|
“The airlines are bankrupt, the
Savings & Loans are in shambles, family businesses are
going the way of the dinosaur and the government can’t
find enough red ink to print the budget. Is there any doubt
that the traditional ways of doing business don’t work
anymore’?” So says North America’s #1 Networking
Coach, Randy Gage.
As network trainers go, Gage is distinctly
different. Along the Atlantic Ocean in tropical Miami Beach,
he directs the Gage Research & Development Institute.
It has consulting, management, training and marketing divisions—all
bearing the distinctive Gage brand. Gage has made quite a
niche for himself as the trainer’s trainer. Yet when
FreEnterprise caught up with him, we found a shy guy who often
sleeps til mid-day, doesn’t own a watch and works in
Nike sneakers.
The 33 year old Gage laughs at the irony,
but explains it this way: “I’ve owned many businesses,
I’ve been president of the Chamber of commerce, I’ve
worked for big corporations—I’ve done the whole
“merger-mania! dress for success” scene. I mean,
isn’t that why we all go into networking to begin with,
so we can wear blue jeans and sleep til noon?” And while
he may look more like a mystery writer than a MLM guru, looks
are deceiving.
What began as a training program for
his own organization just 3 years ago has now transformed
Gage into a personal coach to thousands. His stable of admirers
reads like a veritable Who’s Who of the industry.
Shaklee Lifetime Master Coordinators,
Bodywise 5 Star Managers, Platinum Executives from Jewel-Way
and Executive directors from Sunrider International all look
to Gage for the latest innovations on how to build an organization
bigger, better and faster. When Avon Products decided to test
the MLM concept in the Mid-West, they brought in Gage to make
the change from Avon Ladies to networking superstars.
Eager and would-be MLM’ers all over
the country line up to take his latest seminar “How to
Earn at Least $100,000 a year in Network Marketing.”
Word of mouth advertising has made it the most popular seminar
of its kind. Dean Smith, a lifetime Master Coordinator with
Shaklee in the Chicago area explains how it happened: “When
I first heard about Randy’s seminar I was quite skeptical
because there’s been so many training and other things
that just didn’t pan out. So I went first to check it
out for my group. I found it to be the most well organized
and presented training I’ve seen in 20 years in this
business.” Smith has gone on to bring Gage back for regular
Shaklee training programs.
Charles Possick, an industry name for
decades sees Randy as the future of networking in the nineties
and beyond. Says he: “Randy Gage’s tapes and seminars
can help anyone become an overnight networking professional.
While other trainers teach theory—Randy teaches pragmatic,
down-to-earth ‘how-to’s” that he learned by
building large groups himself. He’s on the cutting edge
of high tech, high touch networking. While the dinosaurs are
still teaching that the only way to build is drawing circles
in your own living room— Randy’s showing how to
use MLM advertising strategies, voicemail training boxes,
fax on demand, telephone demand conferencing and training
programs that duplicate 50 plus levels deep.”
What began as a training program for
his own organization just 3 years ago (1992) has now transformed
Gage into a personal coach to the thousands. His stable of
admirers reads like a veritable Who’s Who of the industry.
Gage shrugs off the accolades, but it’s
obvious that he’s proud of his reputation as the definitive,
“how to” expert in the field. Says he: “We
have enough “rah-rah” hype in this industry without
me adding to it. I’ve always believed that if you teach
people the specific things they need to know to build a network-they
don’t need the hype.”
He’s also quick to point out that
anyone can make a 6-figure networking income without special
degrees or credentials. Last year he was awarded an Honors
Scholarship at the local college. But as often with Gage,
looks are deceiving. “Yes I’m proud of that scholarship,”
he declares, “but I’m even more proud of the fact
that I make it in networking as a high school drop-out! It’s
only because of networking that I could go back, get my GED
and go to college. What other career could afford me that
time and flexibility?”
While he wears such diversified hats
as a consultant to MLM companies, developing success tools,
columnist, author and teacher, it’s the training role
Gage relishes the most. He relates: “Getting across the
country and doing my seminar is the most rewarding thing I
do. It’s where I get to interact one-on-one with the
distributors — the real people in the trenches, It’s
a sad fact, but 95 percent of the people in this industry
aren’t making any money. Every company has their $100,000
Poster Boys, but for every one of them, there are thousands
who aren’t making $30. When I can show them that they
really can do this—it makes it all worth while.”
It was only natural that when FreEnterprise
was looking for a training program that they could co-sponsor,
they turned to Gage. Publisher Larry Hessick saw the opportunity
to broaden the magazine’s ever expanding role in educating
the industry. Hessick explains the reasoning behind the move;
“We’ve always seen FreEnterprise as a distributor’s
best friend. Our job is to assist him or her in building their
program the fastest, smartest, best way possible. By helping
to bring Randy’s seminar to the distributors in the field—it
gives us a chance to help our own distributor force and “walk
our talk” to our many readers.”
When Gage isn’t teaching people
how to build an MLM organization, you’ll probably find
him riding his bike along Ocean drive or adding to his comic
book collection. He describes himself as “happily divorced”
and “living the lifestyle of my dreams.” The way
he sees it: “Everyday I get the chance to help people
who are fed up with their careers, dead end jobs or just having
a lousy boss. I can empower them and show them a better way.
I can give them the one thing they desperately want and really
deserve—freedom from the Rat Race. I do what I love and
I love what I do. What more can I ask for?” What more,
indeed.
Randy is available for background information,
interviews and profiles on the Network Marketing industry.
He can be reached through Prime
Concepts Group, Inc. at 1-800-946-7804 or (316) 942-1111.
|
