The other Co-Founders and I, along with our Executive Team, try to attend as many direct selling industry events as we can.  As stewards of our industry, we feel it’s important to stay on top of what other companies are doing in our space – both their successes and their failures.  I was asked to speak at one of our industry’s premier events this week in Dallas, Texas, which brings several hundred executives from direct selling companies around the world together for two days of training, networking and sharing – all with one common goal: to advance our industry as a whole.

Given it’s ACN’s 20^th Anniversary Celebration, I was asked to provide some insights we’ve gained over the past two decades – insights that might help other company leaders as they set out on their journeys into the direct selling history books.  So I spent my time sharing the successes, failures and most importantly, the lessons learned during ACN’s 20-year history. See it’s easy for us to forget that for many new companies, where ACN today is a dream that seems incredibly out of reach.  Many new companies are simply focused on staying open one more day, month, year – and 20 years seems like a lifetime away.  Well, you know our story well and we have certainly been there, so it is my hope that I was able to impart some small piece of ourselves, of our history with these other companies as they embark on their next 5, 10 or even 20 years.

But regardless, I have no doubt that I gained far more than I ever could have given. In fact, it’s events like this that remind me just how proud I am to be a part of not only ACN but this industry as a whole – and how proud we should all be.  There isn’t another industry in the world that puts the needs of its people first, that gives people hope and allows them to finally start dreaming again.  In fact, as a company proudly operating in the direct sales space – it is a privilege for us to put “changing lives for the better” at the top of our priority list.  And there certainly, without a doubt, isn’t another company in another industry anywhere that I would rather be a part of.

Until next time,

Greg

Most people only get to celebrate an important milestone – like an anniversary – once, but at ACN, when it comes to celebrating our accomplishments, bigger is certainly better!  ACN kicked off our 20^th Anniversary Celebration in Charlotte, NC, in February, and last week we traveled 4,892.5 miles to Budapest to do it all again with our European teams.  Here’s a quick sneak peek at how we jumpstarted the event Saturday morning – better than any fireworks display I’ve ever seen:

But we aren’t stopping there!  We plan to three-peat that celebration in two weeks in Brisbane, Australia, for our Pacific Convention, which will wrap up our tri-continent celebration.

And while celebrating is exciting, these events are really about so much more than just what happens inside those three days.  In fact, it’s the momentum coming out of events that really matters most, and I can tell you; momentum in ACN worldwide has never been higher than it is right now.  Momentum can best be described as “a driving power or strength.”  In fact, I think that perfectly describes what momentum should do in your ACN business.  See, momentum is what keeps you going when you think you can’t – and it’s what will keep you going long after others have quit.

Think about a snowball, for example.  If you release a snowball at the top of the hill, it will increase in both size and speed as it moves further down the hill.  It won’t stop or slow down until it either reaches its final resting place or gets knocked off course by an obstacle.  Take ACN’s events: I think we can all agree these are natural momentum creators – you can’t help but feel reenergized after leaving one.  But what do you do when that feeling has worn off?  How to you keep the momentum going?  There are lots of theories on this, but I have one of my own.  For me, the best way to keep momentum going is to continue setting aggressive goals for yourself.  If you accomplish one goal, celebrate that success, set a new goal and then use the momentum to carry you through to your next goal.  If you do this, your snowball won’t be able to help but increase in size and speed.  But if you allow obstacles to get in your path, to throw you off course, you’ll be left with nothing more than a pile of snow.

So set some aggressive goals, hold on tight, and remember, that the greatest of avalanches often starts with the smallest of snowflakes.

Until next time,

Greg

ACN is featured in the Friday/Weekend Edition of the USA Today September 23-25 as part of a special insert on the direct selling industry. The insert includes a special advertisement for ACN regarding its unique home-based business opportunity.