Lawrence and his wife Debbie walked into my office back in early 2000. They were a handsome couple in their mid-50s. They had 4 beautiful children, a large home, and both earned a combined income of $500,000 a year. He was an attorney, she was doctor.
However, for all intents and purposes, they were also broke.

During my many years as a financial planner, I ran into the Lawrence and Debbie's of world more often than you might think. From the outside it looked like they had it all. Money, prestige, a large home, nice cars, etc. But in truth, they had no real nest egg. Nothing set aside for retirement. At least, not enough to continue their current lifestyle.

Had they simply put away 10 - 15 Percent of their Net Income into a good index mutual fund when they first started working, they would have had over 2 million dollars saved up.

Now what does this have to do with your Networking enterprise?

I've told many families to invest in mutual funds, mostly because they did not have the desire or time to learn how to invest in real estate or individual stocks.

Mutual funds were originally designed to be long-term investments. Find a few good funds, dollar-cost-average into them, and in 25-40 years you would have a large nest egg. Enough to retire on.

Yet today, many "experts" are advising that this "buy and hold" approach to mutual fund investing doesn't work. Yet, time and time again long-term studies have proven otherwise.

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Your Network Market^ing enterprise is just like that. It is your mutual fund where a bunch of people get together and pool their resources. They pool their money, time, expertise, and effort for that thing called "growing residual income."

Just like a mutual fund, it takes consistency and TIME, before you begin to see results. Seriously, your first year in networking is about planting seeds, learning, and refining your marketing approach. It's not about who can bring in 10 people this month.

Yet, by taking this approach, it won't take you 25-40 years. You won't have to work 30-40 years before you retire. Your Network Market^ing Mutual Fund (NMMF) should only take a fraction of that time frame.

A common question that I get asked is, "Paul, how long will it take me to earn $10,000 a month?".

This is always difficult to answer because this depends on a myriad of factors:

* How much time you have to invest * HOW that time is spent * The kind of marketing system(s) you are using * How you are using the phone, if at all * What primary / secondary / etc. programs you are working * The compensation plan (is it fair and equitable?) * The proper mindset * Level of commitment * A sound and effective strategy to combat apathy, frustration, and rejection * Having a business plan * Effective tax planning * Supporting and training for your new partners

While there are people who have done this in a year, that is NOT the norm. Yet there are people out there who will make you think it is.

Hogwash.

Your average person might be able to dedicate 10 hours of focused effort on their business. Your average person has about $150 a month to spend on their networking business. Your average person takes about 3 months to bring in their first representative or customer.

Just based on all these averages, it would take an average of 7 to 10 years to build a 10,000 a month income stream. Warning: These are simply averages.

Your average person also quits in less than 10 months. By simply staying with one good, honest program and being consistent, you will build a substantial NMMF. You won't be average. In fact, you will be part of the 3% that actually stay with one program longer than one year.

Unless you have a lot of start up capital, are friends with all the major Internet Marketers, or have a HUGE opt-in list, your NMMF is going to take TIME and nothing but time to build.

By simply understanding that, adopting a long-term mindset, you WILL forge ahead.

So just like Lawrence and Debbie, there are a lot of Networkers out there that have a flashy website, excellent webcopy, and maybe they really are earning 5 figures a month. They seem to have it all. But because they violate the Laws of Business, that income disappears.

You see them starting another "new deal" or promoting the "newest, hottest" thing. They have to. They need to. Otherwise they'd go broke.

Just by staying the course, you'll be the one earning 5 figures a month - permanently.

Paul Polanco is a former financial planner and small business consultant turned financial strategist for home-based business owners. He has helped hundreds of people build a solid foundation to ensure their success. He is also an active networker, building two growing organizations.