Why MLM?

I have had my Amway MLM business for over 6 years now. Am I successful at it? Not yet, but I will be. However, success to me now means something totally different to when I started my business. Yes, this business concept has a way of changing your goals in life. Look, don't get me wrong, I am still doing it to make money and become filthy stinking rich, but I want to use the money for different things than when I started. But the question still remains, why MLM?

Well, let's answer the reverse first. Why don't people start a MLM business? Well the quick and easy answer is that they don't want to end up with mud on their face. So how do people end up with mud on their face? With the dreaded words, "I told you it wouldn't work." No matter what the prospect says, at the end of the day that is what it all comes down to. I was no different. I mean, I have a degree in Engineering, have done MCSE, MCDBA and a few other courses. I have been working in IT for the last 15 years. So my mindset was: "Why get mud in your face if you can just keep the mud out of it and work as an Engineer". That mindset made me think and really analyse the answer, as the answer to "Why MLM" is also in that answer.

I can't tell you why you should start a MLM business, I can only tell you why I did and maybe inspire you to really think about your future. Let's first state the obvious. From the outside, MLM is not a glamorous business. It is an easy to understand business, but not obvious. MLM takes work and is not a "Get rich quick scheme".
Now let's state the not so obvious. You can become a millionaire within 5 years in this industry. The person below you can make more money than you. MLM is about people, not about YOU! MLM has been around for over 50 years, and is the business of the future (Business of the 21st Century - Robert Kiyosaki). MLM is a lot harder than you think, but it is 100 times more worth it than you can imagine. So why did I make the choice. It starts with the picture you see to the left. I stood at that junction, with the MLM opportunity on the one hand and my JOB on the other. In my JOB, success meant having a pay check at the end of the month and being a slave to someone else's goals and dreams. I knew I would have to work harder to really get ahead in life and the sacrifices needed, and should I perhaps screw up, I would fail, having been retrenched 5 times in my life, I knew it would have meant starting over, again.

On the other hand I had my Amway business. It had the opportunity to really generate a good 'pay check', better than my engineering job. I was in control of my future, not my boss. Success meant helping others succeed. If I screwed up it only meant one more month of work and not looking for a new job. My income was not influenced by a mistake. Failure meant just another way of something not working and not total devastation. So this made me think. The question started to change from "Why MLM" to the statement, "Can I afford not to MLM". It has everything a business needs. It has products, it has people, it pays on time, it has a support structure and you can make serious money. This ended up being the reason I started my Amway MLM business. The nice thing about mud in your face? You can wash it off with, "I am doing something to better my life, what about you". My upline has a great saying: "If the Brave do not lead, the timid will not follow, so be Brave!" - Ken Annandale.

So make your pros and cons list and really understand what MLM can bring to your life. There is more to it than you will ever realise.

Regards
Dirk

Dare to dream!

One of the worlds most difficult things to do is to dream. Remember when you were young, how easy it was to dream? While you played, when you saw a movie or when you even just drove in a car. I remember a dream very clearly from when I was young. We used to travel long distance every December via car to our holiday destination. I used to dream/imagine being on a motorcycle next to the road and jumping all the water trenches next to the road as the car travelled.

So what happened? Well, many would say we grew up, others would say that reality sets in and other just say that dreaming is a wasted past time. I would have to disagree with these statements. I am saying that because just look how happy children are. No stress, no worries and they dream the entire time. Being a policeman, fireman, doctor or maybe playing a sport at top level, writing a fairytale book or even just playing on the beach. So why can't we have that?

I think because we believe that dreaming is for people that has resources to do so. This is a misconception. The other problem is that people measure happiness on how much money one has. Again, a misconception. Real happiness is reaching your goals/dreams. This said however, most of our dreams do involve having money, and time. But I want to let you know that you too can reach your dreams, even if you are dead broke and your dream requires a massive amount of funds to make it real.

So, now you're probably asking, so how do I do that? Well, the first and most important thing is to really know what your dream is and use that dream to elevate yourself out of your current situation and catapult yourself to where your dream is. Here is a few points I found works for me:

• Write it down - Harvard school of business found that writing down your dreams already plants the seed to get your mind into solution mode. Also 97% of people writing down their dreams actually achieve them. 100% of people that don't write them down, don't!
• Live you dream - Not necessarily physically live it, but really put your dream in your heart. I found by sitting down on the beach and really "feel" how it would be to have my dream, is my way of living it.
• Understand the real why - Communicate your dream to your partner. Let them communicate their dream to you. However, really understand why they want the dream and what it will mean to them to have that dream in their lives.
•  Affirm your dream list. Read it every morning. By doing so you put the dream in your heart and sub-conscience mind.

I have found that these points really gives you the 'fire in the belly' desire to reach your dreams. But, by not putting an action plan together on reaching them, these steps will mean nothing and your dreams will stay just that, dreams.

So put your action plan together and change your dreams into life goals. We all deserve happiness!!

Regards
Dirk

Principles of Conversation

Why is there a communication breakdown in the world. Shouldn't it have increased with social networking taking the world by storm. We have Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. And with technology advancing as it is, what about mobile social networking such as BBM (Blackberry Messenger), Facebook for Mobi and applications like WhatApp, which basically put you in contact with anyone on your mobile phone.

It is important to realize how little of our communication is composed of words. In Brad deHaven's book, "Confident Conversations", he mentions that our communication is actually 93% non-verbal. That means that our words comprise only 7% of our total conversation! 7%? Are you serious?

So if that is the case, where does the other 93% come from? More than in any other way, people judge you and make decisions about how they think and feel about you based on your voice inflection, body language, appearance and listening skills.

So how can you improve your business conversations and how do other successful Network Marketers do it? Well, they have an understanding of the 7 key Conversation Principles listed below. So what are these 7 principles?

Principle #1:
Be a good Listener - The best way in the world to shop people how much you care - and the quickest way, too - is by listening.

Principle #2:
People are most interested in themselves - A person's name is the most precious word in their Language.

Principle #3:
Pause before you answer - People want to know their thoughts are real and valid.

Principle #4:
Be brief and focused - Focus your attention to the prospect/client rather than be 'me' focused.

Principle #5:
Have a great first impression - People will form up to 90% of their opinion about you in less then four minutes.

Principle #6:
Every time you make a point, tell a story - The best way to communicate benefits and value to emotional beings (us humans) is to speak emotionally.

Principle #7:
Believe in who you are and what you have - If you don't believe in what you're doing, you simply cannot be successful.

Challenge yourself to get proficient with the 7 conversation principles. Remember, it's not what you 'can' do in life that makes the difference; it's what you 'will' do.

Regards
Dirk Smit

PS - Get the book 'Confident Conversations' by Brad DeHaven and learn the integrals of answering 38 tough questions asked in the Network Marketing industry.