*==============================================* M A S T E R N E T W O R K E R The Art of Building A Business by Professor Lon Lindsey MASTER NETWORKER #34 June 11,1997 *==============================================* INSIDE YOU WILL FIND: "The Art of Building A Business - Network Marketing Makes The Difference!- Dealing With The Down Times. The Archive of Master Networker Publications What's Hot Directory" Our weekly one liner. The humorous side. The Master Networker recommended business web page for the week - How toget a FREE web site and up to five FREE web pages and FREE auto-responders . . .and more! Master Networker Recommended Readings ================================================== Hello fellow "Master Networker" subscribers! This is number thirty four in the Master Networker series. If you happened to miss the first thirty three publications, you can retrieve them at: http://masternetworker.com/mailfiles/mailfile.html or you can retrieve them by email from the auto-responder: MasterNetworker-issue-#.txt@masternetworker.com Substitute the desired issue number in place of the "#" Example: mailto:MasterNetworker-Issue26.txt@masternetworker.com ********************************************************************** As in any business, network marketing has it's ups and downs. Sometimes we we get down or discouraged, it is a good idea to consider why we got involved in network marketing to begin with. Today's article is for that purpose. Network marketing really does make difference. Let's see how and why. Joe Cerniglia, a networking friend of mine, is author of MLM Master Magazine for a company called "The Rock." I'm a firm believer that learning comes from a variety of sources and experiences. Take a look at what Joe has available. He even features some of my articles from time to time which is a FEEL GOOD happening for me. Joe is getting married in a couple weeks, so give him a wedding present by checking out his magazine. Selected articles from Master Networker are also featured in MLM Master Magazine, a publication of The Rock. Enjoy Professor Lindsey and other Master Networkers in a very informative and entertaining monthly magazine! Goto: http://virtual-adnet.com/rock/mlmmmfp.htm ><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> This is a reminder that the Master Networker series is purposely set up for the beginning networker or for those considering networking or even for networkers who have yet to be successful in networking. This means that The Master Networker series covers basic networking principles with the purpose of developing a firm foundation for networking. "The Master Networker" will be void of information that will thrust you to a $90,000 income within 90 days or a $15,000 monthly income without doing any work. Why? Because that isn't how networking works. I've been in networking for thirteen years, and I have yet to meet anyone who has obtained networking riches without working for it . . .especially $90,000 in ninety days. This series is about the real world of networking. <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>< T H E A R T O F B U I L D I N G A B U S I N E S S N E T W O R K M A R K E T I N G M A K E S T H E D I F F E R E N C E! A BUSINESS OR A HOBBY - IT'S UP TO YOU! Websters Dictionary says: "To market something is to buy or sell goods or services." Network marketing is a system of cooperating individuals working together for the purpose of buying or selling goods and services. Mailorder network marketing is the act of buying or selling goods or services, through a system of cooperating individuals, by mail. You can substitute Internet for mailorder as well. As an example, if you have a product or products that you would like to sell, you could place an ad in a national publication or on the Internet or you could mail letters, brochures and postcards or create web pages to get leads/prospects that could eventually result in a sale. However you do it, you would then immediately be in business. In getting ready to go into business, you must be sure that it is a legitimate product or service that you have for sale; otherwise, you might be judged to be offering an unlawful scam, scheme or plot that is designed to defraud. In such a case, you would not only be put out of business, but you might be prosecuted as well. The orders you receive come from what is known as your retail customers. You buy or produce a product or service jfor an amount of money that is referred to as your wholesale cost. Then, through your ad, you resell your products or services for a higher price. The difference between your wholesale cost and your retail price is your gross profit. After you take into consideration all of your costs of doing business, what you end up with is your net profit. Your costs would include such things as the cost of your ad, postage, printing and all of the other labor and materials that are involved in getting your product into the hands of your retail customer. Initially, you might make a profit; however, it is more than likely you will not end up making any money. Your costs, most likely, will be too high. Nevertheless, you are in business. You are, of course, in business to make a profit; but how much profit you make often depends on you and how many ways you can find to cut your costs of doing business. You must make a profit or go out of business. In fact, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will even help you to go out of business. The IRS says that you must earn a profit within three years or else they will consider, for tax purposes, your so-called business to be nothing more than a hobby. If you make money, you're in business. If you don't make money, you've only got a hobby. Now that we have defined what it takes to be in business, what happens next is this: Once you have customers, you must then attempt to make repeat customers out fo them. This is called "back-end marketing." Success with this aspect of marketing will make the difference in whether you are a business or a hobby. To begin with, you must have high-quality, consumable products or "real need" services that are cost competitive. If you have good products but their costs are too high, your competition will put you out of business. Not only that, but the cost of continually contacting your customers to get their repeat business would tend to make the products cost even more. Your customers must literally be talked into buying something each month. that is both a big job and a big expense, with the results being very questionable. THE REPEAT-BUSINESS ADVANTAGE This is where the reason for networking or network marketing comes into plan and has a real meaning. There are millions of people who want and need the conveninece of shopping by mail or via the Internet. A majority of those same people would also like to be able to earn extra money to pay for those products. Through a networking system of people helping people, they can do just that. They can develop downline organizations of members who not only sign up to purchase products, but they also sign up and become repeat customers - customers who buy something that they need each month. By working at home through the use of the mail and Internet, a person can both buy products and earn an income at the same time, simply by showing others how to do the same thing. These member customers become a so called "captive audience," whereby they do not have to be resold to every month. They buy and use products that they need through the mail or via Internet for the sake of conveninece and, at the same time, they make money through a business of their very own. Sometimes professional sales people who have spent a lifetime knocking on doors have trouble realizing that products can be sold to retail customers by mail and Internet (without inventorying products) as well as through personal contact - and those same retail customers can also build can also build a business and, in reality, they actually become steady, repeat customers for the sake of their own business, a business where not only a regular income can be earned, but a business whereby a residual income can also be developed. A residual income is one that is a direct result of the initial efforts of an individual and does not solely depend on daily activity. In other words, once you work hard enough to get a business started, you might be able to go on an extended vacation and still receive a steady income income. I like to think of it as making money even while you're sleeping. I don't know about you, but for me it sure beats working for someone else! TRAINING IS NOT AN OPTION Residual incomes do not just happen by themselves. They require a lot of work in the form of downline or organizational communication. Another word for this is "training." When you first set out to go into business, you must learn the business. You have to know what you are doing . . . you must know the products, the company, the compensation plan, business-building strategies and more. You need to know everything there is to know about your business and as much as possible about what you are representing. You must each yourself so you can teach others who, in turn, teach still others to do the same thng. No, this is no joke! It is an absolute must. Think of this process . . . Recruit - sponsor - teach - teach others to recruit, sponsor and teach. The more effective you are in doing these things, the larger residual income you are going to earn. Now read this closely because this is something many network marketers either don't know or simply refuse to abide by. TRAINING IS NOT JUST SOMETHING YOU CAN DO IF YOU FEEL LIKE IT AND DON'T DO IF YOU DON'T FEEL LIKE IT. By law, you must train others. Is it enforced, not on an individual basis, but companies must show that you are getting paid for training . . . not for sponsoring and not really for selling products because the company is selling the products. You absolutely must communicate with and train the members of your downline organization. The monthly commissions that you receive are not sales bonuses. They are, by law, permitted only because they are intended to repay you for the time and effort spent in the training of others. Your downline members sign up and agree to purchase products or a service each month. They do not have to be resold onthe necessity of buying something every month. In most cased, it is an automatic feature of the program. Money cannot be earned for recruiting or sponsoring people into a business. Since you are not earning money for selling or recruiting, the only other thing for which money can rightfully be earned for is the training and motivating of one's downline. After all, people will drop out of your business if you do not contact them, get acquainted and help them to learn the business. You help them understand how they can work at home and make money and how they can save money on quality products or services that are needed and used by others. Teach them how to ubild a business by training other marketers. It's the law! THE ULTIMATE EXPERIENCE Here is somethng that is imperative to know; almost more important than anything else: In building a business, the income of that business does not always go up. Almost all businesses have their ups and downs. There are good times and bad. Whether you own a meat market, a barber shop, a gas station or a network marketing business, your business is sure to face both seasonal and competitive challenges. The sooner that fact is learned, the sooner you will look at your net income more realistically. Do not automatically expect to earn more money each month than you did the month before. Do not even expect to gain or remain in profit every month, unless you put forth some extraordinary effort to make something happen that otherwise would not have happened. running a business is not easy. It never is and we certainly don't want to pretend that it is. If someone ever told you that it was easy, then your disappointments might seem overwhelming rather than challenging. You are going to face many road blocks, and you are going to face them almost all the time. It is going to seem like the road to scuccess is always under construction. If you realize that this is normal, then it will become a way of life instead of devastating. You will meet each obstacle as a challenge, with vim and vigor and the strength to carry on, to continue and to conquer. Then on to the next problem. Each challenge will therefore become a learning experience that could and should be taught to others. (Now you know why I love providing the Master Networker to people). Develop your creative abilities and become a teacher. Get help from others with more experience. They will be happy to help you . . . it's vote of confidence to them and makes them feel good! POWER-LEVEL MARKETING AVOIDS DEPRESSION We have recently discovered and experienced something new that we believe will provide a tremendous boost to the mailorder/Internet work-at-home industry. It is relatively new, and it's called power-level marketing. When it is added to marketing in general, great things happen for almost everyone. It is currently being used very effectively in conjunction with mailorder/Internet network marketing. It is a system whereby participants who are using networking as a way of building organizations can truly benefit. It encourages both downline growth and expanding growth. It encourages members to build their their business organizations both horizontally and vertically. Remember, width translates into added income potential and depth translates into added security. What happens is this: by focusing attention on alternating levels each month, it helps a memeber to be able to make an intelligent decision as to whether they should be expanding their business sideways as opposed to building deeper or vice-versa. The really big difference is that a person in business will be able to train themselves to not get discouraged. A person's income will be several times greater than normal on alternating months. It will appear to be a variable, rather than a fixed income, and members will not be inclined to get depressed on any given month. Less thought will be devoted to the earned income in any given month, and more time will be spent on being positive and on developing even greater incomes. CREATIVITY WORKS WONDERS As I have stated many times before in other articles, the mailorder/Internet network marketing industry is big and will forever be getting bigger and stronger all the time. People with outstanding creative abilities are continually developing tremendous new ways of doing business, such as adding power-level marketing to all kinds of marketing plans. These refreshing new ideas make a good thing even better. If you are not already a part of this fantastic growth industry, I would urge you to read other Master Networker articles as well as many books and magazines on the industry. Following this article will be a list of reading that I recommend. There is no such thing as the possibility of the industry ever becoming saturated or running out of people who are looking for a business opportunity. the normal birth rates and the ever-changing economic circumstances will prevent this from happening. What you must do now is to take some time to investigate and select a business opportunity that is best suited to you - then stick with it. Don't give up on a program or yourself. Don't go blindly chasing rainbows. Dreams are created out of desires from within, while goals are reached through drive and determination. Put it all together and gain a new perspective on life. IN CONCLUSION If you really want a business and not just a hobby, consider this: Select a business and then find a role model in that business - a person who has a proven track record and is already highly successful in that business. Success breeds success. If possible, get sponsored by your role model or, at the very least, communicate with that person weekly. Learn their secrets and techniques, and learn all "the ropes" in general, and then follow in his or her footsteps exactly. Whatever else you do, work only one "major focus" business at-a-time. Get committed to a cause, a goal or a business, and work at it as if you really do mean business. If you don't, you'll end up with a hobby, whether you want one or not! Lon Lindsey Master Networker ************************************************************************ How would you like to be the only representative from your business opportunity to be listed in this "What's Hot" Directory. Explode your opportunity by registering and setting up a web page today. Visit: The American Dream Network, Inc. http://www.munymaker.com **************************************************** This week's one liner ---------------------------------- He feels his wife doesn't understand him but he's afraid she might be catching on. ========================================================= The Humorous Side - A sure sign of teenage years is when a kid stops asking where they came from and starts refusing to tell where they are going. ****************************************************** >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Want your own FREE web site and up to 5 FREE web pages? You can create your own EASILY (if I can do it . . . anyone can do it!) As Master Networker subscriber, I'm giving these away. Also receive FREE auto-responders and more! Go to:http://www.freeyellow.com/members/masternetworker/ and scroll down to the link that invites you to create your own FREE web page at a FREE website/page! >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Master Networker Recommended Readings: BOOKS WAVE Three - Richard Poe Money, Money, Money, Money, Money - John Milton Fogg The Future Is Knowing Network Marketing - Patrick W. Higgins Who Stole The American Dream? - Burke Hedges Working Smarter From Home: A Guide For Network Marketers - Crisp Publications Bad Blues - Venus Andrecht The Network Marketer's Guide to Success - Jeffrey Babener & David Stewart How To Succeed in Your Own MLM Business - Debbi A. Ballard How Secure if Your Financial Future?- Allen Baytes Beyond The Veil - Leonard Clements Network Marketing: The Business of the 90's - Crisp Publications Tax Advantages of HOme-Based Businesses - Carol Dilley A Better Way to a Better Life - Nancy Failla & Jerry James The Basics - Don Failla The Greatest Networker in the World - John Milton Fogg MLM Special Reports - Randy Gage You Can't Steal Second With Your Foot On First - Burke Hedges Beingthe Best You Can Be - John Kalench Mail Order MLM Techniques - Charles Possick Big Al Tells All - Tom "big Al" Schreiter How to Create A Recruiting Explosion - Tom Schreiter Power Multi-Level Marketing - Mark & Renee Reid Yarnell Winning the Greatest Game of All - Randy Ward Are You Walking Past A Fortune?- tom "Big Al" Schreiter MAGAZINES Entrepreneur Magazine Success Magazine The Network Trainer Upline Any suggestions for Master Networker article ideas? Submit to: professor@multi-level.com Remember, on the internet, it's not only who you know and what you know, but also WHERE YOU GO! See you there! Professor Lindsey If you want to unsubscribe from "The Master Networker" send e-mail to professor@multi-level.com and put unsubscribe in subject area.