Network Marketing Is A Team Sport!
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Every Leader On Every Team Has Specific Responsibilities
I like using football analogies, because I like football. I grew up on football. My father instilled countless life lessons that can be derived from the game. The struggles of life, the disciplines that help us along the way, and example after example of how working together was like producing great art, football gave life to every word picture and scenario.
It begins with leadership, and the transfer of leadership to specific elements and functions on the team. The great quote, that the coach can do everything but play the game for you, helps us to quickly identify the level of responsibility that is ours and ours alone.
The quarterback is an important leader, but only for offense. When you're trying to stop the opposition, or regain possession of the ball, the quarterback isn't even on the field. It's almost as if there are two teams to consider; offense and defense. Even the head coach has to transfer leadership responsibility to the respective coaches of the two smaller teams within the larger team. Then we throw in 'Special Teams' and realize that many smaller teams, working together, support the entire team.
Professional teams can afford many coaches and assistant coaches. They have the preparatory responsibilities and offer ongoing support, from the sideline. On the field the leaders are actually involved in playing the game. However, coaches that have never actually played the game aren't easy to find. There is an inherent understanding of what your players are dealing with if you've dealt with similar situations yourself. All of the education in the world cannot replace actual and practical experience.
Belonging to a team of leaders means at any moment, anyone on the team can step up to take over a set of leadership responsibilities. Training and discipline make this eventuality take place without disruption to the teams momentum. This means that every player, is currently, or in the process of developing leadership skills. Knowing that you might be asked to take over at any moment, exponentially increases your level of commitment and discipline; especially if you want to win!
Professional Leadership
How Valuable Are Leaders?
In network marketing we appreciate a community that for the most part thrives on individual success. That success is typically the direct result of people helping other people to succeed.
Although made up of entrepreneurs, network marketing is a team sport and the desire of those that play the game is winning.
- NetworkFisher is and will always be about helping people to succeed in business.
- David Beairsto, author and owner of NetworkFisher truly believes that if you give a man a fish you feed him for a day, but if you teach a man to fish you feed him for a lifetime.
- Network Marketing Online
- Knowing the new internet business model ensures entrepreneurs will stay on top of the changes facing traditional business models.
Leaders Need To Learn And Grow
Where Do Leaders Go For Advice?
- Network Marketing Consultant
Become A Network Marketing Consultant
Your Team Needs You
Advice, based on opinions, is like a general set of directions telling us how to arrive at a specific place. Advice, based on fact, is like a scientific formula. When we apply this formula we can always expect the same results.Most entrepreneurs are characters possessing incredibly creative perspectives. Their success isn't derived from random circumstances. By design and fastidious application, they approach every goal, expecting the intended results.
Although every goal isn't achieved on the first attempt, true entrepreneurs don't turn away. They learn from mistakes, and modify formulas, but they never give up. Even if an entire campaign hits the scrap heap, they remain focused on the goal.
Having a network marketing consultant is perhaps the best way to examine a formula, or redefine a goal. In fact, the only thing better than a good consultant, is a team of them.
We watch scientists work in teams and networks. With the advantage of communications products and services, networks of teams have gone global. The collective mind continues to expand the human knowledge base at an alarming rate. The entrepreneurs who are plugged into a network marketing consultant group have an unfair advantage.
Whenever a sporting team is formed, positions are assigned based on specific skill sets and abilities. The 300lb. lineman won't be effective chasing down a wide receiver, so we assign him where he'll be more productive. Each member on the team does what they're best at, and the team has a better chance of winning.
As a technician from infancy (possibly not that young) there are skills that I adapt to almost effortlessly. In fact I have the least amount of patience dealing with technical issues than any other aspect of my business. That immediately qualifies my as a technical consultant.
Expanding on my knowledge base has also increased the areas where I'm considered a competent consultant. Stressing competency is vital to the efforts of the team. Overstepping my expertise would mean that I'm trying to do what another consultant should be doing. Transparency always increases a team's chances of winning.
Marketing is a team sport and when the team is composed of network marketing consultants, they're positioned as champions. A team is always concerned about the health and vitality of each member. Indeed, their strength is in their members, and the team that respects each individual always outperforms the crowd.
You won't join a team like this and spend but a short time before becoming a network marketing consultant. Any network worth their salt would make that a requirement. Any team that doesn't operate on this principle needs to rewrite their game plan.
Better Leaders Build Better Teams
The Advantage Of Being A Free Agent
- Effective Marketing
Effective Marketing Turns Small Business Into Big Business
In every part of the world we can witness seemingly great small business ventures that seem to have all the ingredients for success, yet manage to go under. The owners seemed competent and knowledgeable. The product or service they offered was of adequate quality and proper market value. Somehow the cost of doing business, managed to overcome profits, forcing them to shut down.
Marketing Is The Cornerstone
Any business course of study will include a section on marketing as one of the pillars of sound business practice. Knowing that every business curriculum and every teacher is unique, at least presents the possibility of a substandard knowledge base for some. Others probably enter into the business world without any formal education, or special training. Of course, there is the possibility that marketing doesn't receive the level of importance that it should, for any small business to succeed.
When we look at a marketing system, three very important questions emerge.
1. Can the track record of the creators of the system be measured and verified?
2. Is the marketing method still producing results?
3. Does the system have a support program in place for changes in marketing?
Who Made This System?
In this day and age if you're offering a marketing system, transparency must lead the charge. Open, honest communication about who you are, and the success your system has produced is standard. Without an offering of immediately recognizable facts, most people won't continue their investigation.
Secondly, real people need to see and recognize other real people that they can relate to, using your system and crowing about how valuable it is. Since the small business and home business crowd continues to grow from all walks of life, most need some way to identify with the people already succeeding with your marketing system.
We all have a comfort level when making investments. If we've managed to put the correct emphasis on the importance of marketing, then the choice of our system needs to meet or exceed that benchmark. Otherwise we won't feel comfortable, and will likely continue searching until we find a system that satisfies that demand.
What Happens When Things Don't Go Right?
Whenever we attempt to implement something we've never done before, we face the learning curve. If we've studied marketing, the process might be easier, just as any of the other skills involved in the system might make application quicker. However, any student will tell you there is nothing to compare with direct teaching and training.
A good support program might attract a few people who were otherwise undecided about purchasing your marketing system. If you place a tremendous emphasis on an outstanding support program, small business owners who want an effective marketing campaign will find it hard to refuse. Small business owners don't have resources to spare. By knowing they don't have to make the marketing system work all on their own, the small business owner regains the confidence necessary to grow big.
We Call Them Leads Because They Will Be Leaders
Discovering The Leadership In Everyone
- The Leader List
Appearing On A Network Marketing Lead List
More Than A Name
For most of us it isn't a surprise that we appear on someone's network marketing lead list. If we forget that we opted in somewhere, the auto-responders will definitely remind us. What can be surprising, is how differently we're treated between the leader of one list as opposed to the leader of another; or even better, how differently we treat those on our list.
Appearing For The First Time Live%u2026 On The Phone
Establishing a relationship for the first time with someone we can't see, who's facial expressions we can't read, who's eyes cannot make contact with ours, can be a challenge. The exercise in listening skills begins in this first meeting, but if you happen to be the listed, you also get to be the talker. When it's my turn to talk, I like to see if I can hear how well the other person is listening.
If I placed myself into their path, it isn't because nothing was on my mind. We can keep our distance on the social sites with idle chit chat, but as network marketers we know that this constitutes an entirely new level of commitment. I can get myself off someones list quicker than I got on, simply by wasting their time.
What I Would Expect
With the help of a few very direct questions, the relationship either starts or stops. Assuming that the relationship starts, it has already taken a specific direction. I might be looking for information, training, or possibly I'm canvasing new business opportunities. Every question has value, every answer is important. At some point in my networking experience, this conversation in part, or in whole, might prove the difference between landing a prospect, or ending a relationship. So I keep in mind that networks are extensions, and we're simply hubs.
The primary goal is always to grow, so I expect the same dedication from both sides of the equation. When I first began to realize the role I play to my up-line isn't always as a trainee, the taste of leadership grew strong. Even though they've achieved success, they seek to enhance my leadership qualities.
Stuck In Middle Management
The battle out of mediocrity in the corporate world depends upon relationships to leaders high above our current rank. Begin to exhibit true signs of leadership and skills as a vice president or president of the firm, and the true nature of those relationships will emerge. Do the same thing in network marketing, and you'll be invited to speak at a conference somewhere.
I want to appear as an upwardly mobile entrepreneur to anyone who has my name on their list, and to encourage the same attitude in anyone that appears on my list. That's a formula for success.
Internet Business Model
Not The Old School Business Model
When we're looking at a business model that is primarily or completely designed for the internet, it is no longer necessary to focus on one demographic. Senior entrepreneurs keep popping up all over, making vast amounts of money with the internet business model. Not to put seniors down because they tend to be very wise, but most people have the impression that the internet intimidates them somehow.
I'm convinced that if it wasn't for the problems people have with computers, absolutely no one would have issues with the internet. By taking the edge off the learning curve related to software and hardware, ordinary people with no background whatsoever in business of any kind, are finding success with business online.
So what are some of the things we look for in a business designed for the internet?
1. Step by step setup, and operation
2. Immediate in depth support
3. Income potential
Starting from the last point first, if the business isn't profitable for someone else, it probably won't be profitable for you. Knowing the income potential for short and long range activity often decides whether further investigation is necessary. Certain businesses simply won't appeal to everyone regardless of what income they produce, but every business should be profitable, and we should understand up front how long it will take to start earning money.
The FTC is actually getting involved because of the countless scams and frauds taking place online promising income x by day y. Although the internet business model is much more powerful than the old school model, no one can guarantee success to anyone else in business. As entrepreneurs we're solely responsible for our own success, regardless of what anyone else has done with the same internet business model.
I Don't Know Anything About Anything
Continuing backward in our list, and setting our sites on a particular company to invest in, we should be confident of their capacity to support our efforts, right out of the gate. If we have any doubts up front, we should always look again, or investigate further. However, a company that presents itself openly and honestly is immediately evident. We should see the stated purpose of their intent and know right away if they are a match for what we want. If they are based on system of support they'll be announcing it right away.
Offering support on a continuing basis always involves cost, so we measure the cost against the service we're being promised. Here we also discover the testimonies of people who've capitalized on their support system and the opinions they share.
These testimonies may also cross over into our first point, which answers the question about how difficult it was to get started. Getting started for most of us is of greater concern than ongoing operation, because we expect the process of setting up our online business will teach us about the operation.
We Either Have A Lot Of Time And Little Money Or Little Time And Plenty Of Money
Another offer, and sometimes costing more money, is what we call a turnkey opportunity. This simply means that rather than taking all of the setup steps on our own, we pay to have someone else do it. The advantage in getting past the scary part of setup, is also the disadvantage of knowing how it all happened.
There are many companies out there to support entrepreneurs with internet business operation as well. From web design, to copy writing and marketing, if you have the capital to invest, opening a business online could turn out to be the least time consuming, income producing venture imaginable.
Perhaps the greatest attraction of the internet business model, is the lack of headache from everything traditional business involves. Employees, inventory, shipping, even accounting, can all be eliminated or automated. It is indeed the fastest growing and most exciting business model ever. Furthermore, anyone can get in the game.
My Direct Marketing Network
Choose Wisely
Having spent all of my adult life associated with my favorite MLM company, selecting a direct marketing network was far more important than the direct marketing services or products themselves. I valued the relationships with the people I worked with far more than the income itself. We connected because our passion to share products that were safe for people, as well as the environment, reflected the true nature of our collective character.My search began not with a direct marketing company, but with a direct marketing consultant. Comparing one consultant's direct marketing strategy with another is easier with the internet. The key for me personally was isolating those who were pitching a product, as opposed to those who expressed genuine concern for people who wanted to do direct marketing from home. After all, I'd grown up with the crowd who cared.
I was convinced that the character of the direct marketing network, would reflect the values of the individual members. Much like the interview process for someone looking to join my network, I needed to discover the answers to some important questions before joining.
%u2022 Do the leaders invest themselves into the success of others?
%u2022 How patient are they with people who've never owned a business before?
%u2022 Are they easily offended by criticism?
From the perspective of someone who struggled their entire lives to take care of a family, the ordinary person turned millionaire, can be intimidating. Regardless of how genuine they may seem, to a mind collecting this data for the first time, they represent a lottery winner. Although they give the credit to their direct marketing solution, making the connection between something we've never heard of, and millions of dollars, is tough to digest. All the assurance in the world that we can do it doesn't help.
Not until we're told that someone with talents and abilities we don't posses, is willing to invest their time and wisdom to help us, do we begin to relate. We're aware of our shortcomings and they've likely kept us from investing in a direct marketing business.
When someone else can clearly identify these weaknesses, and offer practical steps to either overcome them, or work with them, they epitomize true selflessness. A selfish person has no time, or worse still, doesn't consider it worth their time to exercise such a notion.
The selfless person belongs in the network marketing arena, and always succeeds. Unfortunately the selfish person has been known to succeed in the corporate world where they can capitalize on the less capable business owner.
As equally telling are the defense mechanisms employed by these two opposites. The selfish person cannot endure even the slightest attack upon their name or behavior. Arrogance knows no better companion. I've worked with and under such people but would never consider involving myself in business with them.
In contrast the selfless individual demonstrates true commitment to a set of ideals which includes helping others to succeed. Provided they've done nothing wrong, most criticism will go unanswered. They're always willing to apologize if they are at fault, and typically outgoing in their efforts to make amends. Like sturdy ships through choppy waters, self assured and confident, they lead by example, and inspire everyone they know.
Finding people committed to integrity, is more valuable than finding the perfect direct marketing business opportunity on the planet. Discernment clearly separates them from the crowd that screams at you to jump on the next best thing. They even make the prospect of becoming a millionaire more appealing.
I'm very fortunate in my current direct marketing network. My investigation couldn't have prepared me for the caliber people I've been privileged to deal with. I never expected to enter into this association knowing everything about this network. However, everything I've experienced so far, has confirmed my expectations were within reason, especially when the people in my network continually exceed my expectations.
My Direct Marketing Network
by NetworkFisher
I'm a network marketing professional who loves helping people become their own bosses. The opportunity to start a successful business has never been b... more »
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