Who can I blame?

My name is Mary, and I am a Network Marketing failure.  

I've been involved in network marketing, or mlm, on and off for the last ten years.  I can't say I'm a complete failure, because I have earned a little money through my business ventures, but definetely not more than I've spent.

So who can I blame?  My parents sold Amway when I was a kid.  My Dad claims he was doing fairly well at one point, but something happened.  Obviously it was a good excuse, since I can't remember what it was.

About 10 years ago I tried my hand at Quixtar, which was really just Amway rehashed for the internet.  Hey, they had good products!  I did terribly.  

Maybe I can blame my friends.  See, my friends are all poor.  It's hard to sell stuff to people who can't afford to buy it.  Ok, I'll qualify that.  It is very hard for me to try to sell to people I know can't afford it.

Four years and two children ago, I started a business that I am still with (I'll tell you more about it in another post).  But I just barely manage to scrape by and hang on.   And last year and one more child later (that makes three for those that are counting) I started another business.  Yep, I'm a glutton for punishment! :)

But this summer I started working at a full time job.  I love it because 
it is in my field-theater.  But I hate it because it eats up so much of 
my time!  There are so many things I used to be able to do when 
I was a stay at home mom!

So now I am on a mission to turn this around.  I want to be one of 
those fairy tale success stories where I buy a new house and a car
and get to stay home with my kids (yes, I really would rather stay
at home with my kids--most of the time).  

I'll let you know what's working, and what's not working.  And hopefully you'll get to read a really good fairy tale.