Obsessed With “6 Figures”
Posted by: Bob Firestone under Business Development, General Rants, Leadership
You have the potential to make a six figure income within six months by joining (Company Name Removed) as an Independent Marketing Representative.
I have google alerts setup for several different MLM companies. Every day I get emails reporting where on the blog-o-sphere these companies are showing up. The report includes a snippet of text around the word to see how its used to judge if clicking the link is worth my time. Recently there has been an abnormal number of references to “join company XYZ and make 6 figures!” This isn’t just from a single company it is across the board.
Why are these people so obsessed with pitching an incomprehensible dream?
For most people the idea of making $100,000+ is ridiculous. According to the Wall Street Journal in 2007 (pre economic meltdown) an individual making $97k a year was in the top 7% of income earners and for an entire households that was top 20%. In 2008 the Census Bureau calculated the median household income in the US was $50,303. I am fairly good at math so I am pretty sure $100,000 is a lot more than $50,000.
The “6 Figure” income claim it not genuine, not truthful and not credible. The way I see it is telling people they will make double what they are making now creates false expectations and gives them the information they need to make an uninformed decision.
The company and the product could be the greatest thing since sliced bread and because of your lack of credibility they will never know.
The way to build credibility is by being genuine, honest and delivering on your promises. Stop trying to fill peoples heads with fantasy land nonsense find out what’s important to them. What would an extra $500 or $1,000 a month do for you? You don’t know the true objection with out first learning the true desire.
The triple net bottom line is if you want to succeed you need to be credible and to be credible you need to care.
Do Your Customers Have Customers?
Posted by: Bob Firestone under Business Development
Let me ask you a question, “Do Your Customers Have Customers?”
Lets cut to the bottom line, in your network marketing business the more product that moves through your team the more money you make. If you are focusing your efforts on bringing people into your team who have existing customer bases to market to you are going to find your self miles ahead of where you are today.
The Goose That Laid The Golden Egg
Posted by: Bob Firestone under Business Development
Do you remember the story about the goose that laid golden eggs?
A farmer finds that one of his geese had laid an egg of solid gold. From that day on every morning he would go out to the goose and find another gold egg waiting for him. This continues making the farmer more and more wealthy. But after a while the farmer becomes impatient wanting more eggs faster. To speed up the goose he starts trying all sorts of things but none of them work. Out of frustration he rationalizes that the gold eggs must be inside of the goose already so he cuts the bird open. Finding no eggs he then realizes what he has done. In his greed, he killed the goose that laid the golden egg.
Network marketing allows anyone who does the work have a goose that lays golden eggs.
Like the goose you need to tend to your business on a daily basis, nurturing it, feeding it, working to make sure it is healthy and having what it needs to produce on a daily basis. However there is one huge difference between a MLM business and the goose, you can increase the number of eggs you get by sharing the products and business with more people.
The Biggest Detractors Of Network Marketing
Posted by: Bob Firestone under Business Development
The profession of network marketing is so close to reaching the recognition that it deserves. There is one last group of people who need to be converted to see the industry in a positive light. This group is not the media, the government regulators, politicians, or the people who call it one of those pyramid things. No the group that needs to change their minds is existing network marketers.
Have you ever talked sh!t about another company company to a prospect? Have you ever suggested that other companies and their management is only out to steal from your prospect? Do these tactics ever help you actually sell anything? No.
When you badmouth another company you are badmouthing the industry and your company at the same time. Do you think your prospect trusts that if you say your competition companies X, Y & Z are bad companies that they are going to think great this is the one. No what is going through their mind is why do I want to be in an industry that is full of crooks.
Trying to destroy the reputation of your competitor might work in some businesses and politics but not in network marketing.
What you can do is compare products and companies with out being negative. Look at this recreation of a conversation I had with a prospect when he mentioned another company (this isn’t word for word but it is pretty close and some changes have been made to (poorly) hide the company I was talking about)…
Prospect: I have been hearing a lot about company M recently.
Me: There are a lot of people right now marketing their products and there are definitely people who like it. I looked at them before joining and there are some big differences that I believe make our products and opportunity superior. M is most know for having the acai berry. Our core nutrition product has acai, noni a fruit from the South Pacific, gogi, pomegranate and has ECE kelp extract the next generation of super anti-oxidant. ECE anti-oxidant stays in your system working for up to 24X longer than acai berry. In one bottle you are getting a lot more than just acai.
With the economy the way it is value is a big concern and being able to give people a large bang for their buck is important. Theirs comes in a very nice looking 25 oz bottle and costs about $40; ours is 32 oz for $22.50. So you get almost 30% more product for about half the price. It is a bigger bottle of a better product and less money. Would you agree that is a big difference in value?
P: Yes it is. Being half the price do you make a lot less?
M: The compensation plans are very similar in structure. Before joining I took a pencil and paper to the numbers and did a couple of side by side comparisons. We came out ahead. The difference is how much of each dollar gets paid out as commission. Of every dollar that is brought 60% is paid out to the field compared to their 50%. We are able to do this because we have less middlemen on the supply side.
I never resorted to playing them as bad guys or selling modern day snake oil. I highlighted the differences and framed the conversation in a way that made me, my product and my opportunity the better choice without having to compromise my integrity.
MLM Fast Start Defined
Posted by: Bob Firestone under Business Development
Everyone says they want to get off to a fast start in their MLM business. One problem what is a fast start? If this was a goal setting workshop you have set an unachievable goal. “Fast start” is neither specific or measurable.
How I Define Fast Start
A MLM fast start is getting a check every week for your first 12 weeks. It is specific and measurable. The only guaranteed way to get it is by recruiting a new rep or selling a new customer each week. Having to go and do the business builds the skills and habits for long term success.
You don’t get healthy by going to the gym one time and you don’t build a successful network marketing business recruiting one person one time. You go to the gym a couple of times a week over a period of months and years, gradually getting stronger and leaner. You build a MLM business by recruiting and selling a couple of times a week over a period of months and years gradually getting better and the checks get bigger.
I have put together a tracking sheet for people who want the fast start you can download it here.
CQ: What is your definition of a “Fast Start”?
Beautiful, Brilliant, Broke
Posted by: Bob Firestone under Personal Development
Do you know someone who is really dumb and makes a lot more money than you and you are jealous? (Yes)
How about have you ever been part of a business opportunity and met the top earners and thought to your self “I am smarter and better looking than them but they are making 100 times more money and everyone in the company knows their name! Why is that not me?!?!” (Yes)
The answer is really very simple.
1. The universe rewards action. The more action you take the closer you will get to your goals. Simply sitting around being smart is not enough to reach the top of the food chain.
2. They are doing things you are not doing. You are calling 1 prospect a day they are calling 25. You are sitting by your self reading a book on your lunch break they are doing a one-on-one lunch time presentation.
There are two ways to become successful: trial and error or modeling someone who already has what you want. The neat thing about most home business opportunities is the people walking across the stage getting the awards will gladly share with you what they did to get there and what they do now. All you have to do is ask.
Have you ever heard of paint by numbers? If you haven’t it is a canvas that has a picture printed on it and there are little numbers to tell you what color you should paint that section. Network marketing is a lot like the paint by numbers canvas. If you stay with in the lines and use the correct colors you have a nice beach scene in the end. Too many people try to “improve” it by going outside the lines and using the wrong color and end up with a disaster.
Recruiting Is As Easy As A, B, C, D, E
Posted by: Bob Firestone under Business Development
So you made your list, set the appointment and you are about to verbally vomit everything you know about the company all over your prospect and make sure they never pick up another phone call from you again. Why? Because you have no system of how to have an effective conversation. If you have done this before don’t feel too bad I think we all have and networkers all over the world continue to do it daily.
How About A Super Simple Strategy?
To execute this strategy you need a to bring a couple of things with you to the meeting. You need a notepad, a pen, if you have a sample-able product some samples, some information about the company and comp plan. You don’t need to know every detail about the company and products. That is knowledge you will acquire over time. As long as you know the big points and follow this system you will be fine.
It is as easy as A, B, C, D, E
A) Where are they AT? This is where you learn about what is going on in their life. The good, the bad, and the ugly. With out first knowing what the pressing issues are you will never have be in a position to offer a solution. (Note: Ask permission to take some notes during this conversation so you don’t forget what they tell you)
B) Where do they want to BE? What are their goals, dreams and aspirations. How would their life be different is X, Y & Z were no longer issues?
C) What CHANGES need to happen to go from where they are AT to BE? More money? Time? Etc.
D) DECISION time. Will they make the changes necessary? (Do not move to E with out a Yes answer)
E) EVERYTHING ELSE. This is where you start talking about the product, company and business opportunity.
Why This Works
This system is effective because your focus is on getting the necessary information. To make the sale the prospect needs to sell themselves. This is a soft sell not hard selling that turns off and closes your prospects mind.
Living And Lifestyle
Posted by: Bob Firestone under Business Development
Network marketing is a very simple business model. When you strip away all the minutia, smoke and mirrors there are two income streams in a network marketing business. Personal sales and team overrides.
With your personal sales you can make a living. Make a sale, earn a commission. Get the customer on auto ship and you will get a check every month when the product is shipped out to them. Making direct sales if you need money now this is a way to get it.
To take your MLM business from making your car payment to making your dreams you need to get some leverage. Building a large team is how the big guys make the 6-figure incomes. When you bring someone into the company you earn an override on everything they sell. I bet you could imagine that if you have 1,000 people moving $100/mo. you would make a substantial amount of money every month.
In a perfect world on the day you start in business everyone is sitting by the phone waiting for you to call so they can join your opportunity. That just isn’t the real world. For most people the time is not right. To find the people who the timing it right talk to your prospects. If they are not interested in the business focus on how the product will make their life better and make a sale. If they are interested in the business focus on how they can use the business as a way to get what they want. Let the prospect tell you what they want so you can walk away with the deal.
How Do You Defeat A Larger Army?
Posted by: Bob Firestone under Leadership
Divide and Conquer!
When you split a large force into smaller pieces the individual pieces become less effective. The same rule holds true with your time.
Time is a limited resource. This is especially true if you are working a full time job while building your business part time. When you take out work, sleep and commuting time you are left with just 2 or 3 hours a day to build your business.
Where so many go wrong is dividing that small window of time between two or three business opportunities. This is taking a limited resource (time) and making it even more limited by dividing it into even smaller and smaller chunks.
Multiple Businesses Create Other Problems
Divided attention. Mastery is the result of repetition. The best way to learn a business presentation is to do it over and over until it becomes second nature and then do it again.
Tiger woods didn’t become the best in the world at the game of golf by taking half of his practice time and go bowling.
Marketing two or more business opportunities leads to distrust and credibility questions with prospects. It is very difficult to tell a prospect with passion and conviction that this is the best opportunity when you are going to tell someone else something different later. What is even worse is when the prospect from business presentation A find out you told prospect B about opportunity C. Kiss your credibility good bye. Both prospects A & B have lots trust and respect, plus both deals are out the window.
If you are currently in multiple business opportunities the best thing you can do for your future success is to pick one and go with it.
What You Actually Get Paid To Do
Posted by: Bob Firestone under General Rants, Leadership
There seems to be some miscommunication and faulty information getting passed around about how you get earn money in Network Marketing.
I have read dozens of “Special Reports” and “Insider Secret Guides” about building a profitable MLM business it is very clear to me why people are so confused. After a lot of talk about twitter and facebook and other ways to spend your time they all forget to say none of that is going to directly get you paid!
There are only two activities that you can do that ends with you putting money in your pocket…
- Selling product
- Recruiting someone who sells product
At the end of the day the business we have chosen is very simple, Move Product – Get Paid.
