When I think of how my father worked late into the nights re-conditioning car alternators and making about $20 profit and how many times people have commented that such and such an alternator is still going sometimes up to 15 years later, it makes me wanna cry. The economic world now is a hotbed of profiteering schemes and I find myself lost in it as some sort of dinosaur. Most people today mistake sense of fair play for stupidity and I cannot work with this....I still (wrongly or rightly) believe that good money needs to be earned by good effort - God! how many times have we seen people come into big money real fast only to find that that money ends up having very little value ? Surely I am not the only one to have spotted this ?

Someone just give me something WORTH marketing and watch what happens... it's sort of like "use the biggest search engine in the world to aim the right product at the customers of the world's biggest industries"

GoodNight All[/QUOTE]



These are very astute and sensitive observations Lighthammer. A couple of things you said hit home. Behind every business are these two words:
service and intention. The world has become so impersonal, where debt servitude has cost people good relationships, broken up families, made people struggle to the breaking point, and ruined their health.

A long time ago, I discovered that where there was peace (whether it was a place, person, job or thing) that was where my home is. Striving for peace in my life and operating from that centre has taught me so much. Value (the respect or disrespect of it), just like how that Korean businessman appreciated his employees enough to deliver financial peace and wealth to their lives, is a choice that has consequences.

Let me share a part of my personal journey with you. Eight years ago, I lay dying (or so I thought). For 4 months I was flat on my back. I couldn’t go to the bank, pay the bills, cook, clean, do laundry, or even have the strength to talk on the phone with friends. I was slipping away. Death would be slow and thoughtful. I can assure you, when I lay there for 4 months, money, how much I made of it in my life, and material possessions were the last thing on my mind. Instead, I thought of everything I had accomplished and asked myself..what is the purpose of gaining all of this knowledge only to let it go unused? Other questions: had I done everything I wanted in my life; lived my passion; served others along the way; made someone else happy other than myself; shared my knowledge and personal experience with others to bring positive change to their lives. Miraculously, I survived. That was my zero point. I believe we all have zero points..daily, monthly, yearly. A zero point is where understanding meets experience at an apex...it’s the AH experience where the consequences of choice (execution of thought in action and their consequences/effects) become very clear. In brief, it is the raising of consciousness to a higher level of understanding. We need ALL experience to get us to the next level of understanding and perception.

If this seems abstract, forgive me. But once you dissolve into the white light and experience such unconditional love that you can’t hold onto, yet it permeates your very being (I am referring to a near death experience)...well, everything in life when you come back appears just too complicated.

If we kept our lives simple, and smelled the roses along the way, appreciated the little stuff, executed one kind act a day to someone, our focus would be on living in the present and serving people with humility and integrity. According to the famous French philosopher Albert Camus, Integrity has no need of rules. THAT is the rule I felt being in the white light. There is no judgement. When you see what people are posting, pro and con, then everyone is right according to their choices and what it is doing for their journeys here.

I can tell you one thing I have learned in my life. Never be afraid to explore and fail because you just don’t know where that failure is going to take you. A greater state of awareness is one such state. But we all can’t be in the same place absorbing the same concepts, effects of our choices, experiences and learning the exact same thing at once. Perception is what animates us, and creates the drama of being human. The perception in each of us is as unique as our journeys. That’s what makes humans so incredible! So dialogue on people.:-)

I defend EDC because it is my livelihood right. It is the main way I make money. When someone who knows little to nothing about what we do bashes our company, it hurts our business (which indirectly hurts the families we're supporting and so on, if you see where I'm going). I'm protecting the reputation of my business, just as any brick & mortar establishment protects their reputation. If no business ever cared about their reputation or the things being said by competition and naysayers that might turn potential customers away, they would be out of business faster than a race horse in heat (pardon the expression). The bottom line is, business owners protect their reputations and the reps of their business in order to stay in business. We don't do it because there is something underhanded going on, we do it to ensure we stay on top. It shows that we actually care enough to educate folks and provide the facts. Personally, I'd be worried about a program where none of the representatives come forward to set things straight. Would seem to me like no one gave a darn....

-PA27

Thank you for explanation about EDC gold.
I read all this thread I can see that there are different views
about EDC gold - positive and negative.

I also read in some forums and blogs, there are also real succesfull
stories and individuals failed stories that involved in this business.

Some comments I read said that EDC members will crash and compete
each others and will be a very saturated in one point.
Others said when you join under top income earner,you will under his shadow and people will join under him.
Any comments will be appreciated...

Hi NewbieLooking4Cash,

This is what I'm hearing and seeing with EDC. I've heard many argue that the market is saturated or will be very soon. Honestly, with the amount of adult users on the internet numbering in the millions, I don't see how. Now of course if we all choose to market in the same places, those places will become saturated. But that is where creativity (and offline marketing) come into play. I really feel like there is enough business out here for everyone (I mean just think about sites like Myspace, which many use for marketing. Myspace alone has over 178 million users, and over 80% of those are adults. And lets be realistic, we know that every single internet user doesn't have a Myspace account). I can't possibly run a team of 10,000 people, probably not even 1000 (not if you consider that 1000 need individual training and support. The point of working from home is to enjoy being at home, not to spend my days being bent over a desk and computer like the jobs I've worked in the past). I'm not so greedy that I'm going to keep going until I have way more than I can handle, and no one is succeeding but me (that's pretty low, in my opinion). So at some point, when we've done well and accomplished our goals, I'm going to bow out gracefully and hand the reigns over to other distributors and team members. Now in many forums, there are tons of EDC distributors hoping to get their names out there. They swarm like sharks at feeding time when someone new asks a questions or expresses interest. But the thing is, no one should be depending on just one place or method to help them make their money. I rather enjoy threads like this, with more of a conversational tone, instead of nothing but advertisements for who's the better sponsor or who has the better team. So with EDC or any business, it's important to vary your marketing methods and venues enough so that you spread yourself out, instead of flocking to the places that all of the competition flocks to.

Also, it's important to study your competition and they way they market. That way, you can develop a different strategy that will set you apart from the others. This was mentioned earlier on the thread. I've chosen to focus on promoting our products more so than the income opportunity. Most EDC distributors promote only the income opportunity, and only the highest level of $997, at that. There is more interest in my website and how I run my business because it's a new approach. You must always vary your marketing and operating methods to keep your business fresh. That's not just for EDC, that's for ANY business.

Now for your other concern. I don't want to step on any toes or take business away from anyone else, so let that be understood first. I am noticing a trend among many EDC members who aren't doing well. I've taken on a few (close to 40 at some point or other) as my "adoptees," because they saw that I'm having a moderate amount of success and wanted to know what I'm doing. The common thing with most of them seems to be that their sponsor is one of the top earners, and they are finding it hard or impossible to get in touch with that person. So when I say what I'm about to say, it isn't to bash anyone, just to show some key issues.

The top earners are busy folks. They probably receive hundreds of calls and emails a day from folks in this business. Unless they've hired someone to answer their calls and emails (which wouldn't make sense if they're supposed to be the ones doing the sponsoring), they can't possibly get to everyone in a timely manner, if at all. So the first thing to understand is that joining with a top earner means competing with hundreds of other members for their attention. Good luck...

Next is that many people have the perception that if they join under someone who's earning thousands a day, that they will too. Common sense tells me that just because someone else is successful doesn't mean I will be too. Especially if I have to compete just to get enough time for 1-on-1 training, or even to get a few questions answered. Now the other part of this thing with the top earners is their replicated sites. I understand that they're supposed to convert and do all the work for you, but I'm not a fan of them. The reason is because, first of all, there are hundreds of other distributors using the same replicated site to promote the same thing. That means I'm no longer an individual. Next, on the replicated sites of the top earners, it seems to be all about them. They're essentially the ones presenting the opportunity. It's their audios, their photos, their videos, their quotes and comments and it's their income their referring to. There is hardly anything about the actual sponsor, except a link to a contact page with the name, email address and phone number. There is nothing to help a visitor to the site get to know the sponsor they'll be joining with. In that respect, it's become a big ad for the top earner, not the actual sponsor. Back when I used one such site, I began to notice that folks would visit, but never sign-up, even for the free test drive. I even had some folks email me to ask was I the top earner on the video, or someone else because the names were different? Many explained to me that since the top earner being featured was doing so well and they didn't really know who I was, that they'd prefer to just join with him. One direct comment was, "...well if he's doing so well, why don't I just sign up with him?" Boy, what a slap in the face (and mind you, this is a site I was paying for on a monthly basis)!

So yes, when you choose to use the replicated site of a top earner, it's possible to be overshadowed by their reputation and image, which could cause you to lose customers. And it's also possible that you won't necessarily succeed from joining with a top earner, because you could end up spending more time competing for their attention that working your business. My advice to remedy these issues is to first, join with a sponsor who will have the time and availability to give you the training and support you'll need. If you're a self-starter and feel you don't need much training, then perhaps try joining with a top earner. It could be that you can ride the wave of popularity from being associated with them. Just beware that this might not be the case for you. Second, get your OWN, personalized website. Interested customers and prospects want to be able to connect with you personally. They want to know what YOUR success rate is, not someone else's. They want to get to know you so that they can have a bit of trust in you, they want to hear about your experiences. And most importantly, they want to know that YOU are the expert who can help them achieve whatever their goals are, not someone else. It doesn't have to be done by a web design guru, and you don't have to spend thousands of dollars on fancy flash and such. Just make it personal. Some of your photos, your experiences, offer some proof of your own success and not some other guy's. That is the way you succeed, not just with EDC but with any business. Present yourself as the expert, and provide proof of your own success. When you do this, more success is bound to follow!

And last, I feel that whether a person succeeds of fails is really up to them. EDC is just the tool. It's not the cause of your problems, it didn't make you go into debt, it didn't make you quit your job too early. Our success or failure is directly dependent upon our actions. In my opinion, when you put forth real effort, understand that everything is trial and error (and adapt your methods and habits when necessary), believe in what you're doing and stay focused on your goals, it's hard to fail. Most of the "failure" I've heard of has come when folks didn't really believe in what they were doing (just did it for the money, not because they cared about the products or people), when they got distracted and did not persevere, when they never put in that much effort in the first place, or when they didn't vary their methods and approach (after seeing that several weeks of the same old thing wasn't working). All of those are things that we as individuals control. Success isn't guaranteed with anything in this life. But does that mean we don't try for it? Does that mean we sit by and lead a ho-hum existence because we're too afraid to risk? I would rather risk and have the possibility of succeeding than not risk and never know. I've tried many other opportunities and "failed" at all of them, until now. But I also feel that everything happens for a reason, and if I hadn't experienced those failures, I wouldn't have the knowledge and experience to succeed now. I'm not a person that wants regrets to burden me. With most things, I just go for the gusto, and I live and I learn. That's the whole point of life. If you never risk or experience, then you never learn and grow. If you never learn and grow, then you're not really living, are you? So remember when you go forward with any venture, that your success is mostly dependent on you. There will always be factors that are out of our control, but best to control those we can in the best way possible and leave the rest to God (or your chosen higher being). I try not to think of things in terms of failures, but more as lessons learned. So I've learned a lot of hard lessons, but they've all made me who I am, and now I'm successful. That's the way I choose to view life. As for me, I'm going to continue living and experiencing!

I hope that addresses the concerns you shared. If you have any others, feel free to post them!

-PA27

To this, 4silverstrea, I say...quite right! If this makes any sense, I am successful because I was a failure! And it can also work the other way around. A person can fail because they are or were successful (didn't realize what blessings they had when they had them). Success is relative. It is different for each person. What I call success is not what someone else would, and vice versa. That is the reason that I try to be respectful of everyone's opinions, and I also strive not to down a thing until I've tried it (and even then, I try not to down it. The common factor in my failures was me, plain and simple). The important thing is to risk and experience, so that you know whether a given thing will be a success or lesson learned for you!

-PA27

Thank you PA27 for your vote of confidence. We seem to understand and respect each other’s opinions regardless of the fact that I decided not to joing EDC Gold.:-) Only you know what joining EDC Gold has done for you and only I know why I don’t want to join. So..we can exist expressing our views in the same thread..whatyaknow!