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Like many of the ultimately successful network marketers, many of whom have written the books that I recommend reading, I’ve gone through my share of companies and experiences in this industry, some better than others.
Can you relate?
It was a harsh beginning for me. The first exposure I got to MLM was from a firefighter at my gym who started talking to me and eventually he worked the conversation over to what I did for a living and asked if I was interested in learning about how he planned to retire sooner than later.
I had just started a new job testing soil for a geotechnical company the week before, but was intrigued by what he had to say so I wanted to find out about this opportunity that he was pursuing. After all, I wasn't committed to soil testing as a career.
So I drove to his house a day or two after and as his open garage came into view, I could see that it was filled with products of the most well-known MLM company at the time. I immediately felt uneasy, but since I had told him we would meet, I knocked on his door anyway.
We spoke and I dropped by later to see his home presentation (the multi-level diagram with lines and circles drawn on a large paper pad that most of us are familiar with) along with a handful of other folks.
Although I was intrigued and drawn to the concept, I decided I wasn’t ready to pile into a car full of strangers I had just met for a long road trip from the Bay Area to Los Angeles for a convention that coming weekend, especially having recently started a new job, so I told him a little voice was telling me not to go, that it was too much, too fast. He responded by saying that it was the voice of “the Deceiver” that was telling me not to go…
Yikes! So that was the end of that. And the next time I spoke to him at the gym, he was surly with me.
My 2nd experience was with a company I actually joined, including the purchase of more water filters than I could ever sell. That was all a part of their impossible sales quotas to qualify for bonuses each month. No points carried over from month-to-month either. Then to add insult to injury, after many weeks my own upline told me that I had to learn how to “bullsh*t the truth” if I was going to succeed in their business. I was being too honest with people that it was network marketing.
Ironically, my immediate sponsor was a woman I was put in touch with through my cousin, who wasn't aware that what she did was network marketing. And although the rest of my family wasn't interested in signing up with me, which was disappointing but fine, this particular cousin was the one relative that was most against it - the one most skeptical and at the worst level. He was whom I considered my best friend at the time too.
He wasn't cautioning me about this water filter and herbal supplement company in particular (as it turned out, they were one of the companies that contributed to MLM's poor reputation). But he had the lowest view of all multi-levels as a total pyramid scam, and thought I must be trying to scam people myself (or just that naive) if I was involved too.
Ultimately, this one was another bad experience and yet I was still captivated by the concept and kept open about it in the back of my mind. As for this 2nd opportunity, had I only known what they were truly like and not been so trusting of them. Their water filters and herbal supplements were quality products, but I left that company.
Subsequent choices I made got better from there, with companies that were genuine and sincere in how they conducted business. Plus the overall improvement in the industry to get rid of ridiculous sales quotas, thereby making qualifying for bonuses realistic and attainable, such as autoship for products purchased for one’s own use each month. Retail sales were encouraged but not necessary for bonuses. It is, after all, an industry whose main goal should be moving products or services.
Even so, I was never able to get anywhere in this industry. I've never really been a "people person," and as a shy introvert was never able to make the kind of contact list that new distributors are asked to make. And contacting family and friends about network marketing was a lesson in futility; it's not simply sharing if there's a commission involved!
More about my journey in network marketing and why I chose my current opportunity can be found on my Work w/ Me page here.
Many years later, I was only willing to have another go at it because of the Internet and the people that have influenced how I look at this business, such as Ann Sieg, Mike Dillard, Kim Klaver, Tom “Big Al” Schreiter, and Diane Hochman.
And from reading books, written by the people above and many others.
It's particularly fun for me to see connections when I read books, for instance when I see the author of The Slight Edge, Jeff Olson, have a chapter largely devoted to him in Richard Poe's Wave 4; or to see Robert Kiyosaki (The Business of the 21st Century) have his name mentioned in Susan Sly's Inspired to Win in MLM; or to see a chapter written by the co-founder of my MLM company in The Ultimate Guide to Network Marketing.
My goal is to share with you things that I've learned over the years including my missteps (high ticket affiliate marketing), but more often the lessons I've learned from the books that I've accumulated over the years, plus links to videos and sites that you may find helpful, and whatever else I think is worth passing along. This will be done primarily through messages to my email list.
For those whom are introverted like me, books are a great way to learn about network marketing - what it is and how to succeed, whether face-to-face or online. As this industry has become more widely accepted, more and more books are being written to keep up with the interest.
Plus there are countless books about related subjects such as writing copy, how to market in the vast world of the internet, maintaining motivation and discovering the ‘secret’ that is the Law of Attraction, and so many more. They can be the difference in whether or not you reach your goals.
Click the button below to sign up to get my periodic book recommendations (in addition to a couple of free ebooks, plus the link to my Top 10 List of books to read for MLM success):
I’ll have little snippets in most every email message and blog post with a link to the particular book that I am recommending.
For other e-mails/posts, I might put a link to an article or video that I’ve found online that I think you might benefit from. Or an occasional random thought… 🙂
Hi, my name is Arthur R. Chan.
I can be contacted at:
arthur(AT)arthurrchan.com