I was reading a facebook post by a friend of mine who is involved in a network marketing company. Or as some people might like to call it, “a pyramid scheme.” I don’t buy into this pretense that there is a scheme. What I do believe is that if a company is offering you a chance to make money, then you need to put the work in to make it successful. The unsuccessful stories that I usually hear are from people who quit, didn’t want to do the work, or simply gave up trying to make the system work for them when it wasn’t a good fit to begin with. Many people often mistake the word simple for easy. Just because a system is simple, doesn’t mean it is necessarily easy.

In my friends post, she makes some great points about marketing to friends. Many small business owners and operators start off their endeavors trying to get the word out about their company by spreading the news to family and friends, and then trying to expand to secondary contacts, and so on. The confusing disconnect between this method is most people want you to do well, they just don’t want to be part of the reason you do well. I get it. It’s a tough sell when you are trying to get someone to switch from one mindset to another, and accept your services, products, or recommendations over what they might have been using for years.

However, the crux of the matter is, as my friend mentions, we have fallen into this pattern of believing that products in department stores, services by large well know companies, or recommendations by millionaires are to be trusted, but these same resources are to be disparaged when coming from a friend. The truth of the matter is, that this valuable resource is exactly where we should be turning for products, services, and recommendations. Our friends and family should be the first place we go. If we are going to spend the money anyway, why wouldn’t we give it to help the people we care about most?

I started a successful non-profit organization (DCA) for women’s ministry that is in it’s fourth year of operation (http://ascendconference.org), I have a successful writing and marketing company with exclusive clients, I am involved in a network marketing company (http://deannakane.arbonne.com), and I am soon launching my newest endeavor of executive virtual assistance (website almost completed). Aside from those four businesses that I am cultivating, I am launching a new ministry with a partner, and I am being recruited by a soon to launch non-profit in marine life research. I am a wealth of resource information, and will also be able to increase job prospects for the right people looking to be involved. I have started, cultivated, and completed many of these projects in my home office.

Myself, and people like me, work hard at establishing our reputations and work even harder at honing our skills to offer the best return on your investment. Trust that the people in your life want to help you, and in turn allow you to help them grow in the global workforce. They are here to serve a purpose that should not be discredited or disparaged just because they do it from the comforts of their home. Don’t subscribe to the notion that at startup home business is not valid, and discover that it might actually provide you with goods and services that improve your life as well as reduce the money you spend in acquiring them.