My first day in MLM Training!
I was both excited and nervous because I had just completed my first “NDO” or New Distributor Orientation with my Millionaire upline from Taiwan. He had joined Amway more than 10 years ago, became a Diamond in Amway but quit later and switched to Nuskin. He became a Team Elite Million Dollar Earner in Nuskin and now I believe he has made over 10 million US Dollars in MLM.
My upline said, “This business is very simple. All you need are these 4 pieces of paper!”
“Hmm!” I was kinda skeptical, yet I had to believe him because he is successful.
So he dug out a few pieces of paper from his pocket and started writing down on the whiteboard.
1) 2 Important Concepts:
i) Long Term Thinking
ii) 100% Duplication
“Ok! the first important concept in our training today is to have LONG TERM THINKING!”
Then he started to explain about why MLM or Network Marketing is a long term business just like any other traditional business, minus the problems of traditional businesses like employee problems, logistics problems, management issues etc! which are all handled by the MLM or Network Marketing company.
All you have to care about is “Building your network of distributors around the world”.
“Give yourself the next 1 to 2 years to build a solid network of distributors around the world and you will become the owner of a multinational network that generates solid income for you every month, even if you are sleeping in Singapore and others are still awake in Japan.”
Now that sounds really exciting to me!
The next 1 or 2 years all my friends would still eating textbooks for breakfast in university, while I would be building my pipeline to early retirement.
And so I did exactly that, I told myself, “For the next 1 to 2 years, I will give 110% to my network marketing business!”
2 years later in 2003, my network grew from Singapore to Malaysia, China, Indonesia and I had customers from as far away as Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong!
So that is exactly what YOU MUST DO too, commit to give yourself at least 1 to 2 years to build your business!
Have “LONG TERM THINKING!” and treat your network marketing business like a real business!
Important concept number two, “100% Duplication”.
“Duplication is the key to success in network marketing, however to quote this example!
1 x 1 = 1
0.9 x 0.9 = 0.81
0.8 x 0.8 = 0.64
0.7 x 0.7 = 0.49
0.6 x 0.6 = 0.36
0.5 x 0.5 = 0.25
and so on!
If we are to put that in percentages as in 100%, 90%, 80%, etc! it simply means that the less you duplicate the successful system that your upline taught you, the less your chances of success!
Well, that seems to be quite logical to a certain extent.
McDonald’s uses franchising to expand their business around the world and if you notice McDonald’s will always maintain its brand capital “M” and colors “yellow and red” theme in their fast food restaurants from USA to China and even Russia.
The system is 100% duplicated across the globe.
Once you understand this concept, you realise that you should trust your successful upline and use the system they are using to achieve success.
“Do not reinvent the wheel unless it’s to make it more efficient!”
Every network marketing company or organization should have an efficient and effective duplication system that everyone in the organization can copy easily to achieve their own level of success in the business.
“Ok, so follow my successful mentor and I will not go wrong! I get the message.”
“Do you?”
Then my millionaire upline wrote on the board,
2) Why 100% Duplication?
i) To avoid unnecessary mistakes
ii) To have a stable network
3) How do you duplicate 100%?
i) There are 3 steps you must go through,
Learn; Do; Teach
ii) There are 3 elements of the Support System that will help you as well,
Successful Leaders; Events; Tools
“Your aim in this business is to first be a good student, then become a good teacher and finally become a great leader!”
“First you must be willing to leave behind all your baggage from your previous job or business and have a BACK TO ZERO mentality, so that you can start on the right foot and we can guide you in the right path towards success!”
“After that, once you have reached a certain level of success in the business, your role switches to teaching, guiding and leading your team towards their success!”
Thus, the 3 steps to success in your MLM business is to first be able to go back to zero and start learning the ropes, then lead by example and take action to achieve success, before finally teaching others to do the same.
While you play a vital role in your own business, your company or organization should have a proper support system that provides you with a number of successful upline or sideline leaders who are already successful.
These leaders act as mentors to keep you on the right track and lead you in the right direction. They are very approachable, willing to help you learn and overcome difficulties that you will meet along the way.
There should be regular company or organization level events which cover training sessions, motivational rallies, experience sharing and company meetings ranging from small team gatherings to big hotel meetings.
The bottom line is, network marketing or MLM is still a people business and people since the dawn of time, need to gather together regularly.
“Just like a piece of red hot burning charcoal in a flaming bon-fire, if you take out that lone piece of charcoal and move it away from the bon-fire, what happens to that lone piece of charcoal?”
“It starts to cool off!”
“What happens if you put it back into the bon-fire again?”
“It heats up again and helps the bon-fire to continue burning brighter than before!”
This is the rule of survival in MLM or Network Marketing.
“Meetings and events are where people re-charge. Small meetings create small decisions. Big Meetings create BIG DECISIONS”.
Finally, any solid network marketing or MLM company must have powerful marketing tools that help the distributor share the company’s message easily with anyone they can come into contact with.
“You can’t win a battle without guns and bullets!”
Similarly, you can’t win in network marketing without the proper tools.
Tools refer to things like a company magazine which explain everything about the company, products, pay plan and system clearly and simply to the person who you pass the magazine to.
Tools refer to things like an audio CD that anyone can play in their car or listen to at home with a CD/Mp3 audio deck and have one of your top successful leaders present the business opportunity to them while you wait to make a follow up call the next day.
Tools refer to things like a Video DVD that anyone can play in their DVD player at home or on their laptop/desktop computer and again have a top leader present the business opportunity to them professionally.
Tools refer to things like a website that combines the contents of the magazine, audio CD, Video DVD and your personal contact information into an ALL-IN-ONE online information resource that runs 24/7 everyday, never sleeps and does all the talking and presenting for you while you are sleeping at home!
All these tools and more which I can just keep on listing will dramatically simplify, automate and duplicate our efforts a thousand times more than what you can do alone.
Your role in the business is just to LEVERAGE the tools and “PASS THE INFORMATION” onto as many people as you possibly can every single day.
“Can you learn how to pass a CD or DVD to a potential distributor or customer?”
“Can you learn how to pass a magazine to a potential distributor or customer?”
“Can you learn how to give someone your namecard with your website address on it?”
“Heck, nowadays with email and text messaging on your mobile phone, all you have to do to start the business is email or text message your website address to everyone on your contact list and invite them to check out your website and your new business!”
“Now that’s what I call simple duplication!”
Point Number 4!.
4) 8 Daily Habits
1. Show the Plan
2. Share the Products
3. Listen to a training audio
4. Read a recommended book
5. Report your progress to your upline
6. Invite a guest to a weekly event
7. Use the products yourself
8. Add a new name to your list
Now, as in Stephen R.Covey’s best-selling book “The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People”, if you want to become successful in network marketing fast, you have to change your daily habits to become highly effective and highly efficient.
A successful network marketer must not only expand his social network constantly, you should devote a lot of time to personal development and growth.
1. Show the Plan:
Show someone a Video DVD or magazine and explain that you are looking for business partners and the DVD or magazine explains your business proposal in detail.
2. Share the Products:
Show them a sample of your products and explain the unique value and benefits it brings to the consumer.
3. Listen to a training audio:
Listen to training audios to upgrade your knowledge about the company, products, pay plan and the duplication system.
4. Read a recommended book:
Read books that will upgrade your personal knowledge and help you grow as a leader.
5. Report your progress to your upline:
Call your upline every day to update your progress. If I’m your upline and I do not hear from you in a week, I know that you have not been taking action. On the other hand, if you let me know how many people you have called everyday, I know that you are making progress or doing something wrong that needs to be corrected.
6. Invite a guest to a weekly event:
If you have local events and presentations, make sure to leverage them by inviting your prospects to attend these events. 3rd party testimonials and justification are always better than your own.
7. Use the products yourself:
Network marketing is like sharing a good movie that you watched with your friend and telling them that they should watch it too. So if you do not use the products yourself, how can you possibly share your experience or views with anyone else?
8. Add a new name to your list:
If you are depending on your family and relatives to succeed in network marketing! good luck to you. Although I have seen network marketers who have great and supportive family members, personally that did not happen to me! My experience is that most of my best team members are people who are outside my family circle. So learn to make new friends every single day and find like-minded people who will join your business and your team.
So there you have it, the 8 Daily Habits that you must adopt to achieve success FAST in your MLM or Network Marketing Home Based Business.
So think about it, “What do you really want? I mean, what do you really, REALLY WANT?”
If you really desire greater wealth, better health and more freedom, “JUST DO IT!”
Action speaks louder than words!
