Awakenings: Learning From Our Mistakes

How many awakenings will one experience in their lifetime? Growing up I just assumed that everyone only had maybe 1 or 2 in their life but that’s out the window now because I have had 2 major awakenings in the last 3 years so I imagine that the average self aware adult has the potential to have at least a dozen different eye-opening experiences in the span of their life.

The first awakening I can remember was about 6 months after my closest friend passed away unexpectedly.  After he died I went into auto-pilot. I truthfully have no idea how I completed tasks at my corporate home-office job or around the house for those 6 months.

Anyway- I distinctly remember sitting at my desk one morning at work and it was as if someone had removed a veil from my eyes. I looked around. Looked down at my desk and realized I HATED MY JOB. LOATHED IT. I am sure that I would have quit earlier had I not been mourning my friend those 6 months. I was promoting a travel company then on the side and shortly after that day I resigned to pursue the travel referral business full time. This travel company later morphed into what caused my second awakening.

The second major awakening happened just recently and is still in the process of happening. I started promoting a web-based shopping rewards company in 2009 and due to the bad press that one  blogger who specialized in SEO started it crashed and burned right after launch. I fought every day to publish positive content on 2 self-funded blogs about the company, and endured just about every other hardship you can imagine.  I, along with about 30 others who were just as dedicated as I was really shouldered a heavy burden that included the loss of friends and loss of credibility.

I only just recently started realizing that this ship may be unable to continue sailing. I could be wrong. It may have an awesome comeback, and I hope it does. This is beside the point. The awakening was this: I sold out. I sold out to a company (that I honestly believed in) when you’re really only supposed to sell out to your team and yourself in this industry.

Companies come and go. Trends change but teams- if successful teams stick together then they will make money in any company!

In this awakening I have a mixture of feelings- heightened maturity as I look back  but also some slight embarrassment and disbelief that I really acted that young and naive at ages 23-26. While I really WAS young and fairly naive I still thought that I would find my niche just by throwing myself into it because that’s how I achieved other things before.

I knew nothing about business, business relationships, or the network marketing industry and I never recommend approaching a business by totally immersing yourself blindly. That was a bad idea so I hope you learn from my mistakes!

While I have learned a LOT I also failed at A LOT. I will try to take that experience and move forward because you can only get really GOOD at something after you’ve sucked at it.

Remember- it is about the team. It is about sticking together. It is about making mistakes and learning from them.

What major awakenings have you experienced? Feel free to share!

 

Team Building 101

Here are some more tips on team building based on my own wins and losses since September 2007. They are in no particular order (except for the first one!) They are all important and I hope you can learn from my mistakes!

• MOST IMPORTANT. As soon as someone enrolls work on getting them their required customers to trigger the fast start bonus.

• Avoid focus on their domain name (if they choose to buy one), their dream board, etc. until they’ve got their customers!!!!!

Get them their customers. THEN roll up your sleeves and help them with the dream board, the strategy, the domain name, the sizzle cards, the business cards, etc.

• Consider making a new rep’s sizzle cards for them or get together and make and cut the cards together so they learn how but NEVER keep supplying them with cards because that does nothing for their growth. It keeps them infants in their business. Show them once then put the rest in their hands.

• Do just a few one-on-one presentations for your teammate’s leads and have them be a positive “back up” to the points you make in the presentation. Then switch roles from then on.  Requiring them to do their own presentations fosters growth and builds their confidence which also builds leaders.

So to be company-specific here’s the general guidelines to helping a new Ampegy independent representative get started:

1. First-help the new Representative get their required customers to trigger the fast start bonus

2. Get them to make a list of potential customers and reps

3. Make sure they have accessed their back office, set up their direct deposit, etc.

4. Help them with a dream board or dream list of some kind

5. Make sure they know the webinar/call times. Remind them the first 2 weeks- (tell them you’ll remind them just the first 2 weeks)

Got any team building tips you’ve learned along the way? Please share them by leaving a comment!

 

Success and Failure part 1

Tonight I’m re-reading Jeffery Gitomer’s Little Red Book of Selling.

I came across the section about the difference between failure and success and wanted to share.

There are 18.5 talking points- I’m going to cover 9 here, and 9.5 next time.

1. Believe You CAN. People have always ALWAYS said it is mind over matter…and that’s 100% true. It seems simple and even silly, but merely believing you can actually gives you the confidence to achieve your goal.

2. Create The Environment. This goes along with the “believe you can” concept. Surround yourself with positive, supportive people and this will encourage you to have a great attitude and believe in yourself.

3. Have The Right Associations. Again- it’s about attitude. See the trend here? Hang around the right people- positive, encouraging, supportive people and you will be on the mental road to success. Basically- cut the junk out of your life- and by junk I mean people with mean, nasty, bitter attitudes. They just suck the life out of everyone and everything around them. Cut them loose. You’ll be better off.

4. Expose Yourself To What’s New. This means learn something new every day. Educate yourself. Check your back office every day. Involve yourself 110% with your business. Check out the .com site, check out the .biz site, and talk to your fellow Community Directors often- daily if possible.

5. Plan For The Day. “Since you don’t know on which day success will occur, you’d better be ready every day” Well said, Jeffery. The old Boyscout saying rings true here- always be prepared. Have cards with you at all times. You never know when someone will say “hey, what is it you do? How can I get in on that? or “I LOVE the internet- I’m on allll the time!”

Also, prepare for your day by making goals, big and small. And DO them! Following through is a big part of being successful.

6. Become Valuable. Period. Know the comp plan as best as you can. Introduce yourself to the top income earners and corporate leadership team. Check your back office often.

Read up about industry news. Know what to say (and be RIGHT!- get your facts straight!) Become a knowledge base for both prospective Community Members, Community Directors, and current Community Directors.

7. Have The Answers Your Prospects And Customers Need (Community Members in our case!). This echos #6. The more you know, the better you can solve problems, answer questions, and help your prospects understand what it is you’re doing with your company. Incorporate facts with ANSWERS to people’s questions. If you don’t know- FIND OUT!

8. Recognize Opportunity. I have recently realized that opportunity appears when you’re not expecting it to. This goes back to being prepared. Know your stuff. Have cards handy. Ask people to join our free online community. Ask questions and work on developing a rapport with people. Again, people love answers more than they love facts.

9. Take Advantage of Opportunity. First, open your eyes and recognize it. Second, ACT on it. Seize your opportunity- ask friends, family, acquaintances and strangers to join your free online community. Leave sizzle cards (aka drop cards) places where people will find them.

The sky is the limit, my friends- believe in yourself, know your stuff, and simply open your mouth and ask someone to join our community today!

Never Buy That Prospect Into Your MLM

So you’ve got this great person who you’re SURE will do well for themselves with the help of your business. They’ll make a great rep, they’ve got contacts, they are outgoing… but there’s a problem. They don’t have the money to sign up.

So what do you do? If you’re anything like me you really want to help other people achieve success.

Especially if they’re friends of yours. You might even offer to pay their sign up fee to help them. Some promise to pay you back, and you believe some of them will.

But 5 months pass by and they haven’t done a thing since they got started. That excitement wore off.

So why do they quit? BECAUSE THEY DIDN’T SPENT A DIME OF THEIR OWN MONEY! That’s why! So they DON’T CARE!

Rocket science, right? Well, I just realized it. I knew it all along, but I just REALIZED IT when I looked around at people I’ve wanted to help who quit- and only 1 of probably 10 I paid for have stayed over the course of 2+ years.

I was young and excited…and naive. My advice to you? DON’T DO IT!

If someone over 25 doesn’t have the few hundred dollars needed to make extra money then they’ve got more problems then just needing the opportunity you’re offering them.

And one more lesson- people, rich and poor, will FIND the money if it’s something they really REALLY want.

If someone tells you they don’t have the money they will either GET IT, or they’re lying to you.

I can’t tell you how many people have told me they wanted to but didn’t have the money only to post pictures on Facebook of the new dog, tattoo, pair of shoes, etc that they got that are often MORE expensive than the cost to join my company!

Put your energy into people who have the drive to GET the money if they don’t have it and are just looking to better themselves and make more of it.

That’s just my 2 cents….

What do you think?  Have you had a heart as big as mine and paid for friends to join your opportunity only to have them be dead weight?