It seems like every book I’ve read says you should begin your network marketing career in this fashion:

1)    Find a great company with a wonderful product

2)    Find an awesome sponsor within that company who can mentor you to success

3)    Go to work with your sponsor

4)    Learn the ropes

5)    Make money while you . . . → Read More: Network Marketing – The Chicken or the Egg?]]>

The Books Say The Egg

It seems like every book I’ve read says you should begin your network marketing career in this fashion:

1)    Find a great company with a wonderful product

2)    Find an awesome sponsor within that company who can mentor you to success

3)    Go to work with your sponsor

4)    Learn the ropes

5)    Make money while you learn

6)    Find others to duplicate these steps

That would be the egg.

But The Chicken

Might look like this:

1)    A friend or relative tells you about the company he’s working with

2)    You sign up because you like the product or the company or your friend

3)    You don’t know what to do and neither does the person who signed you up

4)    You tell a few people about it and nobody else is interested

5)    You quit

Or maybe like this, which it did for me:

1)    My brother tells me about the company he’s working with

2)    I sign up

3)    With the help of my brother’s sponsor, I sign up someone

4)    That person makes several sales

5)    I get excited and try to repeat steps 3 & 4

6)    Number 3 runs out of warm market to talk to and loses interest

7)    I move on to another job and while not losing interest, don’t network market for several years

8)    I read books, I start and run my own traditional business

9)    I sign up for another network marketing company and fail

10)     I keep running my business

11)     I read more books

12)     Etc.

The Reality

I’m guessing that most people reading blogs about network marketing or home businesses or work from home jobs have experienced some version of the chicken scenario; jumping in and trying to figure it out.

The ones who persist through the failures and keep learning eventually discover that there is a reason most books give you the first version, i.e. the egg: you increase your chances of success by doing things in that sequence.

It doesn’t mean the chicken is wrong, or the pig or the cow or the bull moose; if you keep your eye on the goal, you’re going to get there. (For more on the goal, see my earlier post “Why, Oh Why.”)

I want to help you speed up the process.

What Do I Do If I’m already A Chicken?

Keep going! The only thing that can stop you is if you quit. If you know where you want to go, you can get there. As Jim Rohn once said, “working hard on your job makes you a living, working hard on yourself makes you a fortune.”

The difference between the first chicken who gave up and the second chicken (me) is that I didn’t give up. I kept working on myself, reading books, finding mentors, etc.

If you’re already in a company and you’re happy with the products but not so much with your sponsor, find a mentor, read a book, learn how to talk to people. Develop the skills and attitudes you need to attract people into your life, whether mentors, teachers, or business partners.

What If My Company or Product Isn’t So Great?

Hey, it happens. The initial hype can generate enthusiasm for a company or a product that isn’t that good. Don’t throw out the baby with the bath water! Find a better company/product and go to work.

Not only will your attitude be better, your honesty with yourself and your prospects will improve and so will your results.

For more info on how to pick a company or a product, see my post called Five Things To Evaluate, or go to www.AlansMLMTips.com for free emails on how to pick them like a pro.

Another Quote

“Would you like me to give you a formula for… success? It’s quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure. You’re thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn’t at all… you can be discouraged by failure / or you can learn from it. So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because, remember that’s where you’ll find success. On the far side.” – Thomas J. Watson, founder of IBM

Whether you’re a network marketing veteran or you just signed up with your first opportunity, you’ve probably been told that the big money comes from duplication or that everything we do has to be duplicatable.

Duplication gives you leverage which multiplies your time, effort and money (instead of your blood, sweat and tears). For . . . → Read More: Duplication]]>

Who Wants To Duplicate

Whether you’re a network marketing veteran or you just signed up with your first opportunity, you’ve probably been told that the big money comes from duplication or that everything we do has to be duplicatable.

Duplication gives you leverage which multiplies your time, effort and money (instead of your blood, sweat and tears). For more on leverage, see my earlier post “What Else Do I Need To Know.”

Too many people, I think, believe this means to do everything exactly as your sponsor, mentor or trainer does everything. Even though I can already feel the slings and arrows headed my way, I disagree.

But I Don’t Want To Be Like ______

I spent several years trying to figure out why it seemed like I was doing everything that my sponsor asked me to, but it just didn’t seem to be happening for me. Of course, there were all those things that they told me to do that I just wouldn’t do; like harassing, haranguing and hassling my friends and family to come to a meeting or let me give them a presentation.

I would have rather failed than do that. I didn’t do that with my earlier electronics business, why would I do that with my network marketing business. With my electronics business, I told all my friends and family that I was in business and what I was doing and they came to me when they needed something I had. Why wouldn’t I do the same thing with my network marketing business?

You can probably see why I didn’t want to be like _______ because ­­­­_______. Fill in the blank with whoever you didn’t want to be like; with whatever reason you didn’t want to be like them. Mine was chasing friends and family, what’s your “I don’t want to do that?”

The first key to understanding this for me was watching all the successful people up on stage giving their stories; some of them did chase their friends, some started there and moved on, some never did chase anyone. Hmmm, what’s that all about?

So, if duplication is not “duplicating everything your sponsor or mentor is doing,” what is it? Let’s kick off from there.

Definition

Duplication, according to the dictionary means the process of making an exact copy of something, or identically copied from an original.  It comes from the Latin duplicare “to double.”

So, if it’s not your mentor or sponsor you’re supposed to duplicate, what are we supposed to duplicate?

What Do Most People Mean When They Say Duplication

I get the feeling sometimes that too many people in this business actually think we should duplicate our mentor or sponsor. I’ve met people who started talking and acting like their mentor to the point that I started wondering where did Bill go, this guy looks like Bill, but he sounds like Mr. Mentor.

Just because Mr. Mentor has a spiel that works for him, doesn’t necessarily mean it will work for everyone else. It might, but if it’s out of character for you to the point where people wonder when and how you got possessed, it probably isn’t going to work for you. People like to feel like they’re talking to someone that cares about them; that they can know, like and trust. If you’re not being you, they’re not going to know, like and trust you.

What IS The Big Deal About Duplication

The big deal about duplication is that more so than any other business model, network marketing depends on duplication. What is network marketing? It’s the movement of goods or services to people via person-to-person or word-of-mouth marketing. It requires customers and it requires customer finders.

When I say that network marketing depends on duplication, I don’t mean can they duplicate you or duplicate exactly what you did or duplicate what the latest trainer on stage said or what the company literature says to do.

You want to find people who can find a few customers and a few more customer finders. That is what you want to duplicate, and that is the big deal about duplication. HOW you do that is not as important as whether you do that.

Michael Clouse says duplication is the ability to get someone to do something, whether you’re there or not.

So, to wrap up, can you train your recruits in a way that’s realistic with their current skills to talk to people about their business in a way that they will do whether you are there or not? In a way that people will get interested in the product or the opportunity?

Duplication and The Company You Work With

Aligning with my continuing theme of how to select a company to work with, you might ask “What does the company I’m working with have to do with the duplication that occurs under me?” Remember, to be successful, you have to have your team duplicating success. Or, in the words of Zig Ziglar, “If you help enough people get what they want, you will get what you want.”

If the company violates or doesn’t meet any one or more of the 12 critical success factors™, the likelihood that the company will be there to allow you to have duplication goes down with each missing factor. If your company survives and thrives, this allows the duplication to continue and grow. And we’re back to leverage and that long-term, stable, residual income.

Another point that enters in here is the training that your company makes available. Does it really teach you all about the product? Does you it make you aware of all the ways that others are using to make their business grow? Or does the training raise more questions than it answers?

To find out more on what questions to ask, go to www.AlansMLMTips.com and sign up for the “7 Days, 7 Insider Secrets” email newsletter. (It’s still free… )

Quote

People prefer to do business with those they know, like and trust. You can’t get that through mindless duplication! You’ve got to leave room for the personal in your system. You’ve got to establish yourself as someone who’s likable and trustworthy. And you’ve got to teach your downline to do likewise.  – Joan Linwood

People join network marketing companies for many reasons. I’m sure you can think of several; a like-minded social group to hang out with, a little extra spending money, something to do, a source of personal growth, getting a great product at a discounted price, being able to help . . . → Read More: Residual Income]]>

What Is It & Why Do I Want it?

People join network marketing companies for many reasons. I’m sure you can think of several; a like-minded social group to hang out with, a little extra spending money, something to do, a source of personal growth, getting a great product at a discounted price, being able to help someone with a product or service they provide through their company, because they benefited from the product or service and thought others should know about it.

Residual income is, or certainly should be, one of those reasons. So, let’s define what residual income is. Here are some definitions that give a very good idea of residual income and how it might apply to network marketing.

Refers to the income or monies that arise from earlier efforts which still continue to generate a revenue flow over time without requiring the need for any additional effort (e.g., a stream or flow of future royalty payments from a song).   http://www.tuition.com.hk/dictionary/r.htm#Residual_income

Royalty income that accrues to the owner of an intellectual property, such as art, books, lyrics, music, patents, etc.  http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/residual-income.html

RESIDUAL INCOME is income from efforts which continue to generate revenue over time without requiring any additional effort (e.g., a stream of future royalty payments from a book).  http://www.ventureline.com/accounting-glossary/R/residual-income-definition/

The word comes from the Latin word “residere,” meaning “to remain behind, rest,” from re- “back, again” + sedere “to sit.”

In other words, you get to sit back and keep collecting income once you’ve done the work to generate the income. Personally, I kind of like this idea.

My brother likes it, he’s a musician and he gets residuals on things he’s done over the years long after he actually did them.

Insurance agents like them, they collect residual commissions as long as you keep paying your premiums.

J. K. Rowling (of Harry Potter fame) most definitely likes them.

Okay, So How Does This Apply To Network Marketing?

Let’s say that you sell someone a bottle of vitamins. Let’s say they pay $40 for it, and that out of this $40, you make a commission (income) of $2. The vitamins work well for them, they notice a difference in their energy level or they sleep better or they don’t get colds anymore. They keep buying these vitamins every month and you collect your $2 every month.

You keep telling people about these vitamins and they try them and like them and you have more people buying vitamins and you get your $2 from each of them (as a commission from the company you’re working with). Maybe you have 20 or 30 people buying vitamins from your company and you now are getting $40 or $60 each month which means your vitamins are now covered by your income. Hey, free vitamins, not bad, but you’re just getting warmed up.

You keep working at it and a couple of people who love the vitamins want to start selling them too. They each tell some people and start selling a few vitamins and a few of their customers want to start selling. And they do and they get their customers and a few want to sell these great vitamins. And so it goes…

Let’s keep it simple and say you get paid on four levels down; you sign up Bob who signs up Joe, who signs up Rose, who signs up Jack. You get paid on any vitamins that Bob, Charlie, Diane and Erin sell. And to keep it really simple, let’s say you get $1 on each month’s worth of vitamins sold in your organization. Each person signs up two people to sell vitamins and each seller sells 10 people vitamins every month.

You

Bob     Becky

Charlie  Crystal  Chad  Cara

Diane  Dave  Dominique  Dylan  Deirdre  Donny  Deanna  Dyan

Erin  Eric  Evvy  Erica  Erina  Eddy  Ev  Edsel  Erry  Elly  Eva  Edina  Ed  Edrick  Ev  Es

That’s 2 plus 4 plus 8 plus 16 = 30 people in your organization. Thirty people each selling vitamins to 10 people makes 300 people buying vitamins every month and you make a dollar for your part in helping the company acquire these customers. That makes $300 every month plus the $40 or $60 on the customers you personally acquired. Still not the gravy train, but are you selling those 300 customers every month? Are you answering their questions about the vitamins?

This is a very simplistic example, but I wanted to give you the flavor of residual income. Now, since you’re not selling all of these customers every month, does that give you just a tiny bit of incentive to go out and find more customers and more customer finders?

What if everyone on the above list decided to play a sales game and everyone found 2 more customer gatherers? Now you have 60 people selling vitamins and they all find 10 customers, that’s 600 customers or $600 every month. What did you do for that extra $300? You found 2 more customer finders.

What if the company that you worked with was paying $10 on the product you were selling? And $5 on the first 4 levels? Hmmm, $5 x 600 customers =$3000. Not wealthy yet, but I think you’ll breathe a lot easier at the end of the month with that extra 3 grand in your pocket.

What if they paid five levels deep? You really should start getting excited about residual income somewhere along about here when you start playing with the numbers.

If It’s That Easy, Why Isn’t Everyone Doing It?

I don’t recall saying it was easy, but it certainly is rewarding. Did you ever get anything without working for it? Learning is the key to succeeding in this business. Work hard, learn lots, discard what doesn’t work for you, find mentors. There are hundreds of ways to make it difficult or impossible. Mentors will help you avoid those.

Want to increase your odds? Check out your company first before you put your blood, sweat and tears into it. Go to www.AlansMLMTips.com and sign up for the “7 Days, 7 Insider Secrets” email newsletter.

Quote

“Everybody’s a self-made man; but only the successful ones are ever willing to admit it.”