When you decided to build your business, did you want it to grow fast or slow? I ask this because most people tend to develop slowly. I decided I wanted to build quickly, so I studied the compensation plan to see how I could maximize both my own and my team’s profits. Since network structure bonuses generate most of the money, I realized that is where I needed to focus my energy and not on product selling. (I will review compensation plans in Secret # 10: “Understand How You Can Get Paid.”)
In this blog post, I will list out some of the benefits of building fast. However, even though it makes sense to build fast, many people don’t do that, so I’ll also explain why it takes some people longer than others.
$2000/month is Simple, But Not Easy
In essence, reaching $2000/month is simple: Just look at your compensation plan and add people who buy products until you reach the required volume in your chosen month and make sure you place your own minimum order, if required.
That’s it! Boom!
So, it is simple, but is it easy? It seems easier for some people than others, but a lot of that comes from various factors, including:
- The number of people in your network of friends or people who follow you
- Your comfort level meeting new people
- Previous network marketing experience
- How bad you want it
The most significant factor, in my opinion, is how bad you want it. If your WHY is giant, then you will work harder to make it happen. Moreover, WHYs come in all shapes and sizes. The trick is finding the WHY that will motivate YOU. There is a lot of information about finding your WHY out there, but much of it doesn’t go deep enough or is too broad. Secret #5 shows into how I help distributors dig out a meaningful and motivating WHY.
Benefits of Building Fast
When you achieve a beginning leadership level of $2000/month, you will experience many benefits. Some of the benefits are tangible, and others are intangible. All of them are worth having and will help to motivate you to keep pushing onward.
So, what are some of these benefits?
The obvious one is the tangible benefit: you will start making thousands of monthly dollars in bonuses rather than tens or hundreds of dollars. For some people, this is motivation enough, but there are many intangible benefits:
- Personal feeling of accomplishment. You’ve “joined the club” and share a bond with other distributors who have previously reached that level, knowing you all pushed through the challenges and made it happen.
- You might qualify and be recognized as a leader in your company with lots of cheering, photos, and team-building comradery. (It’s FUN to be a leader!)
- The confidence you can repeat it and show your team leaders how to do what you did.
- Belief in your ability to make real money in your chosen MLM company, knowing you will be able to drop-kick your job to the curb someday and build the life you want for you and your family.
- Proof for your significant other that this isn’t just a money-sucking “little MLM business”; this one feels delicious — yes?
- Sometimes you will have access to special leader account managers in your company who can help you with your business-building challenges — a very nice benefit, indeed!
- Special access to annual events like conventions (with other distributors at your level) so you can dash to the front and grab better seats.
- An invitation to your company or team’s leadership event, where you will learn techniques that leaders like you can use to build a more effective team.
- A foundation of builders to help you reach higher ranks like Diamond and above.
- A VERY proud team of people (many of whom have been with you from the start) who look to you for inspiration and gain the confidence they can do it too.
So, you see, building fast and becoming a leader is a BIG DEAL!
Also, it doesn’t happen by accident. It takes a commitment to the process and requires you to put in the time and other resources to make it happen.
But Wait, There’s More!
Building your business to a $2000/month level quickly has additional monetary benefits you will not achieve by building slowly. When you build fast, you create momentum in your business and reach higher ranks faster. Everyone is excited that you reached your level, and they want it too. Helping your team members rank up so they can leave their jobs is really fun and rewarding!
Another interesting data point is that that it doesn’t matter if you build to $2000/month fast or slow. The stick rate is the same! What does this mean? Once you reach that level, your chance of staying there or reaching higher ranks is the same. So, go fast to enjoy the other benefits mentioned earlier.
One final reason to build fast is that your WHY happens faster. The faster you build, the quicker you can achieve the results you are after. Your WHY becomes much more believable. You can see it happening so much sooner!
Knowing all this, why would you ever build slow?
Why Most Distributors Take So Long
Some distributors see $2000/month as an elusive level. They suffer from a lack of confidence. They don’t believe they can achieve it. We reached $2000/month in just over a month, which helped build our foundation for Diamond that happened the following year, which helped us get out of debt faster. The result was we had more time to start doing what we wanted to do because we had a significant regular monthly income. We could afford to go on the company incentive trips. We could also eat out more, and we stopped worrying about every dollar we spent, knowing that those dollars weren’t adding to credit card debt.
Going Diamond also allowed me to use some of my time to develop my online courses which have helped lots of distributors on their journeys, as well as the apps to allow them to build when they are out and about.
Like us, some distributors climb to $2000/month very quickly and enjoy the benefits. Others take a long time or never even make it, even with all the significant advantages. Here are some of the reasons I see that hold them back:
- No strong, motivating WHY– Your WHY is your fuel. Without it, progress slows dramatically! That’s why the next chapter explores how you can create a strong, motivating WHY.
- Bad coaching from sponsors– Let’s face it, if a motivated Diamond enrolls you, you will probably have better one-on-one coaching than if you were enrolled by a brand-new distributor friend of yours who was enrolled by a friend of hers a week ago. There are a couple of solutions here if you want to build fast. First, reach upward to your closest Diamond leader and ask for one-on-one time with that person to help you build quickly. Second, consider enrolling in an online course to help you get clear on what you need to know to succeed. Some courses, like mine, include support groups and calls you can tap into to help keep you motivated and give you cool success tips along the way.
- Overwhelm– Some leaders are teaching too much, too quickly. Beware if your sponsor simply recommends going to the company website to watch some videos. New distributors need to know which videos to view and when to view them. Otherwise, they may become overwhelmed.
- Unrealistic expectations– Let’s face it, sometimes distributors want you on their team so badly they might stretch how easily you can build your network marketing business and make money. Some of them will even be so focused on signing up new people, they might not be able to provide the support you’ll need to build fast. As a result, it is up to you to figure out whom to get help from to make it happen. Sometimes it gets frustrating when it is taking a long time. Don’t give up! If your enrolling sponsor is not able to meet you where you are at, ask if they would be willing to connect you to their upline. If they are not open to that, then it is up to you to connect with an upline leader to get proper guidance. Joining a training program, as mentioned before, can also be a great way to get help.
- Waiting for your team to get you to $2000/month – Believe it or not, it is up to YOU to get to $2000/month, not your team! I can’t tell you how many times I have heard, “I would be making $2000/month by now, but my leaders just aren’t working it.” Unfortunately, you are probably managing them by telling them what to do instead of leading them. Leadership involves inspiring them to want to build their businesses to achieve their personal goals. In truth, managing is all about your desires and not theirs. As mentioned previously, you are building an all-volunteer army of distributors and customers. Find out what they want and be the inspiration to help them manifest it. Also remember that since your business is built of an all-volunteer army, people may come and go, so if all else fails, you can always build another leg or two.
- Relationship challenges with upline– Okay, here’s a tough one. Sometimes before you know how to relate to people with different social styles, you may not know how to connect and develop a relationship with your upline or downline. At the same time, perhaps they haven’t learned how to connect with you. If you want to make the relationship work, you will need to learn how to connect better and motivate others. I teach an “Understanding Social Styles” lesson in week 1 of my course. You can google around for other options. I don’t recommend spending time memorizing elements from Briggs–Myers, Gallop www.Strengthsfinder.com, and some of the different personality styles assessments. They are too complicated and not what you need because they take too long to figure out. Learn how to find someone’s social style within ten to twenty seconds, and it will help you to bridge the gap with them more quickly.
- You are feeling too much pressure to succeed –Sometimes it comes from your leaders, and sometimes it is internally generated. In both cases, you need to take a breath and take time to smell the roses or some nice calming essential oils. Also, reach upward to find a leader who is a calming force, not someone who is pushing and expecting you to help achieve their results. Hey, we are all human, and personal growth is the number one best result of building your business to $2000/month, Diamond and beyond. When you get there, you will be a better version of yourself, guaranteed. They will be too!
Multiple Training Systems
There are many paths you can travel to reach the $2000/month level. Some focus on direct product sales, some concentrate on internet marketing, others focus on more traditional MLM techniques of dream building, and some are a hybrid of these paths. The approach you take depends mostly on who brought you into this business and what they recommend doing to achieve success.
Unfortunately, some new distributors are sponsored by other distributors who are separated by many levels from distributors who have reached the higher ranks and who have the experience you can lean on to steer you clear of the inevitable challenges that will come your way. A few successful distributors who have reached Diamond or above have developed various courses. But some training programs have been developed by outside companies who have no direct experience building a network marketing business. The experience of some of the creators of these training programs are from traditional sales organizations, and they tend to promote a more traditional (aggressive) approach to prospecting. They focus on sales at all costs, which is useful if you are a dynamic distributor, but which can also leave you feeling uncomfortable while you are prospecting.
In contrast, I prefer to teach business-building information, tools, and “icky-free” prospecting skills that leverage the essential products so you can develop belief and confidence to quickly achieve the goal of $2000/month and above.
I recommend you pick a course that fits your time, budget, and social style. Realize also that some upline sponsors have firm opinions on which program is best. Unfortunately, I have consoled downline members who were in tears because they felt pressured to join expensive leadership training courses that were too advanced and too expensive for them. It’s your time and your money, so make choosing a particular training course a choice you can live with.
Do your research, ask questions, and get referrals. In the end, you have to resonate with the program you choose. It has to fit your goals and your budget.
The good news is that if your chosen course doesn’t work for you, there are still plenty of other options. Don’t give up! There’s more than one way to get to $2000/month!
Point Awareness and Tracking
If you want to build quickly, download a rank worksheet from your company and manually fill it in each week of each month. You will only know how well you are doing if you can plan and track the results.
Most courses will have a weekly planning worksheet you can download. If you are on a weekly coaching or mentoring call with your sponsor, make sure to email your completed form before the call so your coach can help you with any challenges you are having at that time. The more time they have to review it, the better their help can be.
