Tag Archives: Canada

IBO’s Making A Difference

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Just came across this blog post by the Amway One By One blog around how much money was raised this year by the Easter Seals Drop Zone in Canada.  $25,000 was raised which helps support children and families dealing with disabilities.  Amway has been involved with The Drop Zone events since they started and over the last seven years it’s IBO’s have raised over $400,000 dollars to this great charity.  I know each year we will continue to raise more and this is just the start of one of my dreams to raise larger amounts for great charities such as this.

Check out the post here – http://blogs.amway.com/onebyone/2011/11/09/taking-a-leap-of-faith-for-easter-seals-canada/

Debt Free Sooner?

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DebtFreeI came across this article as a re-tweet from someone on my twitter feed and thought it was a little ray of sunshine this weekend since my last blog post on people living paycheque to paycheque as it wasn’t very positive news.

The article from the Edmonton Journal states that “Albertans expect to be among the youngest to be debt free”.  That’s good news and maybe that means some people are starting to get it?  There has been some question as to what “debt free” means however this article somewhat says it to the point where people have successfully paid down all of their debt, which we’ve done. “Being debt-free is a long-term financial goal for many Canadians, and this poll suggests Albertans are optimistically looking ahead to the stage of life they will be in when they successfully paid down all of their debt,” said Christina Kramer, executive vice-president of retail distribution and channel strategy for the CIBC”

So in those terms I’ll agree that we are debt free despite those who say we are not.  Really it doesn’t matter what others think to be honest.  Outside of us renting we don’t owe any bank or credit organization any money.  That’s a very freeing feeling to be consumer debt free. 

I’m glad to see others are starting to think they will be debt free younger, that’s very positive news. Have a great Sunday.

Alternative Income Earning Streams

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Last week the Direct Selling News published an article focusing on Canada and how it stacks up to the Direct Selling Industry.  It’s no surprise to anyone that reads this blog that we have our own business that is powered by the Amway Business Opportunity and we choose to utilize the World Wide Dreambuilders training system that helps us build our business. Amway is in what’s called the Direct Selling Industry and this article focus’s on that industry and the impact and going on’s in Canada.  It’s also what’s given my wife the choice of if she wants to work or not (which she chooses not to) and lastly with the help of WWDB given us the insight and mentorship on how to become debt free.

0811_DSNcoverMAG003You can check out the full article here – O Canada! – A Look Inside Our Northern Neighbour’s Direct Selling World

There are some pretty neat facts that I’ll re-purpose here from the site:

  • Over 900,000 Canadians are associated with the direct selling industry.
  • The Canada DSA represents 48 companies with sales revenue of over $1 billion annually. (* Side Note – Amway did $1 billion in sales in the month of June)
  • The direct selling industry accounts for more than 16 percent of non-store retail sales in Canada.
  • 91 percent of Canadian direct sellers are women.
  • Canada’s direct selling organizations donate nearly $8 million to charities annually.

Canada is vastly growing in this industry and has in the last 5 years grown 11.2%.  Alberta and British Columbia continue to lead Canada in this industry and sales and I can say without question that is directly related to the growth of Amway in our area.  That’s unfounded but after hearing what Jeff Johnson from Amway Canada said to our leaders last week, I can put two and two together.

So why is this type of industry taking off?  People are looking for other ways to make money.  With articles like this published today by CTV – CIBC poll finds 72% of Canadians are in debt. people are looking at ways to reduce debt or get ahead just a little bit.  This opportunity and industry allows for that. 

There is another reason why others are looking at this and that’s for an additional hobby out there and maybe not necessarily the money.  That’s quite alright as well, that’s the beauty of this industry as there is a fit for everyone.  We have a lot of friends who are in many different Direct Selling opportunities and that’s great.

business-of-the-21st-cover1There are more and more third party credibility resources now backing Direct Selling and opportunities like ours.  Robert Kiyosaki for one is a big proponent of Network Marketing and if he could start all over again he’d do this type of industry.  Lastly we’ve got Frank Luntz and John Maxwell who came to our Spring Leadership back in April who are big supporters of the Amway Business Opportunity and World Wide Dreambuilders.

While my blog is specifically about my experiences surrounding World Wide Dreambuilders (WWDB) I’m excited to hear news like this that this industry isn’t just a rinky dink one.  It’s growing whether people want to believe it or not.  Lastly if you’ve ever had a bad experience with any Direct Selling company, including Amway, remember you had a bad experience with a person, not the company.  As always make sure you know who your dealing with as not everyone is as honest or trusting as you may think, as sad as that is.

Follow other bloggers for this year’s Summer Blogging Challenge here:

Zita of Ignite Strategic Solutions, Cliff of Peer Pressure Works, Tammy of Tam I Am, Peter of Crazy Wookie Cookies, Chad of The Daily Grind, Vlad of Analog Coast, Robb of Blogging Life, Kim of Nature Baby Bloggings, Liam of ln The Now, Natasha of Natural Urban Mamas, Earl of My Name is Earl (J. Woods), Brad of Kick Me Out Soon

Also follow this on twitter with the “Official” hash tags #SBC #SummerBloggingChallenge

Moving Forward

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MovingForwardAfter attending the Duncan Family Reunion this weekend I know what we need to do in order to secure my freedom and give my family what they deserve, a full time dad.  I won’t lie, these major functions definitely have a motivational component to them and you know what? There isn’t anything wrong with that.  What’s the other option?  They bring some broke person who’s in debt up to his neck to motivate us?  They bring a divorced couple on stage to motivate us to have a great marriage? LOL umm no thanks.

Yeah, there is some motivation, who cares, sometimes people need some motivation and I’m fine with that.  To be honest I really really needed this function and needed the pick up as do a lot of people.  Life can get in the way and sometimes take you off track from whatever goals you have and its awesome to see how World Wide has strategically placed their functions to get things back on track.

Along with the motivational components, I wrote down 6 pages of notes and tidbits that I’ll take back to my wife and also use myself.  As my wife says you never know where your going to get that nugget and this weekend I got a bunch of nuggets to apply directly to our marriage and also our business.  It’s not always about your business, sometimes you’ll get tidbits for your marriage, for your family or even for your finances.  That’s what’s great about the World Wide Dreambuilders system, they stand on traditional values and hold those above all.  For those who are not close to it and only see it superficially, won’t know what I’m talking about. 

It was really cool this weekend to see the HUGE Canadian movement that is exploding.  New Silvers, New Platinum’s, new Rubies, new Double Eagle Rubies, new Founders Sapphires, new Founders Double Eagle Rubies (Founders Ruby is the hardest pin to reach in Amway by the way, harder than Diamond and that’s our Sponsors!), new Emeralds, and new Founders Emeralds.  To say Canada is exploding would be an understatement.  This is just one of the reasons why we’ve secured our very own major function in Edmonton next year, Spring Leadership 2012 will be in Edmonton! What’s funny is that people from the US kept asking myself and other leaders in the Canadian organizations what makes us different, why are we growing so fast.  The answer is simple, we are ALL-IN and don’t compromise.  We pay the price and because of that the prize is the growth and huge successes we are having.  It’s nothing hard, just simple success principals.  As they say a rising tide raises all ships! New Canadian Diamonds are coming soon!

Anyway it’s been a great weekend and I cannot wait to head home first thing early tomorrow morning to see my wife and son.  It was a tough weekend being away from them but they understand the reason for being here and I understand what is needed to move our business forward and we will move forward between now and Free Enterprise Day’s in November. 

Canadians Looking for a Business

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EntrepreneurshipThe latest RBC Canadian consumer outlook states that 1 in 5 Canadians are thinking about starting their own business in the next 5 years.  To be honest I’m not surprised by this news article and the mentality of people these days.  People are looking for other opportunities outside of their full time jobs that hardly pay them enough.  Without question I hear it almost every day that people complain about not enough money, have bills to pay, not enough time in a day, want to spend more time with my family, I’m working two jobs just to make it, and it goes on and on and on.  Don’t believe me? Start opening your ears and you’ll hear it as well.

So out of this article what’s the biggest challenge to starting a business, getting enough money to start or expand.  28% of people said this was a concern.  It also says that 14% of people worry about getting clients and others feel it would take to long to turn a profit.  To be honest those numbers are pretty low when it comes to concerns and shouldn’t stop people from exploring the potential to reach whatever goals and dreams they have.

I just happen to know of a business opportunity that’s got a pretty low cost to running a business and know a few people who have been successful in helping others reach those types of goals and dreams.  Woah, low and behold that opportunity is the Amway business opportunity.  Surprised?  If you’ve been reading this blog you shouldn’t be, if your new maybe you are then.  What other business can you start that doesn’t require a loan at the bank of some business grant from the government?  Not very many, in fact I don’t know any outside of this opportunity.

Our business is backed by an amazing company that has been around for over 50 years and is continually growing in revenue year after year.  So if your worried Amway is going to pack it in with the reception, you better give your head a shake.  It’s not going anywhere but up.

We’ve got great brands such as Nutrilite and Artistry that are tops when compared to the competitors and are products that people use every single day month after month, so clients are not hard to find, at least for us anyway.  Our business is based on helping others succeed first before we do and coaching & mentoring people through the business as many who start don’t know how to run a business.  I know the government sure isn’t mentoring you through a business that’s for sure.

Anyway the thing is people are looking for opportunity outside of what they are doing and that’s what entrepreneurship is cool. You are given that freedom to build however large of a company you want with little roadblocks and restrictions, and because you run a business your entitled to some pretty substantial tax benefits as well.  I’m not going to sit here and say you have to build this business, but this business does work and compared to other start-ups is pretty darn cheap to get into and has mentorship like no other with World Wide Dreambuilders.

Check out the full article here - http://money.canoe.ca/money/business/canada/archives/2011/05/20110525-075228.html