MasterNetworker Article #59 - 6/5/1998

I've been guilty of this myself so I can relate real well to it. It has to do with thinking your business-building success should be based on your current business income. How many times have you said privately or openly "when I get my first check, I'm going to tell my friends and relatives about this great business" . . . or "when my income checks reach $xxxx amount, I'm going to share this opportunity with others. The intent with this is fine, but the reality is we never get our business really started if we base our business-building on a "current income" factor. We think this is our way to establish a belief in what we are doing and in ourselves. We wrongly think that we have to be "successful" or be seen as being successful before we share with others.

The truth is, we need to be sharing the BELIEF IN OUR POTENTIAL INCOME with others. If you believe in your chosen business . . including believing in the products and company you represent, then most likely you already believe in the potential income or you wouldn't have gotten involved in the first place. It's really okay telling people you have just started your business and you were fortunate to have enough vision to see the income that is available through your chosen business. If you take an attitude of what IS possible rather than what you may or may not have done up to that point, then you will open new doors for yourself.

Recently someone asked me what to say if one of his prospects comes out and asks him how much he is making at this business. Although it really isn't their business, it is their way of trying to find out if there really is potential in that particular business. Are they really asking you if you are successful or are they asking if it is possible that they can be successful? Your success or lack of success should have no bearing on the potential success of your prospect unless it would have something to do with adequate training. I maintain it is to find out if they can see themselves being successful.

"Without vision, we are blind to opportunity."
Dare To Soar - Successories

PREPARING YOURSELF TO EFFECTIVELY DEAL WITH THE LACKA SYNDROME

The best thing you can do for you and your business when you are first starting out is to build your own confidence level about what you are doing. I've said it before and I'll say it again here . . . when you REALLY believe in what you are doing, you will do things you thought you would never do. So . . .how do you believe in what you are doing? It all begins in forming a belief system in the products, the company, the business and your upline support.

BELIEF IN THE PRODUCTS

If you are currently involved in a network marketing business, surely you made your decision based on the products you will be representing. You have to be proud of the products you are marketing and you have to be knowledgeable of the products you represent. Quite frankly, there is no other way to be proud and knowledgeable of the products than to use them and experience them. If you are not willing to do that, then you will not develop a belief system in them. A belief system in the products is actually the most important belief component because it effects everything about what you are doing. If you don't believe in the products, it will come out in lack of confidence and feeling guilty about what you are doing which will result in lack of business building because it just seems to find its way out in the open that you don't really believe in what you are doing.

BELIEF IN THE COMPANY

Feeling good about the company you are a distributor/representative for is also very important. You have to have confidence in the company . .will it be here a year from now? . . how about five years from now? Does the company support your efforts? . . . do they get products out in a timely manner? . . do they get commissions checks out on time? How about customer and distributor/representative relations? Do they offer a money-back guarantee? Do they offer any kind of field training? How about a yearly convention or business conference or periodic company sponsored training events? Your belief in the company is an extension of your belief in the products. When you combine a belief in products and the company, you begin to form a belief in what you are doing.

BELIEF IN THE BUSINESS

How about your business as a whole? Do you feel good about the business possibilities . .the compensation plan . .. The opportunity to advance . . the ability to make this business a solid long-term business? Is it your goal to have a business for long-term income security? Perhaps you want more than a retirement income. Maybe you want a legacy to leave to your children and their children. Does this business provide that opportunity? When you really believe in the business opportunity combined with belief in products and company, you will be even more confident.

BELIEF IN UPLINE SUPPORT

When you are in business, it is a wonderful feeling knowing that you are in business for yourself, but not by yourself. You need to know you have others who will work with you, direct you and guide you and help you work at your business. That is where your upline support is so important. This is especially important at the beginning because you need to have someone to lean on to help you get started. You upline can also provide you with credibility that you may not have for yourself. In other words, use the credibility of your upline until you can establish your own credibility. If you can ever align yourself with an upline team approach, that can be powerful in your own belief of what you are doing. You might even consider interviewing prospective sponsors or sponsoring teams. There is no stopping those people who really have a belief in the products they represent, the company they represent and a belief in their sponsor and upline.

LACKA ACTION

For those people who have the lacka syndrome, their business goes on "stall" from a lack of taking action to build their business and from there they either claim network marketing doesn't work or they jump onto another business opportunity starting the cycle over again. A domino effect really takes place after the start-up excitement to a just giving up attitude. There is hope though and it resides in each person as to how they choose to establish the foundation of their business through a complete belief system.

THE SEVEN WONDERS OF ESTABLISHING BELIEF IN YOU AND YOUR BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

1. Purchasing product shows commitment!
2. Becoming knowledgeable about the company and using & experiencing their products, creates belief in what you are doing!
3. Belief in what you are doing creates excitement, motivation and confidence!
4. Confidence creates action!
5. Action creates business building!
6. Business building creates income!
7. Income creates independence!

Do you notice that belief in what you are doing comes way ahead of income? In reality, income does not create belief. Belief creates income. In time, income will confirm your belief.

"Belief in yourself far outweighs the doubts of others."
- Dare to Soar - Successories -

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E-Mail Lon Lindsey
Publisher of: The Master Networker The Art of Building A Business