Greetings!

I’m John Counsel, CEO of The Profit Clinic, but this is my personal blog, so I won’t be wearing that hat here. Instead, I’ll be talking about Fourth Generation™ principles and practices as they apply to network marketing in general and in companies and distributor organizations in particular.

No, I won’t be trashing or promoting specific companies here. I’ll be addressing specific principles and practices and highlighting the differences (and desirabilities — or otherwise) of FIRST Generation versus FOURTH Generation. (There are effectively NO Second or Third Generation companies and opportunities, but I’ll explain more about that later.)

I look forward to sharing ideas, insights and income-earning suggestions with you.

John Counsel
http://johncounsel.net

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My friend and colleague, Lou Abbott, author of MLM — The Whole Truth, created this video about binary compensation plans and why they’re not a plus for REAL network marketers. See if you agree with him or not…

I just read yet another MLM-related blog post that talks about how you should “edify your upline” when talking about them to your prospects. This seems to be a peculiarly-US interpretation of the verb “to edify” — or is it just peculiar to people in network marketing?

First clue: “to edify” someone does NOT mean to “glorify, extol, exalt, worship, revere, reverence, venerate, pay homage to, honour, adore, thank, give thanks to, laud, magnify, ennoble, elevate, dignify, enhance, augment, promote, praise, celebrate, lionize, acclaim, applaud, hail, glamourize, idealize, romanticize, enshrine, immortalize” or any similar expression.

Second clue: “to edify” actually means to “educate, instruct, teach, school, tutor, train, guide; enlighten, inform, cultivate, develop, improve, better, uplift, inspire” or similar.

Does that sound like something you’d try to do to your upline? Or that they’re likely to appreciate from you?

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Still around – and still illegal!

“Here’s the deal: You kick in $5,000 because you like to give gifts. You’re that kind of woman — generous, powerful, accomplished.

“You become part of an exclusive, by-invitation-only club with like-minded women. As a new member, you know your money will go to the woman at the club’s top level. But you’ll eventually work your way up to the top level and get money from people who come in after you. The problem is that to many people, it sounds like a pyramid scheme.”

In this article by ALAINE GRIFFIN, published in the Hartford Courant on July 16, 2011, and in other articles published by Nehra and Waak, attorneys specializing in MLM, in their newsletter Business Associate Advisory, published 26 July 2011, the seemingly perennial issue of gifting programs is explored in detail — and the usual conclusion drawn: they’re pyramid schemes and they’re illegal, despite what the promoters and participants claim.

Read the complete newsletter here…

A growing number of people have noticed that this blog has been idle since March 2011. So here’s a brief explanation of why I’ve been missing in action for so long, and what I’m doing in network marketing.

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Over the past couple of days the number of new user registrations for this blog (unverified, I might add) has skyrocketed for no apparent reason. There has been no promotional campaign, no controversial new posts (in fact, no new posts in weeks).

Nothing.

I can find no common thread linking these people. Nor can I find any other kind of reason, such as me joining a new social network, forum or other online community.

That usually tends to lead to one conclusion: someone with more time on their hands than sense has decided to play games, either to make mischief or for some more nefarious agenda. There has been such a steady barrage of new registrations around the clock that it seems clear that a script is involved. I thought of possible causes like the Blogger High Backlinks plug-in, but I disabled that weeks ago.

So I guess it becomes a waiting game, to see what happens next.

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