Would you jump into day trading, the stock market, real estate investing, or commodities, without knowing something about what you are doing? Would you open a restaurant, a retail store, buy a farm, start commercial fishing, or any myriad of businesses without knowledge of that industry? Could you become a broker, a banker, a counselor, a teacher, etc. without education? What makes a person believe they can become the CEO of ME, Inc. without education, knowledge, experience and even a changed mindset?
Many people make an emotional decision to jump into network marketing based on either a physical need or financial need. They’re promised results and success, even though history has proven that more than 90% of network marketers fail and less than 5% achieve true, walk away, residual income. The hype and lies that are spun to entice people, many we truly care about like friends and family, are amazing!
Network marketing by design requires that you take the time to plan your success. It means being clear about your vision and intentions, being ready with the training, tools, and systems that will attract leads and support a growing team and customer base, and is dependent on a commitment to both learn and lead.
Designing your success starts with asking yourself some basic questions.
- What are my motives for starting a business?
This question is multifaceted, in that you not only clarify your personal intentions, but you can begin to determine the direction you want to go in your business. Knowing your “why” is like a plumb line in wall papering. If your starting point is off, every strip will be duplicated and the room will need to be repapered. Launching your network marketing business with a clear “why” will give you a level place from which to plan the rest of your steps.
Am I interested in reaching a target market? That will help you decide on the product(s) or service(s) that you will choose to promote. Marketing to Baby Boomers might take you a completely different direction than marketing to stay at home moms. Marketing to a specific consumer group may also help you decide if you want to focus on one product line or company or be open to multiple income streams through affiliate marketing, information marketing, coaching, and representing more than one mlm.
Do I have a personal passion for a particular industry, products, or service? If you love to travel, you may decide to choose that industry, for both the benefits of getting discounted travel for yourself and creating income by sharing something you love and know about with others. Maybe you like to shop online, or you’re excited about helping those that struggle with weight or health issues. If you choose something you love doing, it is more likely you will achieve success and stay with it until you do. It creates a deeper core purpose in what you are doing.
Do I have the time and financial resources to launch with momentum and stay the course? Even though many mlm business owners promise you success on a $500 or less investment and 5-10 hours a week, I’m going to be honest and let you know that isn’t likely. The truth is that starting strong and growing your business with skill and planning will place you in the 10% that succeed in network marketing. A person isn’t going to start up a retail store and only open it for 10 hours a week. That would be business suicide. It’s the same in network marketing. If you don’t have the time or need education, training, and more money to launch with success, then wait to start business building and use your time and financial resources to get the tools and training you need to succeed when you are ready. If you want to join a company to use the products or services, and can afford the initial investment and monthly overhead before you start building your business, go ahead. What you do the first 90-100 days in business often sets the course for failure or success. The Law of Momentum is one of the secrets to creating a thriving mlm business. Momentum produces enthusiasm, energy, retention, teamwork, and profit. The lack of momentum produces frustration, complacency, discouragement, and results in people quitting because they’re not making money and frequently going even deeper into debt.
Am I willing to give my business a 1 year commitment? Even if you start out strong, network marketing is all about the Law of Multiplication. You and your team need to be given the support and time to develop the size of team that produces residual, full time income. In most pay plans that can take 6-12 months of attracting both customers and business partners.
There is nothing more satisfying than having a real vision, putting that vision into a plan, taking action on that plan and achieving the rewards of success. When you duplicate that throughout a team, the rewards are multiplied times 10. That is the joy of designing a profitable network marketing business. And that is attraction marketing in action!
Having achieved both success and failure in some of my mlm ventures, I can honestly say that with strategic planning, clear intentions, proper training and implementation of attraction based marketing principles, strong systems for attracting leads, business building and support, internet marketing guidance, and personal motivation, a person can create a stable, residual income in network marketing. This is truly Network Marketing by Design.
October 9
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