Empowerment

After you have done MLM for awhile you begin to look back and critique how you have built your organization. It’s good to look back and think about what you have built as you look forward thinking about how to build your future business.

Mark Yarnell looks back in his book, Your First Year in Network Marketing, and gives us some really good stories to think about. He considers the Management Trap and notes this about an organization he built for his father: “I spent four months in Springfield, Missouri, helping my father build his organization. The problem was that all Dad’s people looked to me for leadership because I was doing everything for him.”

A good way to consider how well you empower people is by looking back. If you, as a leader, step completely out of the picture and all your legs turn into product users instead of continuing to build a business then you may want to question your ability to empower people. If the only thing that keeps your organization together is YOU then somehow the ability to duplicate is missing. MLM business building, and residual long-term income, is about having the ability to duplicate your leadership skills in others. This is a business of teaching and transferring knowledge to others. It’s good to know when and how to push your new recruits out of their nest. Because MLM does not have geographical boundaries it is sometimes good to build some teams that don’t live too close so that you don’t fall into the Management Trap.

MLM is very hard for most people and the company won’t pay you a salary for not getting results. On the other hand, they don’t ask you to limit yourself to a 4% raise if you can figure out how to become successful (in a good MLM company there is no limit). If your upline sponsor is earning your income for you, you won’t grow in the business so it’s good to not have the support you think you need at times. Also, you can plant your flag in your area of the country and put your area on the map in the business. It’s up to you!

Look at your compensation plan and ask yourself, “Do I get paid to manage or recruit and duplicate the business?”

What do people really follow? They follow our action and they follow our example (that’s called duplication in our industry).

Reasons for Success

The experts love to advise you to sponsor someone with integrity, character, professionalism, 10’s versus 1’s, etc. because these are the people you are searching for in the business so don’t waste your time on someone without all the perfect characteristics they outline.

We would all love to recruit that perfect person! Except, any expert will tell you, “Even a blind hog will find an acorn occasionally.” Yes sir, give me that blind hog, with his head down where it belongs, looking for that acorn with every fiber of his being. I’ll take that any time over that stud race horse with his head held high (who doesn’t have the time for you or anyone else they don’t feel important to them).

People actually doing the business talk about “how you do the business” and the success system. The inexperienced person, or the person that’s not currently in the game (or who has never really been in the game), continually talks about integrity and character because they are hard pressed to talk about anything else. Why? Because they aren’t doing the business and are not involved in a DMO (Daily Method of Operation).

Think about some of the comments you hear. Some fireball has all these first line recruits in just a few months when you have the experience to know that’s not possible–so what’s the real story? Or, perhaps an individual is always talking about the character and integrity of other people. Look beyond what they are saying because it’s their excuse not to concentrate on “Doing the Business.” The underlying truth is really about them and their excuses not to work instead of the integrity of the company or their upline sponsors. Don’t take everything you hear or see at face value and look below the surface.

How many perfect people have you recruited lately? If you have character and integrity and you attract who you are (perhaps some without character and integrity) then what attracted that person?

Probably the same thing that attracts a lot of people:

• Earning income
• Paying off debt
• Major disgust with where they are in life
• Owned by and married to their J-O-B (Just Over Broke)
• The power of the products
• Company culture and social environment
• The desire to improve and be better

As one strong leader points out, “You don’t pick your inner circle they pick you.” If people don’t have integrity and character it will show up as they do the business and they will either weed themselves out of the business or they will grow in their personal development and become better people. Isn’t it great to help someone grow in life as well as their business? We are all either going forward or going backwards. Help people (who need to go forward) to go forward!

An experienced leader does have a “feel” (personal characteristics, appearance, gender, profession, etc.) for who can do the business but they will always be surprised. We have all signed up people we felt didn’t have a chance to be successful in the business and we were pleasantly surprised. Also, we have signed someone with all the potential only to become a huge disappointment after spending hours helping them in the business.

Generally speaking, people are the same everywhere whether it’s religion, business, etc. As my grandmother told a “very religious” person one time who was moving to the perfect place to raise their kids in just the right religious environment: “The devil will be down their sitting on a stump waiting for you to arrive.”

Being a Product of the Product

The DSWA published a book More Build it Big which is a great Direct Selling book. The book includes articles by many authors about Direct Sales and one article by David Bach considers Myths about being in business for yourself. Myth No. 6: You Have to Be Passionate about the Particular Business You Choose. “I’m a big believer in the idea if you do what you love, the money will follow. But I also recognize this cliché has held many people back from starting their own business. Why? Because they don’t know ‘what they love’ or because they believe ‘what they love’ can’t make money. If your goal is to earn an extra $500 a month, that in and of itself can be enough of a reason to start you own business! People become successful in business all the time even though they aren’t really turned on by the actual product or service they happen to produce or sell. What they’re passionate about is being an entrepreneur and being their own boss. If you really want to be your own boss and are dedicated and willing to work hard, then you have what it takes to start you own business.”

If we start our own business we must be passionate even if our passion is about making money or starting our own business. In the nutrition supplements business we have a saying, “Be a product of the product” and (for some) this saying is too subtle (what does it mean?). I saw a cartoon the other day that depicts what it means. An obese lady was looking skeptically at her obese Doctor as he was writing some information on a pad and he is telling her: “Here’s my personal diet and exercise plan.” What’s the idea behind this cartoon? What you are saying doesn’t agree or align with what I am seeing.

Every day we often hear comments that don’t align themselves with reality. An obese person can sell weight management products especially if they are moving towards managing their weight and have testimonies about others who have had great success on the products. However, who will generally be more successful selling weight management products: an obese person or a personal fitness trainer?

This is why taking high quality vitamin supplements to fill in the nutritional gaps is necessary for our general health and well being. Some people will tell you that diet and exercise is all you need but the comments aren’t aligned with reality because most people aren’t getting the nutrients they need from their diet alone (look around!). Have a reality check and ask yourself why the USA ranks 48th in longevity in the world. Observe the handicapped parking spots and the number of people riding on motorized carts to get around. Next time you get some information and advise about being obese–take a good look at your MD or the expert giving you information. Your Doctor is great and necessary but he may not have all the answers for you. Even the Lipitor (drug) ads say, “diet and exercise” is not enough. <font

Dehydrated Talk

Consensus ( general agreement or accord or political correctness) can be a dangerous thing and can catch people, businesses, religious groups, and even countries asleep and in peril. Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t keep themselves “personally” informed (questioning conventional wisdom).

Lynda Gratton has written a a book called Hot Spots: Why Some Teams, Workplaces, and Organizations Buzz with Energy–and Others Don’t.

Here is a quote from her book: “Most companies have developed an internal environment in which any form of doubt is perceived as ignorance or weakness and all forms of questioning are interpreted as either manipulation or affront. It is this delegitimization of questioning and doubt that kills the spirit of inquiry and reduces conversations to ritualized, dehydrated talk. The first task of the leader in creating good conversations is to institutionalize questioning and expressing doubt as a normal and routine part of the way in which the company operates…To be effective questioners, top-level leaders need to constantly expose themselves to a variety of information and stimuli inside and outside the company so as to be able to generate independent and insightful thoughts.”

Please understand, as a new person in MLM, we need to know “when and how” to talk. A new person can quickly kill their desire for the MLM venture if they begin to talk to family and friends about their new business without someone experienced enough in the business to address the “political correctness.” New people will quickly begin to have doubts about their decision.

Politically correct people (flat earth people) already know that MLM is just one of those “things” that you have been suckered into and they immediately begin to destroy your hope. The point of quoting Lynda Gratton is not for their benefit–it’s for your benefit. As a new person, you are the one who needs to keep an open mind because you will talk to a lot of people with closed minds. Some new people will immediately “give in” to the politically correct and unsophisticated.

The advantage of having someone experienced (third party credibility) in the business talking to your warm market is the fact that “no one” can tell them it doesn’t work. For example, my wife and I have been working MLM for eight years and making a good income. How is someone going to explain to us how this “thing” doesn’t work? Admittedly, it won’t work for everyone but that’s because of them (not the MLM business model if they have done “due diligence” in selecting the company).

Keep an “open mind” as you go through life realizing that being wrong is a normal part of life.

Time Compression

Which is more valuable to you–Time or Money?

One of the most difficult concepts to teach in MLM is the concept of compressing time in order to get life on your terms.

Some people are called heavy hitters and they understand how to come to a new company and almost immediately make serious bonus income by raiding the downline of prior MLM companies. Please be advised that this normally makes up a very small percentage of Distributors. A company may find themselves promoting and paying out a lot of money in production bonuses only to lose their fireball attraction and downline to another company in a short period of time. If the compensation plan is geared to heavy hitters watch out (unless you are a heavy hitter). Just be advised that some industries and some pay plans are somewhat short-term so look at the track record (turnover) of the company you join. Obviously, a heavy hitter is into serious time compression because how else could they earn this kind of an income. Some talented people are not looking for long-term residual income from a company.

Most individuals begin a company part-time and develop an organization over a period of several years. Their initial income is very small (hobby business) and many do not “stick and stay.” They may continue to be product users and not Business Builders. If you are a serious Business Builder it is extremely important what industry you choose and the stability of the company. Since it will take you several years to build a downline you certainly don’t want to build with the wrong company.

Getting what you want out of MLM is a mindset and has to do with commitment. “The number one reason people fail in this business is lack of commitment.”

We can give you the answer for what time compression is with this question:

• Would you prefer a JOB that pays $50,000 per year for 50 years ($2,500,000) or invest time for 10 years and make $1,000,000 per year for 5 years ($5,000,000)?

In the industry this is called compressing time and that’s what most of the long-term (committed) workers in MLM are hoping for in the future.

CROSSLINE SYNERGY

MLM companies rely heavily on cross-line synergy to establish business momentum. The sum of the parts are greater than the whole when it comes to building COMPANY momentum.

People who have worked in Network Marketing for awhile begin to realize the power of working cross-line (outside your own team or lineage) in order to establish business momentum. Why? Because critical mass is necessary for company success as well as your personal success. This dynamic is certainly apparent at company sponsored events. Matt. 12:25 “…every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.” Therefore, you have a strong “personal” reason to desire unity!

Everyone knows it when “the energy is in the room!” Distributors in a healthy network marketing company go out of their way to support other groups in the company even though they may not directly benefit (the indirect benefits are obvious). Here are just a few reasons to work cross-line:

• Highly successful network marketers have teams across the country because your organization is not limited to a geographical territory. In order to build momentum it may be necessary to team up with other cross-line groups.
• Lack of momentum in other teams, or negative feedback, not only hurts the company it hurts your business too. People talk and unhappy distributors will definitely pass the negativity to other groups.
• MLM business builders will definitely see the golden rule in their pay period checks. As Zig Ziglar always said: “Help enough people get what they want and you can have what you want.” This applies to cross-line distributors too because they can help you establish business momentum. Also, their negativity can drag your business momentum down.
• The ideal situation is for a company to build “healthy” competition between cross-line teams. Begin to limit leaders who bad mouth other distributors in the company. They are like leaven and will spread their venom cross-line to your team.

When your network marketing company is healthy it is likely because of the various teams pulling together for the success of the company. Company success means better distributor pay and attraction for new recruits. Sure, there may be concerns from working cross-line because of some who lack ethics, integrity, and the message (just remember that no one is perfect and use your best judgment). Just make sure your integrity and ethics are beyond question. If another individual recruits one of your people you just lost an individual in your organization lacking integrity–good for you. That just means you can spend your time working with the people you should be working with.

On a broader scale this is why organizations like the DSA (Direct Selling Association) exists too. The protection and improvement of the industry makes your job easier and more successful. Don’t bad mouth other DSA companies because you may benefit indirectly from their success. Some of your top recruits may decide to join you because of your integrity in the industry (it’s a small world).

Individual character and integrity pays you big dividends. Begin to build cross-line relationships and remember the words of Roger Staubach, “There are no traffic jams along the extra mile.”