J U LY / AU G U S T 2014
The Power of Partnership Exclusive interview with
Rich DeVos
Why Immigrants Do Well in Network Marketing Are You Ready for an Economic Winter? July/August 2014
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CONTENTS
PERSPECTIVES 5 LEADOFF
Partners Are Precious
Dr. Josephine Gross To accumulate lasting riches, put people first and learn to build true partnerships.
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SPECIAL SECTION Networking University Faculty Recommends
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WORDS OF WISDOM About Partnerships in Business Memorable quotes by John F. Kennedy, Nelson Mandela, Isaac Newton, and others.
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OUR TIMES – PART 1 What are the biggest benefits and caveats of partnerships? • Donna Johnson & Thomas Tidlund, Growing Together • Marian & Glenn Head, with Gail Hoag, Best Friends Forever • Kevin Barnum & Mike Dallaire, From Searching for Survivors to Growing Millionaires • Steven & Kori Burgess, Celebrate Team Work
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DEPARTMENT 16
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PEOPLE BUSINESS Welcome to America! Patrick Bet-David Do immigrants have a secret shortcut to success in network marketing? Be inspired to adopt some of their mindsets and apply them to your own business.
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CONTENTS
FEATURES 22
LEAD INTERVIEW The Power of Partnership Born in 1926 in Michigan, Richard DeVos is an American businessman who partnered with Jay Van Andel to found what would become the biggest direct selling company in history to date. “We were just two guys who wanted to have a business of our own,” says Rich. “We were two kids who were hungry for success and who wanted to give others the chance to be in business for themselves, too.” Last year Rich’s company did almost $12 billion in sales volume with a network of over three million distributors.
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MASTER NETWORKER Team Work Makes the Dream Work Travis and Summer Flaherty are network marketing professionals who are raising their five children in Phoenix, Arizona. They got married fourteen years ago and built a successful conventional business, but when a friend introduced them to network marketing, they immediately recognized it as a much better vehicle to reach their goals. Today Summer and Travis love to teach other couples how to become happy and productive partners in business and in life.
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MASTER NETWORKER Freedom of Choice Jay Coburn is a network marketing leader whose first exposure to the business happened thirty-five years ago. He fell in love with the personal development and the promise of residual income, so he built several companies on a part-time basis over the years. It wasn’t until he found a company and product he could fully get behind in 2003 that he jumped in with both feet and met with massive success. Jay currently lives in Las Vegas where he has a strong local team, and his organization has grown to 140,000 people worldwide.
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MASTER NETWORKER Partners in Success Kevin Marino and Bob Doran are business partners building one and the same distributorship. They don’t recommend this to anyone else, but love to share their story of how it worked so well for them. Their success is due to a shared entrepreneurial spirit, matching work ethic, complementary skill sets, and alignment in purpose. Working the business with their families is one of their greatest joys, along with greening the planet and helping others achieve their dreams.
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Networking Times
CONTENTS
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OUR TIMES – PART 2 What are the biggest benefits and caveats of partnerships? (Continued) • Paula Foeller & Mitch Spangler, Bridging Geographical Distance • Judy O’Higgins, Kristi Lee & Karen Palmer, Triple Strength • Tommy Wyatt, Do Network Marketing Partnerships Work? • Cathy & Bernie Dohmann, In Sickness and in Health • Andrew Warburton, White Page Love • Nattida & Chad Chong, You Got Me before “Hello”
DEPARTMENT 68 60
ECONOMIC TIMES Are You Ready for Winter? Harry S. Dent Jr. Demographic research indicates the next ten years could be challenging. To take control of your destiny, build your own business as your backup plan.
RESOURCES 66
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JUST FOR FUN Word Puzzle
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LIFETIME MEMBERS Description of Lifetime Loyalty Leaders program and members list.
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THE CLOSE Boundaries Create Harmony Sandra Bienkowski Bilbray First determine the lifestyle you want, then craft your business around that vision. When we are happy, we are more productive.
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Cofounders Dr. Josephine Gross Chris Gross Publisher Bob Proctor Publisher Emeritus Frank J. Keefer Founding Editor John Milton Fogg Consulting Editor John David Mann Editor in Chief Dr. Josephine Gross Design Editor Yan Z. Hughes Contributing Writers Kevin Barnum, Mike Dallaire, Patrick Bet-David, Sandra Bienkowski, Steven & Kori Burgess, Nattida & Chad Chong, Harry Dent, Cathy & Bernie Dohmann, Paula Foeller, Marian & Glenn Head, Gail Hoag, Donna Johnson, Kristi Lee, Curtis Lewsey, Judy O’Higgins, Karen Palmer, Thomas Tidlund, Andrew & Annette Warburton, Tommy Wyatt
Give the Gift of Education, the Gift that Keeps on Giving
Web Services Lyman Benton, Yan Z. Hughes Customer Service Matt Holsonback
Global Prosperity through a Philanthropic Economy® Gabriel Media Group, Inc. Chief Executive Officer Chris Gross Chief Operating Officer Reed Bilbray Chief Technology Officer Brad Morrison Controller Yan Teng Board of Directors Michael Cunningham, Chris Gross (Chairman), Dr. Josephine Gross, Glenn Head, Don Karn, Bob Proctor, George Shaw Networking Times is published six times a year by Gabriel Media Group, Inc. Copyright © 2014 Gabriel Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
www.networkingtimes.com Toll Free: 866-343-4005 Int’l: 818-727-2000 editors@networkingtimes.com 4
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LEAD INTERVIEW
The Power of Partnership A Conversation with
Rich DeVos
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By Dr. Josephine Gross
Networking Times
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orn in 1926 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Richard M. DeVos, Sr. is an American businessman who in 1959 partnered with Jay Van Andel to found what would become the biggest direct selling company in history to date. “We were just two guys from Ada, Michigan, who wanted to have a business of our own,” says Rich. “We were two kids (it still feels like that sometimes) who were hungry for success and who wanted to give others the chance to be in business for themselves, too.” Last year Rich’s company did almost $12 billion in sales volume with a network of over three million distributors. Rich and Jay’s global enterprise operates in over a hundred countries and has 21,000 employees worldwide. Rich has also owned professional sports franchises, including the Orlando Magic of the NBA. In 2012, Forbes magazine listed him as the sixtieth wealthiest person in the U.S. with an estimated net worth of $5 billion. At one point, he was one of the ten wealthiest Americans. A lifelong advocate of free enterprise, Rich is a charismatic speaker and author of several books including Compassionate Capitalism (1993), Hope from My Heart: Ten Lessons for Life (2000), and Ten Powerful Phrases for Positive People (2008). At the occasion of his newest release, Simply Rich, we asked Rich to share his reflections on partnerships in business and in life.—J.G.
You start your book with, “I’ve been a cheerleader most of my life.” You define cheerleading as encouraging others to have confidence and use their talents to follow their dreams. Is success really this simple?
something new or a challenge that appears too daunting. You can sit around and cry about what you perceive as a life stacked against you, or you can try. Just try, and if you fail, try again. In my experience, trying always beats crying.
My father always taught me to believe in the unlimited potential of individual drive and effort. Any time I’d say, “I can’t,” he’d stop me and say, “There’s no such word as can’t.” He impressed on me that “I can’t” is a self-defeating statement. “I can” is a statement of confidence and power. My father always reminded me, “You can do it!” Those words stuck with me and guided me for the rest of my life. I’ve used the same words to guide and inspire others all over the world. You can make excuses about not having the right education or experience, not coming from the right background, being afraid to attempt
You grew up in the Great Depression with 25 percent unemployment. Even your father lost his job so your family had to move in with his parents. Despite the hardships, you never lost hope or stopped dreaming. Do you see any parallels with our economic times?
July/August 2014
My father always encouraged me to go into business for myself. His experience was that he had no control over being employed or unemployed. His destiny was in the hands of his employer. More importantly, he convinced me that being a business owner was not an impossible dream.
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Team Work Makes the Dream Work
Summer and Travis Flaherty: Know Your Strengths and Have Faith By Dr. Josephine Gross
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Networking Times
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ravis and Summer Flaherty are network marketing professionals who are raising their five children in Phoenix, Arizona. They got married fourteen years ago and built a successful conventional business, but when a friend introduced them to network marketing, they immediately recognized it as a much better vehicle to reach their goals. For the first years of their network marketing career, Summer stayed home with the children while Travis was out building the business. They both agreed to temporarily give up spending time together because they saw the long-term payoff the business would provide for their family. “We had a mutual understanding of the sacrifice necessary to achieve the dream,” says Travis. “The dream is the connector between two people coming together to support each other in growing into their full potential. It starts with recognizing our differences and drawing on each others’ strengths.” “In order for the business to succeed, the support partner needs to feel included from the beginning,” Summer adds. “Even if one spouse is the primary business builder while the other spouse is the primary caretaker of the children, it’s important that both feel validated and edified in their function.” Today Summer and Travis love to teach other couples how to become happy and productive partners in business and in life.
Transition from Traditional Business When Summer and Travis Flaherty got married fifteen years ago, they sat down and discussed where they wanted to go in life. One important item they agreed upon was they wanted to create the freedom to do the things they wanted to do, rather than the things they had to do. “We realized early on that to accomplish this we would need to be entrepreneurs,” says Travis. “We hadn’t found network marketing yet, but we knew we were going to build our own business.” Travis and Summer started off in traditional business. “It was like being married to the business,” says Travis. “In order to succeed, you have to pay all your overhead and employees first.” The Flaherty’s did well financially, but when their friend and neighbor, Steve, introduced them to network marketing in 2005, they saw right away how it aligned better with their purpose and family mission, which was to create enriching life
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experiences with the people they love the most. Summer had some initial resistance and wondered if network marketing could really provide a solution for their family’s needs. Travis, on the other hand, came home from his first meeting knowing this was what he wanted to do. His only question was how to break the news to Summer and get her on board. “Our existing business had taken a downward turn at the time,” he says. “It took some belief and trust on Summer’s part because this new path was completely unknown to us.” Seeing how excited Travis was and the success Steve and his friends were having in network marketing gave Summer confidence. “I knew that when people do something they love and have a passion for, amazing things happen in their lives. I trusted this would be true for Travis. I wanted him to be happy doing what he loves, so I quickly overcame my fears.” Once the Flaherty’s decided to join the busi-
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MASTER NETWORKER
Freedom of Choice Jay Coburn: Success Follows Discipline By Dr. Josephine Gross
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ay Coburn is a network marketing leader whose first exposure to the business happened thirty-five years ago. He fell in love with the personal development, the fun and excitement, and the promise of residual income, so he built several companies on a part-time basis over the years. It wasn’t until he found a company and product he could fully get behind in 2003 that he jumped in with both feet. Originally from California, Jay currently lives in Las Vegas where he has a strong local team, and his organization has grown to 140,000 people worldwide. Because of his efforts Jay directly and indirectly helped create over twenty-one millionaires in his organization. Jay remembers one of his mentors in the early days teaching him an important lesson. He said, “If you treat your business like a hobby, it will cost you money. If you treat it like a million-dollar business, it will pay you like a million-dollar owner. What do
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you want to do?” When Jay confirmed his choice to build a million-dollar business, his mentor continued, “Here’s what you have to do: read every book, listen to every tape, attend every local meeting, regional, and national event. Get to know other companies and other compensation plans. Know your competition. When you do that, you will separate yourself from the crowd. You will become an expert people will naturally be attracted to.” Jay said, “Consider it done.” Today Jay warns people against the lottery ticket mentality, emphasizing that success requires discipline. “Most people think discipline means spanking” he says, “but in reality it comes from the word disciple, which means student or follower. If you become a student of the profession, if you follow a system and learn to do the income-producing activities, you will create results.
Networking Networking Times Times
First Introduction One day in 1976 Jay and his friend were walking home from church and stopped at a convenience store to pick up some snacks and drinks. When they came out, Jay asked his friend, “Where are you going?” He said, “I’m going to a secret money-making meeting.” Jay said, “I want to go!” His friend said, “No, you can’t.” Jay said, “What?” “You can’t come,” his friend insisted. “I have to go. Talk to you later.” “A secret money-making meeting…,” Jay thought. “What’s that all about?” A week went by and again they hooked up after church. Jay asked, “What are you doing?” He and his friend used to do things together after church, like fishing, hunting, and working on cars. His friend said, “We’re havng a secret moneymaking meeting.” Jay said, “Okay, I want to go.” When his friend said he couldn’t come, Jay asked, “What do you mean I can’t?” His friend said, “You have to be invited.” “What are you talking about?” Jay asked, but his friend said he had to go and left again. The next week after church Jay told his friend, “Look, I want to come to your meeting. What are you guys doing?” His friend looked at Jay and said, “You want to come? Okay then.” He took Jay to someone’s home where a presenter talked about products and drew circles on a board. At the end of the meeting, Jay’s friend asked, “What do you think?” Jay said, “Sign me up!” Just twenty years old, Jay was a journeyman
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carpenter in industrial construction and naturally excited about starting a business, even though he was getting paid $ 20 an hour because he was very good at his job. Jay remained focused on his job while building the business part time. What grew his excitement was the personal development he received through the Tape of the Week program, the Book of the Month club, and listening to the different success stories. He built the business for almost three years, until he and his wife decided that the financial payoff wasn’t worth the time they put into it. “I loved my company but we weren’t making the money we were told we would make at a certain level,” Jay says. “Instead of me drawing circles Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights, and my wife running all over the place delivering product, I could work as a carpenter one Saturday a month and get paid time and a half. This brought in as much money in one day as I was making in my home-based business all month.” Jay stopped building the business, but kept enjoying the friendships, partnerships, and personal growth. “I fell in love with the profession of network marketing,” he says, “but I took a break from it to put my full focus back into construction, which was my bread and butter.”
Owning Businesses A couple of years later Jay went through a difficult divorce and lost everything. A few weeks later, Jay received a call from his father who lived in Fairbanks, Alaska. “Why don’t you come up here?” he said. “Sell your place, start a new life. I can put you to work immediately.” Not knowing what else to do, Jay moved to Alaska. While staying with his dad, he reconnected with a local friend who told him about a couple of carpenters he knew who wanted to start a
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MASTER NETWORKER
Partners in Success Kevin Marino and Bob Doran: Leaving Our Mark on the Universe By Dr. Josephine Gross
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Networking Networking Times Times
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evin Marino and Bob Doran are business partners building one and the same distributorship. They don’t recommend this to anyone else, but love to share their story of how it worked so well for them. Their success is due to a shared entrepreneurial spirit, matching work ethic, complementary skill sets, and alignment in purpose. An entrepreneur all his life, Kevin Marino built numerous businesses, including four bars and restaurants, as well as a jewelry manufacturing and wholesale business. In 2008, his world collapsed with the real estate meltdown and an emotionally and financially draining divorce. Kevin was refereeing three high school sports teams when he found his current company and teamed up with Bob. Bob Doran enjoyed starting and working his magazine business, but the daily grind, financial concerns, and responsibility for employees took their toll. Crushed under the heavy overhead and risky nature of owning a publishing company, he decided to look at other income opportunities, like energy deregulation. Today Kevin and Bob lead a team of over 70,000 customers and distributors in all fifty states. Kevin lives in Connecticut with his wife Diana. Bob lives in Pennsylvania with his wife Lisa, son Bob Jr., and daughter Kayla. Working the business with their families is one of their greatest joys, along with greening the planet and helping others achieve their dreams.—J.G.
What was your earliest introduction to was fifteen for my uncle’s cable company. Since I seemed entrepreneurial, someone thought it’d be network marketing? Kevin: In 1990 when I was twenty-five a gentleman brought me to a local meeting where a presenter talked about satellite dishes. As I listened, I thought how cool it would be if we could have these little satellite dishes on our houses and get all the sports stations. I also thought, “This is something people would really like,” so I joined the company. I bought a satellite dish and never installed it on my roof, because I was living in a condo and couldn’t put it up. Bob: My first experience was when I was seventeen. I was invited to a “party.” I’ve always been business oriented since a very young age: had a paper route, sold cable TV when I
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a good idea to invite me to a network marketing meeting under the disguise that it was a party. When I got there, the whiteboard popped out from behind the curtain. At that point I was too young to participate, but I liked the leverage concept. Combined with residual income, I thought it was brilliant. It wasn’t until my late twenties that I dipped my toe in again, and that’s where I met Kevin in the satellite company. Kevin: Bob, the funny part is, now that you mention it, when I was nineteen my roommate in college held a network marketing meeting at our house. I looked at it and said, “That’s really cool,” but I was in school at the time. I met Bob up here in Connecticut as he was traveling up from Philly. We both got involved with the satellite company because one of the founders was a big gun who had been featured in SUCCESS
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JUST FOR FUN WORD FIND — What did you learn from this issue? Words may be found horizontally, vertically, diagonally, forwards, and backwards (answer key back inside cover).
1. Immigrants form a tight-knit ________. 2. When people hear “discipline,” they think of spanking. In reality it comes from the word disciple, which means ________. 3. Jay Coburn believes by 2020 one out of four people in the world will be running a _______ business. 4. Having distinct boundaries helps couples work together in ________. 5. First determine the _______ you want, then craft your business around that vision. 6. In Think and Grow Rich _______, Sharon Lechter studies female leaders of the past and interviews women who are successful today, so as to prepare young women for success tomorrow. 7. Leadership is an activity in which to engage rather than a position into which you are _______. 8. “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”—Marcus _______ . 9. Rich DeVos partnered with Jay _______ to found what would become the biggest direct selling company in history. 10. Rich and Jay’s first product was a concentrated _______ cleaner developed by a scientist in Ohio. 11. Today Doug DeVos and Steve Van Andel oversee daily operations of the company their _______ founded, leading a diverse global management team that supports a growing network of _______ in over 100 countries. 12. Many network marketing leaders feel a debt of _______ to Rich DeVos who gave them their first vision and education about network marketing. 13. Many network marketing leaders consider Rich DeVos the _______ of network marketing. 14. Summer Flaherty says in order for a couple’s business to succeed, the support partner needs to feel validated and _______ in her/ his function. 15. According to Harry Dent, the economy has four seasons: a spring boom, a summer inflationary _______, a fall bubble boom, and a winter downturn with a “debt detox.” 16. “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of _______.”—Isaac Newton
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