It’s the type of conversation which forces one another to digs deep into the purpose we serve in this world… and unfortunately, a conversation which will interest very few people.

Recently, I have gone to sleep and awakened in a very pensive state — reflecting on many things.  One of those things, has continued to haunt me for the better part of the past 3 years.

As I’ve come to understand effective marketing principles, I’ve realized that the effectiveness of these principles are based on the predictable nature of human beings.

As I’ve come to understand more about our human condition through some very powerful personal development programs, I’ve realized that the principles for a better life taught in these programs are also based on helping people break out of these predictable patterns.

As I spend more time personally coaching clients in their businesses, I’ve come to realize that many of their troubles in turning a profit have less to do with their business and more to do with themselves… and again, the solution to their issues begin with first recognizing the predictable pattern which they’ve fallen into.

I explained to my friend tonight, despite what our ego may tell us, the problems we face in our daily lives are NOT unique.  Most people and their problems are far more common than they’d like to think. In fact, most of us tend to fall under a set of behavioral patterns derived from very similar life experiences we have at a young age.

Of course I seem to be simplifying the human condition here, but nonetheless learning to recognize this in others and most importantly, within myself, I credit for much of my success in recent years.

It’s this level of self-awareness and the humility, which has come from recognizing that my problems aren’t anything someone else in this world hasn’t experienced already, has provided me with a sense of peace when confronting issues.

I tell myself, “The solution is already out there, because someone has already faced this and overcome.”

And with this calm mind, I am able to seek out the solution, find it, apply it and grow more confident in my ability to accomplish whatever I’ve sought out to achieve.

My disappointment in all this lies with the reality that most others do not want to share this view, nor believe that they too are capable of achieving anything significant in their lives.  Believing in themselves to this level carries a heavy burden… it requires that you actually achieve what you’ve sought out to do with no excuse for failure.

I’ve spoke to old friends, been on dates, met people at gatherings or even at business functions where speaking such truths will literally repel folks.  A small minority will stick around, participate and share their perspective…

We’ll discuss how the leaders within our government and corporations will use our predictable nature to control and manipulate us… again, people are repelled by such ideas, with a small minority actually interested in exploring further.

It is disappointing that so few care to know about these things, which are at the core of what shapes our society and way of being.

But even more discouraging is the fact that there is little I can do to change this.  Those that are driven to do more with their lives will naturally be drawn to this type of thought and use it for their self-betterment. Everyone else already has everything they need to understand about the world they live in and about themselves to survive and be functional… anything else is simply an unnecessary complication in their lives.

Unfortunately, this “unnecessary complication” will very soon become essential for survival in the new economy, which will form in the near future. A greater burden will be put on us to be self-reliant and manifest our own livelihood, rather than depend on a “steady paycheck” from a failing employer.

Those that choose to do the hard work now on themselves, their careers and/or their business, will prosper in the future.  Those that don’t, will be at the mercy of whatever circumstances present themselves during the very difficult times to come.

The good news is that the principles behind success are very simple.

The problem lies in believing that somehow we are the exception to that simplicity, because the simple solution requires us to pay a high price.

Successful people all payed a high price in time, money or both for their success.

Humility will help keep the costs down to only what is necessary.

Desire helps keep the focus on the benefits of success, not the price.

My hand, can’t help but to smack the people who still don’t get it.

It was early in the evening while we discussed business (over a few ‘cervezas’) when the phone in our office rang.

Slightly buzzed, we make the mistake of picking up and some crazy dude on the other line started rambling about how he knows who we are, what we’ve done, he knows who are friends are… and some other crazy stalker talk.

(Bear in mind that we had no clue who the heck this dude was at this point…)

Then he started talking about what sounds like getting us on a big boat and shipping us off towards Mexico…

What the Heck? This Guy is Trying Get Us DEPORTED??

Now Ferny (“FERNANDO”) is definitely getting worried and me being Chinese, I’m not really too fond of boats either…

Talk about a freakin’ buzz kill.

We asked, “Who the hell is this?”

That’s when the crazy dude slowed down, paused for a moment (perhaps realizing that we had already had a few beers) and said, “Dudes, it’s Steve Schuitt, Tube Ninja.”

Ooohhh! PHEW!

“You mean the dude isn’t from immigration?”, Ferny asked.

After some nervous laughs (and cursing Steve in our respective native languages), we figured out what Steve was trying to tell us.

Apparently, Steve and his business partner, Ryan Dunn, are planning one kickbutt event where some of the top experts in our industry will get together and:

1. Share some of their online fortune making strategies
2. Party with you
3. Network and mastermind with folks such as yourself
4. Party with you
5. Big Freakin’ Boat (Yikes!)
6. Party with you

And not necessarily in that order.

He invited us to be instructors at this event and told us there will be a full bar and well… how can we refuse, right?

So Here’s What We Want You to Do Right Now

Click on the link below to watch a short 6 minute movie trailer that Ryan and Steve put together about this event to get an idea of the craziness that will go down…

>> Insanity Cruise <<

Be sure you fill out your email address on the right afterward though since there’s a nice little surprise waiting for you when you do.

To good and prosperous times in 2010,

Raymond & Ferny

P.S. Ferny & I are both citizens of the good ol’ US of A… but we still don’t like being told we are going to be shipped off to Mexico, unless we know they are going to let us back in. We Love America. But Mexico is always always a blast.

I would literally spend 8-12 weeks, 1-on-1 with my M2 Level consultants holding their hand and being a partner in the development of their CCPro business. (No Joke!)  From the creation of their website from scratch (many for the 1st time), so learning all the essential components of marketing including email marketing, SEO, Social Media marketing and copywriting.

While most other top earners in this industry would simply take your money and not give you the time of day, I simply refused to sponsor more than 4 people per month, because of the duty and responsibility I had in making sure that anyone who joined my team members would get started on the right track with my personal help. (Success would still be their responsibility.)

Well, for those who are on my team, you know the level of value and access you have to me as a mentor and friend. For some of you, it has led to joint ventures and partnerships with Raymond and I. (Very lucrative ones!)

Unfortunately, due to significant growth in my businesses, (a good thing!) in and outside of my participation in Carbon Copy Pro, after this year I simply won’t have the time to take on anymore coaching students as part of the formal 8 week 1-on-1 coaching program. (During our recent launch, our clients paid up to $6,000 for this level of coaching and access to us.)

While, every single member of my downline (current & future) will continue to have direct access to me via phone or email as needed (and my time permits), I will no longer be able to formally offer the 8 week intensive 1-hour weekly coaching program to my M2 or higher consultants.

However, I do have a couple slots available, as part of the recent and final group of coaching clients I’m responsible for from our recent launch and I would like to give anyone reading this, the ultimate opportunity for personal mentorship and success in this industry.

The details of the program and powerful perks my team members get are explained in the video on this page:

http://coffeehousemanifesto.com/ccpro.php

The opportunity for my personal help and mentorship available here is unmatched by ANY leader in this industry. (I should know, they are my friends!) Anyone who enters at the M2 level or higher will benefit from all things outlined in the video here.

If you already a part of an opportunity yet are interested in coaching or consulting, you may email me at ferny@fernyceballos.com or go here for consulting rates.

Other than the folks who act now, as of January 1st, 2010, I will be retiring from the coaching business indefinitely and focusing my efforts on expanding and growing various businesses I’m currently leading.

So what is your first step? Well, benefits and your investment is outlined here:
http://coffeehousemanifesto.com/ccpro.php

I will tell you one thing, coming into my business at the M2 level not only gives you access to my mentorship and lifetime access to all SEO Networker training, it is also an opportunity for a potential life long business relationship.

How with regards to the M2 Coference which comes with your partnership with Wealth Masters International… at the recent, M2 conference, my jaw dropped at the opportunity for wealth creation currently under our noses as a result of the economic downturn. In my opinion, the real opportunity here is not in working with me (although this is certainly very valuable), but it is in getting access to this knowledge.

Here’s the ugly truth about what is to come for most people, without this information:

If you are currently a professional working in corporate America… you are screwed!

If you are currently a small business owner (offline)… you are screwed!

If you have a majority of your retirement and investments in the stock market… you are screwed!

If you have a ton of savings stored away in your bank as your nest egg for years to come… you are screwed!

If you are dependent on social programs or the government for any part of your income or survival… you are doomed!

With all this said, it is my sincere hope that you do something to transform your financial future. The times ahead are very dire and I’m blessed to have had the mentors and education I’ve benefited from over the past 3 years to help me prepare and prosper during the greatest economic downturn since the great depression.

I would very much like the opportunity to pass on these gifts and knowledge to another generation of entrepreneurs, whom I may also call my friends. But you must act before January 1st, 2010

http://coffeehousemanifesto.com/ccpro.php

I wish you and your loved ones a Merry Christmas and Prosperous New Year!

In this interaction, in what this person probably thought was a “nice way” of saying what he thought of the way I did a few things in my business, he rubbed me the wrong way. Let me first say that I’ve always liked this guy (I still do), he’s a super hard worker and always has the best interest of those around him at heart.

So his comments were not said in malice in anyway, shape or form.

But for whatever reason, on this particular occasion, this person lacking a few skills of diplomacy and an understanding of how language, no matter how subtle will do one of 2 things – create conflict or promote peace and solutions.

The gist of his message to me was that he didn’t particularly like an aspect of how I did business. What was interesting is that he tried soooo hard not to offend me. But no matter how much he padded it, it really didn’t matter.

The reason is because in a conversation, when you tell someone “I’m not fond of it”, “not the way I would do it”, “That concerns me…”, etc.

… what you are really telling the person is “I dont’ like it”, “You’re wrong”, and “I don’t trust you”.

Regardless of the tone you use, our human instinct is to immediately defend, fight or at least prove to the other person that you are “right” and he/she is wrong. That is human nature.

Unfortunately, using this language of “right and wrong” is the mode most of us operate under “by default” – it’s a primal default. Especially in our society where traditional religious values teach us from the very beginning about good and evil, what we should do and not do, (i.e. right and wrong).

Is it a coincidence that most wars throughout history involved the use of religion to label the other side as “evil”, thus justifying the war?

But more generally, all conflict arises from one side making the other side wrong in some way, and believing they are right. The belief that you are right also implies that you believe that you have all the information you need (enough of the entire story) to cast your judgment on the other party, and do so without doubt.

And the belief that you are right can certainly be a noble one, as was the case during WWII as the Allies fought the Nazis. When you have this belief you MUST be willing to fight for what you believe to be right and go all the way — as it should be. If you’re not willing to do this, then what is your belief worth?

I, for the most part, am aware of when I choose to tell someone they are wrong and I am always ready to back that up, (with my fists if I have to). I loathe the perpetual intellectual masturbators of our society who are more than happy to point out your flaws, how/why you are at the wrong, kick you when you are down, but never choose to participate in the real world and hide in the utopia of academia.

Believing you are right, should also come with the acceptance that you could be proven wrong, thus being willing to accept the consequences of being wrong. (Accepting humiliation, embarrassment or even death in the extreme case.)

And it is at this humbling thought, that I introduce the other alternative to the realm of “right and wrong” few in the world even know exists…

The Realm of What Works!

The sickening thing about politics is that representatives are constantly ‘marketing’ or ’selling’ to their constituents in everything they do. A very successful marketing tactic is to demonize the otherside – thus accusing them of being wrong and convincing voters that that is the case.

Therefore, solutions towards what will work for the American people are rarely arrived upon.

When you speak to someone with a mindset and language of peace & solutions, you are saying to them “My goal is to find what is going to work for both you and me”. Don’t mistake this with compromise, because that still implies that there are things in the agreement you think are wrong.

When seeking what works, you are not looking to demonize, or make anyone wrong. In fact, the concepts of “wrong or right” doesn’t even exist.

Like I said above, when you tell someone they are wrong or mistaken, it causes their guard to go up and on the most primal level feel threatened. When you seek what works, you are telling them “the solution we arrive at is going to benefit you”, which will obviously invoke them to lean in closer to listen.

For example:

“I read your report the other day. I wanted to ask you about [blank] on page 4. Given that our goal is [blank], how did you arrive on that and how do you think it will help us achieve our goals?”

vs.

“I read your report the other day. I don’t think your recommendation on page of about [blank] really contributes to achieving [blank] and will probably waste our time and money. What I think we should do is this…”

The first is inviting the person to share more about what they are thinking, not making them wrong and reminding them about what the ultimate goal is – perhaps even leading them to finding a better solution (maybe one you agree with) by forcing them to think deeper about the situation.

The second is rejecting their recommendation, minimizing their ideas and thrusting your ideas on to them without collaboration.

Another situation could be, if the person you are dealing with is a jerk, hard to work with and has a huge ego (provided they are not hostile or violent). It is still possible to work with that person and find solutions that work, provided you’re willing to do the work to maneuver around the other person’s traits.

You might want to find out what motivates this person, learn about their fears and desires and use that knowledge to craft your approach.

Of course, if the other person is hostile and is not willing to work with you, then politely asking the individual to kindly step outside for “further discussion” might be appropriate. (Thus stepping into the language of conflict and maybe some colorful language…)

Being Self-Aware

My point with all this, is in most situations, it is possible to arrive at solutions that work for everyone if you are willing to take responsibility for the current situation and your life by setting ego aside and work with what you have.

But most importantly, you MUST always be aware of the mode and language you are using. You must ask yourself whether you are defaulting to your primal language of right/wrong or if you are truly seeking solutions. Being self-aware and being really honest with yourself is the key and knowing was “mode” is appropriate to use in a particular situation.

And when choosing the route of conflict, you must be willing to go all the way and have conviction in your position.

Out of all my years in business and the parallel pursuit of person development, this concept of “what works” has been one of the most powerful in my life. It’s been the difference maker in my relationships and has led to valuable partnerships, joint ventures and friendships with leaders such as Mike Dillard, Jay Kubassek, Charles Heflin, Jon Keel, Russell Wright, Tim Erway and countless others.

It’s been instrumental in the successful partnership with my best friend and business partner, Raymond Fong, whom also understands this very well.

So to the rising star in this industry who was the catalyst for this reflection, I thank you for inspiring me to write this piece and I thank you for being receptive to my response.

In my response to him, I simply shared some of these concepts and I offered an explanation with regards to some of his concerns. Things are cool now.

The Tarahumara are an indigenous tribe who get around by running 100’s of miles at a time, non-stop, in sandals while drunk on beer made from corn. I’m not kidding. Watch this!

He asked, “Ferny, do you really believe that the MLM is dead? Do you really believe that the internet killed it?  Cause I’ll tell ya’, it’s alive and well here in Malaysia”.

Before I get to my answer, I want to first say that I don’t believe MLM is ever going away, unless of course, it is outlawed or severely restricted by the FTC – not likely to happen.

Here’s my position and my answer to him, MLM is NOT a business and it never was.  All the internet did was magnify the truth and for all intents and purposes, killed the potential for a longterm sustainable income for 99.999% of the people in the industry, when they rely on solely the training and guidance of their company & upline.

Once upon a time, it was a great money making opportunity, (not a business), because for the most part, organizations in the industry were insulated from negative feedback, news and advertising, outside of their friends and family.

Once the internet came into the picture, all of a sudden distributors within organizations and their prospects were bombarded with online ads, online editorials, rumors and negative websites attacking specific companies and the industry at large.

The company and the upline leaders were no longer able to control the conversation.  In fact, if you chart the growth and eventually decline of most big industry giants over the 90’s (like Amway), you’ll see a very interesting trend.

In the early 90’s, Amway was on top of the world and greatly benefiting from the recession, but as the internet started gaining market penetration, you’ll notice the size of organizations, and company sales take a nose dive.  The internet nearly killed off some of the biggest companies in the industry.  Diamond distributorships literally disappeared and once successful 6 & 7-figure networkers, were forced to get jobs and start all over again.

These companies have yet to recover and the money they now spend in the United States on commercials and new ideas to survive in the US market are heavily subsidized by the revenues generated in foreign markets where the job markets are no where near as good as in the US (even when compared to our current recession) and where sales is a common means of making a living, (i.e. no difference between a job and a distributorship).

Which brings me to another point – when you join an company, you are a sales rep (no matter what they tell you) and you are not in business for yourself.

Real business is reliant on systems, which you control and have developed. In a real business, you make 100% of the decisions on how to advertise and market your business.  This is not the case when you are a networker.  And your company may at anytime, end your distributorship without notice or justification – leaving you without any legal recourse.

So if we’ve established that MLM isn’t a business and that the internet is accelerating attrition rates throughout the industry, what is a networker to do?

Well, I know what I did.

I left the MLM compensation model behind and adopted the model, which top industry earners from across the world are now adopting. In marketing pieces it is referred to as GPT, which is cloaked way of referring to Top Tier Direct Sales programs like WMI which is powered by Carbon Copy Pro.

But here’s why this is my model of choice for building a networking business over the MLM comp model.

- 100% of the marketing and advertising is controlled by me – primarily free traffic sources like SEO & Social Media.

- People join my team because they trust me as a trainer, mentor and coach.  Not because of hyped up pre-launches bulls**t. My brand is what attracts, not the company’s.

- The company I’ve chosen to partner with, pays huge commissions upfront for your efforts and the majority of your income does not rely on how big your downline is or the activity of your team members (but it does help a lot if that happens!)  I have the control in my business and I simply choose to represent a product and opportunity as part of it.

- Most Important: I can spend quality time mentoring and coaching my team members, because I can make 4 times the income of a full-time aerospace enginner, by sponsoring only 4 people per month.

So the simple truth is that if you want to build a serious business for yourself, create a multiple six-figure income (or more) and are tired of the hype and tiny checks of your MLM distributorship, read the Coffee House Letter.

Hope this was helpful.

peace,
Ferny

P.S. If this has provided value to you, I’d love to hear from you. Please leave a comment.

In fact, a few years ago at about 1am on a Saturday, I came out of a restaurant bar after being at a friend’s birthday bash and I saw some random dude, staggering and talking to himself. He suddenly turned to me and said something. I couldn’t understand what he said, so I said, “What?” At which point he walked towards me and punched me right in the forehead.

Fortunately for me, I can take a punch.

He got himself ready and was ready to throw down. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw some police cruisers about a block away and immediately knew that if I engaged, we were both going to spend the night in jail.

So I simply turned to him and said, “What’d you do that for?!?!”

What followed was a masterful use of my “Mental Jiu Jitsu” skills. (As you can see I’m very proud of this)

Two minutes later, the guy was crying and apologizing for what he had done. He was genuinely sorry. He gave me a big drunken hug, at which point his friends showed up. I guess they had lost him and were looking for him.

I told them what had happened and one of his friends told me, “Dude! I can’t believe you didn’t beat the shit out of him. I can’t believe this fucking idiot.”

I was just like, “it’s cool, man. He’s drunk and he’s chill now, so no worries.”

I left that situation with a huge smile and even impressed myself. At the time I wasn’t training in the martial arts like I am now, so maybe things would have been different. I definitely have more of a killer instinct now, as you can see…

The Powerbomb and DDT I Gave to Raymond, During Our Black Belt Test

So fast forwarding, this past February I got a cease and desist letter from Ann Sieg, one of the biggest network marketing online trainers in the world. Ann’s company and I already had some history of “legal letters” being tossed around, so I’ll admit that there were some hard feelings which still lingered.

This most recent one however, asked me to take down a Google Adwords ad, which was triggered everytime someone searched her name. The ad also used her name in the copy.

My reaction was pretty simple, “WTF?”

I didn’t respond to the letter right away and wanted to think about what to do, before I did anything. A few days before the deadline they gave me in the letter to comply, I remembered that Ann and Renegade had made a big splash in the industry by using very prolific ad copy and using MLM company names as triggers and copy for their Adwords campaign.

I quickly did some research and dug up, archives upon archives of ads, and keywords her company had used. Guess what? All of them were trademarked terms and used those terms in their own ad.

I was like, “What a hypocrite?”

I showed the letter and the research I had done to a few friends, one of whom was an attorney. I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing anything here. They agreed with my assessment, and I decided to fire back.

I complied with the request from the letter (to avoid any legal problems with a very big and wealthy opponent).

Growing up poor, I always viewed legal disputes as a channel, which was only available to the wealthy. There were times when great injustices were done to members of my family and we always wanted to make them pay for the wrong they had committed.

However, my father always had a moral objection to any legal action, which was geared towards trying to take money from someone else, without you having earned it. He viewed it in the same light as stealing.

I interpreted the letter Ann’s lawyer sent me as an attempt to intimidate me and flexing her legal muscle, and I flashed back to the times as a kid, when we were wronged and didn’t have the resources to fight back. This lit a fire under me…

Oddly enough (remember that I hate conflict), at the time I kinda lament that dueling is not longer a viable option for settling disputes, because at least then you have to be willing to fight and die for what you think is right. And while dueling is not an option, I thought of the next best thing…

I wrote up a scathing account of everything that happened, complete with the incriminating archived data of her Google Ads and published it on BetterNetworker.com. I titled it, The Hypocrisy of Ann Sieg

This post let off an insane shitstorm of buzz, controversy and all out war. You can say that the ‘cease and desist’ letter was the declaration of war and my very public response was my ‘bring it on!’.

That article quickly became one of the most viewed and highest rated articles in the history of Better Networker, (#2 actually). I felt like a General, after his troops had defeated their enemies in battle with a smile on my face, having struck a devastating blow to my nemesis but I knew that there would be a response which I needed to prepare for… I was ready.

The response never came… no lawyers… no comment… nothing. Meanwhile, the folks on BN were really making Ann pay and laying into her big time… almost mercilessly. Pitchforks anyone?

And more and more, I started to empathize with Ann and her point of view. Through our mutual friend, Mike Klingler I learned more about the real reason, why she had sent me the letter, (and it had nothing to do with what the ‘cease & desist’ letter was accusing me of). And the more I learned, the more I had to admit that I no longer felt as righteous as I once did.

I now knew the real reason and I had to say, she had a point. I asked Mike Klingler if he could arrange a time for us to speak. I wanted a resolution. (A peace conference of sorts.)

Ann, her son Isaiah and I spoke a week after I had published the article on BetterNetworker, and we immediately felt a connection with each other. I lowered myself and apologized if I hurt anyone through this process, and we both took responsibility for the contributions to the conflict.

In fact, recently, Isaiah Sieg published a letter where he very humbly and publicly accepted responsibility some of the things that led to this conflict. (This is bigger than you think!)

Out of this conflict, Ann and I have become truly great friends, and have had many conversations over the phone with topics of discussion ranging from politics, world events, personal development, martial arts and much more. (Not the type of friends, where you buy their course and now claim in your emails “my good friend Mike Dillard”… But real friends.)

We both agreed that we needed to do something big to let the world know, that not only have we buried the hatchet, but that we are now great friends and allies. So last month, Ann, Raymond and I recorded a 2-hour training call where we took all the lessons we learned from this experience and give them away at no cost.

More than any other training I’ve done, I’m especially proud of this one, because there is nothing like it anywhere! These 2 hours contain the lessons and teaching, which have been the most impactful in my career and life.

It is titled, “War, Peace and Marketing with Ann Sieg, Ferny Ceballos & Raymond Fong”

I’m sure it will offer amazing breakthroughs for you as well.

The tears at the time I could not explain, other than the emotional response to powerful education in the hands of a frustrated and bruised networker.

For some reason I knew that the information I was soaking in was going to be a turning point in my life. I literally went to bed feeling like a new person…

Two years after initially making the investment in Traffic Formula, my business partner (Raymond Fong) and I were financially independent, walking away from very “secure” and comfortable aerospace engineering jobs.

Then literally 1 month after quitting our jobs, we were onstage in Austin, TX. as the lead instructors for the MLM Traffic Formula LIVE event, alongside Mike Dillard – our mentor and friend.

Traffic Formula LIVE - Onstage with Mike Dillard

This week marks the re-birth of the course which changed an entire industry, in its new form: Traffic Formula 2.0.

Once again we are honored to be instructors as part of the Traffic Formula franchise, on the topic of SEO & Social Media, and we are giving back to the company, man and industry which has given so much to us.

I think you should also know that as instructors of Traffic Formula, we are NOT getting paid (another reason for the low price). We don’t mention this to seem ‘holier than though’ in any way, but to demonstrate to you just how much we believe in what you will be receiving and in the potential it holds for your business.

It is our commitment to give you 10 times the value you paid, in just the SEO & Social Media modules we’ll be teaching on. And I assure you that the other instructors, including Mike Dillard, have also made the same commitment.

So whether you buy MLM Traffic Formula 2.0 from the link we are providing below or any other link, BUY IT, STUDY IT, IMPLEMENT!

We hope to see you within the TF2 members area and look forward to helping create a new generation of millionaires.

To learn more about getting your **unreleased** copy of SEO Rush when you get Traffic Formula 2.0, click here:

Click Here To Get SEO Rush & TF2!