A Practical Guide For Network Marketers

Here is a list of basic ingredients and preparatory knowledge that you need to consider, combine and implement into your routine if you want to see results in your business. You have to figure out the amounts, fill in the blanks and add your special touch. This is a primer on pure machinery and knowledge to grow your business, not a motivational treatise.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• There is no holy grail when it comes to producing success. There is no miracle “system”, “secret” or “key” that can guarantee you anything. You increase your odds of success when you apply yourself to work systematically and repeat essential critical activities such as: consistently sharing the benefits of your product(s) with as many people as you can on a regular basis through advertisement, following up with prospects, making yourself available for any questions, keeping in touch with your teammates, teaching others how to apply the things that have worked for you from trial and error. Be skeptical of “success coaches” that want you to purchase their “secrets”. Free enterprise is great and there are a few who do offer some helpful nuggets along the way, but more often than not you find yourself poorer and lost in a morass of endless rhetorical meandering that often leaves you still wondering where the magic wand is.

• Everyone cannot do Network Marketing. Becoming a networker does require either inherent or acquired skill, much like becoming a doctor or a statesman (with maybe a little less cost and time). It requires education and repeated effort. You don’t just get good over night either, but you can learn rapidly if you’re already naturally talented in people skills or willing to discipline yourself. You might have already guessed that not everyone can be the top CEO or owner of a company either! But as with all job opportunities, if you work hard enough you just might get there.

• Working hard does not guarantee your financial success, it only enhances the probability of it. And just as it is unfair to criticize any industry for not producing a 100% “success” rate, network marketing cannot be blamed justifiably as a faulty or illegitimate structure. This is why talking about a 95% or 97% failure rate (or whatever it may be) is meaningless. There will always only be a small percentage that reaps the biggest rewards – all you can do is determine that you will be a part of that small percentage, and exert every effort to achieve your goals.

• Network marketing isn’t easy. It may operate on a simple platform, but it is very hard and mentally exhausting work. It is probably the hardest thing you’ll ever have to do. You will be grossly underpaid at the beginning and grossly overpaid in the end.

• Your product should have unique characteristics. If it is similar to other available products on the market, make sure that it has a “superior” quality that can survive the competition. If this is not the case, you are in an uphill battle because there’s no incentive for someone to buy what you have over a cheaper and more widely available version online or at a local store. Ensuring better-quality products also makes your business “hurt proof” because at the end of the line everyone benefits even if they don’t make money.

• Compensation should be fair. The product may be superb and you may wish to be a customer, but decide if whether or not the income you can generate will be able to justify the effort you are putting into making a business out of it. Find out how much you will be getting paid based on how many customers you get or volume you produce.

• Consider the stability of a company. Everyone will have varying standards for what they consider a solid and ethical company, but make sure it is debt free and that it has an infrastructure to last. Having a reliable track record is always helpful and comforting. A great product and compensation plan doesn’t necessarily mean the company is going to last, although they are certainly indispensable.

• Do not think you will encourage someone by giving away your prospects to a friend, family member or anyone you are trying to motivate. Not even if it’s your very best friend. While everyone should be interested in helping humanity with the product or service they are offering, you cannot continue to help others if you destroy your own profitability beforehand. Save the charity work until after you’re making enough to survive. This business operates based on individuals being motivated enough to find their own people for development, because you can’t possibly build everyone’s business. If you invest time in those who are not motivated and willing to work for their own business (by getting their own prospects), the whole thing will collapse and you’ll end up discouraged.

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO

• Lead with your product, NOT a business opportunity. Your network marketing business and hence profitability are only as strong as your product or service, so if you cannot keep enough little guys ordering WITHOUT having to constantly lure with promises of wealth, then you’re already in the wrong company and it’s probably leaning toward a scam – it doesn’t matter how great of a leader you are, you will eventually get exasperated you until you quit, jump to another “opportunity” or resort to writing some ungodly “how-to-become-successful [in that which I most likely have not]” book.

• Advertise constantly, or forget about having a business. The problem with most people is that they will only try a few methods of reaching out to new prospects and then give up once they are not having the success they had hoped. Imagine if wal-mart decided that they were going to close down because their advertising one year didn’t yield the kind of revenue they were hoping? Or any business for that matter, giving up because their ad campaign failed and their profits plunged for the year? You have to keep trying different things. You can’t bank on one method to be your only hope. It’s about trial and error. If your attempt failed, don’t blame the product or the business, blame the way you presented it.

• Set workings hours for yourself. If you can do it full time, great, if not, then decide which days and which hours you will be working, even if you can only do one or two hours a day. You have the goals, so you know what you’re aiming for.

• Forget about your family and friends as people who are going to contribute to the prosperity of your business. The idea that you can become successful at network marketing simply by recruiting family and friends in your organization is as absurd as believing that if you opened up a restaurant, your family and friends would be able to keep you in business. If you happen to be fortunate enough to have a family member who does do something, then work with them, but don’t consider family or relatives your bread and butter.

• Look for customers. Not elusive “heavy hitters”. The individuals who build a business based on initially valuing the product will stick with you until the end, and the so called professional “heavy-hitters” looking to rake in a bundle of cash on a wave of enthusiasm will be the first the leave. Your customers make most of your business anyway, therefore make sure that your product is strong enough to be worth buying even if there is no compensation plan attached to it. This also makes it harder for “mlm jumpers” to take their organization with them to something else promising greater wealth. No successful business will last if its gospel is only about “getting rich”. A limited appeal to greed is alright, but at the end of the line there has to be a product that keeps people coming back for more, regardless if they will get paid or not.

• Learn everything you can about your product and business. This is your business, and therefore it is your responsibility to understand why the products are worth buying, how they will benefit the potential customer, how they are better than similar products and why you are in the company that you are in. You may need to consult those who have been in the business longer to get some of your answers, but if you can’t then at the end of the line you are the one that has to take charge and understand it all.

• Be a servant to your teammates/customers, and stop dwelling on the money. Rather than thinking in terms of upline or downline, realize that you need to focus on simply helping your teammates to become successful. Their fruits will be your fruits. Sure you’re in it to make money, but you won’t prosper from worrying about how big your paycheck is going to be, but by getting good at what you do and repeating it.

• Take a break if you are feeling discouraged or burnt out. Quitting does not solve anything unless you’re in the wrong company (sometimes defined as: products without unique characteristics, poor compensation, and management instability). Even if it’s the best company in the world it’s natural to get down for whatever reason (usually from massive rejection) and feel as though our business will never develop or grow as we expected. Especially when the person you were sure was going to turn your business around ended up being a complete dud. Even experienced networkers have dismal moments and challenges on different levels. The best way to deal with this is to take a nice healthy break and then come back again with full force.

HOW YOU CAN DO IT

• Before you do anything you need to get organized in your plan by putting first things first. All of the following activities are going to be crucial in acquiring both customers and business builders.

1. LEARN
Educate yourself on the product you offer, both for your own knowledge and for being able to tell others why they need it. Understand your own reasons and how to explain why your product and business are “superior” or “better” than any existing competition (if there is any).

2. EXPERIENCE
Use your own product so that you can have a personal testimonial to its effectiveness or validity.

3. SHARE
Apply the learning and experience you have acquired by telling others why they too should use your product, and teach them to repeat the process. This is the act of duplicating yourself. If the person cannot see the value in your product after you’ve explained why it is important, there is no point asking if they are willing to try or buy it.

Essential Business Building Tools

• Get business cards. This is one of the first things you should make. It should be attractive and feature your name, title and have a description of your product or what you do.

• Computer access is necessary. Most people own a computer, so this isn’t a big problem. It’s indispensable for any home-based business.

• Develop or use a duplicable website system to take away the burden of your business builders or customers having to manually explain the overall value of the products or the business to every person they come in contact with. It gets everyone on the same page and will appeal to the masses of customers in your business who may only be interested in casually sharing the products or even wanting a little side income. The website system should have a certain demarcation between the product(s) and the business opportunity, so that it appeals to everyone. But don’t separate them so much that the customer isn’t aware that they can also share the product(s) and receive monetary compensation. Your company may already have the perfect system and all you need to do is make sure everyone is plugged in. Not everyone will be able to have the perfect website system to offer to their team right away, depending on what is available. If you don’t, try to make do with what you have until you feel that the cost of creating it will be justified proportionate to your business growth.

• Have Plenty of Materials, and keep them handy at all times with enough information about your products and business. People don’t just get convinced by word of mouth. They need to look at information and convince themselves.

Prospecting Methods

• First there is your warm market. These are people you are already familiar with. Be it friends, acquaintances or family. This is the most accessible group of people, but don’t expect that they will see the value in what you have to tell them. Once you run out of these people you have to resort to other ways, some of which may require a small investment. The goal is to keep it as budget-friendly as possible while maximizing results.

• “Referral-based” marketing is one of the most effective ways to find new prospects, it doesn’t cost anything and it usually happens over the phone. This means that everyone you know has contact with someone you don’t know. If you are not successful in convincing the person that what you have is valuable, always thank them for listening to you and then tell them how passionate you are about what you’re doing and if they happen to know anyone who would be remotely open-minded to what you’re sharing. You will find that the chances are very high they will give you a referral or two. This is the way to keep opening up doors to endless possibilities with prospects.

• Business card, leaflet/mini-card advertising is going to be one of the most powerful tools in your arsenal to reach out to people who may be interested in what you have but don’t know about it. Make sure there is a summary explanation of your product and/or business plus contact info (name, email, website, phone number).This is relatively inexpensive and way to get your product or opportunity out there. The content can focus on business or product or both. I recommend trying both and then focusing more on the one that produces the most results. Also, expect to have to distribute many hundreds or even thousands of these before getting one or two calls or emails out of it. Places to distribute them would be: car windows (between the rubber and glass on the driver side door window, not the front windshield), magazines

• Door-to-Door advertisement can be highly effective with minimal costs. This is the way many local businesses get the word out and create awareness in the community. You can try door-hangers with information about your product/service or you can greet the people at the door. Tell them your name and who you are and briefly what you do. Hand them some material and let them know that they are free to contact/call you if they find it interesting. Also say that they are free to mention your services to anyone they know who might be interested. Make sure you get a permit to go door to door, if applicable.


• Internet socializing is another powerful way to find people. There are literally hundreds of social networking sites that you can make yourself available on. Some are specifically for network marketing. Take time to make some friends with similar interests, and if you are on a site with a forum that is geared toward home-based businesses and networking, get in contact and compare notes with whoever would be interested in doing so. You can even post a few advertisements for your business in advertising sections of forums, but don’t put all of your emphasis on this. Everyone wants to believe that their business is the best one and that everyone else should join them because theirs is better, but sometimes all you can is get an agreement to mutually take a look at what the other one has. Rather than trying to convince the person that they should join you, simply compare products and compensation plan as well as talk about the stability of your respective companies and maybe share helpful tips along the way. You will both have an opportunity to talk about your side and if you find that you’re both content with where you are at, there was nothing to lose. You would be surprised how many people are simply in a certain company because they don’t know any better, and they didn’t realize that there were other options out there. Network marketing is like any other job market. Some products are more comprehensive and some compensation plans pay more than others.

• Cold-calling people from “prequalified lists” is another market often tapped, although you may find that it is a very arduous and often fruitless endeavor. Rejection is going to be overwhelming, no matter how you approach these people. Some people have limited success. I wouldn’t recommend it personally.

A few other, less budget friendly, prospecting markets would be newspapers, magazines and radio.

Prospecting Protocol

• If you are fulltime in network marketing you should be making 25 real contacts per day (125 per week), and if you are falling short at least make sure you are doing everything in your power to achieve that amount. If you have a different number in mind, set it according to your goals and stick to it. A “real contact” is a person who has shown interest in either the product or the business, not merely someone you have talked to on the phone or spoken with.

After speaking with a prospect, evaluate whether the person is a green, yellow or red.

Greens = are prospects demonstrating positive interest in knowing more about either your product or business. Greens should be scheduled for follow-up as soon as possible and no more than a week out unless they specify otherwise.

Yellows = should be determined by those not opposed to looking at what you have but may be delayed in their interest. Sometimes they won’t seem want to know more right away, but would be worth talking to at future times.

Reds = persons who should not be contacted any further, as it's unlikely they are of any value to your business.

• Following up is critical. After speaking with a prospect over the telephone make sure you set up an appointment to call them back at a time that works for them. In a social setting, simply mention that you will be calling them or emailing them some time soon to get their feedback.

Expressing Yourself

The safest overall approach is to just be natural as though you were sharing a good movie or book without financial interest vested. Mention that you recently learned of something and that you think they probably deserve to hear about. Don’t be tense, just relax and smoothly transition the conversation. Don’t sound overly excited or intense about it, but make sure they notice you are genuine and passionate about it.

If they seem skeptical, get on the same page and acknowledge that they have good reason to be skeptical, as there are a lot of scams out there. Mention if you were skeptical at first also. But let them know that a product has to be judged on its own merits, not impressions.

Be sure to mention that you are going to send them something to look at. A brief email with information on key things that makes your product worth looking at, or a website with information, will do. Then tell them that you want to get their opinion and feedback on it. If they do not call or email you back, wait a few days and then call again.

In everyday social settings where chatting occurs, you can even direct the conversation by being spontaneous.

Example Phrase:
“Can I ask you a crazy question? What do you think about)…--put your own words here--?”

OR:

Can I ask you an out-of-the-blue question? Are you familiar at all with (or: ‘do you take…’) ----?

With this approach you are trying to find out if they are interested in the type of field that concerns your product, and if they take something similar, that is your opportunity to ensue with an explanation.

Example Phrase:

“You know it’s interesting because I used to take (or: I used to use/I used to think)----, until I discovered (/found out)…---talk about your product here and how it’s better or innovative---.“

You can always modify the exact words you say depending on the situation, but ask open-ended questions (i.e. “how do you feel about…?” etc) and keep the friendliness and concept intact. Always be sure to hand them your business card or a mini-card/brochure/leaflet before you part ways.

If you don’t have an opportunity to get into a conversation, here is an example phrase for handing out leaflet/mini-card:

“Oh, by the way, could you do me a favor? Could you give this to someone you care about? Thanks!”Note: you will find that very few people ever refuse this kind of approach.

And here is an example phrase for handing out your business card:

“oh, I just had some new business cards made and I feel this urge to give it to someone, do you mind?”(OR:“…and I just really feel like giving it to someone”).

When you are contacting a referral (obtained from the referral based marketing technique) over the phone make sure that you sound friendly and mention the person who referred them.

Example phrase:

“Hi my name is ---, I don’t think you know me but the reason I was calling was because I was talking to [your friend?] ---, and we happened to be chatting about…and somehow your name came up as someone who might be curious to know more about what I was sharing, so I thought it wouldn’t hurt to at least give it a shot…, and btw if this is a bad time for you I apologize, I can certainly call back another time!”

If it is a bad time for them make sure you get a specific time for a future appointment to talk.

Be warm and friendly, never forced.

• Make sure you are not acting desperate when you’re trying to tell someone why you think they would benefit from your product or business. You end up looking as unsuccessful as you obviously are. Probe their interest level and look for every opportunity for a conversation. When in social situations you can make general inquires like, what they do for a living, etc. They may reciprocate these questions which will give you an opportunity to briefly divulge what you do, but don’t be long-winded and be attentive for clues that they might want to know more. Depending on what your product is, they may be familiar with something similar (but hopefully inferior) to what you’re offering.

• Avoid being pushy with unreceptive people. Just as you aren’t going to convince everyone to think the same way that you do, you are not going to be able to help everyone see that what you have is valuable. You will only be instrumental in helping them to decide on their own. People do not want to be convinced anyway; they want to feel as though they convinced themselves (even if you are responsible for it).

Business Maintenance

• Keep in contact with your organization through communication regularly. Don’t leave your business builders and customers hanging. You should be calling key teammates at least once or twice a week, and make it a habit to give occasional courtesy/checkup calls to customers (especially the closer ones) and ask them if they need anything. Make sure you let everyone know that they should feel free to call you for any questions or help they might need. And if you don’t know the answers, tell them you will get it for them.

• Conduct conference calls or recommend existing ones and make sure your business builders are getting as many customers on as they can. Having one or two (maximum) short conference calls a week, or every other week, is plenty. Having too many will overwhelm people to the point where they no longer want to get on. Ensure that they are bringing new people on to listen and ask questions so that they aren’t letting the calls go to waste. If you are the one giving the presentations, have a brief overview of the product and then have one on the business. All customers interested in only products can get on the one call (or half of the call) and those interested in the business can get on the other call (or other half of the call). That way you aren’t making anyone feel pressured.

• Send out periodic emails to anyone willing to be on your mailing list for updates or encouragement, but be careful not to overdo it. It’s easy to overwhelm your organization and even business builders with too much information. Keep your emails to a minimum, make sure they are important announcements. Send out a “reconnection” email every so often to as many customers as possible, if you have lost track from keeping in contact. This will be more necessary as your organization becomes larger and it is harder to keep in touch regularly with all of them.

• Balance maintenance with prospecting. It’s essential that you don’t focus too much on either recruiting or maintenance but establish some kind of equilibrium between the two. You should be doing about 30% maintenance and 70% prospecting.

ENDING COMMENTS

As you can see, rather than some magic formula, achieving profitable goals requires an accumulation of real disciplined steps that you must take. Sacrifice and a little capital investment is the only way to grow a successful and thriving business. Resolving to do whatever it takes to succeed, despite instances of failure, is as much a reality in network marketing as any other pursuit in life. The good news is, you have the choice and the possibility for limitless rewards.

A REALISTIC RECIPE FOR NETWORK MARKETING SUCCESS

It seems that as opportunities for homebased businesses and network marketing grow there’s a proportionate increase in “miracle motivation” books and videos which are purportedly going to be the holy grail for creating wealth as long as we are faithful in buying them ourselves and promoting them for others to buy.

My name is Chadwick Schroeckenthaler, I’m 24 and I’m here to offer some real tips for those new to networking or already in network marketing, and how I went from being a pauper at my parents’ house without ever being employed, to joining the top percent of my company within the first three quarters of my first year. I was also blessed in being able to purchase a new suburban home within my first 2 years, and two brand new vehicles, one of which was my long-time dream car. I feel that I have insight, not as a seasoned heavy-hitter with years of experience, but as someone who started with no previous knowledge or skill and learned the hard way about how this industry REALLY operates and what it means to increase your odds of success.

And rather than to be taken as bragging, I wish instead to give everyone perspective that there are real people making it in this industry. And it’s not true that you have to be well connected in order to succeed, although you certainly have to make huge life-changes if you want to see life-changing rewards.

No hidden catches or purchasing of my “secrets” books or videos will be necessary. Just a a lot of free upfront candor and a realistic evaluation of what it truly takes to make it in this industry.

You may wonder why I’d even venture to waste my time on something so unprofitable, but the truth is, I feel that ultimately I DO have something to gain from it. Whether I’m looking to merely instill potential confidence in others by expressing myself or merely trying to obtain a little closure by telling you how to avoid all of the time-wasting that greets you on the journey to success, I'll let you decide.

I do not doubt for one moment that a good mentor and a systematic program of advice can contribute to a more successful homebased business business, but such results can only come from an application in our own way of the methods we hear of, watch or read about, and many of the attributes must be found within ourselves and can more often than not be stimulated from freely available sources of advice. Yet, many seem to have an unconscious belief that by buying a motivational book or seminar that they are automatically getting closer to having the kind of success so passionately conjured up in their dreams. In fact, some companies almost make it a religious requirement.

I might be stepping on some toes by saying this, but the reason for such a steep rise in “how to become successful” movements is because many motivational speakers have already likely worked as a top or relatively successful distributor in a particular or several(?) network marketing company(s) and are simply not interested any more in continuing to maintain and grow their business (like all successful businesses must, if they are going to remain successful). So they decide one day that it’s easier and less work if they use their past successes (if they’ve had any at all) and inherent talents of oratory to create a series of motivational tapes, books or movies about how YOU too can become just as successful in your business by following the steps outlined in their literature – in the end they’ve made money whether you have or not. Talk about discovering El Dorado! Some may view it as an escape from the “work” necessary in netWORK marketing but with all the profits intact.

Many times, instead of these individuals actually experiencing what they are talking about and helping the people out on the field achieve and make money, they're just telling others "how" to do it and being able to reach an almost infinite audience of desperate people clamoring to make more than what they are putting in. Some can make a great living off of this, and more power to them, as long as they aren’t regurgitating more of the same abstract hype we’ve heard time and time again. After all, I’m all for free enterprise and some of them do offer a few helpful nuggets amidst the morass of endless meandering that often leaves you still wondering where the magic wand is.

I am not doubting that many of these authors have some great things to say, but I’m just telling you that it’s not always so hard to have good results in that which you think is impossible without costly “professional” advice. Now I too might get caught in the vicious circle of putting out a book that’s illustrating how other people simply put out books to make profits, but I suppose I’ll excuse myself from that vice for now and save a little greed for other exploits. *grin*

I might summarize everything I’m about to say in two words:

Hard work

But that would be way too simplistic and naïve for even someone like me who would prefer everything were just a little less convoluted.

Truth be told, I believe that there are some of us cut out to be leaders in networking and others who simply aren’t. Some don’t realize that they have a huge undiscovered potential to be good at it until you awaken it, while others have a mindset that’s just too bothersome and high-maintenance to waste precious time with, and yet many times we are so afraid to lose the very people that are preventing our business from growing by putting so much, otherwise profitable, energy into them.

Becoming a networker is like becoming a doctor or a statesman (with maybe a little less cost and time). It requires education and acquired skill through application and repeated effort. You don’t just get good over night either, but you can learn rapidly if you’re already naturally talented in people skills or willing to discipline yourself. You might have already guessed that not everyone can be the top CEO or owner of a company either!

It’s always an advantage if you find an upline who is going to be helpful and offer advice until you are able to become leader enough to take full charge of your own business without requiring outside accountability. And it can certainly be discouraging if you come into network marketing at the beginning and you feel stranded by not having someone who is there to answer your questions. Even if you happen to be a successful networker now and you're reading this, I’m sure you will agree with me that it pays to give plenty of attention to those new in a particular enterprise and that you were the same way when you first started.

I’m going to list a number of things that I’ve learned from being in the business for 4 years. Some of them you have already heard or figured out on your own and others you haven’t. But grasping the whole picture here is what is important. So let’s get to the substance now shall we?


WORKING HARD DOESN’T GUARANTEE SUCCESS

Everyone will not become financially successful in a career or job that they pursue – it doesn’t matter what it is. It is impossible. It’s also just as impossible to justifiably criticize the industry of network marketing as a whole if you have failed. This is why talking about a 95% or 97% failure rate (or whatever it may be) is meaningless.No matter what business it is, there will only be a small percentage that will experience the best fruits and the others will “fail” (or give up before they do succeed) because of either personal reasons (mostly the case) or simply because not everyone can ultimately win. So what should you do, quit and go live in a cave somewhere?

If you feel that pursuing a success in a particular enterprise (in this case a network marketing company) is what you want then you must simply tell yourself that no matter what it takes you WILL be part of that small percentage that wins. That’s all you can do, really! And believe me, the odds of success are in your favor, because there will already be enough people who eventually give up to make room for you to win as long as you stick at it! That’s what I told myself when I built my homebased business, and look where I am now! (I know you can’t look at me, but you get my point!)It all comes down to trial and error and getting back to the basics. Is there an element of chance? Absolutely. You increase your chances by innovating and repeating the basic principles of advertising, which I’ll discuss in a later section.


NETWORK MARKETING ISN'T EASY

The best way I can put it: Network Marketing is simple - but very hard, mentally exhausting, work. In fact, it’s probably the hardest thing you’ll ever do, so just get used to it! It’s about being grossly underpaid in the beginning and grossly overpaid in the end. But when all is said and done it’s quite difficult to put a value on being your own boss and deciding your own hours. There are a lot of myths going around that all you have to do is “share” your “opportunity” and you’ll have a thriving business. And it is true that if you have a good product or service worth sharing that you will receive marginal monetary benefits depending on the compensation plan and what your long-term goals are (months, years or decades), but you cannot earn a life-changing income by being casual. You have to treat it like a real business and make real working hours for yourself. So whoever told you that making a lot of money in network marketing is easy – lied!


DON’T FOCUS PROSPECTS ON MONEY, FOCUS ON PRODUCT


The long-term fiscal success you experience will be proportionate to the quality of the product and service you are offering, otherwise you’re just slowly running out of gas, especially if you think your “leadership” skills are the only thing that matters. If you don’t ground an interested candidate for your business in the product or service you are offering, then once another company comes along offering (as phony or truthful as it might be) promises of bigger and faster income, then you’ve just lost your person sooner or later and you don’t even know it! Now some people are more interested in the money at first, and that’s perfectly fine, just make sure you don’t skip helping them to understand that the cornerstone of your business is the strength of its product(s). There’s no guarantee telling anyone anything is going to work, but it’s nevertheless an important step that is indispensable. And you’ll know by their feedback.


STRENGTH IN CUSTOMERS, NOT ELUSIVE “HEAVY HITTERS”


Keep in mind that your network marketing business and hence profitability are only as strong as your product or service, so if you cannot keep enough little guys ordering WITHOUT having to constantly lure with promises of wealth, then you’re already in the wrong company and it’s probably leaning toward a scam – it doesn’t matter how great of a leader you are, it will eventually exasperate you until you quit, jump to another “opportunity” or resort to making some ungodly “how-to-become-successful [in that which I probably have not]” tapes.

No successful business will last if its gospel is about making money and finding only others who want to make money by participating. Appealing to greed a little is alright but at the end of the line there has to be a product that keeps people coming back for more, regardless if they will get a check in the mail or not. That’s why it has to be innovative and have a “superior” quality that can survive the competition among similar products or services.

(Note: telling people that they can make money by recruiting others to peddle an ordinary product does NOT constitute as a “superior quality” incentive for the average customer).

In my experience, I have found that the while you may occasionally become fortunate by having a “heavy-hitter” join your ranks, that many times they are the first to leave because of some other “opportunity” that they think is going to make them more money. There is so much ego tied to this business that you can’t predict the future of what people will do, even when you have a marvelous company, compensation plan and product. You will find that the customers who order the product because of the benefits that they receive from it will be the ones who, in the end, keep your business going either by ordering strictly for the product itself or by becoming business builders from loving it or seeing the value in it. If you find a heavy hitter, WONDERFUL! But don’t bet on keeping them, just be thankful while they last. And some of us do get lucky by finding permanent ones – But I know I haven’t!

Furthermore, the people who have been teachable and grown successful through working with you on a regular basis are the most likely to stick with you all the way, as long as you maintain a positive and actively helpful relationship with them.


FAMILY AND FRIENDS WON’T MAKE YOU SUCCEED

The idea that you can become successful at network marketing simply by recruiting family and friends in your downline is as absurd as believing that if you opened up a restaurant that your family and friends would be able to keep you in business. Family and friends are only a potential minor bonus along the way, and many times they are the least interested anyway, because after all no man is a prophet in his own land. You have to find a way to make what you have available to substantial amounts of people. I’ll discuss that in a later chapter.


WHEN I STARTED MY HOMEBASED BUSINESS

Interestingly enough, my parents ended up becoming my upline, therefore I didn’t have much hope getting their “warm” market”, so the next thing I did was go after the moms of my friends, because I already suspected that a lot of my friends wouldn’t be interested, nevertheless I didn’t take it for granted and I still talked to the people who I thought weren't going to do anything. I had the expected results at first, but was fortunate that a few of the moms were receptive to what I had to say.

I remember talking to the first person as though I was already as successful in the business as I am now, and I think that by opening up in a genuine non-pushy fashion about what I had to share that it had a very positive effect. Do keep in mind that I approached only on the merits of the product I was offering and NOT a business opportunity. Needless to say, this paid off because a great deal of the people who I thought would only be customers ended up becoming passionate enough that they were willing and even eager to build a business out of it!

None of this came of course without me first disciplining myself to learn all that I could about what I was going to be sharing with people, and I made it a point to familiarize myself with any competition that might be out there just to make sure I wasn’t peddling something I believed to be inferior.

Not everyone has the gift of oratory, and if this is the case then it’s important for you to make it a point to improve. You don’t have to become perfect at it, but make sure first and foremost that you are telling the truth as you know it. Some people can tell if you are just trying to sell something to them for the money or if you actually believe what you are saying. All that matters is finding someone who is willing to give what you have a try, and if they are satisfied and have a positive result with it, then you’ve just found yourself a customer.


NO ADVERTISING, NO BUSINESS

The problem with most people is that they will only try a few methods of reaching out to new prospects and then give up once they are not having the success they had hoped.

Imagine if wal-mart decided that they were going to close down because their advertising one year didn’t yield the kind of revenue they were hoping? Or any business for that matter giving up because their ad campaign failed and their profits plunged that year?

You have to keep trying different things, and if they don’t work you have to mobilize, improvise and attempt something else! There’s no magic to it. The magic happens when you do what you already know you need to do.

First I tapped my warm market; the people I knew. Then, if they weren’t interested I would always make sure that I was understanding but asked them if there was anyone they knew who might have a particular need for what I had or would even possibly be interested in a homebased business.

70% of the time the person would give me a referral. I would then call that person at a decent hour, mention my name and that they do not know me and then proceed by saying that I had been sharing something with the person who referred them and that their name had come up as someone who deserves to hear about it! There are obviously many possible variations and outcomes, but using a referral based approach is always important.

I did not cold call people from a list very much, and when I did I had limited results. I’m not discouraging you from trying it, because there are a few people who do experience results, but it’s brutal work with usually little reward.

The other thing I did was join MLM forums and some places that allowed me to post advertising. Not all MLM forums allow this but there are a few that have specific sections for this.

It’s best to simply build relationships and not worry about how much you can spam and convince others about your company. You end up appearing desperate and as unsuccessful as you obviously are.

I remember calling up a person who was promoting another company randomly and told him that I saw his advertisement and asked if he would mind if we compared notes about our companies. With nothing to lose or necessarily gain, he agreed and I began to tell him about my company and product. Making a long story short, it took me about 5 months to convince him to join me but he eventually came on board and turned out to be a great business partner.

The other thing I did with some success was leaflet advertisement. Some targeted for making money and others targeted to product. I made sure they were short, to the point, always provided website and email and phone and left them on car windows (preferably tucked between the rubber and the window on the drivers side), or in magazines or bulletins or any other place that wouldn’t be too obnoxious.

Another tactic is to carry a few in your pocket or coat (depending on the season), and during your normal every day interaction, pause before you leave to grab a card and ask the person if they would do you a favor and to give your card to someone they care about.i.e. “By the way, could you do me a favor and give this to someone you care about? Thanks!”

Of course, make sure that the product you are offering would even make sense according to this line of reasoning, otherwise you’ll just look stupid!It’s also important to make business cards that are professional and yet insightful, but this I’m sure you know. And make it a point to strike up as many conversations and give it to as many people as possible during your day. But whatever you do, don’t think of everyone walking around town as a potential “leg” in your business otherwise you’ll lose your ability to function normally.

Just let the opportunities open up themselves as you engage in everyday activities.

I also made sure I would constantly keep in touch with my organization. You should be calling business builders at least twice a week if not more and find out what you can help them with, and if they need you to talk to some people for them then you make sure you are available to fit them in your schedule, as long as they are actively working as best as they can to get their own people for you.

You obviously don’t build someone else’s business for them by giving them your prospects, otherwise you’re just building a stack of cards that will collapse the next month.

You should be calling all of your customers at least once a month, and when your organization starts getting too large to micromanage everyone you have to teach your leaders to get their people on a weekly conference call you feel is good to answer everyone’s questions and or concerns on the call. It’s quite simple actually.

After I had enough people who would be actively having enough people with a large volume of questions and interest I created my own short 20min conference call dedicated strictly to product and not business, that way all customers could participate as well as potential customers from all of the business builders.

If your organization is not big enough or it is big and dormant, then a conference call is not necessary unless you have a big enough demand for it. I would suggest having one call on the product and one on the business. And if you don’t feel you’d be good at doing this then you either need a good upline who is willing to do this or become the leader yourself through some good old-fashioned labor.

Another effective means of advertising is going door to door in upper-middle and upper class neighborhoods, but don't stand there and lecture people about what you have, just tell them who you are and then give them something they can read. If done right, it can be hugely effective and you might end up getting a good percentage at least interested in trying what you have.

Too bad I’m not able to give you the holy grail like all of the people who charge a little more.


DON’T BE PUSHY

There’s nothing that turns someone off more than when you start trying to convince them by being pushy about what you have. Just as you aren’t going to convince everyone to think the same way that you do, you are not going to be able to help everyone see that what you have is valuable. You will only be instrumental in helping them to decide on their own.

People do not want to be convinced anyhow; they want to feel as though they convinced themselves (even if you are responsible for it). Get into a conversation or look for an opportunity when it would be appropriate to bring up your product or what you are doing, and if they seem to be more interested in money then mention the reward aspects in a tactful way.

Make it a general rule to focus on the value of the product primarily, not any kind of money-making opportunity because people have already heard countless schemes. In the end, all that matters is if they are happy with the product you shared with them. If they decide to make a home-based business out of it, GREAT, but at least you gained a customer.


DEALING WITH DISCOURAGEMENTS

We all get a little down in the dumps now and then for whatever reason (usually massive rejection) and feel as though our business will never develop. Especially when the person you thought was going to be as excited as you turns out to be a complete dud. Even experienced networkers have dismal moments and similar challenges on different levels. The best way to deal with this is to take a nice healthy break and then come back again with full force.

Quitting is not exactly the wisest way to deal with stress if the business is right. But do take time to evaluate things from a realistic viewpoint from time to time. Depending on our situation, of course, sometimes logic will dictate that the business we are in just doesn’t have a product that is good enough for personal use and/or the compensation plan simply isn’t lucrative enough to be worth our difficulties – the same way we would treat any job or item we are considering.

But if we believe the product is indisputably the best of its kind and the compensation plan is viable and generous enough to create a good income for those who work hard, then the only thing we need do is figure out how we can improve and make it operate productively!


THE BASIC THREE

There are three basic principles that must occur in our business if we are going to become successful. This applies equally to part-time as well as full-time workers.

They are as follows:

LEARN

It is not only crucial that you yourself learn about the product(s) you offer, but that that everyone who may be a prospect is educated on the importance of the product or service you are offering and why they need it. If this is not achieved, then it is pointless to continue with the person. Secondly, they must be taught why your product or service is a “superior” or “better” choice when comparing with other similar or competing products on the market (this applies equally to products not associated with network marketing as well). If this is not the case with your product then you must rely on persuading people exclusively on personality and emotion, which I don’t recommended.


EXPERIENCE

An imperative part of keeping your customers or distributors is that they experience firsthand the benefits of what they are involved in or consuming. If someone doesn’t use their own product then they aren’t really a customer or a distributor at all and it is impossible for them to ever be instrumental in helping anyone else get involved.

SHARE

Those who are satisfied with their products should be encouraged to share them either casually or aggressively, depending on the goals of the individual. In this process you will be able to distinguish the business builders from the customers.

CRITICAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE FULLTIME NETWORKER

While it is possible to create a small side income by using the “The Basic Three” as a guideline for your part-time business, you cannot create significant capital or increase your odds of success to the point where failure is almost impossible, unless you implement the following guidelines into your business routine:

1. Make 25 real contacts per day (125 per week). A real contact is not simply someone answering their phone, but rather a person who at least shows interest as a potential customer/buyer or accepts an appointment (phone, or person). Find out if they would be interested at a future time. If all else fails, ask for a referral.

2. Ask open-ended questions to obtain information. I.e. "How do you feel about…?” etc.

3. Find out if they would be open to an email (website, etc) with more information for them to evaluate.

4. Set an appointment to follow-up.

5. Assess each contact, and indicate next action. Now it becomes about contact management to ensure people don’t fall through the cracks and are contacted regularly in order to attain them as clients. Some will be made RED, which means they won't be called again.

6. Contact the most interested members at least every 2 weeks.

AFTER TALKING WITH A PROSPECT ON THE PHONE:

1. Evaluate Each Prospect After Every Contact Evaluate whether the client or prospective client is Green, Yellow, or Red and make any needed coding change.

2. Create Next Action. Determine when the next proactive contact should be scheduled, and plan immediately. This is following up.

Greens are the best candidates for business purposes. Greens should be scheduled for follow-up as soon as possible and no more than a month out.

Yellows are usually indicated by an expressed delay, but lingering interest in being able to take action regarding ordering or business building. Sometimes they won’t seem to need what you have right away, or be fully interested, but would be worth talking to at future times.

Reds should not be contacted any further, as it's unlikely they are of value to your business structure.

And remember, train yourself to ask for referrals, whether it’s helping someone to build their own business or if they are not interested themselves:"Who do you know that would value from nutritional guidance or would have an interest in building a home based business?" (Then pause... even if it's dead air).

Even if you just get one or two referrals per day... that will highly improve your closing rate of prospective people!In the end, I can only give you general ingredients, but you must figure out the amounts and add extras for it to work. Personality, quality of product(s) and consistency are all indispensable.

There is NO magic potion. Anyone who tells you otherwise is just lying. A combination of perseverence, constant innovation, endless advertisement, non-pushy promotional tactics, a duplicable system, consistent communication with teammates and a few breaks are all going to be key in helping you achieve the independence you're looking for. All good things come with a price and being willing to pay to reap the rewards is where it all counts.



Note: the contents of this article are subject to be edited, added on to and modified at any time. If you have any feedback you are welcome to email me at: chadwick.health@gmail.com, or visit my myspace: http://www.myspace.com/_hydarnes