WOW!  When this post first appeared in February, I had no idea how prophetic a few of my paragraphs were, or how close to home they would hit.

Prophetic Paragraph #1

“Let’s say you are a distributor for company ‘X’. … Then one day, you get an email telling you the company is changing it’s distribution method (read: company is going out of business). … You try to log in to your back office, but they’ve already shut it down.”

Prophetic Paragraph #2

“ My primary opportunity, (name withheld), is blended into the mix of other companies and activities I’m involved in.  If any one company closes down, my list and records are still intact.  My own multiple income strategy only suffers a fender bender – not a total loss.  Plug another opportunity into the open space, let my friends on the list know about it, and keep on moving ahead.”

Yep, it happened right here in River City.   One company decided to use a different marketing model and move ahead without its associates or me. 

Don’t get me wrong here. Their business decision is just that…their decision.  They have every right and, I might say, the obligation to do whatever it takes for their company to survive and thrive.  If the original model wasn’t working, then it must be adjusted and changed for the better, or their company and their investment of time and money would be lost.  (They have done their very best to do right by the associates.  Something not many people would have done.  Way to go guys..you know who you are.)

It’s very easy to use a company system.  The replicated sites, the contact info, pre-made ads, and all the rest of it will provide the illusion of being in business.  This system can work when things are going well.   BUT if things go wrong with the company… oh-oh…You could be out of business too.  You might not be able to recover.  The work to get back to where you had been might be overwhelming.

There is more work to set up your own system.  The work is not that hard, but there is more of it.  The good news is that once you have a good personal marketing system in place, it’s relatively easy to manage.  For myself, doing business any other way is not an option.  It doesn’t make sense to do all the work and have it at risk due to no fault of your own.

But I’ve digressed.  My point is that the personal marketing plan I am using “brands” my own company and me personally.  The various other companies I promote fall under my own company’s umbrella.  When I got the bad news,  my initial disappointment soon gave way to the excitement of discovering another company that fits really well into my business plan.    A few hours of scrubbing the websites and I was finished with the one and up and running with the other.

Incidents like this occur in our industry.  Companies do change directions and/or go out of business all the time.  Branding yourself helps you be prepared for the bumps in the road that will always be there.   Branding yourself instead of your opportunity pays off because when something not-so-good happens, you can shift gears easily and stay on track and still cross the finish line as a winner. 

I urge you to consider how your are marketing your home-based business.  If you’re not branding yourself  before your opportunity, I’d recommend that you consider adjusting course.  Change to a better business model.  You’ll be very glad you did.

Writing from home tonight - Bettendorf, Iowa