Many of you are lucky enough to know Bart Dangerfield as that ever helpful voice from our webinars. To offer even more to our GDI users, Bart was kind enough to share some advice one a common question.

The misconceptions about our industry continue to baffle me. In a world that’s been trained to “trade time for money” with 9-5 jobs, sometimes it’s difficult to get someone to see the benefits of building cooperative teams.

A few years ago when I was in business school, I was given the assignment to make a presentation about a controversial subject and take questions at the end. The most controversial subject I could think of would be discussing the benefits of multi-level compensation, since there were all kinds of misconceptions in my class about what I did.

At the end of my presentation, one of my classmates, a very cynical engineer, asked, “Let’s be honest … isn’t this just a pyramid scheme?” Perhaps you’ve heard this objection or concern a time or two before. Perhaps you’d be interested in my answer!

I simply said, “It depends on what you mean by a ‘pyramid.’ If you’re referring to an illegal ponzi scheme, then the answer is ‘no’ since we offer a real product that delivers real value for the money paid.”

Then I smiled and explained, “But if you’re referring to the structure of the organization, then yes, we are a pyramid; with one guy at the top … like a CEO … and expanding levels of others underneath him. And those who get in early make the most money. Is this the kind of pyramid you’re talking about?”

My point? The only difference between a network marketing model and the standard corporate structure of any business today is that YOU are your own CEO. You start at the top and build down, helping others do the same.

Don’t ever forget, treat your business like a business (with you as CEO) and you’ll earn “business income.” Treat it like a hobby, and you’ll earn “hobby income.” The choice is yours!

How do you respond to questions  like these?