Got Support?

One of the vital ingredients of a network marketing business is good training & support.  I didn't have good support when I started out, and I knew nothing about mlm.  It took me several months - nearly a year - to get my business earning $$, because I trained myself.

I never want anyone to go through that.  In many ways, network marketing is the same no matter what the company.  So, if you have questions and no one to ask, please contact me.  You can post a question here or send an email.  I'll be glad to help in any way I can. 

With network marketing, it is so great that you need not go to your "supervisor" (enroller).  You can contact anyone in your upline within your own company, or join network marketing forums, or you can participate at blogs that pertain to our field.

I wish everyone who may read this blog the best of success with your business.

Goals

“Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.” -- Jim Rohn, America’s Business Philosopher

Surround Yourself with Optimistic People

Life is too short to spend your precious time trying to convince a person who wants to live in gloom and doom otherwise. Give lifting that person your best shot, but don't hang around long enough for his or her bad attitude to pull you down. Instead, surround yourself with optimistic people -- Zig Ziglar

In network marketing, it is not a team leader's responsibility to help everyone on their team.  Why not, you may ask.  It is our responsibility to help ONLY those who deserve help, those who ask for help and are actually working their business.

We need not chase down those team members who don't stay in contact with you.  We need not force training on anyone who does not request it.  No one who has a team of network marketers can say that their entire team is working.  Some do, some don't.  We must devote our time and energy on those who will actually benefit by our training.  Not those who "need" it, but rather to those who want it and are determined to succeed. 

Ups & Downs in Network Marketing

“Every worthwhile accomplishment, big or little, has its stages of drudgery and triumph; a beginning, a struggle and a victory.” -- Mahatma Gandhi

This statement applies to life in general, as well as a network marketing business.  Although some of the ads posted on the internet may want you to think otherwise, the vast majority of people who start their own home businesses start out slowly.  It takes time and effort to build.   

If it was easy everyone would be doing it!  Not everyone has the patience, perseverance and passion for their business that is required to achieve success.

Even once you have begun building your business, you will have peaks and valleys.  There will be times when it is growing consistently and times when it seems not to be growing at all.  

Some call it stick-to-it-tiveness, the true knowing that you will succeed, no matter what it takes.  Quitting is simply not an option!

Everyone has a different time schedule, however, if you continue working your business, no matter what obstacles arise, you will succeed, you will achieve victory.

Measuring Success

“Real success comes in small portions day by day. You need to take pleasure in life's daily little treasures. It is the most important thing in measuring success.” ~ Denis Waitley

Winners

The real winners in life are the people who look at every situation with an expectation that they can make it work or make it better.  --  Barbara Pletcher

Take Action!

Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.
       - Edmund Burke

Success is Connected to Action

“Success . . . Seems to be connected with action. Successful men keep moving. They make mistakes but they don’t quit.” -- Conrad Hilton, Founder of Hilton Hotels

As this applies to network marketing, I am constantly amazed by those who start their own home business and do absolutely nothing!   The big question is "Why?"  Why did they sign up with the company?  Why do they not begin their training?  Why do they not work their business?  After several years in the industry, I have not been able to find the answer.

I've read that 98% of those who join an MLM fail.  In my opinion, the vast majority of those who fail have done nothing to grow their business.  When they fail, they often blame the company rather than themselves.

There are a few very basic things we must each do if we want to have success in this industry.

• Stay in close contact with your enroller.
• Dial in to company (or team) training calls, about 2-3 a week.  Do not stop listening after you've done your "basic training."  To grow your business, you must grow yourself as well.  Continue learning if you want to build your company.
• Promote your business.  There are so very many ways to do this today, both online and offline.  I won't get in to each of them now (save it for an entire posting), but if you don't know how to promote your business, ask your enroller or someone else who is successful in your company.

 To be successful in network marketing, keep moving, and do not stop!

Lead by Example

“Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing.” -- Albert Schweitzer, German Born Medical Missionary, Theologian and Philosopher

As a team leader, each of us in network marketing must not just tell our team members how to perform certain tasks, but rather, show them how to do so by doing it ourselves.   If we are performing our job well and we are successful, our team members will want to do what we do.  

We hear the term "duplicatable" system used frequently.  Those are not just words.  Each of us must conduct our business using the duplicatable system provided by our company.  Certainly, we all personalize things here and there in how we do our work, but as a whole, the way you operate your business should be readily and easily duplicatable.  It is the only way you can provide your team members the knowledge to succeed in their new business.

Network Marketing is All About Helping One Another

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” -- Winston Churchill 

When I first started looking for "work from home," I will admit I wasn't looking for a way I could help other people.  I was seeking a way to earn a living without leaving home.  I had no idea what was out there, except that I had seen lots of scams that I knew I wanted to avoid.

I actually spent several months researching, spending week on the Internet, trying to find a way to work at home that 1) would earn me a decent living, and 2) would be something I could feel good about doing.  

There is no home business that is a good fit for everyone, and most of the products I saw advertised were simply not ones that I could believe in or promote.  That is not to say they were not good products, and in fact I really liked some of them.  But I felt that when I found "the right one," I would feel almost passionate about it.

Who knew that when I finally did find a business that I thought was a good match for me, it would be in a field where I get to help people every day!  How cool is that!?  

Which brings me back to Winston Churchill's quote above.  If I operated my business just to make a living, I believe I would have failed long ago.  Instead, I learned that I love coaching and educating people.  When I share information about my company's products, it is exciting!  I am not a salesperson.  I never try to sell anyone.  I simply provide information to those who request it.  I believe in the products,  and I would use them myself whether I worked in the business or not.  So sharing them with others is a pleasure!

Until I started my business, I did not realize that I would actually enjoy the recruiting side of the business and coaching others so they too could build and grow a business.  Here too, I never try to sell anyone on the business.  However, if I answer all their questions, and I give them information to enable them to know whether they think that they could get passionate about the business, I do not need to convince them.  It is either a good fit, or it is not.  If it is not, why would I want to change their mind?  I do not want to work with anyone who does not want to work with me.  

And so my team and I make a life by what we give to one another and to anyone who wants what we have.  We give information, support, information about our great products, and I have been given some new and wonderful friendships along the way.  I certainly have a much better life today than before when I was just working a j-o-b.  Giving is a wonderful way to make both a good living and a good life.