Network Marketing - a reply to my MLM blog by the Regional Vice President of Arbonne UK, Tara Inchbald.
In my experience, the reason people who used to be involved with Network Marketing (NM) moan is a bit like somebody who is an ex-smoker who moans more about it than non-smokers ever do. People more often think it's 'not work' marketing but it's networking and you get what out you put in. Your business card is your mouth, your shop is your mouth and it should always be open.
People join these businesses and then realise it's hard work and that they have to have an entrepreneurial mindset. You make very little money to begin with as it takes time to build, they want to be earning big money in a week it doesn't work like that. The people at the top have worked hard to get there and have helped a lot of people.
The second mistake is to say that not everyone makes lots of money in NM. That's absolutely true but what they miss is not everybody wants to. Some people in my team earn just £500 a month and that's all they want, it's a hobby to them, just a bit of extra money to buy a treat without having to ask their husbands for some extra money, perhaps to have enough for a spa weekend every few months. Personally I don't understand that but they are happy.
It's not the industry that's failed them, it's the fact that lots of people don't have big dreams or goals. Critics say not everybody gets to the top but not everybody wants to get to the top. A girl in my team says she doesn't want to be a leader, she doesn't want to have the responsibility of looking after and training other people and she's only got customers. But she hasn't failed, she's getting what she wants out of it.
People do get bad uplines who give them bad advice, they are often new to the business and they encourage those who didn't want to spend too much money to buy lots of their own kit and that's wrong, but that's just naivety on the part of a new consultant. I don't do that, I've had people who have joined my team and they just use samples to get started. That's not the way I work and that's not the way most of us work either.
As far as pyramid selling goes - it's against the law in the UK. Anything that is remotely a pyramid is instantly banished and Arbonne UK is a member of the Direct Selling Association.
Some of the world's top people are involved in Network Marketing (NM), like Warren Buffet and Bill Gates, who both said if they had their time again they would do NM. Robert Kiyyosaki wrote the book "Rich Dad Poor Dad" about this. He's one of the top money minds globally and also wrote "The Business of the 21st Century" all about NM. His wife famously said: "a man is not a financial plan." She's a huge advocate of NM and women being 100% financially free.
NM is often called the four year career, as it takes an average of four years commitment and consistent activity to start earning proper money, people often overestimate what they can do in a year and underestimate what they can achieve in 10. So quitting after a few months or a year is commonly due to an employee mindset. An entrepreneurial mindset on the other hand will work for nothing for months and months and years and years never taking their eye off the goal, knowing it will come good and they will get there.
To be a success in NM you need to be a mix of GRIT and KINDNESS. Grit only will get you so far, but you won't succeed as your team won't grow. Kindness only won't succeed because you will be too focused on other people with no drive to tell yourself or them home truths when required.
http://www.arbonne.com/pws/tarainchbald/tabs/home.aspx