how to start mlm business

I really hope you will thoroughly study the process of learning how to invite, because this is where you get good at network marketing.

I've said it for 10 years: you can be terrible at everything else and still earn good money in network marketing if you're good at inviting. If you can invite well, you can always put prospects in front of good presenters and good trainers.

The word invite in the context that I'm using it is the act of asking someone to do something. Go to a movie, meet for breakfast, watch a video, etc.

In network marketing you're inviting people to look at either the MLM business or the product or both.

1. Business: This is where you show and educate your prospects about network marketing. Have them really understand and believe in its ability to provide adequate income and time freedom. Then show your product or service. This style is sometimes called "top down" or "business first."

2. Product: Show your prospects only the product (skin care, nutrition, telephone services, Internet services). After your prospect falls in love with the product they'll know the business is viable. This style is called "bottom up" or "product first." The lack of understanding of these two methods causes much frustration to those of us who are in network marketing and those who are not.

Why are People Confused?
Perhaps the best way for me to explain why the confusion takes place is with an example of a stockbroker. What does the stockbroker sell? You may reply, stocks. Well, not really. What the stockbroker actually sells is that you can make money with a stock. So the money you'll make is the product. You may have heard this referred to as "marketing intangibles." This is very much like network marketing because often the presenter prefers to "market the intangible," i.e., that you can make money. This isn't necessarily a bad method, unless you're talking to someone who doesn't understand this conversation.

Suppose we're talking to a person who comes from a retail sales background. Let's say she owns a wax candle shop. If she hears a presenter talking about all the money she can make in network marketing, she'll constantly be struggling to understand where the money is coming from. Many times these people are walking around after the typical presentation saying, "I don't get it". The reason she doesn't get it is because she's used to holding in her hands the tangible product that makes her the money.

This also works in reverse. If you approach a stockbroker and rub hand lotion on his hands and say, "you can make a lot of money doing this", he won't get it either. He'll see it as a little "pretty party thing." Certainly not something that could create a lot of money.

What's My Point?
How you invite, whether business first or product first will have much to do with "knowing" your prospect. This is the reason networking with people you know is so effective. This is also why you should master both business and product invitations.

In your network marketing company, take the approach that you're starting your own company. You need a board of directors. In network marketing we call them leaders.

The most important thing for you to understand at this point is you don't necessarily have to know these people. You probably won't. You may personally find these leaders or someone in your organization could lead you to them.

What character traits do you want in your leaders? What character traits do your leaders want in you? Why is this important for inviting?

Eagle Eye
Your greatest asset will become your eagle eye at picking leaders. I've not found a better way to teach how to spot a leader than just plain experience. However, you can look for certain traits.

Here is a list of character traits you do want in your board of directors...

* high self esteem
* goal driven
* entrepreneurial
* business minded
* owner mentality
* ready to act now
* decisive
* mentally tough


Conversely, here's a list of traits you don't want in your board of directors...

* passive
* wishy-washy
* employee mentality
* not ready to act
* low self-esteem
* easily influenced by others
* worries about what others think


How well you do at inviting will greatly depend on the growth of your communication skills. Most people have difficulty with communication. I did! However, the more I study it, the more I realize that communication is what makes or breaks us in life.

It's your ability to woo your significant other. It's your ability to get a job, get a raise, get a promotion, get along with others in the office. The signs on the road are the City communicating with us, giving us driving instructions. Whether written or verbal, communication is life. Don't most conflicts stem from mis-communications? Ever hear "You don't understand me?" It's definitely a skill worthy of much research and study.

Don't Like "Sales?"
Often, when people don't think they're good at communication they'll use the phrase, "I don't like sales" or "I'm not a sales person." Sales has nothing to do with it. In fact when you picture a sales person, what you're picturing is a poor communicator. When you've been sold, you knew it. You felt it. When you're in the presence of a really good communicator you may have bought something, but you were never sold anything.

A good communicator will never sell what his prospect won't buy. There's no way they could get there. A good communicator, whether a nurse or a networker listens and helps people get what they want.

That's all. A nurse has to learn the appropriate questions to ask so he/she can find exactly what the needs of the patient are. They must also learn the appropriate responses to the standard questions and concerns the patient has. A networker also must learn the needed questions and the appropriate responses to common objections so they can help their prospect get what they want.

Qualify or Not Both of the Invitations below are the truth. Which one do you think will work?

Invitation 1
An invite call asking a girl on a date: Boy: "I saw you on campus the other day and I'm interested in finding out more about who you are. I grew up in Boston, my parents are from New England. My dad's in the banking business. I'm studying finance as well. What are your interests? Are you available should I want to marry you? How many kids do you want? I want 3 kids. What's your religion? Shall we sit down and discuss the possibilities?

Invitation 2
Boy: "I've seen you on campus and you seem to be a fun person. I'd like to take you to lunch and get to know you better. How does that sound to you?"

Both have the same purpose in mind for meeting.

The argument in this industry is which one is better? People who are pro invitation #1 will tell you that they're pre-qualifying their prospects. So they're not wasting their time on people who don't qualify. The outcome was that this guy had to make 72 calls to get a girl to say "sure, why not."

The outcome was 72 calls = 1 date.

People who are pro invitation #2 will say that you sit down for lunch and you put your agenda aside and you just talk and be friendly. You listen to them. Find out what their needs and desires are. Help them get it.

The outcome was, she isn't interested in going out with you but she thinks you're a great guy and has 3 roommates and 2 sisters who she wants to set you up with.

The outcome was 1 meeting = 5 dates.

I'm suggesting to you that invitation #1 is "sales" and that invitation #2 is "networking."

I've heard distributors invite people to look at network marketing much like invitation #1. I'm not kidding. To show you, pick up a tape recorder and record yourself. Even though you know you're recording what you say, your conversations will still resemble invitation #1. Example: "My company does this, I'm making x amount of money, my company has this, and I have this, etc...

Learning how to properly invite and truly network with people is not always easy, but can be profitable for you. I commend your willingness to study it. Be a student of this inviting subject forever, but don't wait more than a week before doing it, even if it's just tiny steps.

Tim Sales
www.timsalesMLMtrainingnews.com
www.brilliantexchange.com
www.mlmbrilliance.com
www.professionalinviter.com


About Tim: In 1989, near the end of an 11-year tour with the US Navy Underwater Bomb Squad Team, Tim answered an ad in the Washington Post newspaper that led him to his first and only network marketing company. Five years later his network marketing income rose to over $150,000 per month with over 56,000 people in his organization. His most noted contribution to the Network Marketing Industry is the "Brilliant Compensation" presentation and he is a highly respected mentor and trainer for the entire MLM industry. Be sure to get his free monthly MLM training newsletter, filled with the practical and proven strategies Tim used to successfully build a downline of 56,000 people around the globe. Get the newsletter and have the first issue sent immediately to you by going to www.brilliantexchange.com

Why do you have a “chicken list?” Because you fear you don't communicate easily or well.

A “chicken list” is a list of prospects that you're scared of calling. Often people think they will call their “chicken list” after they get successful. But, they need these people in their MLM business to create the success.

This is a “Catch 22.”

The phrase “Catch 22” is from a novel by Joseph Heller, written in 1961, where a pilot who was afraid to fight in World War II feigned insanity. But the doctor he was feigning insanity to said that if he were truly insane then he wouldn't mind endangering his life by going into the war. On the other hand, if he were sane, then he would be capable of following orders to fight the war. Thus the phrase “catch-22” came to mean, “a situation that trips one up no matter which way one turns."

So, you need the people on your chicken list to create the success that you feel you need in order to contact your chicken list. How do you get around this catch-22?

Typically, your fear is based on you feeling the people on the list are somehow above yourself because of their status. But if you were to examine this more closely you would discover that it's not that the people on your chicken list are any better than you, it's that you don't have confidence in your ability to communicate easily.

If you knew you could communicate easily and effectively without making any mistakes, you could…and would…call anyone without hesitation. You would have confidence. You would have certainty. And there's NOTHING more rewarding than having that feeling.

Communicate means:
a. To convey information about; make known.
b. To reveal clearly.

Easily means:
a. Free from worry, anxiety, trouble, or pain.
b. Requiring or exhibiting little effort.

In the ongoing study of “How you say it,” the fifth communication quality is to communicate easily – no tension, strain, fakeness, sounding rehearsed, stuttering or hesitating.

Let's take up each one of these issues:

Tension & Strain (The usage definition for tension and strain were very similar so they are combined here.)

a. To be subjected to great stress. b. A great or excessive pressure, demand, or stress on one's body, mind, or resources.

Tension and strain (while communicating) are stress that is created by the mental activity of feeling unprepared or that you will sound “stupid” to others.

If you've ever been asked to suddenly speak in public you know what this mental activity feels like. It creates a very uncomfortable feeling. It's a feeling of “being on the spot” and not knowing what to say. It is often the reason someone's voice “squeaks and quivers” while talking. Tension and strain communicates uncertainty to the prospect or “new to the subject” and unprofessional.

The solution to tension and strain is familiarizing yourself with all situations that can come up on a call when talking to prospects. This is the main reason I put live calls in “Professional Inviter” – so listeners could hear me talking with prospects live and know and become familiar with what prospects say on the phone.

Also know what you're going to ask the prospect to do – invite for product or invite for business, send to a website or get on a conference call, etc. If you are very clear about what you're going to do and say, you will greatly reduce tension and strain.

Fakeness a. To represent falsely; pretend to. b. To fabricate.

People sound fake when they use a lot of fluff words like: awesome, incredible, unbelievable, fabulous, wonderful, special, state-of-the-art, etc.

These types of adjectives demonstrate a clear bias on your part. I'm not suggesting you be a boring communicator – by all means, be excited. But you don't have to use fluff or puff words to describe your excitement as they normally indicate a cover-up of real content.

Sounding rehearsed a. One that is not authentic or genuine.

Rehearsing what you're going to say is NOT WRONG. However, if you talk with a prospect before you've rehearsed enough – you will sound rehearsed; which IS UNPROFESSIONAL.

If you've received a phone call from a telemarketer and you could tell he was reading from a script, it probably didn't sound very genuine and as soon as you detected that he was reading from a script, you wanted off the phone. That's what you want to avoid causing your prospect to feel about you.

Stuttering and hesitating a. If you hesitate, you do not speak or act for a short time, usually because you are uncertain, embarrassed, or worried about what you are going to say or do.

Stuttering and hesitating loops us back to the first issue I discussed above which is Tension and Strain. See, it is the fear of saying or doing something the prospect won't agree with that causes us to hesitate and stutter. So the solution for stuttering and hesitating is similar to the solution for tension and strain– be very familiar with all the situations that can come up on your invite call.

I don't know if you've realized the simplicity of this yet, but your willingness to talk to your “chicken list” or lack thereof is based on your ability to communicate easily. And to communicate easily, you need to become familiar with all aspects of your MLM business and company.

I adore and respect you :),

Tim Sales

The article above makes reference to “Professional Inviter,” - a CD training series that teaches network marketers how to say the right thing to every prospect. Listen to a sample live prospecting call at http://www.professionalinviter.com.

About Tim: In 1989, near the end of an 11-year tour with the US Navy Underwater Bomb Squad Team, Tim answered an ad in the Washington Post newspaper that led him to his first and only MLM company. Five years later his network marketing income rose to over $150,000 per month with over 56,000 people in his organization. His most noted contribution to the Network Marketing Industry is the “Brilliant Compensation” presentation and he is a highly respected mentor and trainer for the entire MLM industry. Get his free monthly MLM training newsletter filled with the strategies Tim used to successfully build his downline by going to http://www.brilliantexchange.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tim_Sales

When talking with your prospect, after the first silent statement of, "I'm interested in you," the next thing you do is DON'T BE DISTRACTED BY ANYTHING.

I know it sounds simple but boy does it show when you don't do this. And I wouldn't be discussing it if I didn't see that it is severely limiting many people from being good communicators.

When you are distracted by something, immediately your silent statement of "I'm interested in you" is gone because you're not interested in them if you're distracted by something else. Instead, you're interested in the email that just came in or the waiter that just stepped up to the table.

In toasting a glass of wine, champagne or grape juice, customary etiquette claims that you should keep the glass to your lips until the toaster has taken it away from his/her lips. In talking with your prospect, don't take your attention off the prospect until the prospect's attention goes off you. If the prospect looks at a TV, a waiter, a child, etc., don't keep staring at them - shift your focus to what they're looking at.

When you're on the phone, keep focused on the conversation - no multitasking! Extremely important things get skipped while you're doing other things. Your replies to their statements and questions are very often incorrect or inappropriate or not timed correctly. And don't think for a second they don't notice... it may be "okay" with them, but they know they are second [at least] in your order of importance. This is never okay.

For those of you who've listened to Professional Inviter you probably recall my conversation with the lady Ruth and how she was multitasking. So I asked her to repeat what I had just said to her. Did you hear her trying to respond? It's actually very funny when you listen to it. But that's an example of her not being able to correctly respond because she was multitasking.

When you're at an MLM business meeting with your guest, don't be distracted by the environment. When someone arrives late to the meeting - don't look at the late person. I don't care if EVERYONE looks; don't you. Keep your eyes on the presenter; this reveals the importance you place on the content of the speaker. Your guest will notice your actions. This also goes for someone leaving the room. Often MLM training meetings are more relaxed, but the same rule applies - don't be distracted by anything in the environment.

Some common things I see Networkers distracted by are:

* Men distracted by a cute girl walking by
* Women noticing the wardrobe of another woman walking by
* Television that's in the room
* Children or pets at an in-home meeting
* Cell phones ringing
* Someone more interesting than the prospect - which should NEVER be the case
* The rattling of a health/candy bar or a piece of candy


Forget everything else and just pay attention to your prospect! This subject comes from the Ten Communication Qualities on Professional Inviter. The first quality of the ten is BE INTERESTED IN THE PROSPECT. The second quality is DON'T BE DISTRACTED BY ANYTHING IN THE ENVIRONMENT.

If you think about it, if you're really doing the first quality, the second quality is a given.

Much respect and admiration,

Tim Sales
www.timsalesMLMtrainingnews.com
www.brilliantexchange.com
www.mlmbrilliance.com
www.professionalinviter.com


The article above makes reference to "Professional Inviter," - a CD training series that teaches network marketers how to say the right thing to every prospect. Listen to a sample live prospecting call by going to www.professionalinviter.com



About Tim: In 1989, near the end of an 11-year tour with the US Navy Underwater Bomb Squad Team, Tim answered an ad in the Washington Post newspaper that led him to his first and only network marketing company. Five years later his network marketing income rose to over $150,000 per month with over 56,000 people in his organization. His most noted contribution to the Network Marketing Industry is the "Brilliant Compensation" presentation and he is a highly respected mentor and trainer for the entire MLM industry. Get his free monthly MLM training newsletter, filled with the practical and proven strategies Tim used to successfully build his downline around the globe. Have the first issue sent immediately to you by going to www.brilliantexchange.com