MLM Soldiers and Sharks

Just looking at that title, which would you prefer to be known as? My guess is that the majority of those who read this will identify with the soldier mostly because of the bad conation associated with sharks.

Soldiers have their marching orders and rarely go against their Generals. Sharks are efficient and exert as little as possible to achieve maximum outcome.

I closely associated with the soldiers the first 18 months of my home business and in the process I learned some valuable lessons which have led me to do things that most in the MLM industry would not dream of doing.

MLM has such potential to be a viable option for so many to stay at home with their family and just be in control of their own financial future. Whether we choose to continue to be a soldier or make the transition to become a shark can have serious implications on the success or failure of our MLM career.

Over the course of 18 months I was a good soldier. Like any soldier I wanted to be recognized as a good soldier and this recognition would come with my success.

Over time I came to realize that my hard work was not benefiting my business but I was building up those who came before me. I was encouraged to purchase leads and buy product or sign up for this magazine and oh you should take my training. The whole time I was never asked if my business had achieved profit.

After hosting two regional events and going in the red for both I came to the realization that I needed to run my business efficiently and get it into profit. I needed to become as efficient as a shark if I was going to survive.

I mustered up the General within myself and laid out my battle plan. I needed to continue to be a good soldier long enough to rebuild my business so I could live the life of a shark.

This meant breaking all the MLM rules. I tossed out my lists, stopped preaching about working your warm market and I set a clear intention to reinvent the wheel. I stepped out of my box and refused to let anyone kick it out from under me.

I came to realization that I could either continue to dream about my life, or I could start living my dreams. My choice was clear.

What I put into place is not duplicatable. I have yet to see a business that you can change the name on the stationary and achieve the same level of success as those who came before you. What I put into place is up to date with the world we live in and it is totally customizable to suit the dreams of each of my team members.

Rome was not built overnight and neither will my business. I am now swimming with the sharks and proud to be there. The payoff of these efforts are I now have a business that is consistently in profit each month and a group of dedicated team members who are beginning to grow their own business’s.

I have also have a firm grasp of my own industry and product line and no longer need to rely on the buzz words or catch phrases (or the 3 way calls) that are common throughout our industry. Instead have learned to use those buzz words to my own advantage and still market my products and opportunity honestly.

Be a soldier long enough to build the foundation for your business. Then make the shift to be more like a shark. It does not mean you have to devour everything in your path, only that you have done your soldier time and now you can work efficiently to accomplish great things.

Stop dreaming about your life and start living your dreams.

Are you an MLM Junkie?

How many MLM companies are you with? 1? 3? 5? More than 5? If you are currently working more than 3 MLM's it may be time for you to take a step back and do an honest evaluation of what you have and what it's doing for you.

Are you using different MLM's as a "Backup" system in case you can't sell a prospect on your primary MLM?

In the course of my own business I've run into many team members who are promoting several home base business or internet business opportunities. At face value it seems like a good idea but the reality is that it can make all of the opportunities look like a backup system in case one doesn't work.

Multiple home business opportunities also put you at risk for spreading yourself too thin and making it impossible for you to focus on any one business. Lack of focus is a surefire way to set yourself up for failure.

Here's what I tell my distributors to do if they have multiple business opportunities that they are promoting.

Take a piece of paper and draw three columns. The first column will be for the business, the second column is for how much that business costs you and the final column is for how much money you are earning from that business.

Get it all down on paper and then start to evaluate each of them. Mark each business that is into profit with a star. For each business that is breaking even use a check mark and for each business that is costing you money (in the red) put an X.

It's important to do this honestly and not fudge on the business's that you think could be profitable.

Clearly if you have a business in profit, you will want to keep that. And if the business is costing you money each month you will want to get rid of those. The ones you will struggle with are the ones in the middle that are breaking even.

You will have to evaluate these based on their product line and the amount of profit you believe you can make from marketing the products as well as building a downline. You also need to consider the structure of the MLM and what you will be required to do to get your residual check each month. Cut out the ones that you have to jump through multiple hoops to collect your residual. Leave the ones that you have a ton of product sitting on the shelf.

Trust me, if you have product sitting on the shelf it's costing you money!

What you should be left with is only the cream of the business's and you should be able to work those without losing steam.

I tell my distributors that find themselves in this situation that every business isn't for everyone. It may mean that they cut out the business that I brought them into, but I'm totally OK with that because the bottom line is that if they can't sell a candle they are in the wrong business.

Truth in Advertising?

Your ability to portray your products and services in an honest and accurate way quite possibly could be the key to your success or failure.

It is my experience that the majority of distributors within my company rely heavily on their sponsor's and upline's (as they should) for information and guidance when it comes to building their websites and how they promote, however this could be a key mistake for those who are not inclined to do their own research.

Sadly much of this information is not accurate and bends the truth of what we have and what it is made of. Maybe it's my years in human resources that makes me stand out like a sore thumb in this industry but it is what it is and I can't bring myself to call it anything else.

Whenever you have key people in any company who are miss leading in their own representation of their products it creates a downward spiral in the accuracy of the information provided to the distributor base as well as the general population. This is especially true when working on the Internet.

If you truly believe in your product you don't have to depend on buzz words to promote it. I know of no business that has been able to sustain itself based on "wildfire" growth. A wildfire burns quickly and feeds on itself until it eventually snuffs itself out.

This is not what I want to rely on in my retirement. If you can not be honest about your products then maybe you should find a different product that you can promote honestly.