Times are tough for many Americans. The economy has taken a big hit, the market is still 15% down from where it was 3 years ago, the real estate market is still suffering and houses are probably still overvalued, and many Americans owe more money on their houses than their houses are worth. Americans still spend more money than they make (though the tough times are having a positive influence on this trend) and the United States has the biggest debt in its history.

So how can YOU prosper when times are so tough? Certainly this cannot be done though employment. Sure, you can work two or three jobs to try to get ahead, and totally burn yourself out, and probably still not get ahead enough. No—the only way to really get ahead is to use leverage. Check out Robert Kiyosaki’s books, like Rich Dad, Poor Dad, The Cash Flow Quadrant, and a book he co-wrote with Donald Trump, Why We Want You to Be Rich.

Robert Kiyosaki's Cash-Flow Quadrant

In The Cash Flow Quadrant, Kiyosaki explains that there are two sides to the quadrant, and you want to get from the left side to the right side. The left side has Employees and the Self-employed, while the right side has the Business owners, and the Investors. The object, if you want to achieve financial freedom, is to get from the top left quadrant (employee), to the bottom right quadrant (investor). When you’re an employee, you have a job. When you are self-employed you own a job. When you become a business owner, you own a system and people work for you (leverage), and when you are an investor, money works for you (even more leverage).

You can jump from being an employee or self-employed and become a business owner, more easily than you might have imagined. You may think that being a business owner means owning some type of “brick and mortar” business, a franchise, or a manufacturing facility—but those businesses are all very expensive to get into. There is an industry you can get into that does not cost an arm and a leg, and that is network marketing/direct sales.  “Network marketing gives people the opportunity, with very low risk and very low financial commitment, to build their own income-generating asset and acquire great wealth.” —Robert Kiyosaki, Entrepreneur, Businessman and Author

Is network marketing the answer for everyone? Of course not, nothing is. But if you have an entrepreneurial spirit, are ready to learn new things, willing to take charge, want to be a leader, love to help other people, and know how to focus on your desires… this is an amazing industry. Not only does it provide an opportunity to acquire financial wealth, it provides an amazing opportunity for personal growth.

Kiyosaki says, “For people choosing to use a network marketing system to build a business in the B quadrant, the price of entry is a lot lower, the risks are lower, and the education and support are there to guide you through this personal development process.” In his book Business School For People Who like Helping People, Kiyosaki explores eight hidden values of a network marketing business. Very briefly, they are:

1. It’s a system of business education
2. You can change quadrants instead of just changing jobs (and gain more leverage)
3. You can gain access into a B quadrant business for a low price
4. You can invest in the same investments the rich invest in—as you begin to gain leverage, you can begin to have our money work for you
5. You can begin to live your dreams
6. You have the value of a network
7. Your values determine your reality—and this is something to think about if you are thinking about network marketing. The values you have as an employee (like security) are very different from the values you need to have to be a business owner (freedom).
8. You will learn leadership skills. In a good network marketing company you will have the opportunity and the mentors to help you develop your leadership skills.

Kiyosaki also recommends steps to take, should you decide to join a network marketing company, from deciding to make changes in your life to defining your goals to studying to become an expert and have the most value to offer to others. Ultimately, it is what you have to offer others that will ensure your success—not your product or service, but what you yourself can assist with, teach, encourage, and inspire in others.

Sounds pretty exciting, doesn’t it?

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The day after Thanksgiving is referred to as “Black Friday” because it is the biggest shopping day of the year– the day the Christmas shopping season is considered to officially begin. This term, “Black Friday,” came as a surprise to me this year (where have I been?) Thinking about it now, I guess I’d heard it before, but not thought about it much. This year I wondered… why is it called “Black Friday?”

Where Does the Expression “Black Friday” Come From?

Looking it up, I found a couple of different explanations. Wikipedia says the expression started in Philadelphia in the 1960’s—when the police nicknamed the day after Thanksgiving “Black Friday” because of the incredible traffic jams as the stores began their Christmas shopping season. Apparently, bus drivers and store employees who were worked on that day also felt pretty “black” about that particular Friday.

It appears that retailers did not like the negative connotation of “Black Friday” and some time in the 1980’s an explanation was circulated to say that this was the beginning of the period where retailers would be “in the black” after operating “in the red” for most of the year (referring to the accounting practice where positive numbers (profits) were shown in black ink, and negative numbers (losses) were shown in red ink). Sales are heavily promoted by retailers on this day—stores like Best Buy, Circuit City, KB Toys, Kmart, Sears, Target, Toys R Us, and Walmart being only a few among the many. They offer “loss leaders,” and “door busters” to encourage shoppers to come in as early as 5 A.M.

Here are some of my thoughts about “Black Friday”…

• This year “Black Friday” became a tragedy in more than one case. In a Long Island, New York WalMart, a 34-year old temporary employee was trampled to death by shoppers as they charged the store to get in, and the “door buster” event was no longer just a figure of speech. Another tragedy happened in southern California, in a Palm Desert Toys R Us store, when two men shot each other to death inside the store. It isn’t known at this time whether this was gang related or whether the men were competing for a hot deal being offered by the store.
• We have become such a consumer society that holidays no longer mean what they used to mean. This consumerism means that so many of us measure our happiness by the material possessions we have, rather than what really counts—our relationships. We forget to be grateful for the abundance that we have, focusing instead on what we may lack. When we focus on what we lack, we create more unhappiness and frustration. By focusing on the abundance in our lives and feeling true gratitude we can actually have a better quality of life, even if we don’t own the newest electronic gadget. How many families are working harder to “get ahead,” and in so doing sacrificing quality time spent with each other?
• The media is constantly talking about “tough economic times” and those who have jobs are especially feeling the effects of this. Layoffs and business closings seem to be commonplace. Where there is challenge, however, there is also always opportunity. Those entrepreneurs who understand this find ways to think “out of the box,” and take advantage of trends which may seem to be negative.
• If people really want to take control of their own futures, they can make a decision to truly be responsible for what happens in their lives. They understand the “cash flow quadrant” concept discussed by Robert Kiyosaki—that employees have no financial leverage, and that business owners and investors do. Proactive people will begin to formulate dreams and plans on how to achieve them, and they will take action in that direction. One of the best ways to create financial independence is through your own home based business, and there are many businesses that you can join rather than starting one from scratch. It’s important to keep in mind that success is going to require determination, desire, action, and consistency and that “get-rich-quick” is not realistic.
• Americans have been spending more money than they make… we have a negative savings rate! There is no way to get ahead by spending more than you make. Easy credit has made this possible. In the past people paid for what they bought, with only a few exceptions—like for a house or a car. Now people use credit rather than cash, and the average household credit card debt is somewhere between $8,000 and $9,000, while the median household income is somewhere around $50,000. This can make for a pretty “black” situation, and our national government hasn’t exactly set a good example in the last several years.
• One of the “silver linings” of this tough economy is that many consumers are making a decision to pay cash for their holiday purchases, rather than use credit. That is the beginning of being financially responsible.