"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended for us to forego their use." Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) My stepson is starting Algegra in school. He says math is hard. My daughter, despite having earned straight A's through school, says math is hard. A lot of people think math is hard. While algebraic theorems, trigonometry and calculus might boggle the brain, basic adding and subtracting is as simple as picking up a calculator. If you don't take a few minutes to pick up a calculator, you have a long, long haul ahead of you before you succeed in business. Any business. Today, I got a message through the Adlander's "Direct Contact" feature. The message invited me to join a "sales team" that is comprised of members of Adland. Adland (today) has 25,846 members. 484 "regulars" have posted to forums 50+ times. 750+ people received the same invitation I did. Because of the vast number of people that received the invitation, I am posting this to stress the importance of the basic math of success. To succeed in business, there are two things required. 1) Sufficient sales multiplied by the amount of profit per sale to make an acceptable return on the investment of your time. 2) Sufficient trust on the part of potential buyers to achieve #1. That's it. That's what you need. Step #1: Sufficient sales multiplied by the amount of profit per sale to make an acceptable return on the investment of your time. Let's say 150 people "team up" to share affiliate product sales commissions working as a team. And I mean any team, not just the one I was invited" to. Let's say that "team" sells a $98 product and they make 50% commission divided 150 ways. $98 divided by 2 (profit per sale) = $49 $49 divided by 150 (profit per person) = 32 cents per person The "sales team" would need to sell 1,563 items every month for each member to make a mere $500 per month. (Hardly a living wage) If a member left the team and sold "on their own," a mere 10 sales would put $500 in the bank. Thus, the "team" approach will not appeal to anyone that knows how to sell. Step #2: Sufficient trust on the part of potential buyers to achieve #1. The "team" is not allowed to sell within the Adland community. Thus, the question becomes whether members can earn sufficient trust outside the community to achieve their goals. This is the basis of MLM, too. Every MLM functions on the basic principles of (1) Sufficient sales and (2) Sufficient trust to earn those sales. Think about it. If 500 members of an MLM each sell to 5 family members or friends, the individuals may not succeed, but the company will. Thus, I would rather own an MLM than be a member of one. I am not bashing the "team" concept! Please understand that I am not bashing the team concept, nor am I bashing the team that I was invited to. People do things for their own reasons. Life is a learning curve. We all have emotional as well as financial needs. Many organizations thrive because members like feeling part of a group. They belong. Emotional needs have merit, too. However, my field of expertise is achieving profit online. It's what I do for a living. My position as an Adland Advisor is to advise people in regard to making profit online. So, that's what I'm doing. How to Tell if Your Business is Destined to Fail With a calculator. Calculate these two. 1) How many sales do you need, calculated by profit per sale, to make a decent return on the investment of your time? 2) Do you know how to reach sufficient people to achieve that number of sales? Scoring If the answer to #1 is a feasible number, then you simply need to learn how to achieve #2. If the answer to #1 is not a feasible number, then you need to go back to the drawing board and figure out how to make it a feasible number. When it comes to profit, it's all about the numbers. ======================================== P.S. If you post in response, please do not use any names, company names or specifics. One thing I promise to all members is that NO member will ever be named, bashed, ridiculed or openly attacked in my forum. There is quite enough of that "out there," and it's not welcome "in here." If you agree with the content of my post, or find it helpful or encouraging - please do let me know. It's nice to know when I'm providing helpful information.

Greetings, Whenever I read your posts I am informed and I appreciate that about you. Please continue to be forthright because others like myself need to be educated, aware and mindful of what is going on. Thank you for keeping me aware and allowing me to think practically about what I am setting out to do here with this Internet Business. Felicienne

Linda, This is a very Excellent Forum. Makes total sense to me. I think all of the info in your Forums are because of your experience, profits, education, and possitive feedback from helping others. Both Peter and yourself have always been very helpful and Professional. The Advisor Title says allot!!! Keep up the great Inspiration. Your Friend,

I feel that there is lot that could be said on this whole issue. I will however reserve my comments at this time as I have been bashed by the President of this team as well as other team members for voicing nothing more than opinion in the past. I have had posts deleted that were informative to people that might consider joining this adventure.

Hi Linda, I for one really appreciate your direct approach. You tell the truth, and that is about all you can ask of someone. If someone doesn't want to accept the truths that you espouse than they can go and do it their way. All of your ideas and advice certainly seem to be right on the mark. And I for one will continue to listen to you. Thank you. Your Good Friend Deborah