MLM and Golden Goose Referrals

 

by Lee Abraham

 

Regardless of business category, successful networking is all about training your Power Team to recognize prospects and seize opportunity to create money making referrals for your business. 

 

And that includes MLM. But here’s the catch. Although everyone knows MLM’ers make more money by promoting the business opportunity than the actual products, the MLM’er must first build Credibility with the group based on the products in the Power Team framework

 

Listen, I know MLM’ers want to jump straight into the business opportunity. Trust me, I get it. As the relationship blossoms, training your networking partners to bring prospects for your business opportunity is the logical next step. But it takes time and energy to get there. And we’re not there yet.

 

Like it or not, we’ve got another level of product based networking to discuss before we even think about serving up the business opportunity to our Power Team.

 

Golden Goose Two Step

 

Last time out we looked at Power Team networking from the vantage point of an MLM’er in the Nutritional Products business. Using Key Match Networking© we connected benefits of the nutritional products to the Consumer/End User in each of the Six Key Target Markets the Power Team is already trained to recognize and convert into business.

 

In other words, we’ve already trained the Power Team to be a “Bragging Buddy” for the Nutritional Product business whenever they come in contact with someone who is Getting Married, Having a Baby, Getting Healthy, etc.

 

Now let’s raise the connection to another level, matching a “Golden Goose” Referral Source to each of the Six Key Target Markets. Think about it. If you want the Power Team to bring prospects who are Getting Healthy, you would love your networking partners to create referral relationships for you with other businesses that also thrive on the Get Healthy Target Market. For example, a Personal Trainer working with people who are trying to get in shape.

 

Target Your Target Market

 

Both the Nutritional Products person and the Personal Trainer will benefit from networking strategically together because they are both dealing with people in the Get Healthy Target Market. It’s an obvious connection.

 

Both can work for the same client, and compliment the other’s product or service, without competing against each other. And for those of you taking notes, both are in the Health and Wellness Contact Sphere. Confused? Read this post on Contact Spheres.

 

Face it: businesses from the same Contact Sphere are the low hanging fruit of networking. Not bad, just easy. And easy is good. So good, we always start building our Power Team with other business categories from our own Contact Sphere.

 

But the ultimate goal of Power Team networking is to recognize less obvious, and potentially more powerful relationships between businesses that appear to have nothing on common.

 

Quick examples:

 

Caterers (Events Contact Sphere) and Life Insurance Sales (Finance Contact Sphere) can both provide a valuable product or service to the “Getting Married” Target Market.

 

Printers (Business Services Contact Sphere) and Pet Sitters (Personal Services Contact Sphere) can both provide a valuable product or service to the “Business Builder” Target Market.

 

Your job: Power Team Investigator. Dig beneath the surface and beyond the obvious. Challenge yourself to carefully examine each business in your network to work your way through features and benefits until you form a clear picture of the Target Market the other businesses serve. You will be amazed at the connections you find to your business!

 

Need more information? Click here for a post on Key Match Networking© between Contact Spheres.

 

Target the Golden Goose

 

OK, enough table setting. Let’s get to it, shall we? Take out your notebook and write down these three easy to follow action steps:

 

1) Learn your Key Target Markets

2) Train your Power Team to recognize End Users/Consumers for your Target Markets

3) Go beyond End Users and train the Power Team to recognize Golden Goose Referral sources for your Target Markets

 

I’ll make it easy for you. Here’s an entry level chart showing six of the most common Golden Geese for each of the Six Key Target Markets.

Can You Feel It?

As much sense as this Target Market stuff makes intellectually, the Power Team system only works at this advanced level when networking partners have an emotional investment in each other. Call it “chemistry.” Or the “X Factor.” More than friendship and trust, when two people “click” and really care about each others’ best interests, the opportunities to create money making referrals magically begin to appear everywhere they go, and wherever they look. 

 MLM’ers, hoist your “Biz Op” flag and your buckle up your money belts! Next time, we look back fondly on the smooth sailing of product promotion and fearlessly travel into rough waters, training the Power Team to bring referrals for your business opportunity, when our adventure in networking continues… Follow Me on Twitter!

MLM – Healthy Habits for Nutritional Supplements

 

by Lee Abraham

 

Dave the Nutrition guy took an indirect route into MLM. For him, the journey began with the products. A health nut who witnessed his Mom turn around a serious medical condition with the help of nutritional supplements, skepticism was not an issue. Dave didn’t need to be convinced. Or read the literature. He knew the products worked because he saw the positive results with his own eyes. That’s called “belief.”

 

Dave’s belief was so strong, he started telling people the story of his Mom’s recovery and found himself recommending the same products to anyone who would listen. And a few did. Those people came back with great reports of their own health benefits and a light went on in his Dave’s head. “I wonder if I could make some money doing this?”

 

Learn To Earn

 

A couple of years later on a particualrly nice day, Dave the Nutrition guy sat out on the rear observation deck of his luxury home, looked out over his panoramic Ocean view, and reflected on the joys of leveraged, residual income. Yes, it took longer than he expected, and more personal development than he planned for, but the results justified the process.

 

Dave realized the vast majority of his business came directly from prospects referred by his Power Team, people already pre-sold on the benefits of the nutritional supplements he represented.

 

With a team of “Bragging Buddies” speaking enthusiastically on Dave’s behalf to people they already knew, business was so much easier than finding each customer on his own. No mystery. Prospects already liked and trusted Dave before they even met him based on heartfelt, enthusiastic recommendations, and were open to his products after hearing the compelling story of his Mom’s dramatic health turn around from someone they already knew and trusted.

 

Recognize Opportunity to Help You

 

While closing deals was a no brainer, training his Power Team to recognize prospects for him was more of challenge. At least at first. And then Dave went through the Power Team training. Suddenly his networking partners began recognizing prospects for Dave’s nutrition business and creating money making referrals they had previously been overlooking.

 

The secret: training his networking partners to connect the benefit of his nutrition products to the Six Key Target Markets the group was already looking for. Confused? Check out this prior post explaining this Power Team “Opportunity Recognition” technique.

 

Six Healthy Situations

 

Getting the most out of the Power Team starts by training your networking partners to recognize prospects for your business and the opportunity to create referrals for you.

 

Gather round. Here’s the story of how Dave the Nutrition guy tapped into the Power Team “Six Key Situation” system to build his business. Each week at his networking meeting, or when he met individually with someone from the Power Team, Dave explained the best way to find referrals for him by describing a prospect in one of the Six Key Situations.

 

Remember, the Power Team has already been trained to recognize the Six Key Situations and then use the “Two Big Trigger” questions to uncover needs which can be converted into a money making referral for someone on the Power Team. Confused? Click here to read a post on this topic 

 

That being said, Dave the Nutrition guy always starts the same way: “If you see an opportunity when you come across someone who is…”

 

“Getting Married, tell the happy couple how they can lose weight and look great for the wedding and honeymoon with proper nutrition and our healthy meal replacement system!”

 

“Having a Baby, tell the new Mom about our awesome Pre-Natal Vitamins for her and our proper nutrition products specifically designed for babies!”

 

“Building a Business, tell the business person they will have more energy and metal clarity with proper nutrition, as well our healthy, quick and easy meal replacements for people on the run!”

 

“Getting Healthy, tell the person getting in shape that we have Award Winning Nutritional Supplements to speed recovery while promoting optimal health with wide variety of products for losing weight and other specific health challenges!”

 

“Building a Home, tell the home builder that they will have more energy and mental clarity to do a good job and make fewer mistakes with proper nutrition from our award winning supplements!”

 

“New In Town, tell everyone you meet about our Award Winning Nutritional Supplements specially designed for adults and children, as well as a variety of products for specific health challenges!”

 

Four Out of Six Ain’t Bad

 

Granted, the last two examples, “Building a Home” and “New in Town” are a bit of a stretch as Target Markets for Nutrition Sales, but hey, you never know. If opportunity presents itself, at least the Power Team will know how to tie good nutritional supplements into a conversation with relocation transplants and home builders.

 

But let’s look at the glass half full. Or in this case, two thirds full. Focused primarily on the four Target Markets that work best for the nutrition business, Dave always continued training his networking partners with a short, simple real life success story and example of how his products helped someone in those Key Situations. And here’s the extra training step that made all the difference in the world: he specifically asked his Bragging Buddies to remember the story and tell it to prospects.

 

Plus, Dave went the extra mile to create money making referrals for everyone else, motivating his Power Team to keep his best interests in mind. Above all else, Dave learned that creating business for his Power Team was the first step in building a rewarding relationship with his networking partners.

 

Profitability Ahead

 

Up to this point, we’ve talked about training your Power Team to be a Sales Force for your Nutritional Products. And that’s where you should start. Remember, you are building Credibility with the group, and until you reach that level of trust with the products, people will not promote your business opportunity. 

 

Next time however, hang on tight, we’re stepping into the FAST180 time machine, flashing forward beyond Credibility into a not-too-distant future of Profitability and “Biz Opp” referrals, when our adventure in networking continues… Follow Me on Twitter!

MLM – Make “Lifestyle Money”

by Lee Abraham

 

“Lifestyle Money” is the new buzz. Check around. You will find that blending an income stream seamlessly into your current lifestyle is the business model of choice for today’s leading edge wealth builders.

 

First trick of the trade: jump on board with the business opportunity that best matches what you are already into. That’s where the “lifestyle” comes in. These days there are more types of MLM business opportunities than ever before. From cosmetics, jewelry and cleaning products to travel, legal services and nutrition, just about anything you can spend money on is available through one MLM company or another.

 

A Rose by Any Name

 

Regardless of which opportunity calls your name, all MLM, or “Network Marketing” business opportunities have several common features and benefits that your Power Team needs to understand and believe in, to be an effective “Bragging Buddy” on your behalf.

 

Let’s start with another new term, “Home Business Franchise.” Running a “Home Based” business is all about flexibility. When and where you work the business is up to you. Want to wear those fuzzy bunny slippers with the matching bath robe while coaching your sales force or placing product orders with HQ? Go for it! Need to walk the dog and get on a corporate conference call at the same time. You can!

 

Perfect for stay-at-home parents, people with disabilities and folks living in remote locations, Network Marketing levels the playing field like no other business model. Plus, there is no formal education required. MLM is truly an “equal opportunity” with no bias on age, race or gender.

 

So whether you build your business over lunch, in the nooks and crannies of your life, or as a full time gig wheeling and dealing among the masses, you can make money from home with Network Marketing if you have the discipline to be your own boss!

 

Less Taxing

 

Like any business operating from home, MLM creates some terrific Tax Shelter benefits, enabling you to deduct a portion of your living expenses (rent, mortgage, utilities, travel, etc.) on your income taxes. Bottom line: even if you don’t make a big income, Network Marketer’s enjoy some well deserved tax relief!

 

But wait! You want BIG income? No worries. MLM packs a money making one-two punch that’ll knock your socks off. Forget the fear. Step into the ring chanting “Leveraged, Residual Income” and you will happily stand toe-to-toe against the competition, slugging it out with your eyes on the prize and the heart of a champion!

 

Train the Team

 

Just like all the other Power Team Networkers, MLM’ers must train the rest of the group to be a “Bragging Buddy” for their business. In other words, the Power Team needs to know how to quickly tell a prospect why you are the only person they need to talk to for your particular product or service. And in your case, that includes people who are looking for another stream of income and a home based business!

 

So get out your notepad. Jot down a few points on what we’ve already covered. Our goal is to explain your Network Marketing business opportunity in small, bite size pieces that your Power Team partners will remember when they shift into “Bragging Buddy” mode on your behalf.

 

Start with time flexibility, then the tax benefits of a home based business. Put the concepts into your own words. Have a very simple real life success story to breath life into these basic elements of MLM’s allure. Got it? Now let’s give ‘em the big money shot and take a closer look at how to explain “Leveraged, Residual Income.”

 

“Leverage” means you’ve got a “downline,” people you personally sponsored into the business who duplicate your efforts. Every time the downline sells a product, or better yet, personally sponsors someone else into the business to duplicate their efforts, you get paid!

 

“Residual” means the checks keep coming. Just about every current MLM opportunity is based on customers receiving product automatically on a monthly basis. And every time the product is shipped, you get paid. Keep a customer happy and you keep getting checks! Sort of like owning rental properties except there are no tenants, roof repairs or vacancies to deal with.

 

Start With the Product

 

Although we’re off to a good start, I hear the MLM’ers out there, moaning and groaning that Power Team networking is a slow, indirect way to build a business. And it is. But just like MLM, a Power Team leverages your time and energy, while feeding you an ongoing, residual stream of money making referrals. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Of course it does. So roll up your shirt sleeves and let’s get to work! Your job? Decide which type of product best matches your lifestyle. From there, we’ll find the best MLM company in that market.

 

Make no mistake, working with a product line you believe in and use regularly is mandatory for building an MLM business with Power Team networking.

 

Need help? How about this: everybody wants to be healthy and look great. Including you! So what do you say we start there and get into the specifics of MLM and Nutritional Products, next time, when our adventure in networking continues… Follow Me on Twitter!

MLM – Sell Your Soul or Just Products and Services?

by Lee Abraham

 

Everyone is in business to make money. Question: what are you willing to sacrifice to get there? Time? Gratification? Integrity?

 

I hope you said, “two out of three.” Investing time and delayed gratification are unavoidable sacrifices every single Power Team networker must be willing to make on the road to success. Integrity is another story. Your good name and personal brand must be protected at all costs.

 

Face it, right or wrong, people judge you every day. From the car you drive, your clothes and the house you live in, to the words you speak and way you treat others, people are taking notes and keeping score. Your job: do your best. That’s it. Plain and simple. Be the “best you” that you can be and let the chips fall where they may. And a big part of the being the best you is making smart decisions!

 

Big Dogs – Tall Weeds

 

It has been said that we are the average of the five people we spend the most time with. Hang out with millionaires, chances are you’ve got money. Roll with environmental activists and I’ll bet you’ve got passion. Network with MLM’ers and, well, do me a favor and fill in the blank yourself.

 

Last time out, we looked at MLM and why it carries a stigma, particularly in networking circles. Conclusion: MLM is a dual edged sword. And which way the blade cuts is a function of the person, NOT the business model. Done right, MLM’ers can be a tremendous value to your network. Gone wrong, MLM’ers will burn the bridges you’ve work so hard to build.

 

So tell me, do you want MLM’ers in your Power Team Network?

 

Take a Test

 

Understand that you are a “Bragging Buddy” for each person in your network. Your primary job is to create money making referrals for the other people on your Power Team and in turn, train them to do the same for you.

 

To be an effective Bragging Buddy you must believe in the value of the product or service, and also have a strong emotional feeling the prospect will love working with your Power Team partner.

 

Check yourself. How do you feel when someone tells you that their business is “Network Marketing” or MLM? Wait! Before you spit up your drink, please loosen your collar and take a deep breath. RELAX. Now, picture on your mind’s hi-def flatscreen a nice, smart and savvy MLM’ who scores 100% on the following test, and take notice if a sense of calm begins to ease your troubled mind.

 

Does this person represent a product or service I believe is a good value with measurable benefits to the consumer?

 

Is this person more interested in what’s best for the prospect rather than simply making more money and signing up everyone who fogs a mirror?

 

Is this person committed to their MLM team business model, supporting their downline to generate income with useful help?

 

Will this person understand that the Power Team is the Sales Force, not the Target Market?

 

Yes Men (and Women)

 

Let me make this simple. You are looking for “Yes” men and women. People who can answer all four questions with a resounding “Yes!” A single “No” blows ‘em out of the water. Want to know why? Check back next time as we jump through hoops and channel the power of the pyramid, when our Adventure in Networking Continues… Follow Me on Twitter! 

MLM & Power Team Networking – Good Idea or Scary Thought?

 

By Lee Abraham

Aside from the IRS, few three letter acronyms repulse more swiftly, or with greater impact than network marketing’s street handle, “MLM.” 

Another term for “Direct Selling,” and short for “Multi Level Marketing,” MLM has a bad name. Don’t believe me? Why do Direct Selling gurus chant the “Network Marketing” mantra instead of standing proudly under the MLM banner? Answer: less stigma to overcome. Same reason they stay away from the word “selling” in general.

Call it clean karma or a pig in lipstick, the power of the pyramid is undeniable. Scuttlebutt around the business trend water cooler says that more millionaires will be made in MLM over the next ten years than any other industry. So what’s the problem? 

Point of Friction

For starters, everybody knows somebody who started an MLM business opportunity, invested their heart and soul, not to mention hard earned cash, only to give up shortly after starting when the friends and relatives threw cold water on their dreams. Not pretty.

Maybe the MLM newbie didn’t get the memo: business is tough. And that’s true for any business, not just MLM, err, I mean, Network Marketing. 

Personal Perception

In truth, Network Marketing is no different than any business involving sales. And let’s face it, all business requires an element of sales. Bottom line: building a Sales Force is the primary task. Call it leverage. Translation: the more people running around, selling your stuff, and better yet, signing up more people to sell even more stuff, the more money you will make.

And therein lies the rub. There’s a personal element in leveraging your Network Marketing efforts that makes it a particularly tricky deal. In other words, most of the Network Marketing business opportunities train their people to reach out to friends and family as the newbie’s best prospects to build the business.

In a traditional business however, you hire sales people to peddle your wares rather than tap into your “warm market” of friends and family. So that’s the point of friction. Truth is that while we are all relatively numb to a sales pitch for a product, most folks nurse an inner dream of financial independence, more money than they will ever need and complete time freedom. In short, the life of their dreams. And dreams can be fragile.

Unlike a product pitch, which we brush off on a daily basis with little, if any, emotional fallout, asking someone to be your business partner and achieve those hopes and dreams is hot button, a potential raw nerve that forces people to confront their own inadequacies and insecurities. Especially talking to friends and family. Call it a reality check. And in today’s wired up world of communication overload, who needs more reality? Painful as it might be, the answer is: lots of people!

A Rising Tide

Last count from the Direct Selling Association of over 200 MLM businesses, had over 15 million people involved in one Network Marketing company or another. And that’s just in the USA alone!

Disclosure: I’m surfing the MLM wave myself! In fact, I jumped in with both feet… one in the Health and Wellness industry (USANA Health Sciences), the other in  Education and Personal Development (iLearningGlobal). And I’m willing to bet that you, or someone you know, is also an MLM’er!

Obviously, Network Marketing has an allure. Terms like “Residual Income,” “Home Based Business,” and our old buddy “Leverage” are catnip for the inner Tiger of any self respecting entrepreneur. And like anything else, done right, Network Marketing is a great way to make money and have more control over your time.

What does “done right” mean? Lots of things. Prospecting, Presenting and Closing to name a few. Tell you what, let’s get into the finer points of “PPC” some other time.

Right now I want to focus on the “PC” of having some MLM’ers in your Power Team Network. In this case however, “PC” stands for “Pros and Cons.” As in, do you want MLM’ers on your Power Team?

Pros and Cons

The best Network Marketers are professional inviters, charismatic people with great communication skills who know how to motivate a prospect into action.

Top MLM’ers are referral artists, painting compelling images each and every day of opportunity, teamwork and the rewards of financial freedom. Properly trained to be your Bragging Buddy, these networking whirlwinds will generate a ton of money making referral for your business!

Write this down: the MLM’er has to understand and abide by the concept of Givers Gain®. Coined by Dr. Ivan Misner, the founder of BNI, the world’s largest networking organization, Givers Gain® is the philosophy of helping others first, and in return, benefitting yourself.

The problem: Not all MLM’ers get it. Overcoming the temptation to cannibalize the rest of the group, hammering away at the members until they sign up for the business opportunity, is no easy task. Like everything else, there is a way a Power Team partner can introduce their MLM opportunity to anyone interested, but like a few other nooks and crannies of the MLM and Power Team Networking discussion, that topic will have to wait as well.

Power Team, Not Power Prospects

For purposes of clarity on a too often blurry concept, let’s stay on task. Make no mistake: Like everyone else, the MLM’ers primary job is to create business for the other members of the Power Team and in return, train the group to bring referrals of prospects for their business.Rather than treat the Power Team as a group of power prospects, a good MLM’er sees the Power Team as their sales force.

Yes, the sales force reciprocates, diligently on the lookout for MLM “biz opp” prospects, folks interested in a Home Based Business, as well as Residual Income and Leverage, not to mention the product itself… oh yeah, remember the product? But the sales force is not on the defensive as a prospect if they are not interested in the biz opp for themselves.

See the difference? 

Just like every other person on the power team, the MLM’er has to first learn to be an effective Bragging Buddy for the rest of the team, and then in turn, train the team to create referrals for them.

So let’s take a leap of faith together. Let’s agree that there are MLM people out there who “get it” and will be a tremendous addition to your Power Team. That being said, please join me in a warm and fuzzy group hug before we look from the MLM’ers perspective at how to be a good Power Team partner, next time, when our adventure in networking continues… Follow Me on Twitter!