Anyone Can Do This Business: My Struggles In Network Marketing

How many times have you heard the words, “Anyone can do this business.” Did you get excited at the sound of those words? Did your mind shift to the I can do this attitude? Or did you sit non-pulsed in your seat and think that statement is a lie. Not everyone can do this business: MLM. I have been in several MLM businesses from soap products, long distance and electricity providers, travel, fuel formulators and health and wellness. Take my word for it; none of them have been easy to do. No matter the product, the work to build a business is very difficult.

Multi Level Marketing is a business model where every participant builds his/her downline according to a given set of rules which are defined by each business. The ideal situation is when all participants duplicate, i.e. achieve the same maximum result as their sponsor and upline. Traditionally MLM trainers tell you the same thing: go and find two or three people and show them how to find two or three people and so on and so on. Hearing that for the first time will always sound simple and achievable. However, results of MLM businesses show: it’s not as simple as you think because the business has a 90 to 95% drop out rate within a 12 month period.

Yes, people go out and find two or three people…but will those people be able to do the same? For all intensive purposes they are capable of doing it, but can they or most importantly, will they do it? If results are not achieved within a given time frame, say within three months, the momentum one had at the start of their business dies and the whole venture will be at a standstill or possibly never develop. Networking is a matter of momentum: YOU MUST BUILD FAST.

Most people have trouble duplicating the success enjoyed by others. There is always the human tendency of doing it differently than what is suggested, being able to transition or step out of one’s comfort zone or better yet, being able to change their mindset from employee to entrepreneur or business owner.

When first joining a MLM or affiliate business the tendency is to do it your way because it fits your comfort zone or level interaction you want to share with another. Additionally, you may doubt the company if their method really works because you’re hot having any success out of doing it their way. So, let’s re-invent that wheel.

Quite a few people who are not the gregarious, social types join MLM businesses only to fail because of their lack of being able to give up their comfort zone in order to enjoy a life of financial freedom. Try as they might, they hang on to their comfort zone in hopes that their prospects will come to them out of need for their product. It has been my experience that prospects won’t be able to find you because they are not aware that you are in the business! In other words, you are a secret agent as the veteran MLMers like to jokingly say.

The mindset of an employee is one in which you rely on others do the big thinking and ensuring you have all the items you need to begin your day. Basically, all you have to do is show up for work, take your seat at your desk and then do the same mundane tasks you done for the last fifteen years. Collect that paycheck, pay your bills and then wish for more money. The mindset becomes, I have a job with a steady income. I can work my business anytime. At this point, the business becomes a hobby and really not very worthwhile as it was designed.

Instead of making things happen, one sits on the sidelines because that steady paycheck is coming in despite that it is not enough to cover all the bills or to allow you to live a life that you love and to be financially independent. You’ve taken the first step to change your life, all that is needed now is the same commitment to your business that you have for working your job.

I think to make it in MLM or Internet marketing, you need the following:

1. Posture. Posture is how others perceive you. Mindset is how you perceive yourself. If you would carry yourself with confidence and courage you come across to others as that leader you envision yourself to be. Basically, it’s all about attitude.

2. Training. Always attend training sessions. Successful leaders train their downline in how to work the business and be successful at it. Normally, members obtain written instructions or for a few minutes someone within the business may explain how they make a sale or introduce a prospect to the business. Leaders should say goodbye to the large cheerleading rallies given during the week and on weekends. Work one-on-one or in smaller groups to develop the leaders within your downline. The effects would be enormous and not to mention rewarding.

3. Importance of the sponsor. The sponsor is a very important piece of the pie. Your sponsor can either make or break you. You have some sponsors that after they get their bonus for signing you up leave you flailing in the wind or do to the fact they don’t know enough about the business to be of help to anyone. Then there are those sponsors who take their responsibility serious. These sponsors work with you and show you the steps to success and don’t leave your side until you’re profitable and able to show your team members how to do the same. Additionally, if they are not knowledgeable of the business they can point you to someone who is, they take your desire to be financially independent as serious as their own.

4. Be focused. This not only means being focused on your business, but also having tenacity. You don’t MLM hop because the business is not working for you, take time to see what you are not doing to make your business work. Most times, it is the business owner and not necessarily the business that fails. I think the most important piece of advice to pass on is to be persistent and don’t give up on yourself. Keep your goals in sight as far as what you want for yourself and your family.

5. Develop a sense of urgency. This is defined as an urgent situation calling for prompt action. No one explained this concept to me, they just kept repeating it and for me it kept meaning nothing.

Because of my employee mindset, I took my time developing a downline. I was approaching the magic number to advance within my company. However, that employee mindset held me back because I felt I had all the time in the world to build my business. I mean, c’mon I was receiving a salary every two weeks. Instead of advancing within my business, I began going backwards, in other words I was slow to action and my downline quit on me.

When you recognize momentum is occurring in your business, the idea is to maintain it and not take the lackadaisical approach to working your business. I think a sense of urgency can be summed up as a focused approach to working your business at a pace of dogged persistence, determination with pressing necessity and imperativeness and most importantly with self-assuredness and trusting in yourself.

Personally, I really think most people can do MLM and Internet marketing and be successful at it. Sometimes, people are their own worse enemies; they are stuck in their comfort zone and guilty of the employee mindset. That job has us fooled that it is our stability without much room for anything else. If we remain inactive (playing the game from the sidelines) we are destined to remain part of the 9 to 5er population if we do not take action and get in the game.

Anyone can do this business. However, one should take into consideration that when they fail and point the finger at the company, their sponsor or upline, they don’t realize there are three fingers pointing back at them.

Janice Willingham is an experienced network marketer who is [art of the MLM 95%. Several sources on the Internet can increase your success at network marketing. To learn more visit the following websites: No pressure or hyped up claims… just real information you can use.

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