As a business owner, I'm always amazed at how many opinions people have about networking.

Opinions that are backed with absolutely no substance, no research and no "bloody"  understanding at all.

You would literally be amazed at how people’s opinions are so polarized by what is such a fundamentally solid business model.  A model now taught in Universities and colleges across the planet.

In fact, if you do your home work, you’ll see that Network Marketing, or Direct Selling or Multi-Level Marketing has taken a massive about face in the last 10 years.

Industry figures show a 91% growth, more than USD$100 billion a year globally and, investors such as Warren Buffet and Richard Branson owning companies that use these marketing methods.

Yet, “so called” consumer advocates, pathetically weak investment advisors and every day people who have literally no experience, have done no research and have no grounds to be even thinking of making comment are doing you a disservice by possibly turning you away from a model that has proven to help millions create extra income.

As Jim Rohn puts it so well, you go to work during the day to pay the bills and at night to build your wealth.  Then you ask why Robert Kiyosaki calls it the “perfect business” and even wrote a whole book about it titled, “The Business for People who like Helping People.”

Then we go to noted economist Paul Zane Pilzer who has two books on the subject and you start to see that those who bother to educate themselves find that this industry is huge and full of amazing growth companies.

Here’s how it really works …

You’re a new company and you don’t have the tens or hundreds of millions of dollars needed to advertise, stock and sell your products through retail channels.  In reality, just the advertising budget alone kills most companies. Look at Big Kev.

So, the next best form of marketing is word of mouth.  And, if you want word of mouth to work, you have to have both a great product and the ability to pay the people who spread the most word.

That my friends, in simplest terms, is word of mouth or network marketing.

You pay people to spread the word.  Now, many will call it pyramid marketing.  Again, do your research, this is just not factual.  In a pyramid, you buy directly from the person above you who marks up the product (if there is one) and then you have to mark it up to the next person.  For many good reasons it’s illegal.

On the flip side, in Network Marketing, everyone buys directly from the main company, and everyone pays the same price.  Then, the company rewards those that spread the most word with the most compensation.

And, why do people get so upset and emotional over this … ?

Simple, it’s like any other business, if you do nothing you get nothing.  If you do a lot, you get a lot.  Some people join, do very little and wonder why it didn’t work for them.  They then, to justify their experience, state that networking doesn’t work.  It couldn’t possibly have been them.

Well, the same could be said for going into your own business, the same for investing in the stock market, or property for that matter.  Let’s be real, in life if you do nothing, you get nothing, if you do a lot, you get a lot …

If it seems I’m mad, you better believe it. If someone needs to stand up and be an advocate for this industry then let it be me. I am sick and tired of the Australian tall poppy rubbish. It has got to stop.

This industry has the ability to in a fairly short space of years help the average person create an extra $1,000 a month for a very small investment of money and a reasonable investment of time.  Something I’d love to see the people who knock it show you how to do.  All I want you to do, it do the research, don’t let these morons impress you with their attacks, let the real information speak for itself.

Go to www.networkingtimes.com and read as much as you can, get some books, watch some of the DVD’s.

Whatever you do, if you are in networking or thinking about getting in, listen to people who have done it, look to people who have achieved and then, judge for yourself the difference between informed and ignorant.

This article is reprinted courtesy of My Business magazine, one of the leading business publications in Australia.

You know almost every big business started small, in fact many of them part time from home.

And yet, so many small companies fail to ever become more than a job and a wage for the owner. They fail to become true businesses and remain forever a BUSY-ness for the owner.

And to be blunt, there’s a reason most never grow.  You see there’s a reason your first business is the hardest one.  It’s because you have so much to learn.  Not only do you have to run the company, grow it and finance it, you have to learn as you go.  It’s a great challenge, one of the greatest.

But, let’s be honest, if it were easy, everyone would do it.  The challenge is only up to those of us with true entrepreneurial spirit …

So, let’s examine how to take any small business and make it big …

Here’s my true definition of a business, a “Commercial, Profitable, Enterprise that Works, Without Me …”

That’s right, the whole aim of the game is to get it to a stage where it works, so you don’t have to.

Here’s how you need to break down the definition …

Step 1 … A Commercial Enterprise … here’s where you get the basics right.  It’s vital to build a big company that you have the ability to deliver your products and services with high quality, great service and consistent productivity of your people.  Three main areas you need to work on … money, delivery and productivity.   Money is all about knowing your numbers and knowing you are making a profit on every sale.  Delivery is all about making sure every one of your customers is served consistently and with high quality and great service.  And productivity, about getting the most from yourself and your people.  This is the first stage of business growth and one many never bother to work through.  If you want to grow it, take these first steps …

Step 2 … A commercial Profitable enterprise … Here’s where you build revenues and capitalize on the profitability you built in step 1.  There are 4 areas you will need to build upon.  You will over time build the systems and strategies you have for Lead Generation, Converting Leads into Sales, Repeat Transactions and your Average Dollar Sale.  Building our business beyond a small company will need you to learn and build in these areas.  Over the next few issues of this magazine I will write articles on each one.

Step 3 … A commercial profitable enterprise, That Works … Here’s where you have to build systems, systems that run the company.  As you document, record, film and photograph how everything is done in your company you take it from a business that is dependant on good people to one that is dependant on good systems.  Add to good systems, good people and you end up with a great business that now works …

Step 4 … A commercial, profitable enterprise that works, Without ME … This is all about building a team.  If you want the company to run without you, then you have to build a team and a leader to take your place.

Step 5 … Growth … Get everything you have done to work together in harmony, with Synergy and open multiple offices, shops or territories.  This is where you multiply and use the system you already have working again and again.

Step 6 … Freedom and Results … now it’s big and you can let your team build it, it’s been several years, probably 7 to 10 years of you worked hard and smart, but finally you have made your small business big …

I know this seems like a lot of work, read my books for more details, but it takes time and learning, stay with it, it will be worth it in the end.  Owning your own business is definitely a great challenge, but it truly is filled with great reward.

This article is reprinted courtesy of My Business magazine, one of the leading business publications in Australia.

Let's get to the facts ...

Facebook has more than 58% of all Social Media traffic or as I call it, Interactive Database traffic ... and it's growing just like any business owner would want it to.

Twitter has less than 2% and falling ... that doesn't accurately reflect Twitter's real growth but percentage decline ...

Myspace is dying at a rapid rate of knots ...

WHY ...

Let's go back to E-Bay ...

E-bay showed you how you could make money using it's system ...so we all signed up and used E-bay ...

Facebook allows us to find and create customers, it allows charities to raise funds, as well as allowing friends to communicate and meet each other ...

Twitter helps us grow our business, LinkedIN helps us grow our business ...

The benefits here are why companies hire people to sit all day and work on Facebook, Twitter and so on ...

As for MySpace ... if they could find a way to help business people make money, then I tell you, MySpace would have it's fortunes turn around pretty dang quick ...

Think of it this way ... business is the engine room of your customers, no-one will spend as much money with Myspace and business people, now maybe the music industry is a good  place to do that, but going after iTunes, Rhapsody, Zune and other music sites and systems that are firmly ingrained would be like saying I want to beat uTube when they already have such a massive lead ...

Something new MySpace, something new ...

You know I know many business owners are struggling with deciding to use Social Media, some are even attending workshops and paying many thousands of dollars to learn this ...

Brutally honest and most of you know I am, you can learn Facebook, Blogging, LinkedIN, Twitter and YouTUBE pretty easily with just a few days work and about 20 to 30 minutes a day ...

If you have been wavering, then get to it.  It's a great way to build a reputation for your profession, to build a library of video testimonials, to build relationships with your customers and team, to even reconnect or connect with personal friends ...

Almost every site now has enough training online to teach you how to make the most of it ...

Some tips for those of you online already ...

1.  Keep a balance, about half business and half personal ...

2.  Provoke thoughts and comments ... even use great quotes ...

3.  Reach out and comment or "talk" to people online, make comments as often as possible ...

4. A picture is worth a thousand words ...

All the Best ... Brad

PS.  Be careful to check in often and watch what people say on your page or on your files etc, sometimes people are simply out to use you to sell to your database or worse, rip you off ...