Today we will talk about how to create a network marketing business plan.

First, I’m going to talk about the big mistake that people make when planning their network marketing attack. Next, I’m going to share with you the weird truth on why being good at sales can actually be harmful. Next, I’m going to share the components to succeed at the highest level in network marketing.

What is the big mistake people make when making their plan?

Well that’s just it, they plan. Some people are addicted to the plan, the process of a plan. They have a really thorough 71-page PDF of what their plan of attack is but it never actually gets executed. This is something that you see in a lot of areas of life where someone has the big idea but they never actually do the work. What is the work? The work is talking to human beings to see if they are interested in your product, service or opportunity. I would much rather then someone spend all kinds of time developing a plan, I would much rather see someone go out there and prospect. Learn while in the field of asking people questions and doing the work and coming up with it as they go.

This is not I want to start a restaurant. If you want to start a restaurant, you better have a plan, right? Where are you going to get your perishables? Where are you going to order the napkins? Where are you going to get the placemats? What kind of commercial sign is legal and up to code in your area? What kind of lease, how much is the lease? How many dinners are you going to have to serve, that’s a plan.

The benefit of network marketing is it’s the lowest risk, lowest overhead way for the average ordinary person to start a business. You don’t have to figure out supply chain management, currency conversion, patent, you don’t have to get a trademark attorney. Literally all you’re doing is you’re asking human beings, “hey, are you open to  taking a look at what I got going on?” That’s your job. It’s a very, very simple business. Now, that doesn’t mean I’m saying it’s easy but it is simple. It’s simple on what needs to be done. You need to speak to human beings to see if they’re open to your product, service, opportunity, that’s your job.

Instead of taking a crazy amount of time planning, start doing the work. Start doing videos that suck, start reaching out to people and getting rejection. This is something that will build the muscle a lot faster for you to go on to create more success.

Can being good at sales be harmful?

Now why would I ever say that being good at sales can be harmful, right? That just sounds like I’m tricking you, but I’m not. I am not tricking you. This is actually true. The better you are at sales…(let’s say you have an extensive sales background and have an amazing resume of all these different sales contests that you’ve won) well the problem is the real money in network marketing is made in the duplication. The duplication of customers, the duplication of reps that are bringing on new customers and you going out there and building a business that contains a lot of customers and contains others that are wanting to build the same type of business. The more salesy you are, the less people are going to believe they can do what you’re doing. If you are up to the ears with charisma and personality and your Sandler sales trained and your NLP specialist and really, really good, I’m not saying you won’t get any sales, I’m not saying that at all but what’ll happen is people won’t believe they can be as good as you. They won’t believe that they can do what you’re doing. What I found with people that have a really extensive sales background (this was me when I first started network marketing before I understood) I (or the person good at sales) would see the company tool and be like, “yeah, right. I can do better than that.” Well that’s arguable. Maybe I could, maybe I couldn’t but what I couldn’t do is be more duplicatable.

You need to be duplicatable.

People ask me, “can introverts succeed at network marketing?

I say, “well, I think introverts are actually more likely to succeed because they’re going to keep their talk to a minimum and they’re going to lean on the tools.”

They’re going to lean on the videos, they’re going to lean on the samples, they’re going to lean on the tools that make their life easier. Whereas a lot of times, the extroverts or the super salesperson is going to rely on personality and charisma which is not very duplicatable. Don’t worry if you have a sales background and you are really good at sales, you can do it too. You just need to overly stress the use of a system. If you’re reaching out to someone who knows you are the sales champion in your area, reach out to them and say, “hey, I’m doing this thing and what’s cool is it’s got a system whether you have a background in sales or not, you can do it. I’d be more than happy to send you over a video that explains how it works.” See, that would be much more powerful than you sitting there with your amazing sales script and telling them all the reasons because yeah, you might get them but they won’t believe they can do what you’re doing.

Let’s hear from you.

Before we get to my last point, I want to hear from you. What is your plan for growing your network marketing business that you’ve been executing? Is it working for you? Or have you yet to execute it but after this video, you’re definitely going to? Drop in the comments.

What are the ways to really succeed at network marketing?

It really comes down to what I call the four P’s. The four components and they all start with the letter P. Pipeline, posture, position, perspective.

Pipeline, how many people you’re reaching out to, following up with, how many people are you setting appointments with, how many people are you sending samples to (if that’s what you do) or sending brochures or inviting to a meeting or inviting to a Zoom or fill in the blank. Whatever your system is. How many people are you doing that to on a consistent daily/ weekly basis, that is a huge indicator. When people come up to me and say, “I want to be a top earner in my company” but they’re reaching out to fewer than 10 people a week, I know that that’s not reality. I’m not saying you won’t build a business, I’m not saying you won’t make extra money but for you to become a top earner in a company, you’re probably going to be reaching out to more than 10 people a week. Maybe that’s a wake-up call to you but pipeline is very important.

By the way, this isn’t just for network marketing. This is for anything in performance. If you’re in real estate, if you’re in loans, if you’re in______(fill in the blank) pipeline has a major indication of how much money you’re going to make and how much success you’re going to have.

Posture. Posture is the belief in what you have regardless of external acceptance or approval. How easily you’re affected by the opinions of others tells you your level of posture. If someone says “oh, that’s one of those schemes” or “you’re in a pyramid” or is really negative about what it is that you’re doing and you’re easily affected and you’re like, “oh man, this really sucks…why am I doing this” and you get really stressed out, then you just need to up your level of posture. Know that there are more people that have problems than have solutions. You’re a solutions provider. You have a way that the average, ordinary person can start a business, make extra money and whatever your product or service does as well. Save money or have more energy, lose weight etc. There are more of them than there are of you. There are more people with problems, no solutions than people with solutions. You are a solutions provider so be postured.

Position, knowing where is your prospect in the process. Are they super excited? Are they at the don’t know anything about them then that’s position zero, right? Your mission is not to close every person you ever encounter, it’s to see if they’re open. Are they open to learning more, are they open to hearing more about what it is that you’re doing and that’s position. Knowing where are they in the sales cycle.

Lastly but certainly not least is perspective. Where do you spend the majority of your time in your mindset? Are you focused on all the things you don’t want? Are you focused on all the things that upset you about your life? Are you focused on your lack of results and the things that you wish were true but aren’t true? Then you’re going to get more of that. You are going to attract more of that, you’re going to notice more of that, you’re going to spend more energy on that…. versus if you change your perspective to that which you want. What do you actually want in your life? Who do you want to be? How do you want people to know you? How do you want people to describe you? You ask yourself what would that feel like? How would I know it’s true? You start to live more in memories of your future not the memories of your past or your present.

Those are the four components to crushing it in network marketing or really anything that is performance based. I hope that helps.

Would you like help with growing your network marketing business?

Whether you’re brand new or you’re a seasoned veteran, we have coaching programs to help you. You can apply for these coaching programs at this link, Higdongrouptraining.com. Click that link and apply. There’s actually nothing to buy on that page. All you do is fill it out and we look to connect with you and give you some helpful advice and see if you’re a fit for one of our coaching programs. If you are, we would be more than happy to share the details. We have helped thousands and thousands of network marketers all over the world create real success inside of their network marketing business and we know we can help you.

Ray Higdon

Play Bigger. Make An Impact.


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