After that summer I went on to get my bachelors in communications at a four year college. During that time I read multiple books on investing and entrepreneurship. I attended quite a few seminars so that I could learn about investing and business from those actively involved in it. I also started and managed my own investment portfolio and tried my luck at a few entrepreneurial projects. My best friend and I even went down to Florida to see if we could invest in some real estate, but duo to our lack of income we were unable to get a mortgage from the bank. By the time I graduated I had quite a bit of experience under my belt.
After a failed attempt at breaking into a professional career in radio, even though by that point I had interned for three different stations, I decided to continue my entrepreneurial education by getting a job in sales. I had read over and over that the number one skill you must have as an entrepreneur is the ability to sell. If you can't sell your product or service, than you can't make a profit. And if your business can't make a profit, than you go broke.
Another thing that I kept reading about was the benefits of starting a network marketing business and how it's the perfect business for the 21st century. This is due to the fact that you have the benefits of owning and growing your own business with far less risk than a traditional business. A network marketing business is reasonably affordable to start and has the potential to make you massive income over time. But like any business, it takes a lot of time and effort to get things moving and profitable. And since your job is to convince people to join your team or buy your product, it would probably help to have some sales experience.
So I did my job as a representative to get some real world sales experience, but kept my eyes open for opportunities in network marketing. The problem was that I could never find a company or product I cared about enough to start. I had been invited to an Amway event, but I could honestly care less about the products they were selling to people so I turned the guy down. They just didn't gel with me.
I ended up leaving my job due to the fact that I was basically going broke working for the company. I spent more in gas money driving around territories than what little I made on commissions. I soon jumped to another sales job. Unfortunately I was eventually fired because I was unable to meet my goals.
It really stunk because each of my sales bosses would tell me in training how I showed the potential to be the best salesman on their team. This was due to my fearless attitude when it came to approaching different prospects and being able to quickly build a rapport with them. However, my struggles were when it was time to close the deal. It was always that last objection that screwed things up for me. Worse, I could only sell one time to one person and would never be able to contact them again. So I could never capitalize on the brief relationship I developed with them by making repeat sales or getting referrals. Their wasn't any residual income attached to my sales either. I always had to start from scratch again each day.
After spending some months doing odd jobs to make money, I eventually landed a position as a bank teller. At that point I didn't think I'd ever enter the world of network marketing, but I was wrong thankfully.
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