Dec
15
2009
Transform yourself into a pack horse
The three principles of this business are to be consistent in your activity, to replicate the business and to give it time. It is simple. The business is simple. The products are great and they work. Retailing them at events is a doddle. So, what is the challenge?
Being consistent is a key to being successful in this business. You have to be a pack horse and just keep moving onwards towards your goals. I have not yet been consistent in my activity. I have carried out short sprints of emailing and calling. Then I have stopped because it is easy to let ‘life’ get in the way.
But the life that gets in the way is not going to help me to reach my objectives. Being stressed in my day job, or being away at the weekends when I could be building my business or putting things off because of Christmas are easy excuses. In this business, there is no room for excuses. You do well in this business by doing simple things often and regularly. This business needs discipline.
And being disciplined in your activity brings you wealth. Not just financial wealth. It will be bring you wealth in your spirit and relationships too. I have tried to be clever in this business by doing things which are not simple. I have run email campaigns when I should be just picking up the phone and talking to people. I have carried out activities in Twitter and Facebook when I should be just talking to people.
This business is not difficult at all. It is simplicity in its essence. But it is easy to make it complicated. To be successful you have to make a choice. Am I prepared to carry on with being where I am? Or am I prepared to be strong, get my head an plod on steadily towards where I want to be?
Dec
2
2009
Seek to understand and you will be more effective
It is always surprising to hear people when they don’t want to learn how to do something which will benefit them. Working with technology for the last twelve years has shown me that you have to keep learning and accept that it never stops. You are always learning because the technology keeps changing and improving.
Of course, when you learn, you begin to understand. Understanding means you have to listen. By listening you cut everything else out of your mind and absorb what you are hearing. The Army has a good acronym which is the basis of all of their training: ‘EDIP – Explain, Demonstrate, Impersonate, Practice‘. It’s simple and it works. By practicing, you transfer all of that ’stuff’ that you see and hear into your long term memory. When you do that, you become skilled and things make sense because you have gained experience.
To learn takes effort. To practice takes discipline. When you put the effort in and keep ‘at it’ new perspectives on your subject appear. This is when you ‘get it’. But you have to start with an attitude of seeking to understand. That simple phrase is one of the pillars of being effective in whatever you do in life.
It took me five years to ‘get’ this business. It took that long because I started off not wanting to understand how network marketing works. But, my sister-in-law persisted and I started to see how it works and I was amazed at its simplicity. This simplicity is often an aspect of the business which most people find suspicious about network marketing. Most people seem determined to make a simple plan complicated because they think it sounds better and gives them some sort of comfort.
Network marketing is designed to simple and replicable. Being replicable is what most people in traditional business want to avoid. They want to be unique. Being able to replicate the business is a cornerstone of network marketing. And understanding these and others principles is when you suddenly see how far you can take the business.
However, most people are very wary about network marketing. They have prejudices about it which are founded in activities which were made illegal thirty years ago. This stops people from wanting to understand about the business. They block it out. They think it is a ‘get rich quick scheme‘ when, in fact, with persistence, time and duplication this business is actually a ‘get rich slow business‘.
It’s shame. Because it is an amazing business strategy which can change your life. But, you have to understand it, drop your misinformed opinions and learn. It’s worth it.
Nov
26
2009
Network marketing was built for Web 2.0
If you read what’s happening in marketing, of which advertising is a part, then you will know that this world is changing dramatically. For example, no longer do we watch TV when we are told to watch it. We can record TV using our digital boxes and watch it when we can fit it into our busy lives. When we watch the show we recorded, we can whiz through the advertisements.
Print advertising is no longer as effective as it used to be. People are buying less newspapers and magazines, and it less than certain at best that your advertisement is going to have an impact. Telemarketing is getting blocked out by ‘telephone preference services’ and email is getting blocked by spam filters. Direct mail is getting placed directly into the bin (let’s hope it’s the recycling one).
So, the new phenomenon is called social media where friends, colleagues and contacts congregate online and share what’s going on in their lives, whether that’s telling the world what they are eating right now (I can see a tweet on my screen now from someone telling me they are eating bread, cheese & marmite and washing it down with a bottle of aloe vera drink!). Some people scoff at it as a waste of time. But, the reality is that it is becoming a major source of influence for many people.
Social media and the term ‘Web 2.0′ are all about the new capability of web sites and tools, as well as the desire of people to share thoughts, ideas and information with people they know. This is from where much of our influences in choices about products, people and services derive today. And, on that matter, this is not new. We have always spoken to our friends, family and contacts for their thoughts on their experiences on a product or service. It’s just that the internet now makes it much easier to reach to people than was previously possible.
Big companies with big marketing teams are now struggling to handle this new approach. They are all geared up to ‘interrupt’ our lives with email blasts, TV ads, direct mail, SMS, poster, inserts, wobblers, banner ads on web sites, people shoving poor quality newspapers in your hand in the street, and activities which were deemed normal in the past but which are now blocked out by people at the receiving end.
It’s now a recognised fact that about 70% of all products and services are researched on the internet today before they are purchased. People don’t go to a manufacturer’s site to find out whether a product or service is any good or not. Oh no. They ask their friends, they check out web sites, blogs and forums for opinions and reviews. They block out the traditional marketing from the manufacturer knowing that it is biased.
So, what has this got to do with network marketing? People scoff at network marketing as some sort of ghastly, brainwashed cult that sells products through illegal pyramid schemes. It could not be further from the truth. Like social media, network marketing is based upon people who know, like and trust you.
The business I am in, Forever Living, does not advertise its products and it does not sell them through high street shops. Our products sell through recommendation. Anyone who owns a business wants people to recommend their product or service because they know it is powerful, more powerful than some marketer saying their product is great so you should buy it.
Take last night, for instance. I spent some time last night with two people who came along to hear about my products. I knew one of them from work in the recent past. She’s a great person who knows me quite well. She brought a friend of hers along, who was lovely, with her to see what all the fuss was about who had never heard of our business and products.
I showed them our products, let then try them and talked about how they had helped other people. My old workmate, without prompting, said she knew someone who had used one of the aloe vera drinks we produce to help them with a problem with their digestion and it had worked. Another mutual friend has used our aloe propolis creme for a long standing skin condition on her face. She had told me that within three days the creme had started to make a positive difference to her skin.
That meeting last night with two people I know was all about knowing, liking and trusting people and their views. That is what successful network marketing businesses are built upon. Recommendation from your friends and contacts. It’s what marketing teams in big companies dream about and which they are failing to achieve through the ‘interruption techniques’ they have used until now to let you know about their product or service.
Networking marketing is powerful and relies upon good people recommending good products to people who know, like and trust them. People who own network marketing business understand ‘inbound marketing’ where they don’t rely on old marketing techniques to sell their products. They rely on trust and word of mouth which is exactly what social media and ‘web 2.0′ is all about.
Nov
22
2009
Your reason for joining us is important to know!
Another really good person joined my team at Healthy Business this week. She is someone I have known for two years or so through a business we worked in together. She came to a focus group I ran to get people’s feedback about the business and she asked about the business at the event. My new team member joined for a number of reasons which included earning extra money, to meet new people and to reach her full potential, amongst others.
Although I introduced her to the business, I have not done this on my own. My sister-in-law has spent a lot of time with her, talking to her about what she wants to achieve and helping her to make the right decision for her. That’s another aspect of this business which I like. Although I am running my own business, I’m not running it on my own. There is a huge amount of support and team spirit which is unusual in many of the businesses I have worked in over the years.
People join for different reasons which might be for extra income, or the desire to help other people, for example. But, the fact is that the people who do well have their ‘reason why’ instilled in all of their activities. If they are not clear why they are putting in the effort, they will find it more challenging to succeed.
Recently, I wrote a page about why people join this business which, I hope, puts the beauty of this business into perspective of the everyday realities of our daily working lives.
Nov
16
2009
Someone keeps writing me cheques
When you start a business you have to do many things to take it from conception to birth to growth to maturity. My business has just gone beyond conception and it has been born. This was marked by the first sales of the business and the first bonus cheque to come into my bank account this month.
It was a small cheque but a significant one. It marked the start of the royalty-based business I have started. Royalties are a fabulous result of people buying your products over and over again. If you are a successful artist, you will know what this feels like. You do something once and well. People continue to buy your product and you keep receiving a royalty. That’s why bands want to release catchy Christmas songs. Every time a shop plays ‘White Christmas’ by Bing Crosby, the person who owns the rights to the song gets a royalty. Year in, year out.
So, running a business which receives royalties from the efforts that you have put in feels great because if you put the effort it, the company keeps rewarding that effort. It’s not like pay which gets paid regularly in most jobs and stays the same no matter how hard you work. Royalties keep on coming in and growing as long as you keep putting the effort in.
But, more importantly, this business feels great because by helping people with either your products or by helping them to grow their business, you get rewarded handsomely. But this is no ‘get rich quick scheme’. No, this is far deeper than that. This is a business which continues to grow even if you continue to work a consistent 10 hours or more a week.
A royalty business is not for everyone but it is for those who understand that royalties keep coming in while you are sleeping, on holiday or helping people.
Nov
9
2009
Unthink your experience and look at things differently
“Why doesn’t your company just do a massive deal with Wal-Mart, Tesco or Carrefour and sell tons of its products through them? It would be a lot easier and they would make loads of money.”
That’s the question and statement that I hear often when I talk to people about the business I am now in. People just cannot believe that Forever Living does not do this and that it decided that it wanted to give people an opportunity build themselves a rewarding career and to do all the things that they dream about doing through hard work, perseverance and helping other people.
People just don’t believe that this is possible. They don’t believe that a company owned by a billionaire could possibly care enough about the people in its business to help them achieve all that they ever wanted to achieve.
Corporate life conditions you to think that there is only one way and that way offers ‘thin value’ to its employees. The ‘thin value’ is diminishing benefits such as your pension contributions, or an expectation of long hours for no-extra pay, or having to deal with internal politics which stop the business from helping its customers. The economies of the western world have been blown apart and are now heavily subsidised by their governments by billions of pounds because the financial system was allowed to run away with itself in the belief that it was creating value for society overall when, in retrospect, we see clearly that it was not. The system was geared up on greed and self-importance.
So, when this business asks ‘why do you want to do this?‘ to people who are interested in it, one of the answers people regularly give is ‘Because I want to help people‘. Often, though, our society mixes this desire of people with patronage or charity. But this is not the case.
This business is built upon people helping other people. That might be helping them to be all they can be in life. Or helping them with their healthy and well being. It might be helping them to set up their own business. It might be helping them to get rid of their debts.
This way of thinking works. I have been going to a business networking group for several months now. There are several regular members and some people who come as guests. All of them are from different businesses. We do some business amongst ourselves but the group is too small to rely on the individual members to get much business from them. As we have got to know each other, we have all started helping each other out with our expertise. I help someone with knowledge about internet marketing. Someone else helps me with their financial knowledge. Another person helps the group with printing ideas.
By giving our time and helping each other out, we have now started to recommend other people in the group to our own contacts. These referrals are becoming increasingly regular and lucrative. People in the group realise that it takes time to get to know someone but when you do know them you know you can rely on them. This is ‘thick value’ and it is not something which conventional business can handle easily. Everything has to be measured. Nothing is given away.
But some things cannot be measured. How do you measure trust, for example?
Quite often people are surprised when I help them out over the phone or through an email with some ideas. They are not used to it. And that’s what people find unsettling about the Forever Living business. It’s not a pushy business. It’s a helping business. It’s a business which says ‘Just try this. If you don’t like it, bring back the product, even if it’s the empty bottle, within sixty days and we’ll give you your money back. No questions asked‘. It’s business where the leaders and owners are very humble ad approachable. There are no big egos.
To finish off, I really enjoy reading Umair Haque’s blog articles. He talks about ‘thin value’ and ‘thick value’ a lot and this article is typical of his writing: ‘Is Your Business Useless?‘ is a great article which talks about the businesses which are “socially useless” and which have “created a jobless “recovery” and mass unemployment amongst the young“.
Read it and think about what it says. You might turn your conventional thinking on its head.
Nov
4
2009
It's about who you know, like and trust
It has been about two weeks since I started working on my new business in earnest and I have learnt a lot already. It’s not easy but when it works (and it does work), it is the most satisfying feeling to experience success. My first success has come in the form of my first team member.
My team member is running his own business already and wants to run his Forever Living business in parallel to his vending enterprise. We worked together in a former life and we got on well. He had looked at the business five years ago but had not known anyone in the business to understand what it was really like.
He got in touch with me after I emailed him asking if he knew anyone who was looking for an opportunity to start their own business or to earn some extra income. He called me to catch up and my up-line manager, Cora, and I took him through the details of the business.
This business is really built upon people who know you, like you and trust you. I’m looking forward to working with my new team member again and helping him to reach his goals. This business will enable him to work around his existing commitments while he develops his retail sales and his own team.
I have now planned to run my first ‘product launch’ next week in conjunction with a new, local spa who have offered me their ‘relaxation room’ (which is fabulous) to show people our range of health, nutrition and well being products and presents.
Nov
3
2009
Follow the principles to succeed
I think it was Eddie Cochran who said that there are ‘three steps to heaven’. His three steps were finding a a girl to love, followed by getting her to fall in love with you and ending by kissing and holding her tight. It sounds easy and romantic.
But finding a girl to love is, generally, quite hard to do when you are young. Some people don’t achieve it at all. Many keep their girl for the shortest of times. Getting her to fall in love with you is the next challenge. How the heck do you do that? You take her out, make her laugh, make her feel special and hope one of these methods sticks, because you know that prize of her kiss is waiting for you when you succeed. Eddie Cochran knew that holding her tight was important because you have worked so darned and invested so much of yourself in the process that you don’t want to lose her. That would be a disaster.
In this business, there are three steps to heaven too. They sound easy. They are easy to understand. They make sense. But like anything, anyone following the principles needs to follow them religiously to get the prize.
The first success principle is ‘consistent effort‘. This business needs you to do certain things each day and everyday. You need to put the business in front of people every day through phone calls, meetings, presentations and training. By doing this, you make sure that you increase your chances of selling products and recruiting people to your team.
The next principle is ‘duplication‘. Over several decades, Forever Living has fine tuned a business model which is easily duplicable. That sounds odd to most people but it is a sound principle which ensures that the business model is easy to learn and to follow so that people can get going quickly when you recruit them and train them in the business.
Finally, you have to ‘give it enough time’. Most people think this business is either a get rich quick scheme. It’s not. You need to be patient and work it along building it up steadily through hard work and following the plan. That’s why many people drop out just at the point when they could have seen it grow hugely.
I am at the early stages of my business and I am already getting success. Following the plan takes discipline, dedication and some sacrifice. But when you have worked hard and remained patient you will reach that goal which compelled you to start the business.
Oct
29
2009
It's a rational business decision.
Building a business is a tough thing to do. You need not only a good idea (which, to be frank, is the easy bit), you need to know how to execute your idea so that people know about it, understand it, feel comfortable with it and ultimately decide that your business idea, service or product is something that they will buy from you. When you have been in business for a while, you get to know what questions to ask about a business before you commit to it.
For instance, some years back I was keen on buying into a franchise which is a yacht brokerage. I was looking at selling other people’s yachts, boats and dinghies. With a franchise, the key commitment that the franchiser is looking for is the fee that you pay to buy into their ‘proven’ system. Before I was going to do that, I did some market research into the ‘area’ which would have been my allocated territory.
My research showed me that the market was not for yachts and boats in the centre where they suggested was the best spot, but was, in fact, the inland waterways. Inland waterways are a totally different market to yachts and so, I concluded, I would be better off starting my own business selling barges, cruisers and narrow boats rather than investing and borrowing £90,000 to get into the franchise for yacht sales.
A few years later, I started my own business in live, online learning training IT professionals around the world through the internet. In short, everyone thought the idea was great, but the business struggled and I ran out of money to be able to carry on with it. I lost quite a lot of money in the process but I learned many lessons.
When it comes to starting a network marketing business, I could immediately see that the idea is good, the business is proven, there is a ready and untapped market in the UK, there is no franchise fee to worry about, I believe in the products, I have all the right skills and experience to be able to make it work and I can start it part-time and work it around my other commitments.
This week I spoke with an old business friend of mine about the business with the help of Cora, my sister-in-law, and presented the business over the internet. My contact was very open about the business and was keen to understand the details. He had come across the Forever Living business five years ago but had not pursued it because, amongst one or two other reasons, he had not known anyone in the business to understand why people were so positive about it.
Furthermore, he had spent several years working in the food industry marketing health food products, so he understood the market well. His main enthusiasm from our presentation was the fact that over half of the business’s revenue comes from one aloe vera drink. As a businessman, he understood the business model and knew that the business model is not some wacky scheme but that network marketing is a proven business strategy. His enthusiasm for the opportunity was based on rational thinking and experience.
The plain fact is that people understand and enthuse about this networking business for different reasons. Many because they believe in the products. Some because they can also see the opportunity. Others because they see how it can help them achieve what they want to achieve in their lives which ordinary jobs can never provide on their own.
All of them see it for what it is, which is an unconventional business which helps people. It is honest, non-pushy, high quality and enables those who want to change their lives change them for the better. If you don’t believe it, then that’s fine.
Oct
28
2009
Network marketing is about knowing, liking and trusting people
Networking is part of my being. It is part of most people’s way of life but they often fail to realise this because they just do it everyday. When you work with someone for a number of years, you get to know them. When you go to school with someone, you spend six to eight hours, at least, with them every day and you soon get to know them and they get to know you too. Over a period of time, you understand their habits, their passions and dislikes, their taste in music, fashion, food and friends. It’s natural.
Every week, I attend a business networking breakfast at a hotel where a group of us get together and talk about our businesses. One of the group gets up each week and gives presentation about their business and how they can help people. In addition, one person gives a quick ‘learning point’ about something they believe will be applicable to everyone around the table in their businesses. There is time to chat over our breakfast with whomever you are sitting next to and to hear their news. The group is diverse. There are solicitors, health and safety experts, accountants, web specialists, printers, financial experts, HR specialists and sales training experts.
I have been going to this for over six months and it has been interesting to see how many people in the group stick with the networking group and how many drop out. Most have stayed the course but some have dropped out. Those that have dropped out of the group left because they were not getting any business from it, as far as they could see. But, the funny thing is that after a few months of slow business, the group has started to increase the amount of business beig carried out.
The reason is clear. It is down to the simple fact that we are starting to get to know, like and trust each other. Those that have persisted with the early mornings have started to gain from it. The level of humour and noise has increased as people have begun to understand each other. People have done business amongst themselves and they have seen how professional they have been with them and so they now feel comfortable to refer them to their own contacts.
Some people that come to the group expecting instant business have totally missed how networking works. They think that they need to sell to everyone around the table. But the opportunity for business is not immediately at the table. The opportunity is with the contacts of the people at the table. The hard earned contacts of the people at the table will not be easily handed over without that person knowing that you are a trustworthy person.
When you are known, liked and trusted then you will find that your persistence with networking will bring you business which is profitable, sustainable and strong. And that is why people who have good reputations and who have good contacts and networks do well in companies like Forever Living. They succeed because they contribute to their network by helping people first and foremost. They don’t push their products or services onto people. They listen to people and understand people’s circumstances and recommend people who can help them if they cannot. Network marketers are in it for the long term and not just for a quick buck.
So, when someone approaches you with their network marketing business, it is probably someone you know well and you probably like and trust them. So don’t dismiss them as just someone trying to sell you something. They are doing something which is far deeper than that. They are paying you a great compliment because they know, like and trust you and would never approach you with something which they did not believe was anything but the best.