Are you ready to get to work and really make your network marketing business take off?

After you have signed up and officially started your business, one of two things will happen.

You will either jump in and start building a business, or you won’t.

If you hesitate, sometime it’s a lack of clarity, or uncertainty about what marketing strategy to use.

Here is a simple seven step strategy you can use as a blueprint or outline for success with your MLM business.

Step 1 – Decide Why You Want Success

Let me emphasize this as the most important first step in your network marketing business. It isn’t enough to just say “I want to succeed with my business” – you need to know and understand the specific motivation that drives you.

Think carefully and write down your “why”. It should be something that means a lot to you. Something with emotional impact that will keep you going when things get tough. With any business, I can assure you, there will be times when you feel like quitting. Knowing your true driving motivation makes it easier to keep going when something discourages you.

Step 2 – Experience Your Products Yourself

Most network marketing products are consumable, and it’s important that you use the products yourself. I’ve been surprised over the years at how many people try to build a home business with network marketing but don’t want to use their own products regularly.

Using your own products is important, because they are the foundation of your business. If you aren’t sold on them enough to use them regularly, how can you be enthusiastic about presenting an opportunity that is based around them?

Even if your sponsoring focus is on the compensation and money, don’t forget that there will be no money without products being purchased and consumed. They are the core of your opportunity.

Step 3 – Believe in What You’re Doing

You must believe that network marketing is a legitimate and honorable way to earn an income. You must believe that your opportunity is really a great deal that would benefit anyone who chooses to put in the time and work. Seriously.

I say this because it’s surprising how many people fail because they have reservations in the back of their mind about the business model. Sometime this goes back to old stories about friends who got stuck with a bunch of inventory they couldn’t get rid of, things like that. Examine your deep beliefs on this.

Ask yourself – does mentioning the phrase “network marketing” or “multilevel marketing” to people make you feel uncomfortable? If so, why? If you have reservations like this, it’s critical to get them resolved so you can move forward.

Step 4 – Plan Your Strategy

You need a plan. A path. This is where you should take advantage of any training your company and upline team offers, and then have a meeting of the minds with your upline leaders. The ones who are successful and who are where you want to be.

You don’t want to fall in the trap of “overplanning”, because that can lead to procrastination and frustration. It can make you feel like you’re doing something for your business when you’re really not.

Step 5 – Communicate with People About Your Opportunity and Products

Another step that seems so obvious, yet so many networkers miss it here. Take a look a the time you will commit to your business, and set a target for how many contacts per day that you’ll develop.

An example would be to shoot for ten contacts per day initially. Starting out, eight could be new prospects you establish communication with, and 2 could be followups with people you’ve already spoken with about your opportunity (who are still open).

Step 6 – Expand Your Downline Group and Customer Base

Focus on connecting with new prospects each day and following up with your previous MLM leads. If you consistently present your products and opportunity to 10-20 people each day:

• 1-2 should eventually join you

• 1-2 should become retail customers

I said “should” because you never know how long it will take some people to study the situation, think it over, and make a decision. Just know that consistently making those connections will result in sponsoring people, and growing your network marketing business in other ways as well.

Step 7 – Enjoy Money and Free Time

The last step to prosperity with your network marketing business is the best. Enjoy the money and time freedom that your hard work has earned for you! Consistent effort, tempered with reasonable patience, will earn you the lifestyle that you truly deserve!

Have you ever had the feeling that some of your MLM prospects just won’t tell you the truth?

How many times have you had someone express an interest in your business, say they will take a particular action, then nothing happens?

I really don’t believe that people necessarily intend to lie or be dishonest, but it sure appears that way sometime.

There are usually pretty predictable reasons that this happens.

Let’s assume you’ve had an initial conversation and went over some things about your opportunity.

As you are finishing up, your prospect says…

• “I’ll watch this DVD and get back with you“….and when you follow up they haven’t

• “send me the link and I will sign up tonight” and they don’t

• “sure, give me a call Wednesday evening and we’ll talk some more” and they won’t answer or return your calls

• “I like what I’ve learned, I’ll be signing up next week when I get paid“…and they don’t

What do you think might be the problem here? Are people just lazy or trying to get rid of you?

Here are three possible reasons.

Sales Resistance

You know how people will tell a salesperson anything to get rid of them, right? Consider whether your discussions with your prospects are more about all the benefits of signing up for your opportunity, or more about what THEY are looking for. The answer to that is huge.

The solution to sales resistance – don’t come across like you’re trying to convince or persuade. Think of your conversation as a two way discussion, with your job being to help your prospect determine if your opportunity is right for them.

What is the Why?

Have you talked to them about why they are looking for a home business right now? Sometime it’s just to make enough extra to support an additional car payment. Other times, it might be a really big goal like replacing their full time income and creating a lifetime residual income.

It’s important to discuss this and know what your prospect has in mind. Those wishing to replace their current income will likely need additional information and more insight into how they can make the business successful and profitable. This is where “the solution” comes in.

Where is the Solution?

Given their “why”, can your opportunity get them where they want to go? This is one big reason people disappear or neglect to take action. They just don’t see how they can take your opportunity and turn it into the income and prosperity needed to reach their “why”.

Remember that most people are rushed and stressed from busy lives. It takes more to get peoples’ attention now than it did 30 years ago. I’ve found that most MLM prospects I work with are also considering other opportunities, which makes it even more important to focus on them and build that initial relationship.

Most others they talk to about opportunities will likely be more self centered and concerned with what’s in it for them, so putting the focus where it should be (on your prospect) makes a lot of difference and sets you apart.

When you call your network marketing business prospects on the phone, do you feel challenged?

Are you sometime hesitant and not sure what to say?

For this discussion, I’m talking about prospects who have either opted in to receive information about your opportunity, or have contacted you directly asking for more information about what you’re doing.

The first thing to consider is what you are thinking when you make that call. Are you excited and focused on signing them up in your business? Are you thinking about what they can do for you?

You will be surprised at how your sponsoring results will improve if you shift your attitude to think a certain way when you get on the phone with them.

What Your MLM Prospects Want to Hear

If you put yourself in the shoes of your prospect and potential downline team member, you can begin to understand what’s important to them. Try to think back to what was important to you when you were looking around and talking to people about an opportunity.

By understanding what they want to hear, and what appeals to them in a very positive way, you can begin to improve your approach to discussing your business and ultimately increase your sponsoring success.

Those who are candidates and leads for your network marketing business will enjoy:

• Talking to a REAL person – don’t try to fake it till you make it, just be yourself and relax – focus on enjoying the conversation.

• Talking to a person who is genuinely interested in them and their “why” for starting a home business.

• Having a conversation that is focused on empowering them and presents the business opportunity as a vehicle for reaching THEIR goals and dreams, not yours.

You don’t want to come across with an attitude that shouts “I want you to join me so I can build my business and make more money“. Rather, you want to have the posture and attitude of someone who is offering them an opportunity to improve THEIR lives and fortunes.

Here are some keys to having a successful and meaningful phone conversation with your network marketing prospects. If you keep these in mind when you are talking, it will make a world of difference.

1) Don’t come across as needy (that you need them to join your team). Take the attitude that they need you and your opportunity – you are offering them something of tremendous value.

2) Don’t try to pressure people – no “I will do this and that for you but only if you sign up today” type of stuff.

3) Ask questions about their dreams and desires, and focus on understanding how they see your opportunity fitting into this.

4) Be relaxed and in good humor. If you have had a bad day and are not feeling up to par, relax and get your mental attitude in better shape before you make the calls.

5) Be encouraging and let them know that you believe in them, that they can achieve whatever they want.

Just changing your attitude toward your prospects, and putting them first, can make your business grow faster than ever!

Last night I was talking to one of my downline team members who joined us about a year ago.

He has a desire now to get his MLM business moving. He is struggling though because for a year he put off doing anything and kept thinking he would get started “soon” when the timing was better.

He is caught in the common trap I call “paralysis by analysis” – he has spent so much time thinking about what he wanted to do, that he never got around to taking steps to do anything. If you’ve ever been in this position, you know how frustrating and discouraging it is. You want to make something happen, but just freeze up and feel a sense of confusion and hesitation.

I’ve been in that position myself, so as we continued talking, I offered a solution that worked for me when I needed it.

First, I asked if he was really sure he was ready to go. I emphasized that the desire had to be there, and that it was up to him.

His response was something like “I know what I should be doing. I started this business with good intentions but just let it slip as time went along. Now I feel like I’m stuck in a rut and don’t know how to get out!”

So, the next thing we worked on was redefining his reasons for starting his business in the first place. This included talking about goals and dreams and what was driving him to get moving.

I then asked if these goals and dreams were still as powerful as they were a year ago. He said not only as powerful, but even more so. Some things had changed in his job situation. He had survived a company cutback but had to take reduced pay to stay on. This had squeezed him hard financially. He was still doing okay, but knew he had little security and virtually no future in his position.

Once we were done, I recommended some action steps to help him get unstuck and start getting some prospects and making some money. A similar routine worked well for me when I was in this dilemma.

1) Write out your dreams, goals, and “why” for your business. Make sure they are clear and have emotional impact on you.

2) Write out a list of 100 people you can connect with about your business this month (this is a dreaded step that many skip, but if you approach the people using warm market notification it can be quite pleasant and productive).

3) Schedule time each day to contact at least 5 people on that list. If they are not interested at this time, ask for referrals (both for products and for the network marketing business opportunity) and add them to your list.

4) At the end of the month, you should have a few customers and at least 3-5 new downline team members (and several more that are interested and considering it). Just remember that some will not be interested now, just stay in touch. Lives and circumstances change (as they did with your job) and some who are not interested now may be in a few months.

I recommended this particular routine for two reasons.

1) to give him some actions that are simple and doable

2) to stress and emphasize daily action, to create a positive habit

If you find yourself with the “want-to’s” but feel paralyzed by inaction, take steps like this to get out and break the pattern. Keep it simple, doable, and focused on the key action – introducing people to your MLM business.

Trying to get unstuck by attempting to do too much at once will not work well for most people. Stick to the basics and take it one step, one action, at a time.

Relationship marketing and understanding what that means is a big key to success in any network marketing or MLM business.

We talk a lot about building relationships and getting to know people, but still so many network marketers go out with the wrong attitude about this.

Your business isn’t all about what other people can do for you, it’s about developing friendships and business relationships. Working as a team. Valuing others and appreciating them for what they do. Helping others achieve their goals and dreams as you pursue yours. Truly appreciating others for who they are, and not putting on a false front trying to recruit them and then dropping them if they don’t sign up.

That’s the big thing that distinguishes your MLM business from most any other business out there. Think about it. In typical corporate and business environments, you get ahead and achieve greater success by beating other people out of promotions or advancements. You find yourself in direct competition with people who have the same ambition as you do – getting ahead, moving on up to a position or responsibility with more pay and a better future.

Contrast that with network marketing and MLM. This is a business where you build positive and productive relationships with others. It is a business where you make more money and get ahead by helping your new friends and business associates do the same. It’s win-win from top to bottom.

A common mistake in MLM prospecting and recruiting is being self centered and putting the focus on you and looking at others as “business prospects who can help me make money”. If that is your attitude when you are out there talking to people, it shows through.

People can sense the difference between a selfish recruiter who is thinking “what can you do for me“, vs a sponsor whose focus is “how can I help you be successful so we both benefit?” There is a big difference. Be real….be sincere.

Want some quick tips on how you can use relationship marketing in your MLM business? This video was shared by Success Magazine, and has some quick tips from Mari Smith that make it clear what relationship marketing is all about.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/k9LYfLLkIKs[/youtube]

What is the right way to prepare for success in network marketing?

I like to blog about this topic from time to time, because I was once in this trap and I don’t want you to fall into it.

This is a trap that is easy to fall into, because you are actually taking action related to your home business, just not enough of the right action for success.

How can you fall into this trap?

by preparing for success in network marketing by doing certain things that seem logical, but putting too much emphasis on these things…

Here’s the deal. Maybe you have just started your MLM business. Or, you’ve done a little bit of business building and are ready to get serious. In either case, you are pretty fired up and enthusiastic about getting started on the right foot.

So….you begin your journey to success in network marketing by preparing and organizing yourself. Let’s be clear on one thing, preparation and organization is essential to building a powerful and enduring residual income in this business. You do need a clear plan, and a path to follow.

The trap you can fall into is “over preparation”, which can lead to paralysis and lack of meaningful action. No meaningful action toward building your business means no real business and no income.

Over preparation and excessive planning for perfection can be symptoms of a lack of confidence, or a fear of stepping out and taking action. Sometime well meaning network marketers feel intimidated and afraid of talking to people about their business, so they spend lots of time studying and preparing to talk to people – later on.

It’s procrastination that destroys your opportunity to actually make money with your opportunity.

Do you do any of these things? They are symptoms of over preparation and over planning.

• spending a lot of time thinking about ways to promote your opportunity, debating and pondering what might be most effective

• organizing a little corner you’ve set up to be your “home office” – but never quite finishing the project and dwelling on it

• daydreaming about the big successes you will have….and what you are about to go out and do….when you get everything ready…

• reading network marketing success books, making lots of notes, and telling yourself that you are preparing for greatness

None of the above actions are bad, in fact all of these things have a place in your overall plan for success in network marketing. The key is, how much of your available business building time do you spend on this type of activity?

Here are some things to ask yourself, and compare the amount of time you spend on these “people focused” actions to whatever else you do for your business.

• How many new prospects did I find for my opportunity in the last week?

• How many people did I actually talk to about my business in the last week?

• How many follow-ups did I do with people I’ve talked to previously?

• How many new associates have I helped get started in the last month?

The numbers here are a pretty good predictor of your success and income in network marketing.

Success in network marketing, or any “people oriented” home based business, is directly related to how many live contacts you actually make. Getting leads on the Internet and using systems to pre-qualify and sort prospects is great, but how many of them are you actually having a conversation with?

Get organized, plan your strategy, spend time on self improvement, just don’t spend all your time on these things. Make talking to real, live prospects your top priority and you’ll see massive results in your network marketing business.

Colorado Rockies pitcher Jamie Moyer is amazing. At 49, and coming off “Tommy John” surgery on his arm that wiped out his 2011 season, Jamie just become the oldest pitcher in major league baseball history to post a win.

Now, what does this have to do with network marketing? Watch this short video. Listen to his philosophy – it tells you a lot about what it takes to be a winner in this business.

It’s about attitude and a way of thinking that helps you to be the very best you can be.

This is a guy who for years has been told he is too old, he can’t do this, or he can’t do that. He has simply chosen to persevere and seek opportunity to work and grow. Get your pen and paper ready, there are some incredible nuggets in this story.

For some reason YouTube doesn’t allow this particular video to be embedded, so when you click the image below, there is a link to view it directly on YouTube.

Enjoy!

[youtube]http://youtu.be/cN9D4B8ybaY[/youtube]

Are you having less success with your MLM business than you desire?

Has your enthusiasm kind of died down?

Or maybe you have lost focus on what was once very exciting to you?

If any of the above applies to you, you might have a gnawing urge deep down to get back on track. You might want to make the “comeback of the year” for your MLM opportunity.

Different things can knock you off track and cause you to lose focus on your business.

You joined a company with great products that you really like, but decided to jump to another MLM business because you weren’t earning as much money as fast as you had hoped you would.

You sponsored a few people but life got in the way and you just set business development aside for a while.

You feel your sponsor and upline didn’t care about your progress and spent all their time recruiting new people, leaving you alone without help.

You followed your company or upline training, did what they said, but after a few weeks with little progress you decided to step back and evaluate things, and you are still stuck there now.

Actually, all of these things are pretty common. What follows is for you if you started your MLM business with great enthusiasm, let it drop off, and now are feeling like you messed up and want to make a comeback.

The following steps will help you get back on track.

1) Redefine your reasons for having a home business in the first place. If you started out just thinking you wanted to make a few extra dollars, sit down and come up with some more specific reasons. Do you want to retire from a job you hate? Do you enjoy your job but want to ensure a comfortable lifestyle with no financial worries? Do you want to ensure that your kids can go to college? Whatever it is that motivates you, define it clearly. It needs to be emotional and more than just intellectual. It has to drive you.

2) Decide just what level of income will be necessary to achieve what you detailed in the first step. Seek out your most successful upline mentors and let them show you exactly what you need to do, with your MLM business, in order to reach your income goals. It’s very important to understand up front what it will take.

3) Again, with help from your upline mentors, develop a daily and weekly action plan that will take you forward towards realizing your financial goals. Understand the power in numbers and know that you will need to make a lot of connections. Know that most won’t respond by signing up now, but you have planted lots of seeds and some of them will desire to work with you later. Just keep in touch.

4) Make a solid commitment to stick with your plan, and keep your eyes laser focused on your MLM business. You may have temptation along the way to jump over the fence to something that on the surface appears better. That’s just the nature of things today with all the noise, hype, and information overload we face.

If it feels right in your gut, start your MLM business comeback today!

Network marketing online – does it still work, and if so, what works? How can you be successful promoting your MLM business online?

Let me share a bit of my background.

A few years ago, when I was fresh out of college with a marketing degree, I began a career as an outside sales representative for a local industrial supply company.

I had chosen marketing and sales because I wanted to make good money, and didn’t have an overwhelming passion for a specific occupation.

My parents had been career school teachers, but I had no interest in that. I just wanted to make some decent money and not be tied to a desk all day.

Anyway, not long after I started that first job, I was approached by one of my customers about a home based business. He painted a glowing picture of opportunity, and I was convinced to attend a local meeting to learn more.

The opportunity was with a well-known consumer products company, and I was intrigued by the concept of network marketing so I signed up on the spot.

After about a month of trying to prospect people I knew, I decided this wasn’t for me. I believed in the potential of the business, but wasn’t too thrilled about going down a list of names and inviting them to a meeting. I was taught to dodge the predictable question “what is this about” and just get them to the meeting. I wasn’t comfortable with the secrecy.

Fast forward to the early 1990′s. I was online with what we had at the time – text based services like Compuserve and Prodigy where you could log in and have discussions on just about any topic you cared to. About this time I discovered a new network marketing business that I liked, and signed up.

The group I hooked up with had an online presence, and they were driven to take network marketing online and build a profitable business. It was just beginning to be obvious that this was going to be a huge way to reach prospects far beyond your local area and warm market, and this was before web sites and all the cool multimedia presentations we have today.

To make a long story short, I was very enthused about doing network marketing online, as it opened so many doors. Our technique was to establish a strong presence on all the discussion boards related to home business and entrepreneurship. We were allowed to put a short blurb in our signatures about our business, although at the time there wasn’t really anything to link out to.

What happened is that people looking for opportunity were watching us, and approached us privately to get details about what we were doing. We would hook up by phone and get to know each other, and build a relationship. This was attraction marketing at its finest, before that even became a buzzword.

Now, fast forward again….as more and more people began coming online and websites and multimedia presentations became more common, a number of online marketing systems sprang up. These were good in one way, in that they consisted of a short presentation plus an opt-in, so that interested prospects could begin receiving information automatically. That’s the good part – the sorting plus automated delivery of information on demand 24/7.

The down side – many people who developed these systems began to teach (or strongly imply) that the system would do everything. You didn’t have to talk to people. Just get prospects to the site, let them get qualified, and begin dripping information to them at various intervals with the autoresponder.

While that sounded good in theory, it simply didn’t work out as hoped. This is a relationship business, and successful network marketing online is only possible if you look at the systems and methods as lead generating techniques. Once you get the lead, you have to take them offline and communicate.

Are you using a network marketing online system that brings in prospects for you, but waiting for them to reach out to you? Don’t. You need to reach out to them personally, by phone or whatever means you can, because people these days are really busy and distracted.

Often, your prospects have good intentions and are receptive to working with you, but life gets in the way and they just put off making the effort to reach out to you. Plus, and this is huge, many have contacted various potential sponsors and will wait to see who calls them.

Bottom line – network marketing online works beautifully, IF you reach out and bring your prospects offline and establish relationships. Doing this sets you apart from the crowd, and helps ensure success.

Would you like to build your network marketing business faster, make more money, become successful, and find freedom and financial independence?

There are many things that work together to create a successful business. Your passion, background, and willingness to learn and break out of your comfort zone all play a big role.

That said, there are fundamentals that are the core of any successful network marketing business. Today, let’s talk about 25 things you can do, and practice regularly, that will go a LONG way toward helping you achieve the success you desire.

1) Believe in and use your products regularly. Knowing your products is crucial to your success.

2) Know what you want from your network marketing business. Set realistic goals and targets for how much you want to make, when, and why. Write these goals and targets down.

3) Make a strong commitment to your business and take action. Do something to build your business each and every day.

4) Study and learn ways to be successful in network marketing and MLM. Learn from your successful upline and other industry leaders.

5) Be committed to helping your downline succeed. Focus on what they need, and what they want to achieve. Help them do it and you will get what you want as well.

6) Make yourself easily accessible. I’m sure you have voice mail, a reliable email address, and social media access, just put it all together and strive to be as available to prospects as possible.

7) When you get an email or phone call, if you can’t take it right away, make it a point to respond back as soon as possible. This will be encouraging to your downline team, and for your prospects it “wows” them and leaves a great impression. With prospects in particular, this sets you apart, because many people in business return calls casually, just when they get a chance. Be quick and stand out.

8) If prospects or customers ask for information or more details, get it to them quickly. Then, and this is the key, be diligent in following up quickly. If you wait for prospects to call you back or contact you, they often won’t. Take the initiative and the lead here.

9) Don’t quit. The first three months in your new network marketing business are the toughest. You have to persevere to find the success you desire.

10) Just do it. Life sometime gets in the way of working your business. Sometime discouragement sets in because there seems to be no time to do anything. You have to make the time.

11) Maintain a strong focus and work ethic. Build your business one downline associate, one customer at a time. When things seem to be moving slow, just focus on the next one and get it done.

12) It’s easy to “be there” when one of your downline team members is having success. When one of them is down and contacts you, listen to their concerns. Be there for your team in good and bad times.

13) Praise your downline associates when they have success. You may think that success is sufficient motivation to keep going, but everyone responds well to recognition and praise.

14) Work your business every day. Be consistent. Some days this will be very hard – but always find something you can do to keep moving forward.

15) Use the tools you have and work with your circumstances. There is never a “perfect” time to build your network marketing business. Every top achiever has overcome less than ideal circumstances at some point.

16) Be patient and steady. It takes time to build your business and achieve your goals. Find customers and treat them well. Sponsor and train downline associates one at a time.

17) Nobody likes the word “no”. You will hear this far more than you like. Don’t take it personally – a “yes” is right around the corner. A “no” to your opportunity is not a “no” to you personally.

18) Be aware that things will change. Your company may make a change you don’t like at some point. Human nature is to resist change. Be flexible for success.

19) Organizing your business is important, but don’t go overboard. You need to be talking to people. Know that excessive organizing is often due to a fear of taking action.

20) Maintain a professional appearance. Dress neatly and look successful. Look in the mirror – would you want to talk about a home business opportunity with you?

21) Use sharp promotional materials. Don’t make copies of brochures or print out information from the web. Use the brochures and promotional material provided by your company or upline organization.

22) Be open to learning and use proven business building methods. Re-inventing the wheel is a common mistake. Being creative is a good thing, but stay close to the successful fundamentals that have proven to work.

23) Keep with the network marketing / MLM industry. Be aware of what other companies are doing. You will often talk to prospects who are considering other opportunities besides yours.

24) Be willing to take risks and invest money into advertising and promoting your network marketing business. Don’t try to do everything on the cheap. Be wise, but do step out in faith.

25) Finally, and this is the big one – understand that YOU are the determining factor in your success. “If it’s to be, it’s up to ME.”