Robert has told you quite a bit about network marketing and the many ways
it can create great value for you. I want to tell you about one more: It is a powerful
business for women.
When you look at the basic statistical profile of the network marketing
community, one of the first things you notice is also one of the most remarkable: It
is populated by more than four times as many women as men.
You heard me right. According to the Direct Selling Association, of the fifteen
million people in the United States who are in network marketing, about 88 percent
are female. And while they do not provide a breakdown by gender of the more than
sixty-two million people in the business worldwide, the proportions on a global scale
are probably close to the same as in the States.
Why? Historically, one reason is that many households have started their
network marketing businesses as part-time ventures, and for families where the man
is the primary breadwinner, that has often meant it was the woman who engaged in
the part-time, stay-at-home business.
A parallel factor is the fact that it is a home-based business, which means that
building a network marketing business is uniquely compatible with the demands of
raising a family.
But I think it goes beyond these practical and historical circumstances.
Network marketing is, at its core, a relationship business. As Robert has explained,
it’s not a business that revolves around making sales; it is a business that revolves around
making connections. It’s about establishing relationships, coaching and training, and
teaching and mentoring. The actual day-to-day work of building a network is less like
carving out a sales territory than it is like building a community.
And the supporting, coaching, nurturing relationship of a network marketing
sponsor to her growing network of apprentice networkers is the kind of relationship
and interaction in which women excel.
Of course, none of this means that men can’t be successful in network marketing,
too. There are millions of men who are proving that every day. But the bottom line
of the business is simply this: It is a business model where women excel.
What Women Need
And it’s a good thing, too, because today’s women really need to learn how to
build their own wealth.
A young journalist approached me a few years ago and said, with obvious
passion, “We have to make women aware that they have to take charge of their
money. They cannot depend on someone else to do that for them!”
As we talked together, I soon learned where her passion was coming from.
It turned out her 54-year-old mother had recently moved in with her after going
through a divorce that had left her with basically nothing. She was now supporting
her mother as well as herself.
That was enough of a wake-up call in itself, but what had really shaken her up
was when she took a close look at her finances to see what resources she had to support
the two of them. She realized that if her steady paycheck were for any reason to stop
suddenly, the only thing she had to fall back on was about $7,000 in savings.
For a household of two, $7,000 wouldn’t go very far. She and her mom were
both a few thin paychecks away from poverty and even homelessness. No wonder she
was passionate about the subject of women taking control of their finances!
Fortunately for me, I am not in this young woman’s position. Robert and I are
financially set for the rest of our lives, regardless of what the economy does.
But even though I don’t have that sword hanging over my head, I am just as
passionately driven as this young woman was on the subject of women creating their
own financial independence.
The “how-to’s” of network marketing are no different for women as they are
for men. However, the driving reasons why women build their network marketing
businesses are often very different from those of their male counterparts.
We know that we lead very different lives than our mothers did, but you may
be surprised at just how different. Here are six reasons why women need to get into
this game called wealth-building.
1) The Statistics
The statistics about women and money are startling. The following are U.S.
statistics, yet for other countries throughout the world, the statistics are very similar
or are trending in the same direction.
In the United States:
• 47 percent of women over the age of 50 are single; in other words, they are
financially responsible for themselves.
• Women’s retirement income is less than that of men because as the primary
caretaker for the home, a woman is away from the work force an average
of 14.7 years, as compared to 1.6 years for men. Add this fact to the lower
salaries women still receive, and you have retirement benefits that are only
about one-quarter those of men. (National Center for Women and Retirement
Research—NCWRR)
• Women are expected to live an average of seven to ten years longer than men
(Ann Letteeresee, June 12, 2000), which means they must provide for those extra
years. However, married women who are baby boomers can expect to outlive
their husbands by fifteen to twenty years, on average.
• Of the elderly living in poverty, three out of four are women. (Morningstar
Fund Investor)
• Approximately seven out of ten women will at some time live in poverty.
What do these statistics tell us? That more and more women are not educated
or prepared to take care of themselves financially, especially as they grow older.
We’ve spent our entire lives taking care of our families, but have no ability to care
for ourselves in this vital way.
2) Avoiding Dependency
You don’t get into a marriage expecting a divorce. You don’t begin a new job
expecting to be laid off. But it happens, and today with more and more frequency.
Women, if you are depending on a husband, a boss, or anyone else for your financial
future, think twice. They may simply not be there. Too often, we may not even realize
just how dependent we are until we’re faced with our own personal wake-up call.
3) No Glass Ceiling
Along with all the challenges facing the corporate employee in this post-2008
world, women still face one additional, huge obstacle: the infamous “glass ceiling.”
Yes, it’s true, even today: Because of our gender, women can move only so far up
the corporate ladder. And for women 50 or older, trying to re-enter the world of
corporate employment? You don’t even want to know.
In the world of network marketing, the very idea of a glass ceiling for women is
ludicrous. Your network marketing company doesn’t care if you’re female or male,
black or white, a college grad or a high-school dropout. It only cares about how
diligently and effectively you build your network—and as I pointed out, there are
four times as many women as there are men doing exactly that.
The key is your skills, education, and experience. There are no limits and no
ceilings, glass or otherwise, for women in the world of network marketing.
4) No Limits on Income
Because of the glass ceiling and the still-present wage inequality between men and
women in the job market, a woman is often limited in the amount of income she can
make. Studies show that women with the same education and experience as their male
counterparts earn about seventy-four cents for every dollar their male peers earn.
But a network marketing business is fully scalable. Regardless of gender, in
network marketing, the size of the income stream you can generate by building your
network is without limit.
5) Increased Self-Esteem
Personally, I think this is one of the greatest benefits and rewards to a network
marketing business—and it is one of the strongest reasons women become involved in the
business. It’s not unusual for a woman’s self-esteem to be linked to her ability to provide
for herself. Being dependent on anyone for your financial life can lead to a reduced sense
of self-worth. You may do things you otherwise would not do if money were no issue.
I’ve seen women’s self-esteem soar once they know how to make it on their own
financially. And when a woman’s self-esteem rises, the relationships around her tend
to improve. Higher self-esteem leads to greater success, which ultimately leads to the
greatest gift of all—freedom.
6) Control of Your Time
When it comes to devoting energy to building genuine wealth, one major
impediment women often have far more than men is the simple matter of time. This
is especially true for mothers who spend many hours taking care of children. I hear
from many women, “After I come home from work, I have to get dinner ready, help
my kids with their homework, and clean up the dishes. By the time everyone’s in bed
and I have a free moment to myself, I’m exhausted!”
As a network marketer, you are in control of your time. This business is something
you can do part time or full time. It is something you can do from your home, on the
phone and computer, in the evenings, weekends, anytime, anywhere. It is a business
that can travel with you, that you can keep in your pocket, and that you can engage
in half-hour increments, if that’s what your schedule and circumstances dictate.
Wealth-Building Is a Necessity
These six reasons support why women so strongly need to learn how to build
their own wealth. The statistics prove how much times have changed for women and
point out that our need for real-life financial education is no longer a luxury; it’s a
necessity. Depending on someone else for your financial future is like rolling the dice.
The reward may be there in the end, but the risk is steep.
Glass ceilings and limits to income are what so many women have been fighting
against for ages. Both disappear in the world of network marketing. And then two
of the greatest gifts of all—a higher sense of self-worth and time to spend exactly as
you want—can be yours.
However, out of all these reasons I’ve just listed, I have no way of knowing
which speaks the most to you. You are not the “average woman”; you are you. And
the single most compelling reason for building your network marketing business is
one that only you can determine.
Create Your Wealth ... and Have Fun Doing It
Regardless of what that compelling reason is, you have to remember one more
thing when starting a network marketing business, and that is to have fun.
Yes, it’s great to think that you can earn an extra $100, $1,000, or even $10,000
a month, and that you can avoid dependency and have control of your time, but if
you are not having fun, it can quickly lead to that same rut many find themselves in
out in the corporate world. Simply put, you have to be passionate about what you
do; the lack of it will reflect in your bank account.
What’s the message here? Network Marketing companies offer a low-risk, highly
rewarding opportunity for any woman looking to take charge of her financial
future. I recommend it for stay-at-home moms looking to join the ranks of new
entrepreneurs, working women looking to supplement their paychecks, college
students hoping to earn a few extra dollars—any woman who wants to give herself
the opportunity to create wealth ... and have fun doing it.
Know What’s Important
On our very first date, Robert asked me what I wanted to do with my life. I told
him I wanted to run my own business someday. He said, “I can help you with that.”
Within a month, we had a business going together.
But he also started talking to me about larger things, too—about spirituality,
and asking me about my life’s purpose. This was in the 1980s, when people were
workaholics and proud of it. By the ’90s, people began taking a closer look at their
lives and asking some harder questions. But it was really after 9/11 that people started
saying, “Whoa, wait a minute. Why am I running around like a hamster on a wheel?
What am I doing with my life? Where is it all going?”
I hear women all the time say they are too busy to get involved in a part-time
home-based business. I tell them, “Here’s the key to making your business successful:
You have to look at your life, really look at it, and ask yourself, ‘What is it that is so
meaningful to me that I have to have it in my life?’ ”
What is important enough to you that you’ll make the time and devote the effort
to building a business that generates its own income, and then use that income to
build wealth that will take care of you for the rest of your life? Because if you don’t
identify what that is, it’s just not going to happen.
Freedom is different for everyone; success is different for everyone. It’s personal,
and it should be personal. Numbers are abstract; whether it’s five thousand dollars or
one million dollars, it doesn’t really mean anything until you give it the meaning it
has in your own life.
Early in our marriage, Robert and I were both passionately committed to being
in business for ourselves, to not having other people tell us what to do, and to being
in control of our own financial destinies. That was so important to us that we were
willing to put up with just about any hardship to make it happen.
And it took years—really, about ten years.
At times, the stress of having no income was enormous. We had all sorts of
friends who were telling us we were crazy, that we should just go get regular jobs with
regular paychecks, but that was what we absolutely did not want to do.
Finally we decided we had to do something. Robert began teaching some
courses. I went to a friend who had a clothing line and asked her to let me market her
clothes. I went to hair salons and set up little mini-boutiques. There was no paycheck
in it, no guarantees, only sales commissions—and in truth, I really made very little
in commissions. But it got me out there, doing something.
I learned that this is the essence of being an entrepreneur: You have to go out
there and make things happen. And the only way you are going to do that is if you
know what is really, truly important to you, and you realize that the only way you
are going to have that is to create it yourself.

Thanks for going through this article. Am Stanislaus Okeke. A lover of Robert Kiyosaki's works. If you need the complete book which part you have read above,kindly CONTACT ME using the below "Contact me" form.
Am a Network Marketer. Am building wealth with my team. We will appreciate if you join us today so that we network together. 08162199026 .Thanks.