Fending Off the Scatter Bomb

(The following information is taken from Your First Year in Network Marketing by Mark and Rene Yarnell.  I am providing you highlights in the next several blogs in hopes that you will be equipped to survive and thrive in your hardest year of your network marketing business – the first one.  Here are the highlights from Chapter 6.)

The Scatter Bomb is a mental explosion that obscures the focus of distributors, causing them to stop using the MLM system taught by their upline.  They are lured away from a proven system to try the latest, hotest MLM marketing guru’s system hoping it will help them succeed more quickly.

The Scatter Bomb is tricky because it is so deceptive.  It comes disguised as the ultimate new tool or as the perfect strategy for success.  The reality is however, that changing direction every time a new system comes along is one of the worst things a first year MLMer can do.

MLM is a business system built on duplication.  Our downline will do what they see us do.  So, if we diverge from what we know works, so will they, and this causes confusion. 

The best weapon against the Scatter Bomb is patience.  The key to success is duplicating what has worked for our upline and then training our frontline to do likewise.  Eventually, this will result in generating a solid income for everyone on our team who patiently follows the proven system.

New associates must be taught to earnestly duplicate our system and not deviate from it.  They need to know that the day that they deviate from it is the day that they lose our support.  It’s that important.  If our associates are unwilling to duplicate one simple system that has proven itself elsewhere, they are destined  for failure.

Business Without Blinders

The Scatter Bomb also refers to the difficulty that new associates have in maintaining a clear vision of where they are going and how they are going to get there.

It is essential that new associates put on the proverbial ‘blinders’ during their first year in MLM.  Again, consistency in duplication of the proven system prevents confusing our entire downline and helps all of us move toward success.

Achieving our MLM goals is a process of getting accustomed to a new and better reality and quality of life.  We need to stay focused on the end result while:

1. Preserving our belief that it will happen

2. Blocking negative influences

3. Refusing to worry about how it will happen

Changing the System Midstream

There will be a temptation to change the system of recruiting ever so slightly because we think we know what’s best.  If we think this way, so will our associates.

New associates, especially those who have been successful in other businesses, think that they know more than their sponsors and those who have achieved MLM success.  In fact, the greater their leadership skills, the more likely they will want to invent new systems.

The best way to prevent new associates from deviating from the proven system is to anticipate their ideas in training.  Warn them of the danger of the Scatter Bomb.

Emphasize that MLM begins with relationships and requires numerous contacts and tenacious follow-through.  One of the aspects of the system that most new associates will want to change is the numbers of people they need to have on their warm list and then their goal for associates.  Associates will want to aim for lower numbers because they seem more realistic and achievable. 

We need to stress that any deviation from the system can result in failure.  Warning them of the Scatter Bomb during a relaxed training session will help us later when we need to constructively correct them if they start to deviate from the system.

The Lure of Other MLM Deals

We can expect that we and our downline will be approached at some point with other MLM opportunities.  The authors of this book claim that they have never met someone who has successfully built more than one downline at the same time.  It takes every bit of focus and effort we’ve got to reach the top payout of one solid MLM company.

Here’s the reality:  the trickledown theory works better in MLM than in economics.  Teach our leaders anything and if it works, everyone in our organization will learn it rapidly.

Success comes through PERSEVERANCE!

Associates who have remained with one company for many years, and have built new legs in each of those years, become very wealthy.  Those who think that the grass is greener with another company’s compensation plan learn the hard way that lasting wealth can only be realized through long-term participation in one company.

Diffusion by Other Leaders

It is often wiser to recruit new associates who have no prior MLM experience.  These folks are easier to train.  They do not enter our business with the mindset of having all the answers, and they are more likely to learn and stick with our system.

During initial training sessions, we need to promise our new associates that we will (1) never keep helpful information from them, and (2) we will never allow them to make errors that, experience has taught us, will cause failure. 

We need to reassure them that we want to see them succeed, and because of this, we need them to trust us by following the proven system of success.

Why is implementing a new system so detrimental?  It puts everyone back at ground zero, and it will take months for folks to become proficient at the new system.  In the meantime, valuable time and momentum are lost.

Diffusing the Scatter Bomb

The old adage, “If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time,” is so true.  Some of our associates will need our help learning to devise a weekly and daily action plan that will move them toward their goals.  Doing so, will help keep them focused and on track toward success.

For some folks, time itself is the issue.  We need to show them how to evaluate their day in the morning and then to plan their MLM work into the nooks and crannies of their day.

Being a Team Player

MLM is a team business.  Those who seek to fly solo will crash and burn quickly.  Success in MLM can be pared down to a few simple steps:

1. Envision the unlimited possibilities and shape our vision around the vast opportunities MLM offers.

2. Develop a game plan broken down into specific, measureable steps toward building our business and improving our character.

3. Get moving; don’t procrastinate; just DO it!

4. Generate an open dialogue with our mentors for our personal growth and development while giving honest feedback to our downline.

Attacking the Warm List Warhead

(The following information is taken from Your First Year in Network Marketing by Mark and Rene Yarnell.  I am providing you highlights in the next several blogs in hopes that you will be equipped to survive and thrive in your hardest year of your network marketing business – the first one.  Here are the highlights from Chapter 5.)

The most critical months for every new MLM associate are the first six months.  During these formative and impressionable months, patterns of success must be firmly established in their minds. 

Few associates will survive their first year in MLM if they misspend their first few weeks.  The authors believe that MLM’s high attrition rate is the result of the seeds of failure sown in the early stages. 

The foundation of every MLM business is the creation of the warm list.  This is made up of the group of people from our past and present whom we know well enough that if we called them they would recognize our voices before they heard our names.

Our warm list is not only made up of people that we know but also of people with whom we would like to forge a lifetime business relationship.  Our warm list is what makes us unique from everyone else in our business. 

The longer our warm list, the more solidly we will be able to establish our business.  The authors recommend making a list of 2,000 that we personally know.  Then, we should select our top 25 people with whom we would most enjoy being in business. 

(Email me if you would like a copy of their memory jogger list.)

The Warm List Warhead Strikes

These warheads are the excuses offered up by associates for not contacting folks on their warm lists.

First Warhead: Lack of Conviction

To be successful our MLM business, we need to have such a firm conviction that our MLM business can produce financial and time freedom that we can’t help but share it with people.  If we lack such conviction, we will hold back from sharing with people.

Some folks offer the excuse, “I’m waiting to call my friends until I am really making money.”  The solution for this is to rely on the testimony of our upline’s success when sharing our MLM with our friends.

Each of us has a chicken list.  These are the folks that we perceive as successful in their careers with whom we think we need to wait to approach them until we are more educated, making more money, and working our MLM business full-time.  The problem is that while we wait to share our business with them, someone else is, and they are likely joining up with someone else much to our chagrin!

Second Warhead: Lack of Self-Esteem

Some new MLMers think that the folks on their warm list don’t respect them enough to listen to an MLM presentation.  Our greatest fear is their rejection.

The reality is that our greatest challenge with these folks will come when they see our success and then get angry with us for not sharing the business with them.

If they do resist seeing our presentation, we should simply emphasize up front that the choice to join us is completely theirs, but we just want to give them all of the information that they will need to make a strong decision.

Third Warhead: Fear of Losing Credibility

Professionals sometimes fear acknowledging their participation in MLMs for fear of losing credibility with their colleagues.  However, the truth is that when a highly respected professional joins an MLM organization, the floodgates start opening for others to join as well. 

More times than not, ordinary folks are the ones that become the ‘big hitters’ in the MLM world.  This is one of the things that makes MLM so great – anyone can be successful no matter their career background.

If we don’t show our prospects how completely convinced we are about our MLM business, we will fail.  Even if we are convinced about our MLM business, but we fail to share it with our other work associates, we will miss out on signing up some of our best warm list people.

Fourth Warhead: Embarrassment from Prior Failure in MLM

This is actually a legitimate concern, but here’s how to overcome it.  We need to share with them that we have now accumulated enough information and experience in MLM, that we can confidently share this new opportunity with them.  Turn past failures into assets of experience.

Fifth Warhead: Qualifying the Leads

Traditional sales and marketing reps are taught to always qualify their leads.  Because anyone can succeed in MLM, qualifying our leads can result in missing out on potential MLM superstars.

Do not under any circumstance; attempt to assess in advance who is qualified, interested, and approachable and who is not.

Sixth Warhead: Conflict of Interest

Some folks, like Pastors, refrain from recruiting their warm list because of a perceived conflict of interest.  This can be a real issue that needs to be carefully considered.

The best way to overcome this issue is for us to never prospect on the job.  Rather, we should seek out contact with these folks in the normal course of life.  We should state that what we want to share with them is completely separate from our other career and then seek to set a time to meet away from their traditional business setting.

Target Marketing

It can be helpful to prioritize our warm list be using target marketing. This involves focusing our prospecting efforts on selected groups of folks on our warm list who might be open to  (1) the business opportunity, part-time replacement income, and/or tax deductions; or (2) our product or services.

Organizing our Follow-up Call File

This can be done via computer spreadsheet or by using a card filing system.  In either case, write the contacts name and phone number.  Then, note the date called along with a phrase that will help you recall the essence of the conversation.  Lastly, indicate the date of future contact.

Never ever throw away contacts until they become associates or you attend their funeral!

Success Results More from Attitude that Ability

Our biggest asset is enthusiasm!  We are not salespeople or recruiters; we are educators.  It is our job to teach as many people as possible that there is a better way to live and to earn a residual income. 

The only real way to do this is to learn to set appointments and show 100% of the plan.  In our initial contact, we are to seek to peak their curiosity rather than satisfy it.  Then, we share our enthusiasm and set a time to show them the whole presentation.

“A person convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.” 

We must not waste time showing the presentation to anyone until we have sifted for interest first.  After sharing our enthusiasm and seeing if they are interested; then, we set an appointment.

SW Rule

Some Will

Some Won’t

So What

Because Someone else is always Waiting

Ask for Referrals

Ask for referrals.  This will help us replace every No with a new prospect, and as a result, our warm list will never run out.

Blocking the False Expectation Tank

(The following information is taken from Your First Year in Network Marketing by Mark and Rene Yarnell.  I am providing you highlights in the next several blogs in hopes that you will be equipped to survive and thrive in your hardest year of your network marketing business – the first one.  Here are the highlights from Chapter 4.)

In this chapter, the authors seek to dispel myths used to recruit unwitting associates.

Because the MLM industry has the reputation of producing millionaires, it is easy for folks to think that they have failed if they are not earning big money after their first year.  What is even more detrimental is the false notion that success in MLM can be achieved without much effort or time investment.   

The reality is, this is a work industry.  The folks who have succeeded have worked hard and have stayed with it for several years.

In MLM, the rewards are proportional to invested time and effort.  Many new associates start out with false expectations of MLM because they are misled into thinking that they can achieve their goals quickly and without much time or effort. 

Traditional Business vs. MLM

Traditional businesses are the real pyramids in our society.  The real income earners are the top few workers, and the lowest paid workers are at the bottom.  The lowest level worker can outwork the CEO, but they are still never going to earn an income above their pay grade.

In MLM, every new associate who works hard and is persistent can out earn anyone else in the company.  In MLM there is nothing that can hold associates back except our own negative thinking.

That being said, it is important to see the difference  between the potential of MLM and the reality of what it takes to get there.

There is a place in MLM for everyone, but each of us will experience success in our own unique way and time, and our incomes will vary immensely.

Balance Upside Potential with the Realistic Picture

We must portray a realistic picture of just how much hard work is involved in attaining financial security and time freedom.  Too many recruiters fail to tell the truth about the necessary effort.

Success comes to associates who personally recruit large numbers of associates and then educate their associates to duplicate their system.  MLM is far more teaching than sales.  Those who are the most successful are usually the good communicators. 

We must not create false expectations by waving fat checks in front of people without also telling them about the time and effort needed to earn them.  Much of the attrition in MLM can be attributed to presenters making false promises about how easy it is to make lots of money quickly with minimal effort.   

As soon as these false expectations go unmet, new associates perceive MLM as a scam and quit.  It is not a scam; it’s just more time and labor intensive than what was presented to them.

Misguided Belief that MLM Requires No Effort

New associates are going to have to work hard for the first year if they are able to do it full-time.  For those who are doing it part-time, it will take 2 to 3 years to replace their income.

Some folks will sign up a new associate promising to work the business for them.  This never works!    

Nevertheless, they ask for their contact list and may even convince some folks to join.  But, because they never trained their associate to train others, that is the model that will be duplicated and the downline will eventually collapse leaving many expressing contempt for MLM.

Working the business for others is often called ‘sifting.’  Those who are wrongly trained to do this are simply sorting through contact lists looking for a ‘winner’ instead of teaching associates to build their business through relationships.

When recruiting, emphasize that MLM is not a get something for nothing business.  It takes real time and energy to build a successful organization.

In MLM, it is only those who treat it like a profession who get the big money.  Work at it part-time, stay with it steadily, and you will get there eventually.  There is no way to make big money by handing over a contact list to a sponsor. 

Honesty is Everything

In MLM honesty is everything.  If you cheat someone in MLM, 200,000 people in 20 countries will know about it in a week.  So, tell the truth about the marketing plan and the tremendous amount of work entailed for success.   

Offer support for your downline, but do not do their work for them.  The more honest and upfront we are in our presentations, the less attrition we will see in our frontline, and we will be respected by those in our organization.

Unrealistic Assumption about the Numbers Needed to Succeed

The reality is that those who are successful in MLM have never limited themselves by numbers.  The more people we personally recruit, the more success we will see.  We must not think small, but rather, wide and deep.  While training our new associates, we should not stop recruiting.

Inaccurate Perception about the Time Needed to Succeed

It is critical that new associates set realistic financial objectives over a one-, two-, three-, five-, seven-, and ten-year plan.  Then, we need to seek out an upline mentor who has already achieved this level of success to help us set goals to accomplish this plan.  

 Be realistic about the time it will take, but think big as well.  It is by unleashing your limited thinking that you will be able to rise to your full potential.

Part-timers earn substantially less than full-timers.  Part-timers tend to recruit part-timers, so their business will grow slowly as will the ones of those they recruit.  Remember this is a business of duplication.  Your recruits will do what they see you doing.  Work hard and they will work hard.  Treat it like a hobby, and they will treat it like a hobby.  You cannot accomplish full-time goals on part-time effort.

Final Thoughts

View MLM not as a career, but rather as a vehicle to enabling you to do the things in life that really matter the most to you.  MLM is the most lucrative profession in the world, but it’s also the hardest work you will ever do.  It is not a get rich quick scheme, but if you’re willing to work hard for the first several years, you can enjoy financial and time freedom like never before.  It’s tough because you have to prospect a lot of people before you will find one who is willing to do the hard work.

Dodging the Depression Torpedo

(The following information is taken from Your First Year in Network Marketing by Mark and Rene Yarnell.  I am providing you highlights in the next several blogs in hopes that you will be equipped to survive and thrive in your hardest year of your network marketing business – the first one.  Here are the highlights from Chapter 3.)

The depression torpedo is one of the most difficult challenges facing both the new and the seasoned network marketer.  Depression can come out of nowhere and sink a person quickly. 

A depressed person cannot survive in MLM.  So, it is essential to prepare our new associates by alerting them to the most common causes of depression.  An enthusiastic attitude must be maintained and be clearly evident to new prospects.  No one should prospect in a negative frame of mind, because contacts will perceive it and runaway. 

Common Causes of MLM Depression

It can be very depressing to have friends refuse to hear about our MLM business, or worse, not show up as promised to our business presentations.

When valued associates become apathetic, change MLM companies, or quit our MLM business, it can lead to depression.

Attrition is inevitable.  This can account for as much as a 75% dropout rate, and is a fundamental reality of MLM business building.  Knowing that this is inevitable can sometimes help soften the blow.  Successful network marketer, Ron Higgins, holds the following philosophy about attrition:

“The sooner someone quits who isn’t serious about the business, the sooner he knows with whom he need not waste a lot of time…. Let people do what they want to do with their business and not what you want them to do.  There’s a place for any and all levels of participation in this business….Work with the leaders.  And do whatever it takes to protect your mindset.  You must stay focused for this business to work.”

In order to avoid being hit with the depression torpedo, we must choose to focus on the positive people who are active in our business.  We must choose to view ‘No’s’ as one step closer to ‘Yes’s’.  When someone quits, we must choose to view it as a relief that we didn’t waste any more time and effort in them.  The cure from attrition is recruiting new coachable associates.

When You’re Down, Go Upline

When struck by the depression torpedo, we need to call our upline.  They are more experienced and have invested in us.  They will offer us encouragement and show us how to overcome the harder aspects of MLM. 

Never Convey a “Down” Attitude to Your Downline

Sharing a negative attitude with our downline can prove catastrophic to our business.  The Depression torpedo will launch at all of our downline members.  We should always be up when we talk with them.

A Case for Optimism

Depression can hit white collar professionals who join an MLM business and then encounter negative reactions from their peers.  These folks are used to respect, and rejection is often perceived as disrespect.  To be successful in MLM, professionals must be willing to use their reputations and credibility to their advantage.  They need to be provided with a clear vision of why MLM is a remarkable industry, how it will enable them to help others get out of the ‘rat race, and how it can lead many to a much more healthy lifestyle.  An optimistic outlook will help us overcome depressing events and succeed in MLM.  Why should we be optimistic:

• We have the only entrepreneurial home business with literally no downside.

• There is literally no ceiling or limits on our earnings.

• Time freedom is directly commensurate with wealth and prosperity. 

• There need not be any stress at all in MLM.  If you pay the price in the first few years, stress need no longer exist in your life.

The Four Year Plan vs. the Forty Year Plan

The Forty year plan is the best that people in traditional business can hope for.  Work for forty years and hope to have enough money to retire and enjoy life.  However, out of 100 people at age 65, 5 are still working, 36 are dead, 54 are dead broke, 4 are well off, and only 1 is wealthy. 

The Four year plan is when we work diligently for one MLM company for four years, build an income based on honest movement of products or services, and we’re set for life.

Controlling our Attitudes

We are solely responsible for our attitude; we choose how we react to the people and the circumstances of our lives.  Therefore, we must endeavor to maintain a positive and enthusiastic attitude toward our MLM business and our associates.  Remember, enthusiasm is contagious. (The authors recommend taking a 6 month break from watching all news programs…that would send me into withdrawal.)

Create a Positive Environment from the Inside Out

Putting positive information into our brains is essential to success.  This can be done by reading uplifting books and articles, listening to inspiring messages, and practicing positive daily affirmations.  The moment you feel yourself spiraling downward, check your thoughts and choose to reset your mind on something positive, listen to music that brings your thoughts back to the positive, or verbally declare your positive affirmations.

Too frequently, people limit their goals by basing them on their present reality.  However, breaking out of those limits allows what seemed impossible to become possible.  Focus on the end result instead of just focusing on the ‘How.’ 

If you believe in the value of your goals, you will find the means of making them happen.  So, set big goals and then strive to meet them.  Don’t ever give up on your goals; rather, change your attitude.  When you focus on what’s coming, you will affect change.

Using Affirmations

Affirmations are trigger tools.  They are statements of belief, written and repeated as if they were already accomplished.  They are an effective weapon against the Depression Torpedo.  When affirmations are assimilated into our daily routine, creativity, positive decision making, and goal setting flow freely from our minds.  Here are some examples:

“I feel supported, working with a team of positive people who share my values.”

“I clearly communicate my business vision to others in such a way that they are inspired to join me and become part of it.”

“I am proud to be building an MLM dynasty as I recruit dozens of excited people who rapidly duplicate my success.”

Charles Swindoll stated that, “Life is 10 % what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.”

Just Believe and Keep Going!

The key to survival is simply to not give up; the way to avoid despondency is to keep the faith!  Believe that you can duplicate the success of your mentors.  Keep watching winners.  Negative beliefs about ourselves are the only barriers to our success.  Failure cannot handle persistence; persistence always wins in the end!

Statistically speaking, an enormous percentage of people quit the business in their first year.  What’s even more interesting is that 95% of those people who remain in MLM for 10 years or longer reach the highest pay levels in their respective companies. 

Whatever you do, don’t quit!