MLM Expectations and Truths

If you want to get involved with mlm (multi-level marketing), you should know what to expect. All businesses require time and effort, and you will not be making $10,000 tomorrow.

There is so much hype out there and oddly enough, people actually believe it. They are sometimes interested in mlm until they find that they must invest time and money, and that their bank account will not see a huge increase overnight.

The hard truth is that you must make an investment of time, money, and hard work just as you would any other business. Even though it is not exactly a "traditional" business, many of the same things apply. You cannot just sign up and expect the money to start rolling in. You also cannot expect that there will not be disappointments along the way.

Realistic expectations are a must in this business. There is no "get rich quick".

You should determine what you are looking for before you start your search. Here are a few suggestions:

1. Solid company with no quotas to meet.

2. Manageable start-up fees and monthly autoship.

3. Various means of marketing the products. Do not join a home party company if home parties are not "your thing".

4. Determine whether you want to "make" a product, such as candles, or concentrate solely on selling.

5. Quality products that are highly consumable. You want something that people purchase regularly.

6. Good compensation plan.

7. Free, ongoing training for distributors.

8. A company that provides quality distributor materials, such as catalogs, brochures, door hangers, business cards, car magnets, post cards, etc.

9. Professional, knowledgeable, and approachable management team.

10. Affordable products.

If you know what you are looking for in a home business, it will be much easier to find the one for you.

The importance of maintaining credibility in one's business should be obvious to network marketers, but the concept seems to escape some. If you want to market your business opportunity, online or offline, you should know that one of the best ways to botch your reputation is to be deceitful.

If you are so desperate that you claim your business opportunity will make people rich overnight, you may be seen as a scammer. Even though many people want to believe such claims, they all eventually come to the conclusion that you tricked them.

In order to keep your credibility intact, be open and honest about what it takes to be successful with your company. Let people know that it takes hard work in order to be successful. It also takes a lot of patience and doing things over and over before you begin to see results. For instance, you cannot place one ad and expect people to flock to you. Let them know that consistency is the key.

The art of hanging in there is so important for success in the internet marketing industry. The honest marketers will tell you that if six or seven people sign up with you, you can usually expect only one, maybe two, to stay.

The reasons for this are impatience, wanting something for nothing, frustration, and the list goes on. Most of us have an "employee mindset", and we expect a paycheck at the end of the week for the work we have completed. You need to know that this business does not work that way.

In the beginning, you will put in a lot of hours for very little pay, or no pay at all. But, if you will stick it out, you will eventually work just a few hours for a lot of pay. That is why it is so important to know from the beginning that this will take time. Probably two to five years. All those promises that you hear about easy money and overnight riches are just not real.

You will know whether you suffer from the something-for-nothing mindset if you do the following things:

Expect overnight success. Nobody gets rich overnight in network marketing, including you. If you keep moving on to the next-best-thing because you are still searching for that one-in-a-million opportunity, you may as well forget it. There are a lot of good opportunities out there among the junk, but none of them work as quickly as you might hope.

Expect everything to be free. As long as you believe that you should be able to start your own business without spending any money, the longer it will take you to get started. All businesses require some type of financial investment. Decide on the amount that you are willing and able to invest, and search for the business that falls within your range.

Treat your business like a hobby. Start from the very beginning with the attitude that you are the CEO of your business. Do not go into it thinking that you will work on your business if and when you have the time. Set aside a certain amount of time each day to take action steps toward growing your business.

Research all the marketing methods available and try the ones that interest you. Use the methods over and over again; do not expect instant results. If after a reasonable amount of time your methods do not seem to be working, try another method. Do not try more than two or three at a time. You will become overwhelmed.

Your attitude is probably your greatest asset in your MLM business. It is the very thing that will save you from desperation, frustration, and the urge to quit when the going gets tough. Keep a good outlook no matter what your circumstances are, and you will have a new perspective on life.

Try not to compare yourself to others in network marketing. You will not be comparing apples to apples. Each and every one of us brings something different to the table, so comparisons are worthless.

Unlike seasoned network marketers, you don't have the established downline, the network marketing education, or the mentor. You may not have the large advertising budget that someone else has. You are starting from scratch, and that is hard.

There will always be those who are better communicators, leaders, marketers, etc., but we can continually improve our skills, too. We can read and study network marketing. We can learn the business from the masters because this information is readily available.

Do you see your glass as half-empty or half-full? What about your network marketing business? When you are struggling to succeed, it is easy to see want and lack instead of bounty. After all, you haven't made any money yet.

The whole point is to make money and find financial freedom. Helping others to do the same is an added bonus. However, in the beginning, it is possible that nothing is happening. You may be wondering if it is a total waste of your time.

Do yourself a favor and stay positive, especially in the beginning. You are building a business and it will take time, maybe even three to five years. If you can look on these early years in your business as a learning process, and not expect too much too soon, you will be ahead of the game.

The important thing is to see the glass as half-full, even in the beginning. Otherwise, if you adopt the half-empty mindset, you may feel a sense of defeat before you even get started. We all have to start from scratch. There are no short-cuts.

The only way I know of to become a pied piper in network marketing is to market yourself online. If you establish yourself as an authority on a subject, people will follow you and be interested in what you have to say.

The best ways to do this are to write articles and submit them to article directories; participate in online forums; send traffic to your personal, informative website; become involved in social networking; write an informative blog and keep it updated; and publish a newsletter.

Even if you are fairly new to MLM, you still may have learned a lot along the way. You do not have to be wildly successful to be able to provide valuable information. Even those of us who are still struggling to make it in the business are able to help people.

Become a pied piper in network marketing by sharing what you know. It will be appreciated, and you will be branding yourself online in the process. You will eventually gain credibility and your name will begin to be recognized. It is a great way to build your business because people will come to you seeking what you have to offer.

MLM is not a race, or a contest. If you are thinking of quitting, DON"T DO IT! Remind yourself, over and over, that this TAKES TIME! So many people enter the world of network marketing full of hopes and dreams, and then they start to think that it just takes too long, or it is just too hard, or requires too much work.

Yes, it takes time, is not easy, and requires a lot of work. What doesn't? Does anything in life really come easily? Not for me, it doesn't. I suspect that is true for everyone. When you join an MLM company, you are essentially starting from scratch.

The best advice I can give you is to not try several marketing methods at once. Choose two or three, learn them well, and concentrate on just those methods.

If things are not moving as quickly as you had hoped, don't fret. Don't feel like you are behind and will never catch up or get there. You will get there, eventually. Want to know the real key to success? Never give up. Never.

If you do not choose the MLM business that fits your personality, you will not last long in the business. If you are forced to do things that you detest in order to build your business, you will never be successful.

Here is a perfect example. I do not like home parties. I don't like jewelry parties, home décor parties, makeup parties, candle parties, or kitchen gadget parties. I would rather have a root canal than attend one of these functions.

Therefore, joining an MLM company that is based on home parties would be a foolish thing for me to do. Home parties are an option in my company, but they are not mandatory. Other distributors say that we should all participate in at least a few of these in order to be able to train new distributors.

I wholeheartedly disagree. Our company provides detailed training in home parties just as it does with other areas of our business. Why should I feel obligated to try each and every method that my company recommends? The answer is simple: I don't.

Most people will simply not join a business opportunity that mandates how they should run their business. I would never join a home party business when my only interest is in building online.

On the other hand, for those of you who love home parties, then that type of business is perfect for you. You will do well because you will enjoy what you do. Those who attend your parties will see your excitement and it will be contagious.

www.PassionFire.com

"Doug, an Expert in MLM and Network Marketing, is CEO of PassionFire International. He is a successful entrepreneur who has spent the last 25 years in the sales and Direct marketing field, and has been blessed to help multitudes of others break numerous records in performance by training people on how to "Maximize their Human Success Capital" that lies within them."

www.NetworkMarketingTimes.com

"For more than 20 years, Randy Gage has been helping salespeople transform self-limiting beliefs into self-fulfilling breakthroughs to achieve their dreams. His motivational story of rising from a jail cell as a teen, to a self-made multi-millionaire has inspired millions around the world."

www.DaniJohnson.com

"After 6 months of failing, going into debt and not making any money, something dramatically changed. After getting the right coaching and training, her business income went to $20,000 per month in just 5 short months. She went from living out of her car with $2.03 to her name, to becoming a #1 international producer within 12 months and went on to earn her first million within 2 short years."