In every business there are four key ingredients that are required and these four pieces are critical to enable a business to succeed. They are a product or service, someone to collect the money, sales/marketing and systems. The biggest advantages of network marketing/MLM over many other business models is that allows you to operate in all four without the overhead and headaches that surfaces in a conventional business. You don't own any products, any locations, you don't have to worry about making any payroll and you are not keeping track of any books. All you are doing is giving people stuff, bringing them in the business or setting them up as preferred customers and getting paid. Also important is the time and freedom which our industry allows over a conventional business.
These are the four main ingredients required for success and why business owners get so excited about MLM.
1. Product or Service.
None of us can deliver the product or service as that would be a tremendous expense but the company does that. One key question is to ask yourself before you partner with a company is, "Would I purchase this product or service even if there was no opportunity attached to it?" If you answer yes then you know you have a product that will have longevity because the distributors will not be the only ones using it.
2. A Method to Collect the Money.
You might have to collect it from you customer or distributor once and the company does the rest. One of the most exciting reasons why so many people are entering the industry especially during the recession is because of the two magic words "Residual Income" In a conventional business, efficient methods of collecting money is key. Cash flow is key, and cash becomes a problem for a business with accounts receivable sitting unpaid well beyond the due dates however here all that is handled for you by the MLM company.
3. Sales and Marketing.
All you have to do is staff your business with people just like any other company out there. When I got started, I realized that because I knew a handful of folks in my town I might have difficulty finding people. One solution was to get the ones I knew to help me by getting them a DVD and then asking them who they knew that might be interested in earning more income as my company was expanding in the area. The other benefit of doing that was even though they were not on my team as yet they were working for me by helping me hand out DVD s.
My goal was to get everybody including those not on my team as yet to be working for me by helping me get the DVDS out to people they knew. Remember, Massive exposure = Massive Awareness = Massive Results = Massive Paycheck. That's one reason why it's very important to use the tools and let the tools do the presentations. Categorize your list and target a lot of people and give them your tools. By doing this you will be on your way staffing your company.
4. Systems.
Systems allows you to build an international business. For example when you send a DVD out to another part of the country, somewhere near that prospect, if he comes into the business is a trainer who has events and trainings. Someone else is getting the meeting rooms and having the events and you do not have to worry about that. I can get that person out to a local briefing, training and support in their area and the company pays me.
With systems you don't have to worry about recruiting every single person yourself. All you need is find someone who is interested in each town or company or church on your list and teach them to work the system and it will duplicate.
There's an old saying in our industry, "Never go with what works, always go with what duplicates" so as I stressed earlier, make sure you are using your company's approved tools and get your new people on this right away.
Get your new people as soon as they make their lists to start right away on calling and giving their list the DVD s, conference call numbers and inviting them to briefings. Work with three and six brand new people on your front line at the same time. If you don't have them go out and recruit till you find your three to six and help them move up. Constantly touch base with your three to six each day. Remember, If you are spending too much time with the people at higher levels your meetings are not as exciting as it could be because it's the new blood of your business that will constantly create the excitement for your entire organization.
