Читать книгу Thrival from Ordinary to Extraordinary - Mark Mandela - Страница 6

Thinking about Your Business

As you prepare to start, I believe that thinking about your business is the most important thing you must do before you start a business. “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:” states Proverbs 23:7. This is one of the most profound statements found in the Bible that applies to starting your new business. As you develop your thoughts in a more positive way, you increase your chance of success. Some 97% of businesses fail within the first three years. Having positive, successful thoughts regularly helps keep you from being a part of that 97% rate of failure.

I have never seen anyone who said they can’t, who CAN! It all begins with the thought, “I can!” Then, “I will!” “I can! and I will!” is a phrase or thought by which I live. I learned from a young up-and-coming NASCAR driver that a sign posted in his bathroom and workout room made the difference in his attitude towards winning when he was discouraged. That sign said, “I can! I will!” As he thought more positively, he began winning!

Those two words can and will make all the difference! Your thoughts are the beginning of your new business. Being around positive people makes the difference in how you think and how you think and believe is the way you will perform in your business. If you hang around five broke, busted, and disgusted people, you will become the sixth one. Birds of a feather flock together. If you do not believe me, take an eaglet, raise it in a turkey pen, and watch the traits of the eagle. This great majestic bird will be reduced to the behavior of the turkey. However, when raised in its correct environment, the eagle soars above all other creatures. Success breeds success in all aspects.

Positive thoughts breed confident, positive people. When you listen closely to the way a person talks, if doubt and negative thoughts fill his conversation, the way to overcome this type of person is to become “double positive.” That is what my mother did every time my father said something negative to me. He would say that I was worthless, but my mother would counter that with a caress and a statement that he did not know what he was talking about so do not listen to him. Mom took away the power of his negative talk and gave me a positive affirmation of how good I was.

Wow, I did not realize then that my mother was making a difference in my life by making me into a positive person who could accomplish anything I set my mind to accomplish. Thanks, Mom, you are everything to me! A song I have adapted to my mother is “Cat’s in the Cradle” by Sandy and Harry Chapin. The part I would like to adapt and reference says, “I’m gonna be like you, Mom. You know I’m gonna be like you!”

Now that you have thought about your new business, it is time to schedule your new business.

Scheduling Your New Business

When starting a part-time business, most people do not realize it is critical to schedule time in your day to work your new business. Because people are so busy and time is very limited, each day must be examined in order to locate the most productive time to work a new business.

I found that getting up early and discussing new and exciting information and experiences motivated me to accomplish more each day. That motivation helped me to find every spare minute of my day to email someone or talk to someone about my products or business. Since I was so passionate about the product and health, I found it very easy to talk to people about their needs. If a person is hurting and you have a possible solution, you will feel obligated to share.

The more excited you become about your new business, the more time you will schedule to work your new business. Each day you will make more time; maybe that time will be before work talking to people en route to work. This is a good time to connect with people as they are commuting many minutes to and from work each day. In addition, consider using your lunch break to develop your business. Bring your lunch with you, and after you eat, use the remainder of the time canvassing.

I found that I could schedule a conversation for fifteen to twenty minutes of my lunch hour and people would listen. If they were interested, they would give me more time. Fifteen minutes here and fifteen minutes there accumulate. Over time, I began to understand that the more time I scheduled with a person, the easier it became to find even more time. After a while, because I had that person programmed into my phone, I found myself developing a close relationship. I no longer needed to schedule a conversation with that person unless that person needed a long conversation.

As these people moved through the funnel from being contacts to being clients, my business started to grow. As my business began to grow, I stayed close to only one or two clients because of schedule restraints. Once those clients began growing their business with new contacts and clients, I began scheduling conference calls that allowed me to handle more people at the same time. Conference calls were critical to my daily schedule because I could converse with many people simultaneously. Scheduling conference calls in the morning, at lunch, and in the evening became a big part of my day.

Even though I did not have an official scheduling book (but you should), I did have a contact book that I worked from and transferred that information into a day planner. When I was leaving messages on answering machines (a great first exposure), or having a brief conversation with someone in order to send them more information, I would log that in my planner. Since I found myself looking at an empty planner, I started filling it with canvassing. Through it all, I found that the more I canvassed, the better I scheduled.

CLUE: Canvassing will fill an empty schedule.

Not only did I canvas to build my new business but also to reach the 95 percent of people who are a part of the rat race.

The Rat Race

Ninety-five percent of the people today are a part of the rat race. Most people are overworked and underpaid. They have a JOB but they do not have a life. They may have enough money and no time or they do not have either enough money or time. Today, because of the economic climate, people are always losing time. They have to work longer hours to make up for the cutbacks in staff. The American dream has turned into the American nightmare. There are more and more people unable to pay the minimum balance on their numerous credit cards. If only they would start a part-time networking business and build it to $500 per month, this could eliminate many bankruptcies. By reading The Business School by Robert Kiyosaki, you will realize that a networking business is the key to escaping what ails the rat race today!

In the rat race, people have stopped dreaming dreams of the future. If they dream at all, it is of the past. There are so many problems that the average person has to overcome that they have stopped dreaming for the present and the future. If you are waking up to bill collectors or a sheriff at your door, it should not be a surprise that Americans have stopped dreaming. In the past, a majority of the dreaming occurred with middle-class Americans. Middle-class Americans could afford multiple homes and boats in the past, but that freedom is rapidly fading; in fact, middle-class Americans have all but vanished. People with big houses and second homes are quickly disappearing. Most people are liquidating their assets because they are trying to stay afloat. These are the people entrenched in the rat race and fighting for survival. When I was young, I saw people sitting in long lines of traffic and I determined in my heart that I would never be a part of that rat race! Determination and desire are the two main reasons that I became an entrepreneur. No traffic for me!

Take the key to escaping the rat race—start a networking business. The power of network marketing can be found in residual income and exponential growth. There is no business like show business and there is no income like residual income. It is hard to explain it until you receive it, but once you have experienced it and lived by using that residual income that has grown exponentially, you will never forget what residual income can do for your family, finances, and freedom, and you will always desire it. Just as show business is addictive, so is residual income! Do your due diligence, find a company and a seasoned network marketer who is doing well, and stay close. Success leaves clues, so follow the clues!

Clue 1: See the Truth in Network Marketing

If only Alice would have had someone there in Wonderland with her who knew the way, it would have been much easier for her to traverse. Her wonderland would have had a lot less tribulation. When we bring a new person into our wonderland of networking, our job is to help them travel through the wonderland of network marketing easier.

Finding and seeing the invisible things will help minimize the hurt that comes along with our new business. Blindness is a serious disability both in life and in business. This is where a good leader takes over and guides a new marketer through the maze of this wonderland. A new marketer left alone will suffer many undue hardships. These hardships will invariably lead to many mistakes and much frustration that will severely hinder fast growth.

Bringing a new person up to speed is essential in developing leadership that will replicate throughout your organization quickly! However, you must remember not to push too early and too much, or they will pull back and that will bring your development to a screeching halt. Take the time in the beginning to develop a friendship (people like doing business with friends) and in the long run, you both will go much further. Remember, new people are blind to this new business and it will take a little time for them to feel their way, so do not be too pushy; instead, mix business with pleasure!

What you can see will amaze you as you look at network marketing. When you see it, you will believe it. That is how Missouri got its nickname, The Show-Me State. It is our job to show people our product and company. If we do not show them, how will they know? In the company that I am in, the product compels you to show. This is how my team has grown so fast. My team shares more than other teams, which has allowed my team to grow faster than most of the other teams within this company.

Clue 2: See the Importance of Trust

Trust is everything is this business. If you do not trust in God, your business partners, and your mate, you will fail miserably. If you do not trust, your faith will wane and you will give up on anything you attempt to do. This is very relevant in network marketing. Trust and follow a trustworthy leader and your path will be illuminated and your way will be easy.

Trusting in the product and the company in network marketing is critical. If you do not trust the owner of the company to always produce a high-quality product, that relationship will end quickly. Trust builds your belief, confidence, and commitment to whatever you do. Without trust, you lose your enthusiasm, your spirit, and your ability to convince others that what you have is very special. If people do not trust the ones they work for to pay them on time, or to follow through on promises, that relationship is doomed for failure. If you trust and believe in the leadership that is before you, that relationship will go through “thick-n-thin” together. That is what long-term relationships are all about. In my opinion, trust and belief go together like peanut butter and jelly; they are just not the same by themselves.

Clue 3: See the Power of Systems

When building a large network, it is critical to have systems in place that people can use to increase their development. Not only does having and using systems quicken their development, but also it allows them to leverage themselves and their team. These systems allow the serious people to do their due diligence and develop on their own. It allows the new person to develop more quickly. Many people do not like to bother other people; instead, they prefer to do things themselves. Having systems provided by the company such as conference calls, training calls, meetings, automated calls, etc., in place allows people to learn at their own pace as well as plug their prospects into the systems at any time. This creates a more rapid success!

Look at one of the most successful franchises, McDonalds. McDonalds requires their new owners go through intensive training in their systems. These tried-and-true systems allow them to produce the same level of success at all of their locations. Not only does it produce success, it also minimizes problems. Business is about minimizing problems and replicating success. Minimizing problems and applying systems that are more productive is very satisfying to the employees as well as to the owner. If your system has been tried and proven, everyone is happy. If you have a proven system to success, you are more likely to create a happier environment. It is a win-win situation!

CLUE 4: If you help enough people achieve their dreams, your dream will come true.

The hardest thing to do in today’s society is help people dream again. Most people have stopped dreaming so it is very difficult to help them find their dream. One of the most important things that I do is to get people dreaming again. When you can help them to become successful in network marketing, they start dreaming again. This transition now allows me to raise their belief and desire. Now I have a business associate with which to work. Once this person starts to achieve on a local level, they now can see themselves achieving at the national and global level. This must happen in order to help them achieve their dreams. Network marketing has given me my dreams back and has allowed me to get other people dreaming again. Without this amazing vehicle, people have no hope and they stop dreaming.

CLUE 5: If you can dream, you can believe and if you believe, you will achieve.

You can lead people to a hobby business or a global business. I do not want a mom-n-pop neighborhood business. I want to see the world. I have places to go and people to see. I want to enjoy this great country with my business friends who have become my family. They count on me to help them achieve their dreams and this is what I love to do. It is another win-win situation.

Be yourself, enjoy what you do, and you will do it repeatedly. Make it a labor of love and you will love what you do. If you surround yourself with friends who really care about you, when you do make it to the top, they will be the main reasons for your success. When they make it to the top, your friends will surround you.

How do you win friends on your way to the top? Find a coach-no, find a successful and inspiring mentor with which to connect. Once you have connected, you have someone with which to be accountable, someone who you do not want to disappoint. Accountability is an attribute lacking in many people’s lives.

Every morning if you are taught by one who inspires you, one who makes you perspire, that is a perfect formula for success. If you desire to excel in life, you must know how to get to the super highway in life, get on it, and know how to get into the fast lane and stay there. You must also know how to maintain that speed. The autobahn highway in Germany does not have a speed limit and the MLM industry is the same.

If you follow someone who is very experienced on these roads, you will find that the fastest way to learn is to stay close to that individual. It is just as easy to start your business quickly as it is to start it slowly.

CLUE 6: Build with speed so you will never go slowly and speed will be a normal way of life.

Run; do not walk into your new future. When you go sailing and the winds are blowing, you do not take your time setting your sail. If you do, you will miss some great opportunities to go further and faster if you capitalize on those winds. It takes the same amount of energy to build slowly as it does to build quickly.

The angle from which you decide to launch your business makes all the difference in the ability to develop momentum in your business. Momentum is when an object goes into motion. It is when the wind gets under your wings and allows you to rise to higher levels more easily. The momentum must be used and not taken for granted. Use it or lose it is how that works. The ability to get your business into motion to create momentum is a key to success. The sooner you get your business able to overcome inertia, the less energy it takes to keep that business in motion. I know many people who have not achieved the level of success in three years of working their business that I have accomplished in one year of working my business. Momentum is a key to my success. One way to develop that momentum in your business is to take the following concept and replicate it throughout your organization.

Parties

One of the fastest ways to create success within your organization is to schedule a very small party that can be scheduled without much thought. I call this the 3-4-15 party process. The 3 is for inviting 3 friends (can be 3-6 people but no more) to your house. This three friends should be people whom you can see doing the business with you. Once you have them there, you will show them 4 products and let them sample at least one of them. This process should take around 15 minutes (3, 4, 15—3 people, 4 products, and a 15 minute presentation). If you cannot see yourself doing this small gathering, do not worry, your sponsor will be there to help you. After you have finished showing these products it is a perfect time to share some stories about people who have had wonderful results with the product and/or business. After the presentation is over, you can ask if anyone is interested in learn more about the business. If someone says yes, your leader who helped you with the party will take those interested into another room while you continue socializing. At the end you can have another leader close out the meeting over the phone. This should not take more than 5 minutes.

It is very important to book a meeting from this meeting. This is how Tupperware, Mary Kay and Avon grew in their beginning. Make sure you give something to your guests and a special gift for the one giving the party. Make sure the people at the party see you give the host or hostess their gift, this is very important! Remember the Four Fs-FREE, FUN, FRIENDS, and FELLOWSHIP is the way to get them to come!

Clue 7: Everyone needs a sparring partner or accountability partner.

Each day it is important to be close to someone that is better than you are. In addition, you need to be training someone who has less knowledge and skills than you do. When you are able to teach someone who is not as skilled as you are, you also will grow. As the Operator (one of my nicknames for Tamara) told me, “You will know that I understand it when I can teach it to someone else.” The problem she had was she was a fourth grade teacher so she could teach fourth graders but she asked me how she would be able to teach adults. I told her I teach on a fourth grade level and she does not have to change her style, just her topic.

Remember two things-learn from someone who is already teaching your new subject, someone who is more knowledgeable and skilled than you, and you need to turn around and do the same thing with someone less knowledgeable and skilled than you.

CLUE 8: When you teach someone with less knowledge and skill than you have, you will grow, too!

CLUE 9: High expectations with little work are false expectations.

Many people have false expectations when they enter into a network marketing company. This is because they have heard so many stories about people who became so successful very quickly. However, this is not normal. Instead, it takes most people twelve to twenty-four months before they can be successful. This success comes after much hard work. If you are willing to invest the time and energy over a short period of time, then you, too, can be one of these rapid success stories. But, just like in anything else, time plus energy equals success. Time and energy combined over a short period of time equals rapid success.

CLUE 10: Network marketing is not a “get rich quick” scheme. It takes time and energy to obtain success.

Expectation in MLM (Multi-Level Marketing) is an interesting proposition. Many people who join a networking company have high expectations. This would not be bad except that most people believe that this is a “get rich quick” business. This could not be further from the truth. Like a farmer working his farm with his blood, sweat, and tears, this business is built the same way with blood, sweat and tears.

CLUE 11: Follow wise counsel to increase your success.

Just as in any business, you need proper instruction in order to make your business more successful. Listening to good counsel makes all the difference in the world when you embark on your new business. False hope will create a lot of disappointment; but if you are properly trained, your disappointment is much less because you understand that timing is everything. A favorite saying of mine that helps to eliminate disappointment is, “You can join me now, or you can join me later, but you will join me.” I believe so much in what I have that I believe that one day someone you know will need what I have.

Being prudent with my business allows me to apply my learning within my group and teach it to others. Each day is a new day and realizing the possibilities is endless. Today is the day that I will meet someone like myself who will change my business forever. It is this belief that gives hope to so many people within this industry.

CLUE 12: Talk more!

There are so many people who do not talk to enough people about their business. If a farmer does not till the land and scatter enough seed, than his expectations are small. Why is it the opposite in network marketing? So many people do very little preparing and propagating yet they still have such great expectations. Those that scatter much will have great gain; those that withhold their seed (business) will live in poverty.

CLUE 13: Guard your thoughts.

Today, there are so many broke, busted and disgusted people that this is the normal mentality. If you try to build a business with this negative mentality, you will never succeed. Being around positive people who are working toward a successful business is critical. Our minds are filled with stinkin’ thinkin’ that must be replaced if we are going to succeed.

CLUE 14: Share.

As we learn and share this learning with others, we grow and our business grows; this is the beginning of a successful networker. As we progress in our understanding of what makes a good leader, we begin to evolve. This process takes time and only comes through experience. This experience cannot be bypassed. This experience is invaluable.

CLUE 15: Together we do it better.

As you lock hands with your team, you realize that you can achieve more than you ever dreamed possible. Things that you had difficulty achieving before become much easier. Discretion becomes a part of who you are. Things that you used to think about become a natural reflex as you lead your team. You have become a confident, courageous leader who is willing to sacrifice self so others might excel. This is the sign of a true leader. This is the type of a person who develops great loyalty within their team. If you lead in truth and your motives are pure, your team will be inspired to go anywhere with you. I cannot explain what this feels like all I can say is there is nothing like it, WOW!!

Hear what I have to say, follow the instruction of a wise and successful person (mentor) and you, too, will become as them. There is safety in the multitude of wise counsel. Find it and follow it and it will bring success to you!

Once you understand the secrets and clues of network marketing, the following song by Don Black will resonate with you.

Born Free

Andy Williams

Words by Don Black and Music by John Barry

Born free, as free as the wind blows

As free as the grass grows

Born free to follow your heart

Live free and beauty surrounds you

The world still astounds you

Each time you look at a star

Stay free, where no walls divide you

You're free as the roaring tide

So there's no need to hide

Born free, and life is worth living

But only worth living

'cause you're born free

(Stay free, where no walls divide you)

You're free as the roaring tide

So there's no need to hide

Born free, and life is worth living

But only worth living

'cause you're born free

The greatest investment is in other people. A process that is worth replicating in your organization is for you to help someone get out of trouble and help them excel to the top. The person you helped pays it forward by helping someone else. Helping others to help others excel will always pay the highest dividends. Helping people free themselves from the rat race or the matrix is very rewarding. Once you become proficient at freeing people from the rat race or matrix, you will want to free more and more people. This is fun and something you will love doing again and again—a labor of love!