Is ‘Networking’ Inherently Evil or a Scam?

For sure, you are familiar with the line: ‘Open-minded ka ba?’ 

And I am so much willing to bet my life one thousand peso bill that you know. 

Trending kaya ‘yan… So imposible namang hindi mo pa narinig. 

Yup, I am talking about network marketing which Pinoys fondly call simply as networking.

And our knee-jerk reaction when we hear this word is disgust. Why? Maybe because of the fear of us becoming new victims where we will be made to purchase overpriced products or to be lured and become recruits. 

This is saddening. How ‘selling’ has acquired this tainted meaning in the marketing arena —as we have already pointed out in this previous blog post. 

But is networking inherently evil or scam? 

Is network marketing a scam?

You might nod in affirmation. And we can’t blame you. Nowadays, offline and online, we can see how pyramid schemes have been popping out wildly like mushrooms. 

All are very aggressive at pursuing pathetic people with little to no financial education. But the answer is no; networking is not inherently evil. And I am about to teach you how to spot the good ones. 

Let’s go.

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Practical Money Tips for #Adulting 101

So this morning, as I was preparing for work and having my breakfast, I grabbed my mug of steaming hot coffee and brushed through the newspaper for some interesting news articles (not all articles catch my attention, especially the nasty ones like political bouts and dramas). 

One write-up caught my choosy eyes though. The title goes: "City Scholar sends a Thank You Letter to the Mayor". And I skimmed thru that and after reading it, I closed the newspaper, sipped the remaining coffee in my mug and thought about the scholar subject in the news bit *and the many graduates like her*. 

After graduation, for sure, companies will be waiting for her--if not proactively get her. So she will have a nice paying job to fill her pockets. 

But for how long? So I thought about writing this blog post.

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Work from home ideas: 10 ways to make money online in the Philippines

Not enough savings? Buried in debt? Living paycheck to paycheck? 

Sometimes, managing (especially reducing) our expenses isn't enough. You don't want to get sick because you cut eating meals into twice a day instead of thrice. That's going to be an additional financial burden.

Do you want to work from home?

The solution therefore is to earn additional sources of income. And now because of technology, people can actually make (additional) money online now in the comforts of their homes. 

Here are 10 ideas how to work from home for Filipinos and start making money online:

1. Freelance work or online jobs

Because of technology, a lot of jobs are now being outsourced all over the world. Thus, online jobs are now available. 

Luckily, Filipinos are known to be skillful, full of talent and hardworking. Earning few dollars is already a big thing here in the Philippines.  

Thus, a lot of Filipinos today are doing virtual assistant jobs. A lot are doing it as a part-time income online but some already made it a full-time job. 

Just imaging working at the comforts of your home. No more heavy traffic and you own your time. 

However, freelance work and online jobs may not be easy. It requires skills, dedication and constant learning but is truly doable. 

Here are some skills and services that are perfect if you want to get a freelance work online: 

- Graphic Design

- Android/IOS Application developer

- Content Writing

- Virtual Assistant

- Technical support/Customer Service

- Social Media Marketing

- Email Marketing 

- Online Video editor

- Logo Design

- Data Entry and Online Typing Jobs

- Search Engine Optimization Services (SEO)

- Internet Research

- and many more..

Famous sites you can go to:

International freelance websites:

- Upwork (www.upwork.com)

- Fiverr (www.fiverr.com)

- Freelancer (www.freelancer.com)

Filipino Freelance websites:

- VirtualStaffFinder (www.virtualstafffinder.com)

- MyOutDesk (www.myoutdesk.com.ph)

- OnlineJobs.ph

2. Sell stuffs online and/or build eCommerce website

You can sell physical items online like clothes, gadgets, even cars or basically anything. By using media like Facebook or Instagram, you can create your own business page where people can inquire, ask quotations and schedule for meet up. 

Transactions are usually done by meeting up or through delivery. However, a word of caution as scams are also evident online, so its best to be careful especially when payments are done online. 

Another way is through building an eCommerce website. Where you can set up an online store, have a secure payment process (usually through PayPal) and have an effective delivery system. 

3. Blogging

Blogging was once done as a hobby, but now can be a lucrative source of income online. A blog is basically a website where you can write anything you want. Usually informative, educational, entertaining or inspiring. 

You can be a food blogger, travel blogger or even a financial blogger. Then by building significant number of readers, visitors and traffic to your blog, you can then monetize it by adding relevant advertisements. 

Online advertising works the same with physical advertising. Have you seen those big banners with "Ads space for rent?" A company can rent a space in your building and place an ad banner. Same thing with online advertising, an advertiser will rent a "digital space" in your blog. 

Make money online as a blogger

However, just like physical advertisements where a good location is a big factor (where a lot of people can see the ad), your number of online visitors called traffic, determines how well you will earn as a blogger.

That's why choosing the right niche (specific blog topic) is also very important if you want to be a blogger and earn through advertisements. 

Good niches that can potentially receive good traffic are:

- news

- showbiz

- technology (especially gadgets)

- food and lifestyle

- travel

- relationships, family and marriage

- and even finance 

Turn your passion into profit, create a blog that you love to write about, work from home and make a decent money online! 

4. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is basically promoting other people's products online. Unlike an e-commerce website where you need to sell your own physical products online, by being an affiliate you just promote somebody else's products and receive a commission when someone buys from your promotion. 

An example would be by being an affiliate of Amazon or an affiliate of Lazada here in the Philippines. You just apply as an affiliate, fill-up some forms and upon approval, you will receive a unique code called an affiliate link. 

This affiliate link will be coded specifically to you. Meaning, when one clicks your affiliate link leading to a certain product and that person buys you will receive commission in return. It works like a referral system. 

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How to find, discern and discover the perfect career for you

There's no one-size-fits-all, perfect career for everyone. Every individual is and will be attracted to a specific career.

The only challenge is that a lot of people are overworked and underpaid. Thus, they may love the job but hate the pay.

Others may love the pay, but they hate their jobs.

Worst, people hate the job, and totally hate the pay too! (what a disaster) 

It's quite challenging to find that perfect "love the job and love the pay."

So here are some meat to chew on, to hopefully help you find, discover or discern that perfect career for you.

How to find, discern or discover the perfect career for you

Incident #1:

My mother is involved in sales and has a huge sales organization in the cosmetics industry.

Back in high school when I was helping her out in what little way I can, I also help sell cosmetics (imagine a guy selling perfumes and underwires, what an experience!) 

Then, I got a not-so-good experience:

I followed-up my high school teacher a week before her due date and she told me, "Kasayo sad nimo maningil ui. Di ka kahibalo mamaligya da." (you ask for the payment too early. You don't know how to sell.)

After that, I told myself, I'll never be a salesman!

RESULT: I became a financial trainer selling financial products and services

Incident # 2:

When I was in college, I took BS-Chemical Engineering.

I never like repetitive tasks. So I told myself, "When I work, I don't want to be in the Quality Assurance Department." 

No offense but, being in the QA/QC Department, the tasks are almost the same everyday testing and monitoring certain quality standards. 

RESULT: You guessed it right, I landed a job as a Quality Assurance Supervisor after taking the board exam.

Incident # 3:

When the telephone was still very new, my brothers and sister have what we call before as, "call-mates." They spend hours on the telephone doing "telebabad" (long talks over the phone) 

I was the only one who doesn't have a call-mate. (If I remembered it right. Hehe) 

So I never really was comfortable talking to people over the phone. I feel like we are talking so close (ear-to-ear)! Wew, what a terrible thing to imagine. 

So when I became a full-time financial trainer after quitting my job as a quality assurance supervisor, I hated contacting prospects over the phone! 

RESULT: I have no choice but to contact prospects over the phone. 

Now connecting all the dots, I realized that I was too focused on the things that I never wanted. 

And I don't know if you believe the law of attraction or not, but truly - "What you focus on expands." 

And during these times of quarter life crisis (which I believe everyone undergoes) I made a decision to focus on a career that I wanted. 

As IMG coach, Xuan Nguyen said: 

"Find something to believe in and put your life to fight for it!" 

So I made a blueprint (outline) of all the possible careers out there:
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Is there Life after BPO?

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is a booming industry in the Philippines. It has become the 2nd pillar that contributes to the economic progress of the country next to OFW remittances. It is expected to exceed the revenue of OFW remittances in the coming years. This industry has given people opportunity to earn higher salaries, way above the minimum fare of ordinary workers.

 time difference is one of the challenges being inside the BPO industry

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4 Sources of Income to Increase your Cash Inflow

In a cash flow diagram, there are two money streams: the cash inflow and outflow. 

To increase one's cash flow is to manage these cash flow streams: earn additional income for the cash inflow stream and manage expenses and budgeting for the cash outflow stream.

Today, let us learn how to increase our cash inflow by earning additional sources of income.

Increase income to increase cash inflow

It is important that one must understand that there are two types of income: active and passive income.

Watch the video below to learn how to increase your cash flow by earning additional sources of income: 

Click here to subscribe in our YouTube account for more financial video training  

Active Income

Active income is the type of income that when you work, you earn and when you don't work, you also don't earn. Sources of active income usually come from employment and self-employment.

(1 & 2.) Employment and Self-employment

To earn adittional income, after having a full-time (8 to 5) job, one may venture into a part-time job like personal tutorial, be a fast-food crew or be a part-time teacher. 

For professionals, one can have a private practice, private clinic or be a consultant. The challenge of having a lot of active sources of income is that our time is limited and it also affects our physical health. By the time we get sick, our income also stops.

Passive Income

Passive income on the other hand is when you don't even work or with little effort, you still earn. 

Thus, learning how to earn passive income is the key in having multiple income or cash inflow streams. Sources of passive income come from businesses and investments.

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How to have a Business inside the Financial Industry

The financial industry is the biggest And wealthiest industry. This is where the money is. All other industries start and end in the financial industry. Thus, in terms of career opportunity, being inside the financial industry offers huge income potential. But how does one get inside or make a career inside this industry?

The financial industry is the biggest and wealthiest industry

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Why You Should or Shouldn’t Join IMG?

International Marketing Group (IMG) is a financial brokerage company being in the business of promoting financial literacy to Filipinos globally. IMG and its associates have continued to expand globally (but not limited) to Hong Kong, Singapore, Middle East, Europe, U.S., Canada and still expanding around the globe. IMG has been promoting financial education in a massive scale. While IMG has been successful in expanding and getting people to join the organization, a lot still are skeptical and refuse to understand the benefits it has to offer. Here are some points to ponder whether you should or shouldn’t join IMG.

Be in business

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How to earn money in IMG?

International Marketing Group (IMG) is a financial brokerage company having financial education as its advocacy. On top of the lectures and financial trainings, IMG can also be a source of part-time or full-time income. 

Unlike other companies like network marketing, we don’t earn by recruiting people and unlike insurance companies, we don’t have quota thus there is no need for hard-selling. 

After signing up as an IMG member, to start earning, one must complete some requirements to be entitled to earn a commission. 

Once you become a qualified associate, one can earn money in any or all of these three ways:

Start Small - Earn Additional Income

Watch video below to learn the three ways you can earn income in IMG. Or read on..

Click here to subscribe in our YouTube account for more financial video training

1. Be your own money manager

IMG introduces the concept of DIY or “do-it-yourself” financial planning as it aims to encourage people to remove the middleman (agents or brokers). Thus, when one becomes a member of IMG, through the access of financial education classes, lectures, one-on-one coaching, investment updates, and conventions, it is expected that one will be equipped with the needed financial understanding and know-how.

Then through our partnered product providers, one can then apply the financial concepts thus being your own financial agent.

- When you want to buy healthcare for your family: you are your own agent.

- When you want to buy your own life insurance: you buy it using your membership code.

- When you want to invest in mutual funds: use your membership code.

- When you want to invest in real estate: use your IMG membership code.

- When you want to renew yearly your car and house insurance: instead of giving the agents commission from your premium, be your own agent and earn those commissions instead by using your IMG membership code.

Being a member of IMG, it is like having a rebate or discount on the financial products that you purchase.

Be your own money manager in IMG and by-pass the agents

2. Be a financial professional

While others are satisfied earning rebates from their purchases, one can also do IMG as a part-time career as a financial professional. It is like being a self-employed financial adviser synonymous to an insurance/investment agent BUT without the quota. There are two ways to earn as a financial professional:

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The Best Part-time and Full-time Business Career

How would you like to be in a business or career where you earn income by helping and guiding people how to save and invest?

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Is IMG a Networking Company?

Is International Marketing Group (IMG) a Networking Company?

Network Marketing is a type of business model where one can be part of a distribution organization paying a minimal membership fee to receive a sample product kit and has the opportunity to sell a certain product line. The members can recruit other people who might want to do the business and can earn via recruiting people.

IMG is a Brokerage Business not Network Marketing

Based on the definition, IMG is not a network marketing company. From the book of Mr. Xuan Nguyen, "The Moment of Truth", he discussed how IMG differs from other companies.

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What is International Marketing Group (IMG)?

IMG is a financial organization aiming to build a new financial industry through its global campaign for financial literacy. 

IMG is in the business of promoting financial education in a massive scale. While the current financial industry (most of them) are focused on selling financial products and targeting wealthy clients, IMG focuses on sharing simple financial concepts that are easy to understand without complicated financial jargon making it understandable to ordinary people (particularly middle income individuals) who have been overlooked by the current financial industry.

International Marketing Group: Financial Education in a Massive Scale

Once you become part of IMG, it's members are entitled the following benefits:

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