanding of the Enrollment Tree. All the people you personally recruit will be diagrammed from left to right across your first level. Where will those prospects come from? Have you studied, for example, the Spiral Notebook Plan? Do you understand that some of your people will work and some will not? Do you understand that some of your workers will be weak (80% will be weak workers; it's just a fact of life!), some will be medium (15%!), and some will be strong (5%)? You must map out your own best strategy for building Crystal 500 legs. Are you better off building strong ones by working in depth or a greater number of weak and medium legs by working wide?

2. Page 2 will show your understanding of the Placement Tree. What 2 names will be at the top of this Tree? Do you understand the strategies for building both legs? Do you understand that you need multiple strong people on each side? Do you understand the value of geographical diversity? How will different cities and states be reflected in your Placement Tree?

3. Page 3 is your summary and overall plan. What are your major goals? What will you do to set a good example? What products will you use in your home? How quickly will you be reaching the various benchmarks you have established? What prospecting schedule, work schedule, meeting schedule, etc. will you follow in order to meet your targets.

A math assignment is associated with this session. Assign realistic PV values to each Enrollment Tree leg. Don't go berserk and assume that everyone will do high volume (that's not the real world). Put in the numbers (numbers of recruits, first orders, autoshipments, retail sales) and estimate how much money your leaders will be making:

Can you change your ways in a matter of days?

You'll be amazed by the values that result from these calculations. This  exercise will take several hours to complete. But it will change your view of EcoQuest and enlarge your grasp of the marketing. You will see more clearly what role you can play in our company's future.

This is a hard skill to get people to do (teaching them to map out their future). Many people with great potential don't seem to see the value of mapping our their plan—and so they never do it. I hope this email will change some of these people.

Have a great weekend with your assignment!