*=========================================* M A S T E R N E T W O R K E R The Art of Building A business by Lon Lindsey MASTER NETWORKER Number 100 June 19, 2002 http://www.masternetworker.com *=========================================* HOW TO REJECT THE REJECTION Have you ever been rejected? Of course you have! That is why you probably go all out to avoid it. I want to address this topic because the fear of rejection is the number one reason why most network marketers never reach their true potential when it comes to building their business organization. What I want to do is show you how you can effectively "reject the rejection" in such a way that you can go on with your business. The word, "reject" is defined as "to refuse to take, agree to, use, believe, etc" or to "discard; throw away as rejected." For network marketers, it comes down to "he/she doesn't want what I have to offer or he/she does not believe in what I have, therefore they do not want it. The problem with rejection is not necessarily the actual rejection, but the effect of the rejection. Why is it some people are defeated by rejection, yet others are challenged and energized by the same thing? My hope is I can show you how it is possible for you to become energized once you learn how to "reject the rejection." Let's face it. The reason rejection hurts so much is it is a personal thing, at least we see it that way. If someone doesn't want better health by purchasing our line of health products (for example) we feel they are rejecting us when, in fact, they are rejecting their obtaining better health though our line of products. That really isn't a personal rejection nevertheless, we usually see it as personal rejection because we link ourselves personally to the business or product. We, in a sense, become the "weakest link"! What's really sad is our first experiences with rejection are usually from the people who care about us. That's our family, friends, neighbors and other acquaintances, so when we are rejected by those people we respect, care for, love and personally know, the rejection becomes even more hurtful because it is more personal just because of who we go to. Could it be that we initially approach the wrong people for the wrong reasons when we begin a business? In other words, do we set ourselves up for rejection just based on who we initially approach? I say, let's reject the rejection by carefully targeting who we approach. Let's face it. Just because the people you approach are family, friends, and acquaintances doesn't mean they have the same vision you have. In fact, they may have no vision at all, however they are quick to reject you as they try to destroy your own vision. Such statements from friends like "you've got to be kidding" or "you have no idea what you are getting into" or "get a real job" or "I'm not really interested" are common responses when we approach our "warm market" with a business opportunity or a product we want to share. Heck, if these are our friends, we don't need enemies! So, where do we go from here? Who do we go to? How can you prepare yourself in such a way that rejecting the rejection will actually challenge you to move forward in your business? There are three things you must do to become "rejection" proof: 1. You must believe in what you say and say what you believe! Become knowledgeable in what you are doing, the products you represent, the company you are a distributor for. Do you really believe in what you are doing? If not, then you need to educate yourself about what you are doing OR find something you CAN believe in. Belief in self and belief in what you are doing will go a long way in helping you to reject the rejection. 2. You must persist! When you are knocked down, you must get back up. Determination will go a long way in helping you to reject the rejection. 3. You must keep your eyes on the goal. What is it you want? How badly do you want it? Does your "want" drive you enough that you will get to your goal no matter what it takes to get there? Knowing where you are going and keeping your eyes on the destination will go a long way in helping you to reject the rejection. When you combine the above three points, you CAN actually reject the rejection. Preparing yourself for rejection (because it is going to happen) is how you reject the rejection. For those people who work at the above three things before they start marketing their business, they will build a business because they now see building a business as a numbers thing. Think of it this way when approaching others: some do, some won't, so what? Next! Now, with that in mind, you can do some things to help better target who you approach. Obviously you don't go down the list of names in the phone book and just call people (although there are those who will do that.) What you need to do is approach people based on their being a targeted lead. This is another subject, but suffice it to say that you can either generate your own leads via "target marketing" strategies such as co-op advertising postal mailing, emailing, etc or you can purchase general leads. For me, I prefer to generate my own leads based on the criteria I want to set up that will lead people to me based on that criteria. I may do this via postcard mailings or advertising co-ops or a variety of lead-generating strategies, but the main point is, you need people who will come to you for what you have to offer. This is another way you can reject the rejection. When people come to you, rather than you initially going to them, it seems to take the "personal" out of it and people don't feel quite as bad if/when others may not join or buy from you. I personally have a hard time just going to people about something unless I feel they are interested, so for me, I have to create something that leads people to me who seem to be interested. Once I know that, I do a pretty good job sponsoring. So, I still haven't totally perfected the "reject the rejection" model I suggest, but there are ways to deal with it so you can build a business and understand that what you may have will not be for everyone, however you move forward. My main point? Reject the rejection! Lon Lindsey Publisher The Masternetworker http://www.masternetworker.com