You're excited. "This is a great product, but even better yet, can you believe what they pay? All I have to do is find three people who will run with this and I'll be rich. Let's do it!"
So begins the journey of the new Network Marketing recruit.
Your Warm List
This is Plan A. "OK Bob (or Barbara), here is what I want you to do. Make a list of 100 people you know or have ever known. Check out your Christmas card list, your personal phone directories, put down all your siblings and cousins, and don't forget your co-workers."
When you come on board a new MLM company, you are generally asked to compile a list of 100 people and then, with the help of your up-line, you call these people and attempt to get them into your business. So, you contact them and ask them to listen to a CD or watch a DVD or perhaps come to an "opportunity meeting."
This is very similar to the way insurance companies work. They also ask their new reps to compile a list of 100 names and make appointments in an attempt to sell life insurance. When a sale is made an effort is made to get another list from the new client and continue the process. Generally this lasts about one year and by then the new insurance rep runs out of names and they find that they are no longer making any sales. About this time the "draw" dries up and then the new agent is called into the office and receives a lecture about how "this may not be the right business for you." Of course new insurance reps are being added all the time so the 100 name lists continue to be worked until those names are exhausted also. It then becomes their time to hear the "this may not be the right business for you" lecture. This is how insurance companies work. It's how all MLM companies work as well.
97% of all excited new insurance company and MLM company reps will exhaust their lists and be out of the business in a year or two.
The Three Foot Rule
But don't worry, we have Plan B. This rule goes like this: if there is a person within three feet of you and they are breathing, then they are a prospect and should be approached in some way. One major problem here is the difficulty of motivating a stranger to take action. It rarely works. But you can always talk to the waitress or waiter at your favorite restaurant. Very often, however, there is often a good reason they are a waitress or bus boy or whatever-if you follow my drift. They are simply not the best prospects for business ownership.
Social Butterflies'
But all is not lost; there is Plan C. This is the Social Butterfly plan. Social butterflies are the people that never meet a stranger. They go to a restaurant and before they get out the door, three or four "friends" come by and say "hi." They are wonderful friendly people and the world could use a few million more like them. They recruit a lot of people. The only problem is-most of their recruits are not social butterflies and their businesses stall.
The Common Denominator
There is a common denominator in these three plans. Those that "make it" in building their own MLM business using these plans have one thing in common; they all have an unlimited supply of new leads they can work. Here are some examples of big time MLM successes.
Physicians Chiropractors Physical Therapists Massage Therapists Dentists Veterinarians Optometrists Counselors Beauticians Barbers
Let's expand on this a bit. What do these and similar people all have in common? They all have a continual flow of traffic-leads-into their office. The basic criterion for success is-an ongoing and unlimited supply of leads-coming to you! If you don't' fit one of the categories above, then what do you do? Are you going to be a part of the 97% that just don't make it?
According to industry statistics, 97% of MLM'ers not only fail to reach their dream of achieving financial independence, they become so discouraged by the hardships of recruiting others they quit.
The Conclusion
The ability to recruit people easily and early is THE key factor to retention, building a massive downline and, ultimate, financial success.
It's the determining difference between a healthy, thriving and growing Network Marketing business and one that diminishes, sputters and finally quits.
So, how are you going to proceed to make it in your new MLM business? You want to be a part of the 3% not the 97%.
There appear to be an unlimited amount of business "opportunities" on the Internet today. No doubt many of them are legitimate and a few potentially rather profitable.
You and a Spoon
Let me explain what that means to you. Again, imagine yourself standing with a spoon in your hand on a plot of ground that you know for a fact has millions of dollars of gold in it, somewhere, deep down. What you have here is a "business opportunity" but not much in the way of tools to exploit that opportunity. How much are you likely to make with this opportunity? I would think little or nothing. The problem here is not the opportunity, it's the tools.
The right tools can turn even a moderate gold mine into a million dollar business. And poor tools can turn a bonanza into nothing. It's all about tools.
It helps to get a good picture of this in order to bring business "business opportunity" into perspective.
What's Needed for Success?
Let me suggest Plan D. Plan D is the creative use of the Internet to produce an unlimited supply of leads coming to you-daily.
"I don't know how to do that." You don't need to. What you need is to partner with someone who does know how to do that. You see, in the MLM business, the person that recruits you into his Network Marking business can't make a dime unless he makes a success out of you-hence, the need for a Coach. And in the MLM business, the coach works for free! .
Partner up with a team that knows how to recruit using the Internet and they will be thrilled to help you do the same. Remember, one of the really fascinating things about this business is this: if you don't make money, neither will your coach.
ralph.bass@businessmasterplan.com
