Is Cash Gifting Legal

Today I’ve decided to tackle the controversial question in the home business industry…Is Cash Gifting Legal? It’s really a fascinating topic, I think, so I’ve done some research and wanted to share my findings with you.

Why did I choose to do this?

Ever since I got involved in the network marketing/home based business industry back in 2009, I’ve heard about cash gifting and seen the arguments between the 2 sides…”Yes, Cash Gifting is Legal” and “No Way is Cash Gifting Legal“. There is never anyone sitting in the middle of this debate! So who’s right?

One of the biggest reasons that I wanted to write on this topic is I get a lot of daily traffic to my blog from an article I wrote on the Cash Tracking System. I also get some traffic to an article I wrote on another popular Cash Gifting program called The Peoples Program. This tells me that there are a lot of people interested in the Cash Gifting activity as a potential income producer or, dare I say, business opportunity. So what’s the deal?

Is Cash Gifting Legal?

First of all, here’s a description of the cash gifting activity…By definition Cash Gifting (also referred to as “Cash Leveraging”) is the act of privately or publicly giving another person or entity a declared sum of cash, strictly as a gift and giving it freely without coercion or consideration. It is NOT a “quid-pro-quo” transaction where you offer something of equal or considerable value in exchange for cash. That would be NOT be considered a true cash gift.

We know that, at least in the US people are allowed to “gift” up to $13,000 per gift to anyone they want without tax consequences. Now, I’m not a lawyer or accountant but that tells me that cash gifting is legal.

The issue, and negative connotation, arises with cash gifting pyramids – these are usually matrix programs where people not at the TOP do not have a fair opportunity. These typically fizzle out leaving many out in the cold.

From my research, a “legal” cash gifting activity has a 1-Up compensation plan. This type of plan, besides being potentially very lucrative, is not pyramidal in nature. It doesn’t matter when you join. Everyone has the same opportunity to earn “gifts”. The last person in can out earn the first person. This is the case with most top tier direct sales businesses as well. That’s the way it should be in my opinion!

The biggest issue people have, when trying to determine if cash gifting is legal or not, is the fact that there’s no product. I don’t see that as an issue at all. Let’s face it, there are a lot of direct sales and network marketing businesses that just have some crappy eBooks or Digital products to “legalize” their program. Some are top-tier direct sales programs costing $1000′s for way overpriced products. What’s better? Then, you have to overcome the objection of “I don’t like your product”. Having no products has it’s advantage

It’s taken me a while to come around but I have. I’m here to tell you that I have no doubt that cash gifting is legal. It’s just another form of “program” that exists to help people earn income with their own home business.

Is Cash Gifting Legal

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Like I mentioned yesterday, I was starting to re-read Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich. It’s a timeless classic and really pertains to all of us and network marketing entrepreneurs.

The beginning of the book speaks about being “3 Feet From Gold”. I’ve heard this term for many years in the sales industry and it really is true. It’s the idea that when things look their bleakest and when you feel like throwing in the towel and giving up, that you just might be VERY CLOSE to finally achieving your goal – closing that sale or signing up that new distributor. The underlying message is to not give up.

Everyone who has ever achieved anything in life, particularly going against the norm and starting their own business or promoting their own product or idea, has run into difficulties at one time or another and could have given up. It took Thomas Edison hundreds of attempts to finally create a lightbulb that worked (where would we be today if he gave up?). Marconi’s friends, the father of the radio, sent him into psychiatric care when he told them he could broadcast sound over the air without wires…they thought he was nuts!

Bringing that thought to modern day, I remember when there was this new young company called Google who decided they were going to take on the search engine GIANT Yahoo. This was just crazy talk as everyone on the internet was using Yahoo. We know what happened there!

Talking sports, my favorite topic, the best hitters in baseball fail 7 out of every 10 times they step up to the plate.

The idea here is that nobody (except the marketing materials ) said that starting and building a successful online marketing or network marketing business was going to be easy. My friends thought I was crazy when I told them I was going to get involved in network marketing. I remember this like it was yesterday…one of them simply said… “Steve, I really don’t think that’s a very good idea. Nobody ever makes any money doing that. I’ll check to see if my company has any openings.”

That’s how the majority of people are conditioned to think and that’s OK. It makes the landscape that we work in wide open for those of us who don’t give up and keep focused on our end goal.

What is your end-goal?

Will you do whatever you have to to reach it?

Keep moving forward as if you’re just 3 Feet From Gold!

In case you missed it, here’s your FREE copy of Think and Grow Rich…

I feel like my eyes are going to pop out of my head after watching 7 hours of football yesterday (:)) but it got me thinking…

The NFL players on the field yesterday have worked all of the lives in order to get to where they are today – earning a very good living as a professional athlete. Did you know that network marketing has more millionaires than professional sports does?  And, it requires much less training and preparation!

But, ultimately, it comes down to “how bad do you want it”? To get to the pinnacle of any sport, not only do you have to love playing but you also have to go above and beyond what most people are willing to do. You don’t just become a successful professional athlete just because you want to be one. If that were the case, I’d be on the PGA Tour today! You need to put in the work necessary to achieve the network marketing success you desire.

Network marketing, in my eyes, in really no different EXCEPT that it’s much easier and requires much less work. It does require training and work, though, and learning new ideas and concepts. I think that’s what holds many people back in this industry from ever reaching their goals.

Everyone who gets involved in network marketing does so because they want to make money. It’s honestly for no other reason. So, why is the “failure” rate so high?

A big reason is that much of the advertising in this industry targets people with the “lottery mentality” OR it gives us that mentality of fast and easy riches. Telling us how easy it is and we’ll only need to spend 5 minutes per day…if that…to start earning ridiculous amounts of money. You know the ads I’m talking about, we’ve all seen them! Unfortunately, there is no “easy button” when starting your own business. Ask any successful entrepreneur.

There’s a saying that “nothing in live is free”. That can mean that you must either spend your time or spend your money (ideally both) to build your business. You must also have the right mindset. A mindset that excludes failure and provides you with a willingness to go BEYOND where others are willing to go. This is imperative to entrepreneurial success.

• Are you willing to learn new concepts to build your business (kind of like going back to school)?

• Are you willing to spend time on your business when you get home from work instead of watching TV?

• Are you willing to put in the time and effort required (be honest with yourself)?

Here’s a free download of an eBook called “Think & Grow Rich”. As I re-read it, I’ll be sharing my thoughts on this blog. Think and Grow Rich was written in 1937, by Napoleon Hill, and has managed to stand the test of time because of the life-transforming value that it continues to provide. Download it, read it, and live it. It’ll put you in the right mindset and enable you to break through any barriers that may be holding you back in your business or your life. Enjoy!

Mlm Leadership

I learned early on that you need to seek out training in this industry. It’s not that there’s not a tremendous amount of network marketing and internet marketing training available on the internet because there is A LOT! But you need to seek out the best and then actually go through the training yourself if you’re serious about your business and making money in this industry. The thing is, the majority of the people who you recruit will need to receive training and will look to YOU as their sponsor for guidance.

One of the best ways that I’ve found to help new team members to get off to a fast start is by creating my own  team site. Creating your own team site serves a few different purposes:

1. It can be the difference between someone joining you or joining another sponsor. When people sponsor shop, they want to know that they’ll be provided with training, direction and everything else they will need to succeed with their new business.

2. It can and should help with duplication. Especially for newbies and network marketers who haven’t yet experienced much success in the industry, providing a mapped out strategy for success with tools and trainings will help more people succeed in their business.

3. It can help to brand you as a leader. As you know, I’m a big believer in attraction marketing and MLM leadership and a simple team site is another way you can build YOUR brand and help in your own personal recruiting.

To create an effective team site, I believe you should include the following:

• Your contact information
• Some motivational “words of encouragement”
• Some trainings of marketing strategies that work – they can be yours if you have any or any trainings that your company or upline provides. I’ve found that by having everything in one place for your downline really helps rather than having trainings in various emails.
• Any important team or company phone numbers, webinar information, etc. People must stay connected with their business and participate and it’s important for YOU to make it easy for your team to do this.

Here’s a sample of a Team Site that I’ve created – www.teamsite.com on WordPress. There are many people who may take a slightly different approach but they accomplish the same thing…to help your team succeed and by doing so you will succeed! Take the time to create your own team site, build your MLM leadership, and watch your income and business grow!

Mlm Leadership

Network Marketing Business

When most new people get involved in a home business they are full of excitement with dreams of fast cars, big houses and working on their laptop from the beach. They’re finally going to hit it big and become successful home business owners. This is THE ONE! So…

They go to their upline or read their company marketing manual (if there is one) and are told to approach their “warm market”, sign up a few of them who will in turn repeat the process, and that’s how they’ll grow their MLM and build their organization. In my humble opinion, this “training” (I’m using that term very loosely) contributes to the high network marketing business failure rate!

First of all, very few if any have ever truly built a large network marketing business by approaching friends and family. This strategy simply doesn’t work for most people for a number of reasons. The primary being most people hate rejection and the last thing they want is to be rejected by those closest to them so they never approach their warm market to begin with.

The second reason is let’s say you do recruit your Aunt Vera into your business. Does she have the same mindset as you? Is she an entrepreneur or is she a loving relative trying to hook you up and do you a favor by signing up? It’s more than likely the latter! Now, many people will know a few people with the entrepreneurial drive required for network marketing success and that will certainly help to kick start your business but that’s still not enough.

Building a network marketing business is a numbers game and, to give yourself the best chance for success you need to know who your real target market is and then learn how to recruit from that prospect pool. And, you need to consistently GROW that prospect pool to play the numbers game.

So who is your target market (and most companies don’t tell you this by the way!)? Other Network Marketers! Why?

It’s simple really. You immediately get passed having to explain the viability and legitimacy of the industry AND you get someone who is much better suited (maybe even trained) to hit the ground running after you sign them up. You don’t need to “convince” them that MLM is not a pyramid scheme or money game, which can be a major objection of the uneducated.

I was listening to a training by Rod Stinson yesterday who validated my opinion. Rod has been a very successful network marketing business owner for over 20 years and has built his business by targeting other network marketers.

Then, the question becomes “How Do You Find Other Network Marketers?”. There are numerous strategies to do this, using both online and offline marketing strategies. The key really comes down to YOU being willing to put in the time and effort to get some network marketing training, learn a few strategies that work for you and then being diligent and consistent in working those strategies. Make it a great 2012!

To Get My FREE Network Marketing Training On How To Sponsor More Reps Into Your Business in 2012…CLICK HERE

Network Marketing Business

I was on a webinar this past Monday run by Rod Stinson who shared some exciting news with all of the FamilyIQ distributors around the world. It’s been a great first year but 2012 is going to be even better!

As with any company, an annual review needs to be done to see where you can improve. This is especially true of a very young company. The following are the take aways:

• A new lower start-up price point was added for $395 that will pay, and be eligible to receive, $200 commissions. This is a great idea in my opinion as there are people who either can’t swing the $1495 “Business Builder” package or don’t have enough confidence in themselves yet. People who come in at the $395 level will have the opportunity to upgrade to the Business Builder package.

• New Sales Funnels will be created by Rod and rolled out to  the field reflecting this new lower start-up level.

• Both the company and the sales funnels are going to put the products more in the forefront. FamilyIQ has very highly respected and unique products and we all need to do a better job of marketing them.

• Due to the $395 level, the financing program has been eliminated. I am very happy about that as I never liked it!

• The $3,995 start-up level is going to be beefed up so we can market that to earn $2000 commissions. People coming in at the $1495 level will be eligible to earn the full commission on $3995 sales.

• Mark Hobbins and everyone at FamilyIQ is extremely pleased with the results from the first year and is fully behind the direct sales business model we rolled out last December.

FamilyIQ has a number of leaders in the company but has pretty much flown under the radar in the second half of 2011. It is my opinion, as a distributor, that with the revamped marketing and new lower starting price, FamilyIQ will put themselves firmly on the Top Tier Home Business map in 2012!