NETWORK MARKETING (MLM) TIPS
Most people don't actually join your company, they join you. They will join because they like and trust you. So, how do you get people to like and trust you. Well, to start, you might want to read the book, How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. Next, learn how to create rapport. People like people who are like them, so learn to mirror their style (without obviously copying or mimicking them). For example, if they talk fast, then you talk fast. If they use a lot of visual words then you use visual words. If they are kind of laid back, they you relax. Find common areas of interest - children, sports, politics, business, investing - the more in common you have, the more they will like you. Most of all, ask questions and get them talking. People love to talk about themselves. There was once a study done on an airplane. The interviewer was told to ask the person sitting next to him questions during the entire flight and do everything possible not to reveal much about himself. Upon leaving the airplane, the interviewee was asked about the interviewer and commented that he was the best communicator and most interesting person they had ever met. Just goes to prove the power of building rapport through questions.
Introduce your business to at least one new person every day. It could be someone you know (from your warm market list) or someone you meet. If you do this 6 days a week (take Sunday off) and 50 weeks (take 2 off for vacation), you will prospect 300 new people each year. With just a 10% closing ratio, you would add 30 new people to your team each year. Now, imagine if they all did the same.
The 100% Principle.
Do you know that the odds that someone you know is wishing that they could make more money or have more free time to enjoy life, is probably 100%. It's like a deck of cards. In the 54 cards you find in a pack, there will be 2 jokers and in your network marketing business, there will always be the jokers. Just toss them out. Then out of the 52 cards remaining there are 4 aces. These represent your top leaders. If you were to shuffle those cards and begin to deal them one at a time, eventually you would find all 4 of the aces. Now, they might all be at the end, which means you would deal 48 cards before finding the first ace. In your MLM business, you may have to go through a bunch of jokers and other people in order to find your aces, but you have to have faith that they are there and keep contacting new people (dealing the cards) until you find them
Create a fun culture. People don't like to be sold, but they do like to join. They also like being around fun, successful people, so create a fun and successful culture and more people will join. Give your team a name, create a team web site, have weekly calls or local meetings with your team. Also, don't make it all about business, schedule fun activities like bowling, hiking, sailing, group lunch, holiday parties, and so on. That's the fun part. Next, help your downline members achieve success and recognize them publicly. Announce new distributors and rank advancements on your web site and through your team list. Build that culture of success and fun and you've got something that people will want to join.
Treat your MLM business like you invested a million dollars to get it started, rather than as a hobby you work when you have time and you will see much quicker and bigger success. If you invested in a McDonald's franchise, you would work 15 hours a day for years to recoup your initial investment. The problem with network marketing is that it doesn't require a big investment, so people don't treat it like a big business. Yet, the potential income in network marketing is much higher than with a McDonald's franchise. So, treat your network marketing business like a big business by investing the hours every week to build your network.
Get Into Action.
Get Into Action. If you had a beautiful new $145,000 Maserati Gran Turismo sitting in your driveway (which by the way you could have, if you get into action and build your MLM business), it would do you no good as a mode of transportation, until you got into the car, pushed the start button, revved the engine, shifted it into reverse and backed out of the driveway. In other words, that Maserati is no better than an old beat-up '68 Volkswagen Beetle without action. The same is true of your network marketing business. You could have the absolutely best company in the industry and people all around you making big time money, but if you don't get into action building your business, nothing will happen. So, call someone on the phone and talk with them about your business. Go out into the big old world and talk with some people. There are over 300 million people here in the U.S. and only about 15 million of them are already involved in MLM. All you need is a few of them and you can go buy that Maserati with cash. So, get into action today!
Find a coach. Every athletic team has a coach and every top network marketer had/has a coach. The best coach is an upline leader who has already achieved success in your company. Ask them to devote time each week to coaching you. The key is to do what they say. They've been there, done that, got the t-shirts, so all you have to do is listen and follow.
Don't blame. In my three decades of network marketing, I've yet to see someone who failed because of a bad sponsor or upline. Yet, I hear this as the primary reason why people fail - they weren't supported by their sponsor. It's interesting that in my over 30 years, I've never had a real supportive upline and in interviewing many top income earners, I've found the same with many of them. This is your business. The success or failure of it, depends solely on you. If you have a supportive sponsor/upline, that's a bonus. Get out there and build your business for you; for your family; to achieve your dreams. There is an old saying that you can make excuses or you can make money, but you can't do both. So, which is it - excuses or money?
Another mistake network marketers make is that they don't follow-up or don't do it effectively. When you use tools, the follow-up is critical. Now, most people don't like to follow-up because of fear - fear of rejection, fear of looking foolish when they ask questions you can't answer. Well fear is all in your mind (I'll address this one in the next tip), so don't allow it to destroy your business. Instead, step out in faith and make those follow-up calls and appointments. Many will not be interested in your business/products, and that's okay. You're just sifting through the masses looking for a few diamonds and you can't find them unless you follow-up.
Are You Duplicable?
One of the biggest keys to success in MLM is to be duplicable. In other words can anyone do what you do? If you are an amazing speaker/presenter, people are going to feel that they can't do your business, because they can't speak. If you know everything there is to know about your products/services, then people are going to think they can't build your business because they don't have time to learn all you know. So, the secret is to use duplicable tools. Use the companies training material, online presentations, webinars, teleconferences.
Anyone can do that. If your company doesn't have good tools, invest in your business and create some tools. There is an old industry saying that "systems duplicate, people don't", so use or create duplicable systems and your business will definitely grow.