Understanding The Real Cash Value Of A Downline by David Ledoux
Sunday, December 28th 2003
Don't you just love it when family visits for the holidays? You get to see
the ugly side of genetics and Mother Nature.
I think my cousin Jonathan might very well be the laziest human on the face
of the planet.
This morning, he was lying on the couch at 10 AM, eating a bag of dill pickle
potato chips, drinking a Coors Light and watching a Bow-Flex infomercial. He
grunted good morning and asked what I was up to.
I replied, "I'm sending a killer offer to my email list. I'm looking for
3-5 partners to work with in 2004 building our network marketing downline."
"Davey Boy, you work way too hard. Them pyramid things never last."
I noticed he didn't offer me a chip. Funny how the choices we make in life
create our reality. Jonathan has to leave today (aww, darn!) and drive back
home. He has to set his alarm clock for 6 AM and drive to a job in rush hour
traffic. His choice.
The real head scratcher is he's lying on a couch in my 3500 square foot
country estate on 11 acres. What we call our "cottage". He's seen me
grow from broke to NOT broke in less than a decade. In one of them little
"pyramid things". And yet he's never joined me...
He made me think of a few dozen people I met like him over the years. One of
them was a buddy of mine I call Bud Fox. He was an unemployed stockbroker at the
time. I sponsored him in December 1994 into my downline. He quit 4 months later,
but not until he had led me to a crazy Irish guy who also quit. But the Irish
guy sponsored a guy living on welfare in his mother's basement who also quit,
but not before he sponsored a guitar player in a rock band. The rocker sponsored
a blind lady before he quit. They all made excuses and said it would never work.
Anyhow, you get the idea. Bottom line is I found a leader about 50 levels in
depth in that leg.
Today that leg does nearly a half million dollars a year in sales. I figure I
have made about $5000 a month for over 8 years just off that leg. It's a little
tricky to value parts of a business, but at just ten times earnings, I would
probably sell JUST THAT ONE LEG for over $600,000!
It got me thinking. What is the real value of a leg in MLM? Even the little
ones have value.
Let's say you have a leg that is rock solid with about 50 loyal customers. It
doesn't grow much, but you make a steady $500 per month from that line. How do
you value it?
If you went to the bank for a solid investment-grade bond, you'd be very,
very happy with 6%. If you locked your $100,000 in for 10 years at 6%, you'd
make $6000 per year.... or $500 PER MONTH!
Hey, does that mean a little product-driven leg paying me just $500 per month
is worth $100,000? Possibly. If you subscribe to Kiyosaki's Rich Dad thinking,
then cash flow is KING!
How many little product-driven legs paying you just $500 per month do you
want to create next year knowing that each one is worth $100,000 in asset value?
We all have our own versions of Cousin Jonathan. Once I realized my job in
life was NOT to force him into MLM but to maintain a healthy family relationship
with him, it took the pressure off of me to convince him of anything.
Beliefs create reality. I hope you believe that next year will be your best
year ever!
I appreciate you!
David Ledoux
