If you are afraid to talk about money, you’ll probably always be broke. Becoming comfortable with money requires an understanding that money itself represents far more to each of us than just pieces of paper. Understanding your emotions as they relate to money is vital to taking control of it instead of money controlling you. As an entrepreneur, if you don’t learn what money really means, you will never be able to help yourself, let alone others change their financial status.

Wallace Wattles wrote: “[S]ociety is so organized that man must have money in order to become the possessor of things…” Whether you are a fan of Wattles or not, he is right, the days of trading a pound of butter for a bag of wheat are a little past us now. Randy Gage wrote recently that money is a measuring stick. “If you do something at an extraordinary, exemplary and world class level in the marketplace, the market will make you rich. Because that is the way prosperity works.”

The problem is not money, but how people use it and view it. Money is a symbol and a powerful one at that. Money is not just paper to most people. According to Richard Trachtman, Ph.D., the problem for most people is that money represents such a wide area of problems including anxiety, depression, paranoia, impotence, impulse spending, gambling, social isolation, suicide, and murder. Most people have been taught that it is a taboo to talk about money. There are even books such as Etiquette written in 1922 and its new 17th edition, Emily Post’s Etiquette, that tell us it is rude in most cases to talk to people about personal finances. In 1908 Freud even connected money with feces and connected it to anal eroticism… WHAT in the world? No wonder people are so afraid of money.

No question that money surrounds us. Money can be influential, tempting and seductive. It is a main motivation in our world today. It is a primary reason for divorce and the love of money is for many one of the strongest moving forces in life.

The philosopher, Jacob Needleman says that money must become a tool for any modern man or woman seriously wishing to find meaning in their lives. “We must use money in order to study ourselves as we are and as we can become.” Money is just a tool and it is about time we studied how we feel about ourselves.

Randy Gage is right, money is a measuring stick (a tool) and most people subconsciously know that. That is why it scares the heck out of them. People feel that money proves they are worth little and accomplish almost nothing. Why do you think people run from the topic of money and are secretive, embarrassed and conflicted about the subject of money?

If money scares you to death, join the club. It is so hard to talk about, the majority of newly weds have yet to even discuss it in any depth before the big day. However, to be successful in business and especially in network marketing, it is time to comfort your fear and understand what money can become to you, instead of how you think it defines you today.

What do you think?

Don’t Fear Money

In network marketing we build romantic stories about the successful leaders. We imagine that they hit home runs every at bat, throw 90 yard touch down passes and sink hook shots from 50 feet out on a consistent basis. It reminds of the Mel Gibson Classic Braveheart, where a young soldier doubted Wallace’s identity because he looked too ordinary:

William Wallace: Sons of Scotland! I am William Wallace.

Young Soldier: William Wallace is seven feet tall!

William Wallace: Yes, I’ve heard. Kills men by the hundreds. And if HE were here, he’d consume the English with fireballs from his eyes, and bolts of lightning from his arse.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It borders the absurd how we describe the accomplishments of ordinary people (Network marketing icons are really just normal dudes like the rest of us). This improper characterization is bad for new people and discourages rather than keeping them going. Who in the world really ever built their business without getting the crud beat of them?  New people get discouraged if they think they have to live up to impossible feats of marketing. In reality network marketing legends become what they are because they do the little things well. In an Eric Worre video post, he accurately tells us the secret to retention in network marketing is really just small victories. He is right.

Jenkins Lloyd Jones summed life up pretty well when he said, “[The fact is] most putts don’t drop. Most beef is tough. Most children grow up to be just people. Most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration. Most jobs are more often dull than otherwise… Life is like an old?time rail journey delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed.”

The people who think they will build their businesses with 4,000 people at every meeting and sponsoring only superstars do not understand how real success is achieved in MLM. Only marketers who consistently and diligently achieve small successes will create extraordinary profits in network marketing or make a lasting difference in the lives of their downline.

If you want a group of successful people in your downline, teach them that you will not fill coliseums without filling out a ton of names lists with newbies, teaching them to get passionate about a great product and sharing it with others. Great accomplishments are rarely achieved by overcoming the impossible with a miraculous effort in a short period of time. Great success in network marketing comes from creating habits over time that allow you to build persistently and which allow you to consistently improve your performance.

Great marketing leaders such as Eric Worre, Dexter Yager and Doug Wead are often credited with making a giant impact on groups. These icons within network marketing became who they are because of their ability to do the small things every day. I would even go so far as to say that the icons in network marketing are who they are because of the thousands of people like you and me who are doing the small things each day in their downline. The ultimate downline does not consist of just an incredible leader, but a group of people dedicated to the same goal. May I be so bold as to say that our main goal should be to deliver small victories every day to our new people.

It is time to dispel the myth of the network marketing Hail Mary which is the false belief that we can skip the growth pains and create the foundation for our business instantly and painlessly.  Hail Mary’s almost never work in American football and it does not work in MLM either. True success comes from the small and simple things done continuously. When we do the basics of network marketing consistently it can lead to exhilarating moments when we fill an arena with people.

Great leaders in network marketing are just simple people. I have met so many of them and what makes them geniuses is the fact that they know they are not geniuses. Our industry will become respected and our incomes sustained when we realize that we too can create extraordinary results by consistently doing the ordinary.

“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”

– Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Small & Simple Successes

Rule 1 – Expect high output. A network-marketing superstar does not need to have years of experience in sales or in network marketing. Age and background are irrelevant. Chet Holmes says, “Young or old, if you have the stuff, we’ll know.” My circle of influence is much greater today, but when I started in network marketing I was 22. My circle of influence was young and I was in inexperienced. My upline saw that I was willing to show a lot of presentations from day 1. They did not care that I was young, because I was hungry and just needed to be taught what to do. As I learned what to look for in my group, one of my best sponsoring distributors was a 70-year-old retired dentist; who knew he would be good at network marketing. Expect more from everyone, the studs will rise to the top.

Rule 2 – Four hours a week won’t create much profitability. Read my last post in this series. Monavie distributors that put in 4 hours a week made almost nothing. Monavie distributors who put in 9 hours a week were making pretty good money. You know that you don’t have a superstar if he or she is not willing to put in the time.

Rule 3 – Test your people who say they are committed. Many marketers cringe at this rule. “I want everyone to be comfortable,” they think. “I don’t want to blow anyone out.” Well fine, have an underachieving group that never gets big if you don’t have the guts to ask more from your people. You have to know what your people are really doing each day in their business. Are they really showing the business as much as they say? If you know that your pseudo star is not really showing the plan as much as he claims, say this, “I don’t think you are nearly as committed as you say you are. I want everybody in my group to succeed, but I spend my travel money and the bulk of my time with those who are really committed. I don’t know if that is you or not. Are we going to do this or not?”

Holmes says that most HR departments encourage a loving and nurturing environment for businesses, but superstars must be challenged. I believe that is the same for your downline for the most part. You should gently encourage the 97% who are not ready to really commit to your business. However, if somebody claims that they are a 3% club member, you better test them before you spend 3 months dedicated to building their business traveling across the world for them when they are lollygagging. If you challenge a possible superstar; no matter age, sex or experience, they will rise to the occasion and disagree with you if you tell them they are not a 3% member. The 97% person who claims to be a star will not challenge you. A budding superstar will tell you she is committed and challenge you back. When the person rises up, challenge them to new levels of commitment. When they do not challenge you, love them, help them and encourage them to stay at it because they can learn how to become a superstar over time. Either way, you need to know what you have.

Rule 4 – Ask lots of questions. Interview your people on what they are doing each day, week and month. Know what is happening in their groups and if the rising leader is doing what is necessary to help them become a superstar. Do not hurt your 97% people in any way, but know you must take measures to know what your people are really doing. Smart uplines have an idea of what their downline is doing each day. Real superstars will not be afraid to be accountable. They want help and they will work hard to gain your respect.

Rule 5 – Know your people. Have your people take personality tests. A great book is Personality Plus. My upline, when I built an Amway business, loved using this book to understand us and how to better help us succeed. Certain personality traits are necessary to succeed in network marketing, they can be natural or learned. Either way, it sure helps to know your people and how to help them succeed.

Rule 6 – Superstars are not easy to find. Whether you personally sponsor a possible superstar or you find them in your downline, you will have to work to find them. Give your superstars and possible superstars your time and your attention. It breaks my heart to not be able to spend equal time with everyone who wants it, but you cannot spend a lot of time with the people who are not rising to the occasion. When you are new, you must have the discipline to sponsor everyone but search aggressively for superstars. If you are not looking diligently, you will miss some of the great ones right in front of you.

Rule 7 – I reserve the right to change my rules as I get better. If you think you have all the answers in this business, you are fooling yourself. Learning is the name of the game and it never stops. However, finding superstars is vital to your success and if you follow the rules above, you WILL find some real stars.

Guide to Finding MLM Superstars

Low expectations yield low results. Very few network marketers have the guts to challenge their people, consequently their groups remain small and underachieve. Instead of setting high expectations they keep their downline protected from responsibility and challenge in the hope that the people will stay in and not be overwhelmed. Our goal as marketers should be to set the bar high for our people and us. We want leaders who work hard, not thousands of people dependant upon us forever.

It’s amazing how so many marketers allow themselves to think that by protecting their people from having to work hard that they can somehow find someone to step up. Protecting your people from responsibility and accountability will only give you average people. Average in network marketing is not good. For example the average Monavie Distributor’s check in 2008 was $30. In 2009 that average check dropped to $23. Ouch. Expect the highest possible commitment from your people and some of them will step up, others will wash out. Many of your marketers will quit even if you don’t challenge them, what do you have to lose?

If you study income disclosure statements you will see something pretty amazing. Take Monavie again as an example. Monavie claims that the average Distributor works 4 hours a week. Four hours a week in Monavie will gross you $1,214 a year. Not good. That check will barely cover your gas expense going to meetings. However, step up your weekly productivity to 9 hours a week and they claim you will gross $53,413 a year. Getting pretty good. The small difference of 5 extra hours a week makes an exponential earning difference in Monavie (if their numbers are accurate). What is even more amazing is that they claim with an additional 3 hours a week to a total of 12 and your average annual check will be $104,759.  Triple that number and they claim you will gross a cool $1,486,366. They do not say how many years you have to work 27 hours a week to earn this kind of cash, but my point remains: top earners are willing to do more, don’t hold your people back.

When we focus on creating networking studs we will have an elite corp of superstars that overcome obstacles by themselves without being dependent on a stretched upline. Chet Holmes claims that when we have a few right people who will step up to a challenge, they can be put in a bad situation with poor tools, no training, and bad resources and still, within a few months, they begin to outperform your best people or build your company in ways you never dreamed possible. Sponsoring or spotting the right people in your downline is not about luck. It’s about understanding the personality characteristics that fit elite network marketers and having the guts to challenge your potential superstars to see if they possess those characteristics.

If you challenge someone and they fail, continue to love them and encourage them. With encouragement and attendance at training events, hopefully they will continue to put in a couple hours a week. Maybe some day they will grow into a new level of production. However, you must continue your search NOW for superstars that will commit at least 20 hours a week to the business. Superstars are hard to find, but they do exist. Your job is to find them and train them. You can’t do that by fooling yourself into believing everyone is ready for that role now.

Challenge Your People

Superstardom knows no sex, age or color. Being a superstar in anything requires natural born talent or cultivation of talent over time. However, unless you were born with every skill needed to be a superstar at your chosen field, you are going to have to be like the rest of us and build your talents. Knowing how to identify potential superstars in your downline and how to develop your own skills to become a superstar are essential to becoming profitable. Here’s your warning: becoming a superstar in network marketing is not for everyone, especially for the wallflowers who must change their entire demeanor. I do believe it is possible for people to become very profitable with coaching and extreme determination, but it is not for the wimps.

My next few posts are going to be very real. I have developed curriculum’s that can point people in the right direction, but they are not for lazy people or someone who finds excuses. My suggestions for extreme profitability in network marketing are only for the person that is mentally ready to take their psyche to peak levels needed to succeed in network marketing. If you are going to easily give up, you will become a part of the 97% who are never profitable in network marketing.

Network marketing involves sales. Anybody who tells you that you do not have to be good at sales to succeed at network marketing is telling half-truths. Success in network marketing can come as a result of finding a great product and meeting great people. However, if success is defined as profitable, then you must learn to sell.

A strong ego is vital to success in sales. Just because a person has a strong ego does not mean that person has to be viewed as pompous or arrogant. Everybody knows Donald Trump has a healthy ego, and some people cannot stand how he carries himself. His ego has served him well in business, but few people can act the way he does and not be punched in the face.  Some very successful people, such as George Lucas and Bill Gates, made their fortunes with strong egos that would allow them to get past rejection without appearing brash and overstated the way that Trump does. However, Lucas and Gates never would have made their fortunes if they were timid and did not sell their new ideas to whoever would listen to them. They are rich today as a result of not letting a “no” get them down.

Confidence and a strong ego are very necessary in network marketing because of frequent rejection. In his book The Ultimate Sales Machine, Holmes writes that a superstar salesperson must have a strong ego, show a great ability to influence others, is empathetic, has a psychological need to bond with others and a need to find something likable about every person. However, if the person is too empathetic he will be too understanding and never close a sale. The salesperson and the network marketer must be able to push with empathy. If you believe in your product or service, you should passionately push, but do so in a manner that does not offend in the process. This takes practice, study and time for most people.

When you are looking for future superstars, many times you miss them because they may seem annoying. They are always hanging around, asking questions and sometimes seem way to eager. Many potential superstars that have not honed their craft seem to need way too much attention and tend to never shut up. They can come on way too strong. Novice superstars in training have an audacity that can be off putting. However, audacity and bravado are essential ingredients needed to achieve greatness in anything.

My next post I will talk about how to test your downline to see if they have natural skills to be a superstar or if you have a lot of teaching to do.

MLM Superstar Traits

If you want to build an ultra profitable downline that creates generational income, one of the most vital components is to understand the personality profile of top producers. Once you have a knowledge of what typically makes up a superstar, you will know better how to recruit them, train them to take advantage of their skills, and best of all you will know what to expect from them if you do your part.

Most network marketers go by instinct on who will be the next superstar in their group. Hate to tell all you superstar spotters, you are typically wrong. These wrong decisions cost you a ton of time and money. In network marketing your bad choice not only wastes your time, but you typically lose sight of the real stars while you are toiling away with someone who will never live up to superstar status. Chet Holmes, a master business trainer, believes that in traditional business an average bad hire can cost a company $60,000. In network marketing the cost is more difficult to put a dollar number to, but realistically we lose a lot of money and time trying to force the wrong person into a superstar role.

Many superstars make the mistake of thinking that everyone else wants success as much as they do. As a full-time network marketer, I was shocked that not everybody wanted to show 45 plans a month and drive their wheels off to get to meetings all across the country. Holmes describes business superstars as people who are eager to please, always looking for more to do, always wanting more responsibility, always wanting to know more than you think they need to know. I would say that your future superstars in network marketing could be described similarly. Because a budding superstar has characteristics that can be viewed by some as annoying, we lose many of our future leaders by crowning the wrong person as our future star.

In network marketing we think that all of our downline can eventually turn into superstars. My advice there, stop it. Stop thinking the impossible. I believe that we need to improve the experience of all our downline the best we can, but not everybody in your downline will ever be a superstar. Never. I agree with Holmes when he says that superstars are an incredibly rare breed. You will be much better off learning how to spot superstar characteristics and then hold your future stars to a whole different level than regular distributors. Regular distributors will quit long before they will ever do what a superstar will naturally want to do.

My following posts will teach you how to spot and train future stars and how to hold them accountable until they don’t need you everyday. When your stars burn bright without you every day is when you know you are on your way.

Create Downline Superstars

I am often asked, “What should I expect from my downline?”  The answer to that is, “Depends.”  Many successful leaders achieved their level from pure guts, some build leaders.  The distributors that don’t build leaders are grinders, they would show a plan when ever and where ever.  They don’t mentor possible leaders because they are way too busy. They are the heart and soul of their group and the group’s success lives and dies with this distributor.  That distributor’s downline is built on a poor foundation and will likely crumble when that distributor wears out and has to take a break.

Most people that join your group will never do anything other than attend a few meetings and buy product.  Welcome them.  Love them. Encourage them.  However, there are also people that are hungry and want to succeed at high levels.  Those people should be pushed, held accountable and lovingly guided into success by expected a lot from them.

These future leaders are not afraid to do whatever it takes ethically to succeed.  But many times their upline is trying to protect these future leaders from doing too much.  This is crazy, because top leaders get to where they are because of their attitude of doing more than what is expected.  Top leaders only create true stability when they truly replace themselves.  They will create generational income only when they ask the same from their leaders and future leaders that they ask of themselves.  If not, when they go away or die, so will their groups without their presence.  Longevity is created by creating leaders.  Leaders are made through accountability to themselves and their mentors.

One who is committed to a cause will not simply “go through the motions” in becoming a leader.  A committed distributor will not be satisfied with just making a visit to one of his downline so he can report to his mentor that his job is “completed” or “done.” A committed distributor would not be content to merely “give” a presentation but would want to teach with passion. The result, if your leaders have the guts to ask for it, will be making a real difference in the impressionable lives of the new distributors entrusted to his or her care.  It will create real leadership.

The programs we help people make are done in a way that asks little from the 97% but much from those who say they want to be leaders.  Responsibility and accountability will show you who really deserves your time. Companies and top leaders need to create more leaders, and learn to identify and love the 97%, because you need them in your business too.  However, to ask little from your future leaders is a big mistake.  Leaders want to be accountable, leaders want to feel empowered, and to ask anything less is creating a house of cards that will crumble eventually.

What to Expect From Your Downline

Do you know how easy it is to create a good product today? Easy, very easy. Because the cost of manufacturing is so cheap compared to what it used to be, it is almost impossible to create an iconic brand or movement based solely upon producing a great product or making it cheaper. Great products produced cheaply are everywhere but not all of them are selling. It is time to start building network marketing by creating great environments and quit thinking that just because we have a great product backed behind a great opportunity we will be okay.

Approximately 80 percent of the top network marketing companies sell health products or cosmetics. Give me $30,000 and two months and I can have you branded inventory of a health product or cosmetic item.  It is not hard to do. And guess what, it will probably be made in the same location as some of the world’s top brands.

It is time for network marketers to be more courageous. It is time to create more movements and to quit trying to sell a product with an economic opportunity. We don’t just need great products, because they are everywhere.  We need courageous people taking those great products and quit selling them based upon an economic opportunity.  That model is failing.  I repeat, THAT MODEL IS FAILING. Look at the following graph put out by the DSA. 2008 and 2007 had less sales than 2006.  And, if you account for inflation, we had less sales in 2008 than we did in 1999.  Some companies are growing, but network marketing is not in the United States.  All we are doing is stealing from each other as marketers jump from one fad company to the next. And marketers are jumping ship because corporations are failing on their product and opportunity promises. It is time to start creating product movements that stick based upon the merits of the movement, not just a commission.

I meet with a lot of marketers from many different companies now.  I am currently involved with no companies.  I am a network marketing lover affiliated with nobody on a day to day basis. One thing I can tell you company executives, your people would leave you if they had the guts to do so or if another opportunity that says the right things comes their way.

I am really shocked at how fearful so many field marketers are at “losing” something by staying with a company that treats them like a commodity. Let me tell company executives and top marketers how to create a movement and keep your people happy.

1. Quit treating your product as commodity that is sold because of an economic opportunity.
2. Make stuff worth talking about. If you are just one of many similar products, you better be really, really, really, really good at telling an authentic story.
3. Understand the new leverage in today’s network marketing.  Live your story, yes live your story. Give me happiness, not ingredient lists. Give me joy, not promises of riches I don’t really believe in. Give me a way to feel younger, with people that build me into greatness not scare me into submission. Give me life, don’t take it away from me.  Don’t tell me you care about how much money I make and then threaten me if I think the opportunity is better else where. Give me a reason to stay other than the lottery ticket chance of $10,000 a month. LIVE your story.

I love the movie Gladiator. My favorite part in the movie happened when Maxius found his small group of fellow gladiators in the Roman Colosseum about to be under attack. The attack come from a more numerous army of better armed warriors on chariots.  Maximus compelled his men by saying, “Whatever comes out of these gates, we’ve got a better chance of survival if we work together. Do you understand? If we stay together we survive.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

I can say I love network marketing.  I love what it can do for people and what it does to people. It is time to make our profession better.  It is time to have the courage to work better together in our companies. It is time for companies to empower their people, not threaten them to stay or suffer the consequences. It is time to grow our industry, our companies and our downlines. We better get better at creating a movement worth following.

Network Marketers Should Be Courageous

To improve, we must recognize where we fall short. Some companies and distributors are willing to accept they can improve, others stick their heads in the sand.  My last post I quoted Seth Godin when I wrote, “So, go tell a story. If it doesn’t resonate, tell a different one. If people are not asking for your product when you finish your presentation, it is time to change your story. Either you’re going to tell stories that spread, or you will become irrelevant.

There is nothing wrong with telling stories if they are true, or you can make them true under scrutiny. The best companies in the world are the ones that are constantly staying ahead of the crowd with their stories.  They are willing to admit when their story becomes tired or doesn’t resonate the way that it used to.

In 2007 I founded a juice company with my brothers. At the time there were a few different multi-juice blend companies, but today there are even more with “the best juice.” We decided to base our story on an unstory. The unstory was based upon my family’s desire to have a product made by nature and assembled by science. We did not want a story based on a mystical adventure in a rain forest and happening upon some indigenous people saving us from malaria with a magic potion. We believed people were too smart for that kind of story that was popular for a while.  Our juice was a great formula and our unstory had legs for quite a while. However, today I believe that most juice company stories have run their course, and like BMW did with its Joy Campaign, it is time to find a story that will resonate anew amidst all the new and continuing noise of “The best juice on the market.” Everybody preaching the same message that they are the best is frankly being lost on consumers who have heard it ad nauseam for the past 5 years.

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you watched the video clip above, you will see that BMW is a master at story telling. Masters because they are passionate about making their story true. BMW understands that people do not buy facts, they buy emotions that stories provide. Seth Godin says, “The facts are irrelevant. In the short run, it doesn’t matter one bit whether something is actually better or faster or more efficient. What matters is what the consumer believes.” “Stories (not ideas, not features, not benefits) are what spread from person to person.” For juice companies as a whole, I recommend a new direction instead of trying to prove that you have more of this or more of that, it doesn’t resonate any more. Does the number of phytonutrients you have really capture the imagination of large or important audiences. I would say no it does not, most people really don’t know how something with a phyto in it even affects them enough to care deeply.

“A great story is true. Not true because it’s factual, but true because it’s consistent and authentic. Consumers are too good at sniffing out inconsistencies for a marketer to get away with a story that’s just slapped on.” Let me give you an example of a new juice company that did something smart.  Rain Nutrition is a small company that started selling juice in the beginning.  Too small and too late to capitalize on the juice fad, they have recently taken a very important step to becoming significant.  They added a couple products and started a basic fitness program that also included a diet that featured their products.  They focused more on the emotional needs of their consumers. To me, their new story is, “Rain is Fitness”. I was told that their recent program has been a smash hit and at a recent convention they saw a huge spike in product sales as a result. Nice work separating yourself from the juice noise.

Time for more of us professional networkers to listen to Seth Godin and less to ourselves and the glory days. Great stories make a promise. They promise fun. The promise is bold and not just very good, it is exceptional or it’s not worth listening to. Time for all of us to ask if we are fulfilling on our promise and not just saying, “Oh yeah, my product can beat up your product!”

Network Marketers Are Learners

“Don’t just tell me the facts, tell me a story instead.” Seth Godin is right, facts are boring.  Facts are hard to get excited about.  I don’t buy a BMW because of the number of its horses.  I buy a BMW because of how it makes me feel: alive, free, excited and athletic. Horsepower by itself is just a number, but combined with sporty chairs, heart pounding speakers, cornering like its on rails and its gorgeous sapphire black paint make the car become a lifestyle. They are not lying when they tell me BMW is Joy. BMW is telling a joyeous story that they live and embody in everything they do. Network marketers should and can deliver similarly to BMW.

Seth Godin says, “Be remarkable! Be consistent! Be authentic!” Ask yourself, “Is my company remarkable, consistent and authentic?” Of course you are going to say yes, but is it really? Is your company based on a good product story that is priced appropriately for its target market, or is your product just an excuse to have compensation plan? Ask yourself how many marketers stay on the product for a year after they realize they aren’t making any money?  Ask yourself how many people say yes to the product when they say no to the opportunity? Finally, ask yourself how many people out of a hundred, who say yes to the opportunity, actually have the opportunity promise fulfilled?

If you are promising a great product experience first, you are more likely to be able to deliver on your story. You cannot make a person profitable if that person does not cooperate.  You cannot force a person to show plans and enroll people into your company. If your opportunity presentation alludes to the fact that a high percentage of people are making money with your company, you are not being authentic. However, if your product story resonates, it can become true immediately in the eyes of people and they will buy your product. Aren’t we really about moving product or services any way?

Seth says, “So, go tell a story. If it doesn’t resonate, tell a different one.” If people are not asking for your product when you finish your presentation, it is time to change your story. Very few people have what it takes to make it big in network marketing, but many people have what it takes to make a $150 a month profit if the product story resonates. How much better off would the masses be with an extra $150-$300 a month. How much better off would a company be that has many multiples of people telling a PRODUCT story that resonates with the masses? How much better off would health food companies be if they were told how to tell a PRODUCT story that didn’t focus on ORAC, roving radicals, unpaired electrons and catechins? (I too was once guilty of this boring health speak that nobody understands and few really care about.) How about a story that really resonates with what people will always listen to; how to lose weight and look younger? Then, actually have a product that actually delivers on that story.

As Seth says, “Either you’re going to tell stories that spread, or you will become irrelevant.” My advice, listen to Seth.

Network Marketers are Storytellers