For love or money?

On a call the other night, one gal said she was changing companies because the one she was with wasn't paying enough for amassing customers, which is what she wants to do in her networking business.

She's one of those who likes to find a product she loves, and then get customers.

Anyway, her old company was paying under 10% commissions on her customers' orders, and she found another one, with a similar product she liked, that was paying almost twice as much.

Her question: If I'm leaving the old one for the new one just for the money, is that a bad thing?

Here's my rule: When you have a chance to do something you love, go where they pay you the most to do it, all else being equal. (all else = quality and purpose of people running the company, their history, integrity of the product line, do they do it because they love it madly, do you like their culture, other reps, how they present their opportunity to others, is anyone having fun, whatever matters to you about choosing a company to represent.)

So if you love to get customers for products you love, go where they have products you like and pay the most for the repeat customers.

If you love to recruit, go where they pay the most for doing that.

Here's the harder choice: Doing something you DO NOT LOVE, or even dislike, for the money. People who do stuff for the money - well you always know it don't you? It always shows in the service you get.

Recruiters in NM who sign you up, get your money, and disappear.

Sales people who act like you're imposing because you came to their counter, like you are somehow interupting them. They're not engaged and give you the wrong stuff.

Same for top bananas in big companies. People who run General Motors or Ford who don't seem to have fun anymore making cars that people love - they all look the same, don't they? And we're not sure what to buy because they're mostly the same.

Any wonder GM and Ford are losing money and market share to little upstarts like the MiniCooper? Those are some people who obviously DO care and love what they do.

Network marketing companies too, are characterized by whether their founders/leaders know and love what they do. Mary Kay for example, thrived when Mary Kay herself ran it; she loved giving women the chance she had had. But since her passing, the culture has changed and MK has has done less well with her son and others running it - they don't have that passion, and knowledge of how to do it with all those women doing it, like Mary Kay did.

Shaklee, a 50 year old company, was founded by a man who was a nutrition and health nut all his life. But today it's run by businessmen who have never built a great organization of network marketers whose mission is to spread health products around to others. This management talks about the company being #1, and the biggest and greatest. The reps hope to attract other reps with talk about how much money their new owner has and how great their new leader is. Very different.

Bottom line: Go where they love what they do for the same reasons you do. If amassing customers is what matters the most to you, go where that's valued - recognized on stage and recognized financially.

You are in business for yourself. Why pick or stay with a company or a team where you battle uphill for things you really want to do and be paid for?