Pregnant at 17, homeless at 21, and a millionaire at 23, Dani Johnson is one of the incredible success stories in the network marketing community.

It’s tough to research MLM success stories without hearing about Johnson. But amidst all the media attention she’s received in the last few years, how can Johnson’s story help new network marketers reach their own success?

Is her story applicable to the rest of us? Or is it just another home-business consulting scheme that has made her millions?

From Homeless to Millionaire

Dani Johnson is an author, speaker, and radio host. She recently appeared on ABC’s “The Secret Millionaire,” telling the world her story. In the episode, she lives on $40 per day and works alongside volunteers in non-profits. At the end, she writes them checks to help with their dedication to helping others.

Johnson grew up in an impoverished home, with her parents on welfare. After the birth of her first child at age 17, she started a business out of the back of her car, using only a payphone. Now, at age 41, she’s written books, hosts a radio show, and has even appeared on Oprah.

Hers is a rare story of explosive success. And not just in the network marketing arena. She has also written books with relationship and financial advice, helping others find success when they actively look for it. She is also a spiritual counselor.

Dani Johnson’s Products

Her flagship product is Call to Freedom, an organization that helps spread Johnson’s message. The programs offered are meant to help all types of people create change in their lives: moms, housewives, students, and executives.

She has also written a book that will be released soon, entitled First Steps to Wealth.

The big question lingers: Can following in Dani Johnson’s footsteps bring everyone this type of fame and fortune?

Can Her Story Help You Achieve Success?

Johnson’s success is largely based on her personality. Watch a Youtube video or two and you’ll immediately see that she’s a natural saleswoman.

Her teachings are largely based on how to talk to people and convert them to your downline. That’s how she built her own business, for more than one MLM company. For people who are looking into being on the phone several hours per day to get leads, and doing a lot of cold-calling, Johnson’s program may be worthwhile.

But recently, many network marketers are finding that this is a completely oudated way of targeting your markets. After wasting money to buy leads, and then hours to actually call all of those leads, it’s become a technique that simply isn’t worth it.

Especially with the power of the internet. Most new-school marketers are saying that it makes much more sense to instead learn how to harness the internet to get free leads, target a specific market, use SEO to drive the right kinds of traffic, and ultimately get more people to contact you to become a part of your downline.

The Real Story Behind Dani Johnson

A big key in the last sentence is people contacting you. Dani Johnson’s program is excellent for face-to-face skills and creating personal relationships with your downline. But if you’re looking to add thousands of people to your business, face-to-face or cold-calling simply isn’t going to cut it.

Johnson’s products all focus on personal growth and development, though, and that’s something that some new network marketers may find helpful. But when it comes time to build your business, you should first take every precaution and learn all you can about new techniques in the industry.

Everyone out there is trying to find the system that works best for them. And truthfully, the most important element is the individual. We all have the power to create opportunities for ourselves, by selecting the right information tool and applying newfound knowledge in effective ways.

So is Dani Johnson’s business a scam? No. She legitimately rose to the top by working hard and helping others. But whether her product is the right one to help you find success is up to you. All the tools are out there. You just have to select the ones that fit your needs, and start making change.

It’s not often that thousands of people sign up to get advice from a 25-year-old. But that’s exactly what Jonathan Budd has created: a community of new network marketers, looking to him for advice and help with their new businesses.

The real question here isn’t whether fresh-out-of-college kids can be trusted, but whether Budd’s system for training new network marketers is actually effective.

This is a closer look at his successes and techniques.

Can others find this type of success, or is Jonathan Budd just a young prodigy?

The Failure of Jonathan Budd

When Budd was 21 and graduating college, he discovered network marketing. It seemed like a good deal to him. More time, less work, and infinite amounts of money.

He was hugely disappointed. He invested money into businesses and compensation plans, and got nowhere. He admits that he couldn’t even get his own mother to join his network.

The first 9 months was a complete failure. He says on his personal blog that he, “experienced what it felt like to work, struggle, and endure constant challenges, obstacles, and set backs.” He kept looking for tips and solutions, and started to implement everything he learned. Instead of quitting when the going got tough, he just kept going.

After three years, he had a multi-million dollar business. And downlines with several thousands of people in them, through two MLM companies.

Three Years To Success

Now, the tables are turned and Jonathan Budd is teaching newbies just like himself how to master the game. He offers products and consulting services to those in need, and encourages everyone experiencing struggles to just push through on his blog.

It sounds like he’s an untouchable guru. Search the internet, and you’ll find him everywhere. He’s got at least an ad or two on most sites that lead you to MLM information. And honestly, there aren’t a lot of criticisms of him on the web.

Jonathan Budd’s Critics

But critics do exist. While most agree that Jonathan Budd is a success story worth telling, and worth learning from, there are some fundamental issues with his program.

First of all, you can’t really use his program without Budd getting some of the branding in the process. This is why, no matter how well you execute his programs, you can never reach his success level by using them. Every time you execute his “secrets,” Budd gets bigger and bigger. He actually makes more money from selling his secrets than from network marketing itself.

The branding of Budd is another issue. In order to reach success for yourself, on your own terms, it’s good to start branding YOU. It’s important to learn how to reach out to your own client base, your own community, and your own team. Reps need to learn how to brand themselves as credible, trustworthy people offering a great product or opportunity. You can only ride on others’ success for so long. True wealth comes from taking network marketing strategies, implementing them as they apply to your business, and creating something great that is centered around your own plans.

Why He Succeeded

Jonathan Budd is a success because he changed the game. He achieved great success, and then strived for even greater success by sharing how he did it. He’s managed to become one of the leading personalities in MLM.

But it wasn’t because he followed someone else’s formula. It’s because he was  game changer. He picked up bits and pieces of rules and strategies from experts at the time, and put them together to create his own strategy that didn’t follow tradition.

That’s where success really comes from: learning all you can, following the rules to success, and then figuring out how the game can actually be played better and more effectively.

The first key is to learn. Gather information, make yourself aware of the opportunities, and utilize the aspects that you think can make your business a great success.

Mike Dillard’s story starts like many others in the circle of MLM gurus: unhappy with his financial situation, he started network marketing. And failed. But within 6 years, he had built up an extremely successful online business and taught others to do the same.

Now, he teaches others how to realize the same success. But are his products worth the investment? Should new network marketers use his techniques, or search elsewhere?

Here’s an in-depth look at Mike Dillard’s history, and how you you can use his success to create your own.

The Beginning

As a waiter in Austin, Texas, Mike Dillard was unhappy. He started investing his time and money into network marketing, and struggled for about 6 years. He even sold some of his possessions and went into debt to continue searching for answers with network marketing. But once he figured out an effective system, he went from waiter to millionaire in 18 months.  This all happened by the time he was 28.

Now, Dillard owns several companies and has recently gotten into investing as well. Elevation Group is his newest venture, and it’s an investment portal for teaching others how to invest like the “ultra rich” and profit from wealth transfers.

Other companies of his include Magnetic Sponsoring, which essentially teaches new network marketers how to get leads for new prospects and customers in what he claims is a fool-proof way. With over 1 million subscribers to his video bootcamp, it’s certain that Dillard has to be doing something right.

Just the Facts

A few “quick tips” about him from his Magnetic Sponsoring platform: He gets more traffic than most Fortune 500 companies. He is the #1 distributor in his network marketing platform. He created a social network, BetterNetwork, that’s the industry’s largest. Magnetic Sponsoring has been the #1 information source since it’s debut 6 years ago.

Whether these facts are truth or stretched reality is debatable. But many people do use his system, and some find great success with it.

Of course, others don’t. And this is the problem with claiming absolutes about your products. There are certainly critics of Dillard’s system out there.

Using the Law of Attraction

A core principle in Magentic Sponsoring is the law of attraction. Dillard claims that without the confidence to achieve goals, they simply cannot be acheived. He is a big supporter of “believe it, and you can do it.”

This is certainly the truth, as reiterated by many in the network marketing industry, and many outside of it as well. Seeing success, planning for success, and knowing that success is there for you is a key step in attaining goals.

But the truth is that there’s more to achieving goals that envisioning them. It takes hard work. Time spent learning. Knowledge about your industry.

How To Succeed – With our Without Mike Dillard

In order to be a success like Mike Dillard, reps have to really invest time in learning. It took him 6 years to figure out exactly how to position himself with tools and techniques that he learned from various sources. The most important thing new reps can do is find information that they believe will get them from point A to point B in the least time-consuming way.

There is infinite information on the web, and no one “guru” is the absolute best. It’s all about finding what jives with your goals, and taking it all with a grain of salt.