People everywhere are fed up with the Rat Race. Theyre finally realising that, to be a winner, you have to be a bigger, sneakier, meaner rat.
Every network marketer knows that.
Every network marketer also knows that, done right, for the right reasons, network marketing is most peoples best hope for freedom, security and getting a LIFE.
Theres just one problem
How do you get their attention?
As usual, Kim Klaver (aka Ms Stud), delivers the answer in a way that anyone can use to get fast, measurable, profitable results.
This includes YOU.
REVIEW by John Counsel
Do You Have a Plan B?
Guide to an Alternative Career in Direct Sales and Network MarketingKim Klaver
I jumped at the invitation to review Kim Klaver's latest book for two very simple. sensible reasons which, in all fairness, you should know and understand before reading this review.
Reason #1: After more than five decades, it's become abundantly clear to me, from personal experience and observation, that women are generally more down to earth and practical than men. (Yes, I know that's an outrageous generalisation. But please... no attempts to reconstruct me. I'm impervious to ALL forms of emotional blackmail, but especially "political correctness".)
This is as true of network marketing as it is of anything else. How often have you heard something like this?
- Stage 1 (Start-up phase): "Oh, that? That's just HER little part time thing, you know? It gives her something to do."
Stage 2 (When her bonus cheques start to rival his pay cheques): "Oh, this? This is OUR business. I handle the recruiting and training and overall management. You know... the BUSINESS end. She takes care of the retailing."
Stage 3 (When the income allows him to "fire his boss"): "Yes sirree... you really ought to take a closer look at MY business. Just look at how successful I've become!"Want more evidence?
Take a look at the real differences between the men and women writers in network marketing (including me I'm quite happy to confess that I struggle to make my ideas and insights useable).
Overall, the women tend to be able to translate ideas into simple, practical systems you can put to work immediately. Classic examples, in addition to Kim Klaver, would be Jan Ruhe, Kelly Kalcheim and Renee Yarnell.
(By the way, this isn't meant to be some kind of patronising, backhanded compliment. Their practicality is built on a solid foundation of great ideas and a thorough grasp of the human condition. Us guys tend to be more focused on our ideas. Or, as my good friend, Dr Ian McLean, so aptly puts it, "we're in love with our 'Beautiful Stuff'." Tom "Big Al" Schreiter is the exception that springs most readily to mind he churns out more practical, useful ideas than any of the male writers I can think of. The exceptions prove the rule, as always. Heck even this long-winded introduction is ample proof of what I'm talking about!)
Reason #2: I am a BIG fan of Ms Stud, Kim's alter ego and one very savvy, street-smart operator. There are two things in particular that I admire about her...
- There's always intelligent, rational insight behind the words. She understand people and why and how they work. It's refreshing, especially in this era of "the Cult of Personality" in network marketing, where there's so many feathers and so little meat. So many new MLM companies have sprung up around "Super Stars" who bring nothing more to the table than their own charisma. They offer nothing new in the way of ideas.
- Kim has great style as well as great ideas. She can package her ideas in ways that anyone can understand and use. Fun, too!
In a nutshell, the problem with so many MLM writers is that the thing you remember most about their books and articles is WHO wrote them rather than WHAT they wrote. They write good stuff, but you can't really be sure, precisely, what it was they wrote a few weeks down the track. Yes, you remember the catchy book title. But you struggle to remember what it actually contained.
With Kim and Ms Stud, the first thing you remember is the quality and practicality of the ideas, then the clear recollection of who wrote it. They go hand-in-hand. Kim understands branding. REAL branding, not just branding hype.
This book is instantly recognisable as a Kim Klaver opus. So let's talk about the book, at last. :)
What it is
Put simply, this is the best tool I've seen yet for getting the attention of people stuck in ruts in dead-end jobs or businesses. It's provocative, intelligent, authoritative, credible, wide-ranging and highly readable. It's also laced with Kim's trademark humour and irreverent okay, sassy style.
What it does
It opens with all the subtlety of a pick axe through the forehead. It goes straight for the jugular. It's meant to rattle your prospect's supposedly-secure cage and it does so with such skill that it won't scare them off. It's a timely wake-up call that grabs their attention and raises their hopes (and eyebrows), all in a relaxed, friendly, conversational way that says without actually saying it out loud that their situation is so familiar, and so fixable, that they're going to wonder why it took them so long to get around to thinking about it.
How it does it
Through a total of seventeen short, breezy chapters, packed with interesting tidbits, ideas, information and insights, as well as intriguing case studies from "regular" business, Kim leads your prospect through a logical process that leaves them nowhere else to go but to the obvious conclusion: network marketing is their safest, smartest option for the future and that future should start right now!
Stepping back from the content and looking more closely at the way the book is put together and presented you begin to appreciate, even more, just how clever Kim Klaver really is.
There are two kinds of personal leverage: endowed and acquired.
The first one endowed you're born with. You either have it or you don't. If you don't, you can't do anything about it. You can't beg, borrow, steal or fake it. But it's not enough on its own, as I'll explain in a moment. Without the second kind, it's usually a total waste.
The second kind of personal leverage acquired is something you can learn. And if you can learn it, it can be taught. So it can be duplicated. And it will work without any endowed personal leverage. But not as well.
What am I talking about here?
Endowed Personal Leverage
I'm talking here about gifts, talents and abilities... those special qualities and attributes we're endowed with from birth, but which need to be identified and developed if they're to be of any real benefit.
Acquired Personal Leverage
I'm referring here to knowledge, attitudes and skills. Stuff that anyone can learn if they put their thought, desire and effort into it. All it takes is determination, dedication and discipline.
What's the real difference?
Think of it this way... imagine you have two children, both of whom are learning to play the violin. They both have the knowledge, attitude and skills required. But only one of them has the gift, talent and ability to become a virtuoso.
Which one would you rather listen to? (As a music-lover, not as a parent. Be honest!)
What sets Kim Klaver apart as a writer and mentor for network marketers is this: she combines BOTH forms of personal leverage into a potent blend that's so natural and unobtrusive that most people aren't even aware of it.
That's rare. Best of all, it's not so obvious that it overshadows the result.
The structure and the strategy she uses in this book are living examples of this powerful combination.
For example, this book could have concluded very effectively at the end of the second-last paragraph of chapter 12 (page 112). But it doesn't. Instead, Kim goes on to deliver another four chapters of practical information, based very obviously on her personal knowledge and experience of network marketing, that very neatly achieves exactly what she APPEARS to warn against in point 1 of chapter 14 (page 120)!
Is that a mistake?
Absolutely not. Let me explain...
She says in Chapter 14 ("People to Stay Away from When Choosing a Business"):
"You're on your own if you sign with anyone who says any of the following things to induce you to join with them.
"1. It's easy. Anyone can do it."
Yet chapters 13 through 17 are designed specifically to bring your prospect to four crucial conclusions, all of which are essential to ensuring that they're ready to join you...
1. "This is SAFE. There's little or no risk involved, of any kind."
2. "This is SIMPLE. Anyone could do this if they really wanted to. Even me!"
3. "I WANT to do this!"
4. "What do I have to DO?"
Did you note conclusion #2? (I highlighted it in red, just in case you missed it.)
Why would Kim go to so much effort more than one third of the entire content to lead your prospect to that conclusion, when she says to avoid anyone who tells you that?
This is a real test of your understanding of human behaviour, and will go a long way toward determining how successful you'll be as a true leader, so pay close attention here, okay?
First of all, SHE DIDN'T ACTUALLY SAY IT TO YOUR PROSPECT!
Nowhere in this book does it state that "this is so simple that anyone could do this, even you."
Why?
Because this is one of the four essential conclusions that YOUR PROSPECT has to make FOR THEMSELVES!
It's like someone saying to you "you can trust me!" As a rule, you wonder why they feel they have to say it and you DON'T trust them! (Right?)
It's one of those things that you only believe when they DON'T say it but they PROVE it by what they DO! (Actions reveal. Words can conceal.)
So Kim who very obviously understands this subtle, but vital, principle has invested heavily in doing just that. The entire book is designed, on the subliminal level, to lead your prospect to draw that conclusion FOR THEMSELVES.
There's another important difference here, too... "easy" is NOT the same as "simple". See if you can spot where they're used, and why.
I could go on for pages, but you get the message, I think. Kim Klaver is a whole lot brighter than most people realise even her fans.
For example, I could point out how most people don't want to have to read too much, but suspect a book that's too thin of not having real value. (Yeah... we're quirky, contrary characters, us humans.) And how Kim cleverly solves this dilemma with 176 pages of large, informal type, with plenty of white space on each page all of which makes it easy and enjoyable to read, but without taxing our concentration or endurance.
Like I said, I'm a HUGE fan of anyone with those kinds of smarts, who can also deliver the goods. :)
Best of all, it's not something you should worry about, because Kim's motives are entirely honourable. This, too, is borne out by what she DOES rather than by what she SAYS.
It may have dawned on you that I haven't written very much about the actual content of the book here. That's deliberate. I firmly believe you should buy this book and read it for yourself. Then use it, all the time. Work it to death. Buy several copies and lend them to your prospects. Encourage your team to do the same. The investment will pay lucrative dividends in bigger bonuses for all of you.
That Bottom line again... this book is the best tool I've yet seen for getting the attention of the people who are your genuine best prospects. It will qualify them like crazy, with no pain for you. You want a way to sort the live ones so that they're ready for what you have to offer? This book is it.
And that's another proof of how clever Kim Klaver really is... she can make her extraordinary combination of knowledge, attitudes, skills, gifts, talents, abilities and years of personal, practical experience at the coalface 100% duplicable for YOU, without you having to try to be Kim Klaver.
Ultimately, the most telling comment and the highest commendation I can make about this book is this... I'll be using it in my own businesses and recommending it to my own downline teams.
Grab it with both hands. You can order it here. (Bulk discounts available.)
ISBN 1 891493 10 8
Kim Klaver
Do You Have a Plan B?
Maxout Productions Inc, 2002
Order from:
Maxout Productions Inc
4741 Central Street #300
Kansas City
MO 64112 USA
Telephone 816 333 6619
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