47 NETWORK MARKETING LESSONS I LEARNED FROM ...

http://www.isucceedbook.com


47 NETWORK MARKETING LESSONS I LEARNED FROM JIM ROHN

“Find a way to serve the many, for service to many leads to greatness” ~Jim Rohn~

Network marketing has changed the face of business. It has helped make millionaires out of people all over the world, from India to Japan to the United States. Throw in the power of social media and we have at our disposal the perfect compliment to network marketing - the ability to leverage our twitter followers, facebook friends and pinterest viewers and turn them into a mobile unit spreading information about products and services to all corners of the world in seconds.

Network marketing isn’t what most people think it is. Like franchising before it, network marketing is often met with a lot of skepticism but the truth is network marketing is no different from any other business. There are franchises that do well and franchises that do not. There are companies that provide quality service and products to customers and there are those that don’t. Network marketing, in and of itself, is simply a highly effective distribution system that harnesses the power of our relationships to pass along information (about products or services) that make a difference in people’s lives. From household names such as Avon and Tupperware to billion-dollar healthcare companies such as Herbalife, network marketing has never been more profitable, powerful and productive than it is today.

Unknown to many, Jim Rohn, the late great business philosopher, actually got his start in network marketing, and it helped make him a millionaire some 50 years ago. And if it worked for him without social media, just imagine how successful one could be with it. We are no longer confined to our city or state, today it’s a global market. And global means a whole heck of a lot of potential customers. This is


precisely why network marketing has grown so quickly over the past few years. However, as I stated earlier, not all network marketing businesses are created equal. And more importantly, they do not guarantee wealth and happiness. They only teach you what to do and provide a product to sell, the rest is up to us. We are the ones who must actually take action to make our dreams a reality.

Many people believe that the major factor in their success is the products that they sell or the services that they offer, but in actual fact, what you sell is less important than how you market and sell it. The key word in that sentence is YOU. Jim Rohn put it this way, “The key to your better future is YOU.” The better WE are, the harder WE try, the more WE learn, the faster WE take action, the easier success will come to us.

So if the major factor in our success is us, then doesn’t it make sense to do everything in our power to set ourselves up to win? Here’s the good news though. We don’t have to learn by trial and error. There’s no need to learn everything from scratch. Jim Rohn spent 40 years of his life sharing his ideas on success and now I’m here to share with you some of his best ideas on network marketing and how they can be applied in today’s high speed world.

In today’s age of smartphones, social media and the Internet, becoming successful has never been easier, but for most, it remains an elusive dream. Our parents and teachers grew up in a different time, a time when all one needed to succeed was a degree. That may have been true many years ago but just ask the thousands of unemployed recent graduates and I think you’ll find that in today’s fast-changing world, it isn’t. So if college isn’t the answer, what is?

7 years ago, Jim’s ideas turned my life upside-down so I’m speaking from experience when I say these ideas work. For those of you not familiar with Jim Rohn’s teachings you’ll find them applicable to pretty much any business because he deals in fundamentals; rather


than specifics, Jim’s teachings are the best that I have come across in all of my studies. In this special report created exclusively for Jim Rohn Daily Quote followers I’ll be showing you how Jim’s simple concepts can be applied to network marketing and help anyone serious about achieving great success get one step closer to financial freedom.

And be sure to check out the interview with Becky Lawson who freed herself from the rat race thanks to network marketing in the podcast section of http://www.isucceedbook.com. If you’re interested in learning more about why so many people choose this route, this report and Becky’s interview are a great place to start. As a bonus Becky will also share with you some valuable tips on how to choose a network marketing business that is right for you.

Adrian Shepherd


When Donald Trump was recently asked what he would do if he had to do it all over again, his reply was simple: “I would get into network

marketing.”

LESSON # 1: “Influence is both powerful & SUBTLE.” And our greatest influences are the people we spend time with on a regular basis. So here are Jim’s three questions to ask yourself about the people in your life:

Who am I around? Where have they got me going? What have they got me becoming?

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: Birds of a feather, flock together is one of the most powerful lessons of life. Wealthy people tend to associate with wealthy people, rock climbers with other rock climbers, successful people with successful people. So take a good look at the people that you spend your time with and ask yourself the three questions above. And if you don’t like the answers then you must take action to change. That doesn’t mean never talking to friends again, it means limiting your exposure to those people who are slowing you down, holding you back, unsupportive of your dream. In doing so you free up time to go and find new people that will take you where you want to go.

Jim Rohn goes on to talk about people with the attitude of, “If this is all they pay, then I’m not coming early or staying late.” We can all imagine what kind of effect this attitude will have on someone’s success in business, and this applies to networking marketing just as much as a regular 9 to 5 job. You want to have a team that is willing to burn the


midnight oil, that wants to learn, that doesn’t take no for an answer. You want to avoid people who use the following expressions regularly:

I forgot... I didn’t have any time... I was so busy…

LESSON # 2: “Work hard on yourself, not on your job. And how hard should you work? As hard as possible.”

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: Network marketing is all about YOU and how hard you work. If you don’t want to work, then you might as well get a job. People will cover for you. You can hide your shortcomings. You will be able to let others take responsibility. However, very rarely will a job provide you with financial freedom. Very rarely will a job give you the freedom to live life the way you want to. If those are things you want, network marketing may be right for you. Success is, as the famous marketer Dan Kennedy says, “an inside game.” You’ll only go as far as you’re able to take yourself, so take the time to get educated. Read the books, listen to lectures, and attend seminars. Anything that helps you improve your mental toughness or business skill set is worth investing the money and the time in.

LESSON # 3: “The next time you are frustrated try being fascinated.” i.e. getting stuck in traffic (excellent opportunity to study, learn, catch up on quick emails).

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: As the famous author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad (and supporter of network marketing) Robert Kiyosaki says, “Inside of every problem lies an opportunity.” So the next time you’re frustrated, think of it as an opportunity to learn from. Some of our greatest inventions have come out of frustration. Take Google, which was created out of frustration from searching for relevant


information on the web. Or the iPhone, which came about from using clunky old phones with limited capabilities. Unfortunately, most of us let frustration get the better of us and in doing so end up wasting our most valuable resource, our time. As Jim Rohn said, “If you spend 5 minutes complaining, you have just wasted 5 minutes.” Let frustration inspire you to change, to look for a better way, to create something that makes a difference in people’s lives.

LESSON # 4: “Find a way to serve the many, for service to many leads to greatness.”

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: Jim put the key to success so succinctly in the above statement, but we should pay particular attention to two words: “serve” and “many.” It does you no good to create something that only one person wants, the reason for the success of products such as the iPad, Kindle and digital cameras are that they help get rid of the frustrations of millions of people from all over the world. The iPad made computers fun, the Kindle reinvented digital readers allowing us to carry around thousands of books in our backpack and digital cameras allowed us to see what our pictures looked like before having to take a roll of film in to get processed. Serve, and serve well. Naturally, this applies in any business you may be in, but it is especially true in network marketing because people are buying from you most of the time, not the brand. Many network marketing representatives (think Tupperware) have parties to “introduce” their products to millions of potential customers. The company trains you how to present, what to serve and what to say, but the rest is up to you. Your service is the missing element and the thing that will make or break most deals.


When it comes to cars, especially Japanese cars, there’s not much difference between the big three (Toyota, Honda and Nissan) but Subaru has managed to etch out a nice little niche with high quality cars with 4-wheel drive able to hand dirt and mountain roads. But the car itself wasn’t the reason that I bought another Subaru last year. It was the years of service I had been given by their company and how they did the little things like giving me a small gift every time I brought my car in (towel, sanitizer, toy car for my son) as well as their attention to detail. Those small things must have totalled $200 over the 8 years that I brought in my Forester and a little time, but when it came time to buy a new car it did sway me. $200 and a bit of time, and I ended up spending $30,000 on a new car. Now that’s a good return on investment. So remember, service.

LESSON # 5: “Have something good to say” -- #1 skill of business, especially network marketing, is communication. The second step, “learn to say it well.”

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: When Jim said that the number one skill in business is communication he hit the nail right on the head, after all in order to be able to give a good presentation you must first know the facts. Say you are a salesman for Samsung TVs. Naturally you need to know what all the buttons do (can you imagine saying to a customer, “Gee, I don’t know what that button does.”), what unique features it has, the price, and maybe most importantly, your competition’s products. That’s step one. Know your product inside and out. Then step two is being able to take everything you know and make it convincing. Your choice of language can make or break a sale. Imagine saying, “I think you can do that.” That implies a lack of knowledge and/or confidence. And if you’re not sure about what you’re selling why would other people buy from you? So once you know about your product, begin to shape your sales presentation, carefully. Be clear,


concise and persuasive. And if you’re looking for a good book on persuasion I recommend Robert Cialdini’s Influence.

LESSON # 6: “Don’t mistake movement for achievement.” It’s easy to be busy. Results show us if our activity is working. Results are the name of the game and they will tell you a story.

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: Unlike a job where people can rely on their bosses, coworkers and associates to fix our mistakes, network marketing is all about you. As such, results take on extra importance. Jim also went on to say that if we don’t like the results we’re getting, that we should change. “You’re not a tree,” epitomizes his philosophy that we have free will and can change any time we choose to. Here are four areas to consider doing more of:

1. Study 2. Prepare 3. Think 4. Do

But we must be careful not to fall into the trap of doing the insignificant things in order to feel that we are being productive. Say you spend eight hours cleaning your desk, you could say you were “busy,” but what results did all the effort yield, not much. Your time becomes that much more valuable when you are your own boss. Don’t make the mistake of throwing it away. Invest it...in things that make a difference.

LESSON # 7: “Life asks us to make measurable progress in reasonable time. That’s why they make those 4th grade chairs so small - so you won’t fit in them at age 25.”

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: Listening to all of Jim’s programs one thing you’ll notice is that he liked to give his listeners one


simple challenge - to be better. People sometimes get in trouble when they begin to rest on their laurels. At this point, rather than continually progressing, they either stay stagnant, or what more commonly happens, they regress. Network marketing, like any business, is constantly changing, so we must stay ahead of the game by constantly working on ourselves. Remember, even the top athletes of the world have coaches. They do this to stay at the top of their game. There will always be competition in business, something from outside (ie. new corporations and products) and inside (other sales people). We demand that our children work hard at school, shouldn’t we demand the same of ourselves at work?

LESSON # 8: The Parable of the Talents

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: Jim Rohn uses this ancient story to illustrate the importance of activity. In it, three servants are given an amount of talents (money) by their master and urged to look after their talents while he was away. The first two succeeded in increasing their talents. The third however, being cautious, had simply buried his talent in the ground. Upon their master’s return, the three servants were summoned to show him what they had done with their talents. The master was impressed to see that the first two servants had succeeded in increasing their talents however, as Jim tells it, the master “lost his cool” when he found out that the third had done nothing with the talent that was entrusted to him, and gives his talent to the first servant.

While this is an excellent story, I always felt that there was something missing and one day it struck me. There is great value in activity which leads to failure. Though it may be hard to stomach, the greatest lessons in life are often learned through failure. Divorces, bankruptcies, scams,


injuries...they are all painful but they teach us valuable lessons, if we are willing to learn from them. A child who breaks his leg falling from a 6 foot wall will learn to be more careful climbing or never to climb to high places unless they have a rope. Compare this to the child who never hurts himself, he may think he cannot fail and will continue to climb higher and higher. One day he may slip, but from a much higher branch, and the consequences are much more painful.

So how does this relate to network marketing? It should be quite obvious that the reason Jim used the Parable of the Talents so often is that ACTIVITY is rewarded. Life doesn’t reward us for what we want or need, nor does it care what we “could” or “should” have done, when it comes down to it all that really matters is the action we take. Only through action will we learn. If our actions lead to success, keep doing them. If they don’t, change. When joining a multi-million or billion dollar network marketing business, the fact is their system works, otherwise the company would have disappeared long ago. If your results are poor, then there’s only one place to look for answers: your activity.

LESSON # 9: “Learn to get from the day, not get through the day.” Be more interested in life, people, the environment.

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: To be successful in network marketing one must learn the art of presentation which consists of three parts; knowledge, language and finally understanding. We need to know what people’s interests, desires, worries and problems are in order to craft a presentation that speaks to them. If you’re talking to a doctor with his own clinic you need to know how he gets customers, what difficulties he has in running his business, his competition, new technology and so on. This is called preparation. Just


as we must know our products and services, the better we understand our prospects’ hopes and dreams, the better we can present ourselves and our products and service to them.

LESSON # 10: “Repetition is the mother of skill.”

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: Most people aren’t born with skills, they are acquired. This applies to everyone from doctors and athletes to CEOs. And while it is true that each of us is born with some innate talent, there is no guarantee that we will ever discover it. However, skills are something that simply take effort and dedication. We can become good at anything. In fact, hard work and perseverance will often outdo talents. Success at network marketing is all about developing a few key skills. There are books and audio lectures on every topic imaginable, all one has to do is search. If you’re looking for a place to get started sign up for the free report at http://www.isucceedbook.com for weekly recommendations as well as a free report on success. One final note on developing skills, anyone can learn anything, it is just a question of how long it will take. For some people certain things come more naturally than others. But regardless of whether it comes easy or hard for you, the more you do it, the easier it gets.

LESSON # 11: “Sincerity” (almost like a superpower)

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: People want to do business with people that they like, trust and believe. Each of those words requires sincerity on the part of the seller. Today, too often people promise what they can’t deliver, say things that aren’t true and mislead people into purchasing products. Unfortunately, in doing so, you guarantee yourself only a one-time sale. Network marketing is all


about repeat business as is most businesses. The true value isn’t in a single sale but in people constantly coming back for more, as they become your silent partner in marketing your product or service. Sincere businesses that provide quality products will inevitably be introduced to others looking to buy such a product. Social media amplifies this 10 fold. How many times have you either recommended a restaurant or shared a photo of a lovely dinner at a restaurant with your friends on Facebook? More often than you’d care to admit. That’s being a silent partner for that restaurant. And how did they succeed in doing that? By being sincere and providing a quality experience and product. Remember this when you are selling any product. Don’t exaggerate, explain. Be fair and caring and you’ll win many more fans this way.

LESSON # 12: “Brevity – keep things short.” The human attention span is short. What you are adds so much weight to what you say.

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: We live in a high speed world. Email has made business move at the speed of light. No longer can people be expected to wait and no longer can we hide. As such, people find themselves busier than ever, so it is imperative that we do not waste people’s time. Share with them what you have, make it clear, stress it’s unique qualities and then offer it to them. A sales pitch in network marketing could be 10 minutes or it could be an hour, however long it is, make sure you don’t spend time chatting. Every minute you spend chatting is a minute less you have to present your product or service to them. There is a place and time for chatting and it’s not during the sales pitch. That falls under the category of “doing your homework” otherwise known as preparation.


LESSON # 13: “Vocabulary” – the proper choice of words. Vocabulary affects behavior. Vocabulary is the only tool we use to interpret our world and to express our mind.

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: Words are powerful. A single word has the power to change your life forever which is why we must take the time to learn the right words to say. When we’re out with friends at a restaurant, that requires one set of vocabulary, in the boardroom it’s an entire different set. How you script your presentation in selling your products will often be the difference between a sale and a fail.

LESSON # 14: “Actions are no substitute for words.”

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: A big part of network marketing is presenting the product to the customer. You are there to teach them, they are there to learn. But never forget to ASK FOR THE SALE. Too many people teach and then leave the final part out and are often surprised at the lack of sales that they make. People often want to buy, and if you have presented them with a good enough presentation and a reason why, they will buy but they must be given the chance to. Jim Rohn talks about one lady in Mexico who became a millionaire without even having a product to sell at first. She had to get the money upfront in other to buy the product, but her sincerity and story made it easy for people to buy. The point is she didn’t wait to have something to sell.

LESSON # 15: “Get feedback.”

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: In order to improve, you must be willing to take criticism. Even Jim Rohn had people tell him


how to improve his presentation. Jim wasn’t born a world class speaker, he developed it from years of practice and honing his talent thanks to the feedback he received. You don’t have to take action on all the feedback you receive, but you must be willing to listen to it. As I have said countless times in my blog, http://www.isucceedbook.com and in this report, our world is changing faster than ever before. And according to Keith Cunningham, who is the most highly requested speaker at Tony Robbins events, adaptability is the number one skill of success today. A single skill makes us one dimensional. We must develop numerous skills that allow us to become three dimensional and therefore more valuable to a company. But in network marketing as we are our own boss, being able to change to meet new challenges is critical to our success.

LESSON # 16: “Be a good listener.”

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: Network marketing is as much about you as it is about them. People want to know that they are making the right decision. So to reinforce that their decision to buy from you was right for them will require you to be a good listener. The more you know and remember about them allows you to talk to them. Remember, people like to do business with people who they like, trust and believe. What better way that than to talk about THEIR lives. People love to feel that they are important. And one way you can convey that message is by remembering their family, their birthdays, their work, and their troubles.

LESSON # 17: “Too much firepower for the moment.”

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: In conversation we must know just how much power is enough. Some people respond positively


to strong words, other people don’t. Personally I remember vowing not to speak in my English class for two years simply because of something my teacher said the first lesson. He came in blasting and I simply buckled down. In network marketing we must know who is sitting across from us and what stories to use to suit their present situation and personality.

LESSON # 18: “Start with where they are, before you take them to where you want.”

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: In Stephen Covey’s bestselling book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, he breaks success down into seven components, the fifth of which being, “seek first to understand, then to be understood.” This is something people have trouble grasping. Most people listen in order to respond, while Stephen Covey talks about the importance of showing your understanding to the other person. By first listening, and then understanding their position, you position yourself as someone they can trust. If you’re a successful person then talking about your big house, your nice car and all the places you have been to won’t resonate with someone who is trying to get all that. They want to hear that you were once where they are, and that if they follow your advice that they can get to where you are now. Relate to their lives, and their troubles, don’t try and dazzle people with your accomplishments.

LESSON # 19: “Find something you have in common.”

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: The average person can’t relate to the rich guy who has everything. But they can relate to the rich guy who once was broke/who lost everything, is divorced, who hurt, who got in an accident, who were bullied, lost someone close to


them, who is struggling with parenthood. People can relate to pain; it is universal.

LESSON # 20: “Go back over your life.” Recall the hardships, tough times as well as the good; sorrow, joy, and fear.

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: Many people try to hide away the pain, but pain is often what makes us who we are today. Pain is often what gets people to change, and everyone understands pain in one form or another. Use your pain in stories and show people how you overcame it. Seeing your story of accomplishment takes on a whole new meaning if people know how hard it was for you to achieve it. Too many people think success comes easy for most people, but the truth is most successful people are not born with a silver spoon in their mouth, they earned it. We must remind people of our struggles because it makes us that much more real to others, more human.

LESSON # 21: “Talking too much can cause people to undecide.”

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: We have all heard the expression, “You can’t eat steak every day.”Now it’s not usually applied to business, but the fact remains it is a very valid statement. In sales, there is such a thing as too much. People only need a certain amount of information; enough to understand a product’s unique attributes, why it’s of value to them, and how they can buy it. Now you don’t want to make it dry which is why we wrap it up nicely, with a compelling story, language that catches their attention and then you need to give them a chance to buy. Think of it in these terms, when someone of the opposite sex (that you find attractive) compliments you, you feel good. If they compliment you again you feel even better. But if they compliment you three, four or five times in a row, you might feel


something’s up. Like it’s all too much. Today we have become that much more suspicious due to all the stories we have heard of people being taken advantage of, the same goes for sales. If a product is TOO good, and the price is SO cheap, alarm bells go off. And a common thought comes into our mind, “If it’s so good, why haven’t I heard of it before” or “If it’s such a good opportunity, why are you telling me about it? Don’t you want to keep it to yourself.” We’ve all been there, sitting across from a sales person that’s just a little too slick, we’re already cautious and “too much” raises our defenses. So craft your talk to present, present it well and then give people the chance to buy, and wait. Some people might not buy, that’s ok, you can’t win them all. But if you’re striking out too many times, you might want to rethink your presentation. Maybe it’s not enough, maybe the language is too much, maybe you’re skipping over a vital point...whatever the problem, find it and fix it.

LESSON # 22: “Learn to attack the problem. Not the person.”

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: This refers more to building your team. In network marketing the goal is not to be the person doing all the presentations forever, but to create a team that helps spread the message. That way you are earning money from OPT, other people’s time. Once you have invested the time to teach people how to sell your companies product then they become somewhat of a Mini-me, sent out into the world to spread the product or service with their network. It means a lot of work upfront for the leader, but if you train people well and they are successful in selling, you will be greatly rewarded. Now this is a process, and in every group there are winners and there are losers. (just one of the facts of life, think about school) But to help people grow one of the key secrets is learning to address the problem, not the person. The problem is someTHING, blaming the person makes things PERSONAL. THINGS are fixable. There’s no


emotion involved, it’s just cold hard facts which people can take but if you go after the person, you attack their pride, you damage relationships, sometimes beyond repair. We all make mistakes, as Shakespeare said, “to err is human” so give people the benefit of the doubt and assume that it’s something and go to work on it.

LESSON # 23: “All values must be won by contest. And after they have been won, they must be defended.”

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: Success does not stop when you get there. Nor does good health or a happy marriage. It must constantly be worked on. Can you imagine what would happen if you worked for six months to get into shape for a triathlon and then after finishing it, your diet consisted of fast food and snacks and your daily routine was made up of watching TV and drinking beers with the guys? We all know the answer to this one. And yet, somehow many people seem to forget that the same rule applies to everything in life, including business. You can’t just build up your team and simply walk away expecting them to help you become a millionaire. You have to keep at it. You have to keep working. And once you become a millionaire, the next challenge is how to keep it and grow it.

LESSON # 24: “You have got to hate weeds enough to kill them.”

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: We all have friends. However, not all friends are alike. There are those who are there for us, there are those who offer us advice, and there are also those who say things like, “You’ll never make it,” or “Who are you kidding? You might as well give up.” In other words, there are friends that support us and friends that don’t. Unfortunately, the latter are in many ways like weeds in your garden. Now if they are offering advice and warnings


that’s one thing, but when they simply tell you it can’t be done, what they’re really saying is they don’t know how to do it. There is a big difference in the two. Unlike weeds we can’t simply remove people from our lives, it’s not that simple. However, what we can do is limit our association with them. Instead of meeting them every week, you meet them once every two months. We all needs friends, even those we might consider “weeds,” but what you’ll find is that by associating more with people who support your dreams and visions, you’ll get a whole lot more done and in less time, you may even be able to make the “weeds” believers, too.

LESSON # 25: “The more you care, the stronger you can be.”

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: This is something I have learned firsthand from my 23 years of being an educator and three years as a high performance coach, you can be strong with people, clients and even friends and family, but ONLY if you are able to show them how much you care. A while back I decided to tell people like it is, even when no one else would. It wasn’t easy, but I could only do this because I had built up a reputation of someone who really cares. Just ask my wife and she’ll say I care too much. That’s me. And I’m not going to change. In network marketing there will be times when you might have to be strong with potential clients or teammates; and that’s ok...but only after you have established that you really are there to help them. And here’s one piece of advice, remember that sometimes you need to spell things out for people and they may not get it right away. Be patient and be caring but if the situation calls for it, be forceful.

LESSON # 26: “Your vision keeps you going.” Seeing your successes – motivates you to act today.


HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: As you’ve heard me say more than a few times, a big part of network marketing is presentation. Presentation in many ways is a vision. A vision of what could be. Our goals as network marketers is to paint a picture of a better tomorrow using the product or service. You can’t simply say, “Here it is. It’s awesome. You’ve got to buy it.” That just won’t fly. You’ve got to be an artist and create a vision of their success from using what you have to offer. Maybe it’s a skincare product that will allow you to finally get rid of those blemishes, an exercise program that will revolutionize the way they lose weight, it could simply be a new twist on an old idea...whatever it is you must find a way to put that picture in their mind; the vision of a better tomorrow.

LESSON # 27: “Be a good story teller.”

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: In crafting your presentation to illustrate just how special your product or service is we must remember a few simple facts:

1. People remember stories, not facts. 2. People want to hear both sides of the tale, the story of tragedy

and the story of solution Facts are dull, despite how amazing, they simply don’t stick. We are bombarded with thousands of facts each day so another fact won’t often make the sale. A story is unique. It has a hero, a problem, the struggle and the solution. That’s what we remember, so we must weave facts within stories to have them stick. The facts may be powerful, but that’s an easy claim to make and marketers have an incredible ability to make their product sound more amazing than any other product, until you hear the next one. What is harder to replicate is a great story. Now here’s a word to the wise, don’t exaggerate. There’s often no need to. Life is often stranger than fiction. However you do have creative license in telling a story (ie. A hotel room could


become a quaint old cottage) as long as the key facts are truthful. What you don’t want is someone coming back later saying your facts were wrong and that you lied. That is a deal breaker in any business but especially in network marketing because the biggest component of its success is the relationship built with their customers. Another thing to consider is a story should be good. Don’t waste time with a silly story of little value, you’re there to share your product and service with them. In fact, many of the top network marketers don’t just have a great story to tell and know how to tell it but they have a system from the minute people step in the room (how they’re greeted, what drinks are offered, the presentation setting, the color of their clothes, their pens, even the temperature of the room are all part of an elaborate stage that you want to use to present to others)

LESSON # 28: “Accurate facts” (dealing in truths)

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: I already addressed this, but it’s worth repeating because it is that important. Once someone suspects that you are lying to them, you have lost them and you have very little chance of getting them back. You want to be completely transparent with your information (ie. what your product can and cannot do for them), many sales people get tempted to embellish the facts to make the sale. Don’t. You may make more money upfront but lose much more down the line due to a lack of credibility. After all that’s what network marketing is all about, the product’s (or service’s) credibility and your own. I attribute my success in keeping clients with me for 13 years now to this one simple fact. People know that when I offer advice to anyone, I am very careful in what I say, how I say it and make sure what I am saying is understood because, while I want to help, I never want it to come back to haunt me. What if someone asks a question that you don’t have an answer to? Whatever you do, do NOT make it the answer. Simple tell them you are not sure and you will look


into it and get back to them later that day. People respect honesty, and the willingness to admit that you might not know everything. It makes you more human. So what might seem strange to many people, not knowing can actually turn out to be a positive from time to time. (bear in mind: it’s ALWAYS important to know as many of the facts as possible though)

LESSON # 29: “Make your past more valuable. To invest it in the future.”

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: We all have valuable lessons and stories from our lives or that of friends that could make a huge difference in other people’s lives, and yet we might not see their value. We are too close to them. We must learn to see things from other people’s perspective and then ask ourselves this question, “What lessons can I share with people that will help them with their problems?” I emphasized the word “their” because we must remember that our concerns about life might not be the same as our customers and clients. For me looking like Hugh Jackman in Wolverine might be at the top of my list, others could care less, they might simply want to have a healthier diet for their family. Both are interested in a healthier life, but not in the same things. And one way to understand the needs of our own customers is to look into our own lives, our own struggles, our own pains and see if they may be of help with our clients problems. Our struggles may not be the same but having to overcome a weight issue is something many people can relate to, or the loss of a family member. Some pains are universal. However, sometimes we try to forget the tough times, especially with the movement of “positive thinking.” Now I’m all for being positive, but the truth is part of life is negative and it is important that we accept this fact. Not everyone can relate to winning a lottery ticket, but we can all relate to losing money or getting ripped off. Take the time to think about your life and how


you might be able to use it in your presentations. Again, it makes you more real in the eyes of the prospect. LESSON # 30: “Borrow someone’s good language.”

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: Have you ever noticed that in so many great speeches a quote is used? This is not by mistake. It links you to someone great, or a great idea. There is no need to think you need to create your script on your own. There are millions of great quotes from people as far back as Plato and Socrates. If they’re good, use them. You can modernize your speech with names in the news. It helps make you seem smarter, the presentation more credible, and the product or service better. Bear in mind, this is all in the minds of our prospects but it is very real for them. Words are powerful so why bother spending time to think up a great sentence when you can simply borrow someone else’s. Talk about time management and influence both at the same time.

LESSON # 31: “Make success a study.” Become a student of ideas, of people, of desires, of marketing.

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: So you know your product or service back to front, great. That’s a great place to start, but it’s far from finished. I clearly remember Jim telling me in one of his programs how he wished his school had offered wealth 1 and 2. It had never occurred to me that one should, or could, study wealth. I guess we’ve all been brought up to believe that school and college teach us all that we need to succeed in life, however, having been an educator for 23 years I am sad to say this is just NOT true. The truth is school and college give us a good foundation upon which to build upon. Most people are done with studying when they graduate and yet the final ceremony is called a commencement. Have you ever wondered why?


Because the truth is your life is just beginning. The world is where we learn our true lessons of life and sadly this is where school and college just can’t match up. I mean, most students leave college with little or no understanding of taxes, real estate, relationships, negotiation, interviews, marketing, health and the list goes on and on. Unfortunately, as we soon find out, those are the things that really matter. The high level algebraic formulas (think parabolas) we spent so much time learning in school don’t have much use in the real world. What about the ancient history of Egypt, or the works of authors such as Shakespeare, Camus, or Salinger, or perhaps the foreign language that we never bothered to learn? Not much help. And to make matters worse, kids today are learning what I learnt some 25 years ago and yet who of us thinks the world is the same as it was back then. Most schools and colleges simply can’t keep up with all the change going on and therefore don’t even try (despite what they say). Sure, they may add a computer class here or there, but few, if any students leave school with a knowledge of programming learnt IN SCHOOL. I could go on for days on this issue, but the point I’m trying to make is this: we must become students of life, regardless of how old we are, and must accept that it’s up to us (not schools) to give us the most valuable information of life. And this applies to network marketers even more so because your success is dependent on one person - you.

LESSON # 32: “Study the fundamentals.” There’s usually about a half dozen things that make 80% of the difference.

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: Jim had a way of making simple, yet eye-opening statements. Here is one fundamental concept he brings up in nearly all of his talks: You reap, what you sow. But here’s where Jim’s wisdom comes in. He restated it in these terms: Whatever you reap, it’s what you’ve sown. Stephen Covey in his best-selling book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, put it another


way; “Begin with the end in mind.” One of the biggest mistakes people make is to start a project without having spent the time into figuring out just what the final product will look like. This results in radical changes (often due to poor planning), constant adjustments (to get it just right), mistakes, glitches and all sorts of unexpected issues that will give you a lot of sleepless nights. On the other hand, successful people know the value of planning and take the time to develop a clear plan that everyone understands from day one. Naturally you will still run into trouble, no one can predict just what will occur, but troubleshooting problems upfront will help keep your stress level manageable. Fundamentals are often nothing flashy, but they have been proven to work over years of research by people from all over the world. Most people want to focus on the fun stuff, and ignore things such as studying, planning, keeping good records, tracking data and the like. Network marketing, like any business, has a set of fundamentals that will give you the best bang for your buck so to speak. Time is money, so every hour you spend should be spent doing something of real value. Cleaning your desk might be productive, but if you should be calling prospects or organizing a dinner to introduce your product to potential clients then the desk can wait.

LESSON # 33: “Go to work immediately on yourself.”

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: If you are serious about being successful, get started today. Don’t wait. The biggest problem about starting tomorrow can be answered by a joke I heard about dieting. It went something like this, “What day’s the best day to start a diet? Tomorrow.” How many people do you know who SAY they will do something? Most people know what they should be doing, but if it’s hard, uncomfortable, stressful, time-consuming, complicated, tedious, painful, or repetitive then naturally people will find every excuse they can come up with to get out of doing it. It’s just human nature to avoid


pain, but the successful person knows that if they are willing to do the things that people won’t, in time they’ll be able to do things that others can’t. Successful people don’t shy away from pain; they accept that it comes with the territory. Remember, to be successful you can’t do what most people do, because most people aren’t successful. So whether it’s doing a training session for your team, preparing a presentation for potential customers, don’t do what most people do and put things off until tomorrow. Get started. TODAY.

LESSON # 34: “As a leader learn to spend 80% of your time with the 20%.”

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: In network marketing it is important to come to terms with the fact that you won’t get everyone. Not everyone is going to buy what it is you’re selling, no matter how good it is. So just who should you be spending your time on? On the small number of people who can and want to buy what it is you have to offer. This is true not just in sales but it also applies to a leader. We must remember that time is

Money Precious Irreplaceable

So you want to make sure that, as Jim Rohn says, you spend most of your time with the 20% -- the few that really get it. And why is this? Many think that by focusing on a larger group of people they will get better results, it is just the opposite actually. You see, there was this Italian economist who discovered way back when that 80% of the wealth was held by 20% of the population (it’s even higher today) which also meant that 20% of the wealth was held by 80%. He then noticed that this rule applied to a lot more than simply wealth. Eventually it came to be known as The Pareto Principle, known more commonly as the 80/20 rule. Rather than going for quantity as a leader


(or sales person) go for quality. One great prospect is better than 20 poor ones. A great prospect wants what you have, understands its value and is willing to part with their hard earned money for it, if they can be convinced to. In network marketing you want to focus on the prospects that best suit your ideal client; skin care products are an easy sell to women, not so much men. So if you had ten people in your audience to listen to a presentation on skin care products and there are only two women in the audience, they are your best bets. One or two men might also buy (ie. grooming goods, hair regrowth), but to focus on them when you have two ideal prospects sitting right there is financial suicide. Focus = Power.

LESSON # 35: “Don’t try and solve the seasons.”

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: Go to work on things you can solve. Too many people spend an inordinate amount of time worrying about, complaining about and trying to fix things that simply cannot be fixed. Jim devoted his first book to the concept of the seasons as it’s just such a great analogy for life. Life is not always easy, there are ups and downs. There are times when we have to buckle down and there are times we can coast. And each season has its own pros and cons. Out of our darkest times, we often reach our greatest heights. There are things in life that aren’t going to change no matter how much we go to work on them. Regardless, this doesn’t stop an awful lot of people from trying. Successful people know what they can and cannot affect and they go to work on the things they can change, not things they can’t. Makes sense, right? Many years ago I partnered up with a friend of mine to take over a school and grow it. Turns out we made “a few” mistakes (and by “a few” I mean a whole heck of a lot). Despite my best efforts to get things back on track I finally came to the conclusion that my friend wasn’t going to change (despite his constant claims that he would) and I walked away from the business with my tail


tucked between my legs. I knew what I was getting myself into before I decided to work with him but me, being the optimistic person I am wanted to believe that I could make things work. I was wrong. It hurt, it still does, but it taught me a very valuable lesson that Jim illustrates with the seasons. That some things (and some people) never change. No matter how hard you try, or what people say. It’s just the way it’s going to be.

LESSON # 36: “The Law of Averages.”

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: All truly successful people understand the power of numbers and that much of life is simply a numbers game. Sometimes it’s one out of ten, other times it’s one out of a hundred but regardless, you need to understand your ratio because then you can go to work on it. Say you’re a basketball player who misses nine out of ten free throws. Now what? Well, you get a coach, you shoot a few thousand shots and low and behold, guess what? Chances are likely that you no longer are shooting one out of ten but three, four or maybe even eight out of ten. No one starts out in sales and lands a million dollar client their first week, it takes time for you to master the pitch, understand how to talk to clients, what not to say, to have the right clothes. The key is that we make sure to keep a close eye on our numbers. The goal is to make them go up, and then maintaining them. Should the numbers take a sudden drop, immediate attention is required. Has the environment changed? What is your competition doing that is new? Has your company gotten any bad publicity lately? What is the cause of this sudden drop? It could be something as simple as having the same name as a celebrity who was in the news for something less than flattering. The point is, we just don’t know what could cause the numbers to go down, but if they do, to investigate and then take action to remedy them because the goal is constant improvement.


LESSON # 37: “You make up in numbers what you lack for in skill.”

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: Skill takes time to develop. But commitment that’s something else. A new team member might not know everything they need to about the product or service, but if their desire and commitment is off the chart then chances are that they will be able to make up for their lack of skill. People love passionate people. We love good orators. We respect people who don’t give up easily. Commitment and desire can lead to people working 12-hour days. That’s an extra 4 hours a day to work on their business. Skip lunch or eat on the way, and you can add on an extra hour. What percent do you think most people are really giving it their all every day at work? 30%, 70%? All I know is that I meet very few people that are giving it their all, every day, day in and day out, rain or shine. Experienced people often dismiss kids due to their lack of experience, but what we cannot judge is just how much commitment they have.

LESSON # 38: “All leaders must understand the story of the frog and the scorpion”

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: For those of you unfamiliar with the story it goes like this:

A scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a stream and the scorpion asks the frog to carry him across on its back. The frog asks, “How do I know you won’t sting me?” The scorpion says, “Because if I do, I will die too.” With the frog satisfied, they set out but in midstream, the scorpion stings the frog. The frog feels the onset of paralysis and starts to sink, knowing they both will drown, he has just enough time to gasp, “Why?” The scorpion replies: “It’s in my nature.”


This fable, made famous by Aesop, and used by Jim in his presentation reminds every leader to be careful of who you recruit into your team. Today we have access into people’s daily lives like never before, which is why companies have turned to Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Twitter to discover hidden talent as well as potential dangers. The one thing that I have learnt from my 23 years of teaching is that, for the most part, people don’t change. It’s not that they can’t change but that they don’t want to. As such, people inevitably have certain tendencies. The sales person who is late three times to a meeting, will be late for nearly everything. The husband who cheats on his wife, will cheat on other things too. The friend who is bad at names, will always be bad at names. Habit dominates our lives so despite what people say about changing their bad habits, most don’t. Remember, words are cheap. Watch people’s actions and quite quickly you’ll be able to see a glimpse into your future with them.

LESSON # 39: “All leaders are readers”

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: I suspect that Jim got this from president Harry Truman who said, “Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.” The fact is that if you’re interested in network marketing, you envision a day when you let your team do most of the work. To achieve such a goal, you must be willing to take on the leader’s role and part of that includes reading. Too often I hear people say they “hate” reading. But they aren’t being truthful when they say this because most people love reading anything that they really enjoy. It could be their favorite rock band, or their favorite actor, maybe their favorite sport or hobby, but I guarantee that if you give them something they love, they will read it without a single complaint. So people don’t “hate” reading, they hate reading what they don’t like. Leaders read material they may not necessary like, but because they know it has value in helping their team one way or another.


LESSON # 40: “Talk to lots of people.”

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: It doesn’t get much simpler than this. Whether you’re looking for new customers or new team members the best place to start is by talking to lots of people. And, the good news is, as Jim says, “There are lots of people.” Today we all have access to more than a billion people on Facebook, we just need to be willing to reach out to them. I have gotten messages from people as close as Tokyo (I reside in Osaka) and as far away as Turkey and Brazil. It used to be the case that language was a barrier but thanks to Google Translator and English becoming the dominant language in the world, if you’re reading this report then you can’t use the excuse that you can’t find people. Network marketing, whether you’re focusing on giving presentations to customers or offering trainings to your team members requires a lot of talking. Get used it.

LESSON # 41: “Be real nice.”

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: Attitude is memorable. It is powerful. And it is often what makes the difference between making a sale and going home empty handed. Norman Vincent Peale, years ago, wrote the classic The Power of Positive Thinking and more recently, John Maxwell, the famous author and internationally renowned motivational speaker, wrote a book called The Difference Maker, both these books were devoted to one simple idea: attitude. Network marketing is all about getting yourself in front of people. So be nice!


LESSON # 42: “Give good service.”

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: This seems rather simplistic, but one mistake people make is focusing their energy on the sale, when in actual fact, it’s what is done after providing your product or service that sets you apart from your competition. Many people have what is called “buyer’s remorse,” which is the sense of regret after having purchased something. Your job as a network marketer is not just selling your product or service, but to provide them with quality aftercare. In doing so you not only prevent refunds but position yourself to be seen as someone who genuinely cares (which you should anyway). Today too many people focus on the sale and are pretty much nonexistent the day after. A successful network marketer knows that their true strength lies within their list and team which is why network marketing is the quintessential service industry, regardless of what product or service you provide.

LESSON # 43: “Some things you have to do every day.”

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: One of the things that Jim Rohn would say that always made me laugh is “Eating seven apples on Saturday night, instead of one a day just isn’t going to get the job done.” Most of us want to be successful in one form or another. It could be to lose weight, make money, master a foreign language, or become a best-selling author but the fact is most people aren’t willing to invest the time, money or energy to achieve it. What people are looking for is a “magic pill,” something they can take tonight, go to sleep and wake up successful. Despite what we read in the news about overnight success, success comes about from years of preparation and effort which often culminates in one big jump right at the end. It’s the months of exercise and eating healthy that results in your washboard


stomach. In other words, an apple a day really does keep the doctor away.

LESSON # 44: “Motivation alone is not enough. If you have an idiot and you motivate him, now you have a motivated idiot.”

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: This particular Jim Rohn quote always gets a laugh out of people. The key being, one must be both educated and motivated. There are a lot of people in either group, but to find people in both groups is rather rare. I remember someone coming up to me one day many years back about how excited they were that I would be teaching in their school. They went on to say things like, “Learning English has been a dream of mine for years,” “I can’t wait to get started,” “Challenge me,” blah blah blah. She lasted a grand total of three lessons. That’s it. She seemed to be a highly motivated person and one that had real potential, and yet all it took was three lessons before she vanished. Unfortunately, there are quite a lot of people out there that fall into this category. For them, saying they will work hard equals working hard. They believe what they say, unfortunately they don’t realize just what hard work is and once they get a taste of it, find every excuse they can to get out of it. On the other side of the spectrum you have the people who study and yet never do. They come to classes, attend seminars, do their homework, but lack the motivation needed to keep going over the long haul. These are people who are capable, but just can’t seem to do whatever it is they know they should be doing. In network marketing you’ll meet people of all kinds, but a big number of people will fall into one of these three groups. Your goal is to find the motivated intelligent people. They are your diamonds.


LESSON # 45: “I threw that excuse stuff away...some people found it though and are using it.”

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: The older you get, the more people amaze you. As a high performance coach, one area I find truly fascinating is people’s ability to continually come up with one excuse after another to avoid doing what most of them know they should. Exercise, study, eating healthy, not eating just before bed, drinking in moderation, implementing new ideas, tracking everything, getting everything in writing...these aren’t radical ideas, just good sound business and life practices. You see life and business are intermixed. If your personal life is in shambles, then you can’t be expected to perform well at your office and visa versa. In order to achieve success in the true meaning of the word then we must give up our excuses. In fact, a leader is often judged on his ability to accept responsibility. Anybody can come up with an excuse, it takes real courage to “man up” and accept the blame, especially when it was not your fault.

LESSON # 46: “Don’t wish it were easier, wish you were better.”

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: This Jim Rohn quote is one that I see every day as I had it framed and put up on my dining room wall. If I were to sum up Jim’s philosophies into one quote I would have to choose this one. You have the choice of accepting things the way they are, hoping that they will change or you can change yourself because by changing the situation changes. I have met many people who continually complain about how little money their spouse makes, in fact, some people spend so much time complaining about their spouse that it’s amazing they get anything done. Their situation would be infinitely better if they invested the same time into building their


better future. And one of the best things about network marketing is you don’t have to quit your job to begin. You can start part-time; night time, weekends or holidays. Each hour invested into building our better future is an hour well spent. Read the books, research our competition, script our presentation, gather followers, the list of things we can do that will make a difference in our lives is practically endless and, in fact, if you’ve read this far then you are setting yourself up for success because the sad truth is most people couldn’t be bothered to read a report such as this.

LESSON #47: “Life is like the changing seasons.”

HOW THIS APPLIES TO NETWORK MARKETING: This was the theme of Jim Rohn’s first book and a staple of his presentations. In a nutshell, life goes in cycles, and as sure as winter changes to spring and on to summer each year, so too do our lives. And our job is not to try and change that, but we learn how to adapt to it. No business is impervious to competition, Yahoo! is a great example as it was the big cheese back in the 90s and then this little company called Google came along and has thoroughly outperformed Yahoo! over the past decade. Or what about Apple which was struggling to stay alive at the end of the last century, only to go on and dominate first the MP3 player market, then revolutionized the smartphone and finally created a product that has since dominated its competition: the iPad. Microsoft used to be the leader, today it is struggling to ward off attacks from both Google and Apple. Times change. What you, as a network marketer, must realize is that there are both good times and bad. Each with its own set of rules to thrive in. Here’s one simple rule: don’t do what everyone else is doing. You need to stand out, go the extra mile, be willing to do the work that others aren’t, look for new markets that are untapped, position your product or service differently to each group of people. Gone are the days of the one-size-fits-all, today it’s all about “What can


you do for ME?” Every successful network marketer I know is passionate about their product, they’re knowledgeable about their product, they’re dedicated, hard working, and have a genuine interest in helping others.

WHERE IT ALL BEGINS

While I hope that you have enjoyed reading this report, I did not write it simply for it to be enjoyed, but acted upon. It is my sincere goal to continue in the footsteps of Jim which is to share ideas that matter with people who care. I care, and have made it my mission to help people live better lives. Six years ago when I was listening to Jim’s “How to Keep a Journal” audio lecture I clearly remember him saying that despite sharing his ideas with millions of people all over the world that his best guess was that only 3% of people took him up on his challenge to keep a journal. I wanted to be a part of that elite group, the group of high performers, and so I set about writing notes. One thing led to another and today I share many of my thoughts, ideas and discoveries on http://www.isucceedbook.com as my way of helping keep Jim’s principles alive and sharing them in such a way that makes them come alive in today’s high-speed world. But why stop there? I realized that there are thousands of great speakers on all sorts of topics so I invested my money and spent the time to go through hundreds of books, audio lectures and DVD trainings and any time I find a nugget of information, it does straight into my notes. Some of which I transform into blog posts to share with my readers. Pop over to http://www.isucceedbook.com and take a look. And while you’re there be sure to sign up for the special report on 15 Secrets to Building a Solid Foundation for Success.

For all those “busy” people out there, I also run a fanpage where I


share inspirational quotes, stories and sometimes even bonuses which you can check out here -- https://www.facebook.com/isucceedbook.

And, of course, if you’re looking for more of Jim Rohn’s fabulous ideas, be sure to check out his products at http://www.jimrohn.com/.

With any luck, the ideas I’ve contained here will help get you started on your journey of success. The next step is yours, and yours alone. However, if I can be of any help, you know where to find me. Your high performance coach,

Adrian Shepherd

47 NETWORK MARKETING LESSONS I LEARNED FROM ...

Documents

Transcript of 47 NETWORK MARKETING LESSONS I LEARNED FROM ...