8 things I have learned in Direct Sales or Network Marketing – advice from a Pro.

Let’s be short and sweet.  This is why you should listen to me.  I’ve been in the business 4 years, I have the best mentors in the world, and I’ve been able to quit my job, earned multiple trips to exotic and faraway destinations, I was the number one director in my company at my level before I’d even been in the business 3.5 years, I have a $40,000 Benz getting delivered to me in 2-3 weeks, and I’ve tripled what I used to make working 60 hour weeks.  If you haven’t done as much as that, or more, then you should listen to my advice.

1. Don’t be that guy.  Get a mentor who knows how to do this and not make an ass of themselves, and don’t use facebook to tag people who didn’t ask to be tagged, to endlessly promote your shit online and to ask people to buy from you 17 times a day.  Learn how to use Facebook the RIGHT way.  You should check out this article and then start following my great friend Brian P Cook, because if you want to be cool AND be in multi level marketing of any kind and not have people shun you in the grocery store, or unfollow you on facebook, then you Don’t want to be THAT guy.  And also, don’t be like those Amway people that invite you to a dinner party they didn’t tell you was a sales presentation.  Just be honest with your friends.  Say hey, this is a business call, or hey this is a friend call.  Then they won’t hate you.  And by the way, MAKE NON BUSINESS CALLS.  Have fun, and be social. 

2. This is going to take effort.  More in the beginning than in the end.  And you need to train yourself.  You can’t start this and have success without training.  No one gets a job anywhere and has success on day one without training.  Most people pay thousands upon thousands of dollars for a college degree (and some they never use) and then still need on-the-job training.  So stop thinking it’s going to fall in your lap.

3. You’re going to hit walls.  First I hit walls when I had cancellations.  Now I hit walls as a coach, and don’t know what to do when my team won’t engage or when they start training their recruits and the message gets scrambled down the line.  FIND A MENTOR.  In this business, it’s just monkey see monkey do.  Someone who has been in the business longer than you has been where you are.  The only reason they are having success and you aren’t (or aren’t having as much), is that they found a way through the problem.  Don’t think you have to go it alone – you don’t have to come up with your own solutions. Just ask them, they’re happy to help.  Because after all, in these Pyramid companies (and PS – what company doesn’t have a few people at the top and lots of people at the bottom?) they won’t make money unless you make money.

4.  Understand the 10% rule.  When I first started this business, my mentor told me – remember the 10% rule.  Only 10% of people are going to do anything with this. Anything AT ALL.  Not that only 10% are going to get rich, that 10% are going to even put in effort.  And only 10% of those 10% are going to have amazing success! I thought this odd, but then I started applying the 10% rule to life – it’s not just in this business – it’s in everything.  About 10% of employees make a place worthwhile.  About 10% of your friends are really really truly reliable!  One time I told my great friend about the 10% rule, and he shot back a quote to me from THOUSANDS of years ago. It’s a quote from Heraclitus, who was born 535 years before Christ (or Before Common Era if you’re like that).  The 10% rule has been around for THAT LONG!

“Out of every one hundred men, ten shouldn’t even be there, eighty are just targets, nine are the real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. Ah, but the one, one is a warrior, and he will bring the others back.”

5. Breaks are good and breaks are bad.  You need work/life balance for sure, and who wants to make all this money if you aren’t going to have fun, but you have to have discipline.  ESPECIALLY when you are starting up, you really have to work on this every day.  You can’t only focus on it 2 days a month.  It just doesn’t work like that.  Spend 30 minutes a day on your business, AT LEAST.  What does that mean?  That means 30 minutes a day talking to people and promoting yourself.  This does NOT mean 30 minutes puking on facebook. It means TALKING to humans who are new prospects, old clients who you are giving service to, or getting reorders.  Hell, even a thank you for your business call here and there.  But what you CAN’T DO.  What you ABSOLUTELY MUST NOT DO is work half ass at it.  Because not only does what you do now, echo into your business for the next 60-90 days (that’s good and bad echoes alike), but when you take a break and you haven’t created residuals yet, you are STARTING OVER AT GROUND ZERO EVERY TIME!

6.  You have to invest in your products.  You can’t sell things you don’t use and enjoy.  You must be a product of your product.  I sell skincare and makeup. I have team members who don’t even order enough every month to cover what they should be USING in a month.  Yet they tell me they are trying to build a business.  Guess what?  None of them are having success.  I don’t mean stockpile and order just to order.  I just mean, USE and become familiar with your products and TALK ABOUT THEM with LOVE and PASSION.  People will feel this!  Then they WILL BUY!

7.  You have to invest in yourself.  This is really just a personal growth business masked by some sort of merchandising.  The people who make lots of money at this are the people that are becoming better humans every day. They are learning to communicate better, they are learning to position themselves in the market, they are learning to coach, they are becoming more patient, and wise, and they’re wasting less time on useless pursuits and more time on MEANINGFUL LIVES.

8.  NOs are a good thing.  You have to learn to get NOs, because when you get really good at getting NOs, suddenly they turn into YESses!  Baseball players who bat a 400 (that means just 4 out of 10) get paid millions between their team contracts and endorsements.  I can’t say it ANY better than this guy, so just watch this.

Do you agree?  If you are having success in Network Marketing, I would love to know what you would add to this list.  If you’re not, and you have questions – then ASK ME!  And as always, if you found value in this blog, please share and comment! I appreciate you!

Hey hey I forgot my birthday!!

I got a sweet text from a friend today saying, sorry I forgot to wish you happy birthday!  Hmmm, I’m a June baby!  Next line of the text was  – happy Director Birthday!!!

Oh yah! Wow! 3 years.  My how they have flown by….three years….

Three years ago on December 1, I because a Director with my company.  After 10 months in the industry, I was already in the top percentile.  It took hard work, and it took dedication.  It took staying up to learn when I was tired, and it took a lot of coaching.  I got a lot of support and cheering and gentle correcting from my mentors, and I know without them I would not be where I am today.  I’m so ready to do that for someone else – to let them succeed and feel this amazing pride and joy in building their own business.

It’s kinda crazy when you think about it.  In February 2011 I started.  And then in December I was flown to LA to celebrate my promotion and the promotion of our team to National level.  I think at that point I wasn’t even sure what I was doing yet!  Shortly thereafter I quit my job and started to pursue this full time.  I had an office job for a while to help stabilize income, and to let me have a normal working schedule instead of the crazy retail hours I used to work.

In 2012 we bought our first house, and we have the most beautiful garden (there’s a picture below).  I love tulips and it’s covered in them! Late summer in 2012 I earned a cruise to the Bahamas which we took in February of 2013.  I also became a Senior Director by promoting out a Director from my family.

In spring of 2013 I earned a trip to New York City and we stayed at an incredible hotel right on Times Square, the Marriott Marquis.  At this time, I quit the second job and went 100% self employed. And in fall of 2013 I earned a trip for myself AND my husband to go to the Dominican Republic (we went in April 2014)- we had to have him apply for a passport – he’d never left the country before (Ok Canada, but that doesn’t count).  Sprinkle in some trips to Dallas, a trip to Anchorage to visit my parents, a trip to Vegas (first time and NOT the last), and that was quite an exciting year!

And the years just get better!  We kicked off 2014 with a trip to Hawaii with our family!  This year I have broken my sales records 3 times, I earned the title of Number 1 Senior Director in the entire company, I earned a Mercedes Benz (it’s gonna get delivered this month – it’s a 2015!!!!!) I can’t WAIT to drive it! And I just earned a trip to Paris (for two) and we’re just mapping out where else we will go when we are in Europe, because when the company pays for you to stay on the Champs Elysees and pays for your tickets there, you better bet your sweet ass I’m gonna spend my money on more travel!!!  I almost can’t believe this incredible life I have built, but I can, because I’m doing what it takes to make it happen, and I know exactly what I need to do.

Are you coachable?  Are you looking for more?  if you are, let me know what you are looking for.  I want to share this lifestyle with more people – help someone else get unstuck from the daily grind.  I’m enjoying life, and now I want to pass it forward.

Here’s a few pics from my trip down memory lane. Happy Birthday to me!!!

Our new house

Glacier hopping in Alaska, and fun night in Vegas with my Michael.

Bahamas cruising!  So fun!

At a Luau with my sister in Waikiki

Eating my first slice of NYC pizza, and our view of Times Square from our hotel

The moment before I claimed title to #1!

Gosh, I can’t wait to update this post with a picture of my shiny red new car!

It’s not about you…

People are so wrapped up in their own lives. They really are.  The Second of the Five Agreements is don’t take anything personally.

Do me a favor, don’t just read my blog – get the book.  The Fifth Agreement is one of my top five most influential books I’ve read in my life.  And it’s worth reading over, and over and over and over….basically any time you catch yourself breaking one of the agreements, you should go back and read it again.  Because it makes life SO. MUCH. EASIER.

Have you ever watched one of those shows where there is a staged crime and then several eye witnesses are interviewed to give descriptions of the event?  They all have different answers, and they all remember different things.  Our life is much like that, too.  First, people will always be concerned with their own welfare and happiness, including people that are concerned about others who you would never accuse of being selfish.  My own mother in law – the most caring and sweet person in the world, makes the most selfish decisions.  She REALLY LOVES to throw birthday parties for her family, and if she doesn’t get to she gets mopey.  Even though her son would rather not ever have a birthday party, she makes a huge fuss about it and we basically have to have the party to make her feel good.  She says it’s about him, but it’s really about her.  She wants to have the party because it makes her feel good to do it for someone else.  Many a martyr or kind saintly figure we come across might plea that they always have others in mind, and in their viewpoint they do.  Take the story from another person’s perspective, and it changes.

So even when someone is doing something nice for you, they do it because being nice feels good, because being kind makes their spirits rise, because they are generally nice wonderful people, yes – but it also fits into their paradigms and their story they are crafting about the nice person they are.

When someone makes a decision that is inconsiderate or frustrating to you, it’s not about you either.  You have to remember that everyone is playing out their own version of the script.  No one sees the same thing, no one reads the same thing, and no one can understand everyone else’s emotions and thoughts.  And if you continue to take everything everyone does personally, then you are in for a looooong and difficult, frustrating ride.

Take me for example.  I am in a direct sales party plan business.  In the beginning of my career, I would feel very personally attacked by any hostess who cancelled her date with me.  How could she?  Doesn’t she know this is my income?  How come she was so thoughtless?  Finally I asked one lady – what could I have done differently to hold this date with you?  She explained absolutely nothing!  I had sensed stress from her earlier on, and took it as her not wanting to communicate with me, and it ends up all along she was beating herself up about not being able to get people to come to her party and she felt guilty.  She wasn’t trying to be mean to me at all – she was just upset.  She ended up canceling finally and coming clean,  but for two weeks before we had our open and frank conversation I’d been thinking why doesn’t she like me? I’ve been so nice?  Why won’t she answer me about her guest list and how many people she has coming to the party, has she even sent out her invites?  I tortured myself for no good reason.  A great life skill set you can foster is asking direct and simple questions (that will be a later blog).

A popular example we use in our industry is one about restaurants.  Let’s say that you own a Chinese restaurant.  And I’m your best friend  (I hate Chinese).  I would come to your restaurant ONCE to be nice, to support you ONCE, and I would never ever ever ever come back.  If I’m like most people, I’m not going to tell you I don’t like Chinese. If you took this personally, you would wonder forever why didn’t she return, doesn’t my friend like me, doesn’t my friend want to support my business, did I do something wrong, was the food bad?  No, the food was great, for Chinese food (ick).  And every time someone asks me for a great Chinese restaurant I would tell them your place, but if someone asked me for a great restaurant, I would tell them about my favorite place, Public House 124 down on Main.  Not your restaurant.  It’s not about you, it’s about me, and my personal tastes.

Now, that line above… If I’m like most people… let’s talk about that line for a minute.  Remember yesterday’s blog?  Agreement number one is Be Impeccable with your word.  A better friend than I would have said, hey I’m going to come to your grand opening and invite all my friends, but I really really dislike Chinese food.  Don’t take it personally,  I won’t ever choose to eat there, but I’ll definitely recommend your place to anyone that asks!

By taking things personally, we end up making so many assumptions and thinking with our ego, rather than just saying it is what it is, and I can’t possibly know everything.  There’s a lot of negativity that comes from taking things personally.  And so much freedom from just deciding not to.  As each moment passes, it passes, and that’s all we deal with is what is happening in the moment.  Don’t make things more complicated than they need to be.

I love how learning about each agreement reinforces the others.  Be honest, say what you mean, be direct with your communication, be impeccable with your word, but also realize that most people aren’t always following agreement number one.  Any situation you face where other humans are making choices – it’s not about you.  Unless they’re actually following the first agreement and tell you it’s about you 😉 (kidding).