By Sue DiFranco
Copyright © 2002 Sue DiFranco/Fun Facts Publishing  

Meet Ned Negative, and his wife Nelly. Ned and Nelly both feel like they've been dealt a bad hand in the game of life. No matter what they try, they fail. Oh sure, life is great for some people - the "lucky" ones. But not them. They live under their own permanent gray cloud. And they feel it's their duty to remind everyone they encounter just how miserable life really is.

Do you know the Negatives? Maybe you know them as just Ned or just Nelly. They might be members of your family, "friends," or co-workers at your traditional job (where it's almost a requirement to complain all day). Trying to stay positive with these energy-depleting people around you is not only difficult, it's positively exhausting.

Luckily, I have had fairly few encounters with the Negatives lately. Most everyone I meet in this wonderful industry has been amazing, sweet, and kind. That's why it was a shock to meet the epitome of Mr. and Mrs. Negative at a recent show.

They paused by our booth, where we asked them, "Would you like to make money scrapbooking?" "I'd like to make money, but I don't think I can," Nelly said. We chatted about scrapping for others, and I told them about how much money some women I know were making. "No, I don't think people will pay that," Nelly kept insisting.

The talk turned to my books and reports, which were all on display. Without getting within four feet of them, never mind flipping through any, Ned said, "Why do you have ten books if they all say the same thing?" "Ummm...actually they are all completely different," I explained.

"This is where the real money is," Ned grumbled, "writing books and telling people they can make money."

He continued, "Actually, I wrote a book about how to buy a used car. It didn't sell at all. My father was an author too - he wrote several books.  They never sold either - it must run in the family."

We talked more about the scrapbook industry, and I told them that The Wall Street Journal called scrapbooking one of the "fastest growing cottage industries in the world." Ned positively snorted and said, "Yeah, I'd like to see that article!" I promptly told him the issue the article appeared in, in case he might ever want to look it up to prove it was indeed the truth.

Finally, the talk turned to network marketing (direct sales). I don't know how familiar some of you are with direct sales, but one of the most important keys to success is staying positive and motivated. You can imagine how successful the Negatives were...

"We are disgruntled network marketers," Ned complained. "It doesn't work. We don't believe in it."

We told them that actually, we thought network marketing is one of the best business ventures to get into. They then named about five companies that "didn't work" for them, which convinced them that network marketing as a whole "doesn't work." I think there are many multi-millionaires who would beg to differ!

We tried every tactic we knew to get them thinking positive, to instill some positive energy into them. Nothing worked. We even asked if they'd like to sign up for our e-zine, hoping maybe they'd read one of our articles and be inspired. "I don't want to receive anything through email," they responded.

When they left, we could actually feel the cloud of negative energy they had left behind. Joking, we tried "shooing" the energy out of the booth by blowing the air into the aisle and waving our hands. (I'm sure people thought we were crazy!) We even thought about burning incense to get rid of the Negatives' essence. In the end, however, the energy was replaced by positive energy when the next fabulous scrapbook enthusiast entered our booth and we began talking.

The Negatives are an extreme example, to be sure. But to help you succeed both as a business owner and as a person, try to limit your contact with these kinds of people. It is much easier for them to pull you down into their mud puddle than for you to lift them up to your sunshine. Believe me, I've tried many times! The most important thing you can do is to surround yourself with all of the things and people that make you the best you can be!

I wish you the best of success - however you define it!