Thursday, September 22, 2011

A Business of Educating People

Many people think of network marketing as sales, when in fact it is an educating business. As network marketers, we have three parts to our job:

1) Educate people about why they need our products/services.

2) Educate people as to why they need a network marketing business.

3) Educate new distributors on how to build a business.

Let's briefly discuss each of these:

1. Educate people about product/service - your first step is to read everything you can find about your product/service and the industry it serves. What are the benefits to your customers? What advantages do you have over your competition? When educating, you must bring new information to the prospect and teach them not only why they need your product or service, but also why they should buy it from you.

2. Educate people about your business - you need to help people understand the difference between linear income (work hard once and get paid once - hourly wage, salary, commission, bonus, fee, etc.) and residual income (work hard once and get paid the rest of your life). You need to help them understand that the old 40 year plan (work for the same company 40 years and then retire) doesn't work anymore. You should help them see that social security, pensions, and 401k accounts are not going to take care of them in their later years. Show them how they can build a residual income that will result in the time freedom necessary to truly enjoy life now and in the future.

3. Educate new distributors - teach them a duplicable system that anyone can do. Show them where they can learn about the product/service, company, and industry. Give them a meeting schedule, so they can begin to attend local business briefings and trainings. Do 3-way phone calls and 2-on-1 meetings with their prospects, so they can hear and see how to do the business. Educate by example - if you are sponsoring and retailing, so will they.

It's no wonder that teachers do so well in network marketing. They know how to listen and to educate. How about you?

Sunday, September 18, 2011

I Love Network Marketing

On a Saturday in April, 1979, I was introduced to network marketing (called MLM) back then. Once I saw those circles drawn, I was hooked. I recognized the power of leverage and passive income and it changed my life.

Prior to that day I was on a path. I had worked hard to get good grades in High School, so I could go to a good college. Then I worked hard in College to get good grades and graduate, so I could get a good job. I joined Motorola after graduating in 1977 and started my path to the top and was quickly promoted into management and became the guy they put into the troubled offices to fix them.

All was good (or so I thought) until that fateful day in April when my eyes were opened to passive income and I was ruined for the ordinary. The corporate world and all it's linear income just couldn't match up to the power of residuals.

It took me 10 years to figure out the game and start making significant money in network marketing, but I chalked it up to 10 years at NM University. Along the way I've had some great mentors like Mark Yarnell, John Milton Fogg, Doug Firebaugh, Denis Waitley, Robert Kiyosaki, Len Clements, Michael Clouse, and many others. My best teacher was hard knocks. He would knock me down and I'd get back up, learning persistence and perseverance along the way.

In 1994 I got tired of picking the wrong companies or wrong comp plans and decided to invest 6 months to research and find the right company. After thoroughly investigating over 100 companies, I made my choice and went on to build a large international network and high full-time income from 1995 to 2001. It was a glorious journey full of new friends, travel, recognition, and fun.

In 2001 I retired from active network building (with a very nice full-time passive income) to help a friend start a new church. Within 6 months I was called to be the Associate Pastor. Later I helped plant a second church and a ministry to the poor. As much as I love all of that, I still had network marketing flowing through my veins and so in 2009 I jumped back into the game.

Two friends of mine, Daren Falter (author of How to Select a Network Marketing Company) and Robby Fender announced that they were leaving their high ranking distributor positions with a prominent network marketing company to start their own. I was intrigued and flew to Salt Lake City to hear their vision for this new venture. I discovered that network and internet marketing legend, Corey Citron was also involved. After hearing their hearts for the new company, I joined them as a founding distributor and during the pre-launch built a network of over 2,000 people. My first check was $12,000.

One thing I have learned about network marketing is that there are a lot of people who join thinking that all they have to do is take a spot and they are going to get rich. Well, this is a business and just like any other business, you have to work it. So, during the next 6 to 9 months we had a lot of those people, who realized that they were actually going to have to work to make money, left. The true separation of the wheat from the chaff. Our network stabilized and began to grow. Today my network numbers over 3,000 and we are earning a very nice full-time income after less than 2 years in business. We also had the opportunity to enjoy a cruise (paid for by the company), trips to Hawaii and Florida, and a weekend with the founders in the mountains of Utah. The future looks bright for this company and I'm excited to be a leader and one of the top income earners.

There are many things I love about network marketing. First, I love hanging around with positive people who have dreams and aspirations. Second, I love the travel and seeing new places. Third, I love the quality products that I get to use that keep me healthy and vibrant. Fourth, I love the recognition and achievement. Fifth, I love the money, the passive income. Finally and my most favorite, is the freedom. I have to pinch myself every day, because I can get up whenever I want, work when I want, play when I want, and do whatever I want every day. It's the best and there is no other business out there that can provide that to the average person.

That's why I love network marketing!