First Step Marketing

No matter what their background, education, financial standing and career opportunities, a characteristic all successful network marketers have in common is a positive ‘go-getter’ attitude; the kind of attitude that says: ‘Let’s give it a try.’

Entrepreneurs are people who make things happen. They are the people who refuse to sit back and wait for the good times to roll in. They make their own good times now, through their own actions.

What other characteristics do they share? They are tryers. They regard any experience as a learning experience of value. They recognize that small setbacks are part of the learning process, just as one falls when learning to ride a bicycle for the first time, but that success must come from trying.

There are so many different people worldwide who have made a success of network marketing that one cannot say that one person will be a network marketer but another person will not. What governs action and the drive to become invloved in networking is opportunity and need. Do you have the need to make money and do you use opportunities that come your way?

Here are three ‘typical’ profiles of network marketers:

The entrepreneurial novice

• You cannot find a job in the formal sector. You may have recently graduated from school, technikon or university. You may have been retrenched or put on early retirement. Or you want to plan ahead, just in case.
• You do not have much money.
• You must find work, and fast.
• You are worried about your situation and are becoming despondent.
• Your business experience is limited.
• You have probably never run your own business before. You do not know what to do.

This profile is very common. Forty-two per cent of South Africa’s population is unemployed. Out of 100 school- leavers, 93 cannot find jobs. Companies are also downsizing and retrenching.

The bored businessman or woman

• You’ve been in business for a number of years and don’t see much further personal career development in the company you work for.
• You are accomplished, competent and intelligent and feel that your ideas and effort are not truly rewarded. You want money.
• Work has ceased to be a challenge.
• You feel you must make a break now or risk being a corporate person forever.

It is people with this profile that often drive successful small businesses.

The capitalist

• You have money, you’re lucky and you know it.
• You want further capital growth. You want to run your own show.
• You are prepared to take risks.
• You want to invest in your own business, but don’t know what business.

No matter what your background, just latch on to the idea that you can be a success in network marketing. Norman Vincent Peale summed it up beautifully in the title of his book You Can If You Think You Can. Repeat these words over and over to yourself. You can be the master of your own destiny. All that is required is the attitude that ‘I can, therefore I will.’

It is easy to get started

Whether you start your business full-time or part-time is up to you. Most people ease their way into network marketing until an economic decision has to be made: ‘Do I continue to hold down my job and build my network part- time or, now that I have an established network and it is bringing in an income, shall I go into it full-time? Which action will bring me the most money and satisfaction?’

Different people have different needs. Here are four approaches to network marketing:

• It is an incidental part of your life to be enjoyed anti worked at from time to time. It is undertaken for extra ‘pocket-money‘ and you make a minimal commitment.
• It becomes a part-time business. You take it seriously and set aside at least five hours every week to promote the
• business. It is not a main contender for your free time but provides a useful second income.
• It is a retirement occupation. Networking is an excellent way to maintain social contacts and provides an excellent opportunity to meet people. You select whatever hours you wish to promote the business. You build up a business that will grow over the years and supplement your pension. When you finally want to retire, there is no reason why you cannot sell your downline. If it is a thriving business, it has value.
• It becomes a full-time business. This requires a serious involvement with a strong commitment to your success. You must be prepared to put in the hours and recognise that, at first, rewards are moderate but will increase remarkably with time.