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You are in the process of doing what I did several years ago. I was a very successful health care professional and very committed to the work I was doing. The work was interesting, challenging and I loved doing it every day for the last 25 years. The various environments I worked in however, were based on models of control, limitations, and negative feedback, which is very prevalent in most employee work environments.

Eventually, I came to the realization that if I wanted to strive toward complete satisfaction with my life and my work, I needed to begin the process of working for myself. Initially, this was a very scary prospect. I had no idea how to do this!

My initial contact with network marketing was through a company with products specifically geared toward what clients were constantly asking for. This company functions in the old school model of multilevel marketing. The initial contact with this model was aggressively driven, and required the marketer to use " Interruption Marketing". What do I mean by this? Under this model, I would have to seek out people who might be interested in my product by interrupting their daily lives with unrequested phone calls, e-mail, brochures, cards, and general conversation which was blatantly selfish, with no real concern for the listener. This was exactly the type of person I would run from if I saw them coming!

I was not going to become that kind of person! Because I did not" follow the program", it was not long before I stopped hearing from my up-line managers. I continued, however to offer my products to clients who requested them. What a pleasant way to do business! My interactions were caring, authentic, and based on the needs of the people who sought out my help. This type of professional approach, which I had developed over the course of years working in healthcare was the "marketing approach" that really worked! But I realized that I did not have the skills to move this process forward into a successful business model. My search continued. Then one day I stumbled across a concept known as Attraction Marketing or Permission Marketing. This approach of offering something of value to someone who is already interested in your products or services was exactly what I thought marketing should be. Marketing to me is being able to fill someone's need with something of value, offered in an ethical and caring environment.

I continue to incorporate this type of business model into my everyday professional life, and already I have reaped the benefits that I continue to strive for; freedom to use my time and energies in a manner that is consistent with my values and my goals, increased income, and more complete control over the way my day unfolds.

Patricia Goode RN, ARNP/FNP is a professional health care and marketing consultant who provides education, resources, lifestyle, business and health care consulting services to individuals and corporations.