"I think we understand the concept of going where the fishes are...... Its really an art to seek out these ponds."

These were the words from TY, a dear friend and fellow entrepreneur, pondering upon his latest project of marketing his nation-wide event, Friendathon.

And I cannot agree more with him: we have to know who we're looking for before we start selling our wares. You don't want to sell hairspray to a bald man. He's not going to take you seriously; or worse yet, he's going to think you're not taking him seriously. If he's got the size of Andre the Giant, better pray he's got a pretty even temper.

I remember a time when I was 18 years old, an engineering student in a Singaporean Polytechnic. I was involved in a multimedia project that was selected for showing in an exhibition. My team had spent months doing up the sounds, animations & visuals, and I was extremely pleased with what we've done.

Needless to say, I eagerly showed it off to everyone that walked by our exhibit booth. I didn't care what people thought, so long as they sat down, run through the program and told me how good they felt it was. It didn't occur to me how my "prospects" felt until at one time, I hastily ushered an elderly old woman to the booth, showed her all the functlons, all the bells and whistles my "baby" had. The lady gave me a kindly smile and said "Thank you, I'm sure its wonderful, young man, but I don't even know how to use a mouse."

Thinking back, If I were giving sales pitches then, I'd go hungry.

So we want to check out the right ponds for the right fishes. For his event, TY is looking for young people aged 18-27 to participate, to bring them together, expand their circle of friends, and basically hang out with guys and girls who share the same idea of fun. And what kind of ponds does he look into? Universities, young peoples' clubs, and even young working individuals. Is he looking into the right ponds? I don't really know, but I'm sure he is. (His website is www.friendathon.com )

On the other end of the stick, however, is that “the grass always looks greener on the other side”. In fact someone even extended it to “the grass always looks greener on the other side, but its just as hard to cut”. How true.

We may be in the right pond, with the right fishes, but the wrong responses. People keep saying “no”. You get frustrated and move to the pond 3km down the road and start fishing again.

But before we start packing up our bags for a new fishing spot, we want to check our bait – maybe its just the wrong bait for the right fishes! Imagine lugging your stuff some kilometers down to the next pond, only to get the same results. And after a little self-reflection you realize you were using the wrong bait! It could have saved you so much time and effort if you only changed your bait! :)

So what’s the moral of the story? Keep your eyes open to have the right pond, right fishes and right bait. But if you spend all day griping about the skinny sardines that keep coming to you, you may just miss the giant tuna thats lurking behind!

What better way to start a new entry with the fine teachings of multimillionaire and Network Marketing Guru, Eddy Tan. Eddy spoke to a high energy audience of 40 people for 2 hours at Toa Payoh HDB Hub, Singapore. And without a doubt, the audience was rolling in mirth at his satirical performance :)

Here are some insights I picked up from Eddy:

How Difficult Can it Be?
Every few years, millions of people compete against each other to represent their countries in the olympic games. And this is not a stroll in the park; these atheletes begin their training at a very young age, some as young as six years old. They go through tough, painful regimes to condition their bodies to perform at its peak; adhere to strict diets and schedules day after day after day, 6 days a week (or more!) Ooh, its tiring, its exhausting, and time after time, they keep wanting to give up. But NO! They cling on to their dreams; something is waiting for them at the end.

And finally, the Olympic Games begin. One or two out of the millions of atheletes are picked to represent their countries. These one or two lucky ones continue on their path to glory, while for millions of others at home, their story has comes to a halt. They are elated, YES! Another step closer to their dreams, and no way are they giving up now. Just a little bit more... a few more opponents to top! And after battling it out with the other contestants in the games, finally, FINALLY, they step on the pedestal, and begin to relish their few moments of fame and glory, with their tiny piece of Gold medal hanging around their neck.

All that years of effort for the few seconds of fame, and a little gold piece on their neck. And if you're young enough, you can start all over again.

Now, compare all that to business. While the Gold Medalist slogs for years jogging, running, sweating it out, Networkers (and other business men) just attend meetings in air conditioned rooms. Some don't even make it to the meetings! So which is more difficult; Winning the Olympics, or becoming a Network Marketing Millionaire? :)

We All Fail
But what makes the difference is that we keep on moving.
Its nothing to be ashamed of; everyone fails once in a while, even a big man like Eddy Tan; he's failed for more than 10 years in his Networking Life before succeeding!

Mike Tyson is a champion boxer. Did you think he became a champion by only punching people? More likely, he's gotten punched around alot on his way up too! Imagine a champion boxer who hasn't got punched himself in his life; and when he finally does, he just knocks out on one blow. What kind of Champion is that?

But when you fail enough, you will succeed.
When you get enough "No", you'll get closer to the "Yes". Thats the way it is, otherwise we're disregarding the Law of Averages. Its bound to happen.

Seriously though...
You really can't fail in [Network Marketing], among many other businesses.
Stick around long enough, and you'll eventually find the right people.
Heck, lets say you're a lousy recruiter for your business, and all your life, you only recruited one person serious hard-hitter into your organisation. Your time's up, and you pass on the business to your son.

And to make matters worse, your son is as bad a recruiter as you were, and he recruits only one other serious business builder into the business. And the same repeats for his own son. At the end of 3 generation, you've got yourself a multi-million dollar organisation. You did it! [Audience laughter]

Finally...
To really be rich, you've got to make money in advance.
If you make 4 months worth of pay at a go, you're on the right track.
If you make 1 month of pay at a time, you're in trouble. Because now, you're working to keep yourself afloat. That means you can't simply quit when you're tired of your job. Your family depends on it. And rest assured there will be many factors today that can put you out of a job.

You just have to make money in advance.

Eddy Tan is today the top earner in Unicity in South East Asia, and is also currently the first Unicity Presidential Diamond in the whole of SEA.

Often called the "Miracle Man", Eddy's rag-to-riches story has been widely shared by Business Associates everywhere. With around 20 years of experience in Network Marketing, Eddy is one of the leaders in the network marketing community in Malaysia.

He resides in Malaysia today.