Christian Business Builder

As we look forward to the coming of a new year, what are you planning for your business?

I have been watching (and commenting) on a forum discussion. The discussion is about who should be recruited and how many at one time.

Unfortunately the majority of the responses are about Network Marketing being a numbers game and that we should recruit as many as possible (as long as they have a pulse) and then let the leaders just rise to the top.

There have been many though that have responded by saying that care should be taken in recruiting the right people at the right time. (My opinion by the way.)

I think that God’s word makes our treatment of others more important than our ability to make money. We are commanded to love those that God loves. When recruiting people we ought to love our prospective team members with the love of God.

Contrary to the popular notion that “anyone can build this business,”  the truth is that only 10-12% will make it 10 years and only 25% will be around in 5 years. What that means is that many will be recruited with virtually no chance to be successful.

Another misrepresentation that is often perpetrated on the potential recruit is that there are no real skills or talents that you need to be successful in this industry. So, we bring people in who think that just because they got in that they are supposed to be making money. The truth is that, like any business owner knows, you have to either have or develop a set of unique skills that are necessary for business success.

I think that there are five basics that you have to know in order to be successful in Network Marketing:

1. You need to understand the basics of money.

2. You need to understand the principles of leadership.

3. You need to understand the basics of marketing.

4. You need to understand what it means to be an entrepreneur.

5. You need to continue to improve in the area of personal growth.

If you do not sense that a prospective team member can learn and grow in these areas, you should not recruit them.

In an upcoming video I am going to deal with the difference between building a team and recruiting a group. In this video I will be talking about the fact that a team mentality results in success for all whereas a group mentality results in success for the leaders.

I believe that as we look to the new year and the success we are praying for, that we remember that we and our teams will be best served if we make money by building people rather than by “playing the numbers game!”

Just my thought ….

What should Christians do about the “wealth” marketing that so often surrounds the Network Marketing industry? Unfortuantely, from where I am sitting, we not only buy into this philosophy, but we sell it to others.

Our ads talk about people making “more money in a moth than we used to make in a year.” Our lead capture sites have pictures of houses bigger than all but the most successful networkers own and cars that cost more than most of our houses.

We talk about “living on the beaches” when most of us plan our vacations at relatives houses because that’s all we can afford.

The real truth of the matter is that the average “successful” network marketer makes 4 figures a month not 5 figures. (And what’s wrong with a strong 4 figure income anyway?!)

We tell people that they can get rich “with no specialized skills” when we know that there is a large learning curve for most people.

Now, we do this because it is what we have been taught to do. The industry has become this way because we have rationalized the truth. We have looked at what is possible and have sold the “possibilities” while overlooking the “what is.”

We are told that $1,000/month would change the lives of most people dramatically and then we sell $10,000/month because that kind of money is possible AND it sounds better in our sales pitch.

Within an industry that is corrupted by its own greed and covetousness, what’s a Christian to do?

If you ever saw the recent animated version of Aladdin, you need to follow the Genie’s advice to Aladdin as he wondered about how to win the Sultan’s daughter. The Genie (Robin Williams) says to Aladdin,

“TELL HER THE TRUTH!”

This is exactly the advice we need to take as we market our business opportunity. The truth will sponsor more people who will stay and build than the sizzle of beaches, houses, and cars.

More people will respond to a 4 figure monthly income based of building a small but consisted retail customer base and developing a commited team of business builders than will commit to sponsoring 5-10 per month and getting caught up in the conference calls and webinars and purchasing leads and ad co-ops and so on and so on!

Let me give you five truths that I believe every Christian networker should tells potential team members:

1. Building a business takes time, energy, and money. Nothing in life that is good and lasting just happens. It takes work to be successful.

2. Building a business requires learning new things. You have to acquire skills that are unique to building a network marketing business. Having a “dream” is not enough if you don’t know how to do what it takes to accomplish your dream.

3. Builidng a business requires consistent action. Even if you new team member only has a couple hours a week to dedicate to building their business, they are going to have to be consistent with those hours. I know from experience that hit and miss doesn’t work.

4. Building a business in network marketing requires a heart for your team. We need to teach people that being successful in this business model doesn’t happen if we don’t focus on the success of your team.

5. Builiding a business requires that we manage our expectations and those of our team. Selling the “sizzle” may get people to jump in, but when they don’t get the “sizzle” they will jump out just as quickly.

Now, let me conclude this thought by saying that many people in this industry do acheive high levels of wealth. And that is great! But, we need to start people with all the facts and then let their dreams determine the level of success they choose to acheive.

Remember …. TELL THEM THE TRUTH!

It is the only way we can demonstrate the realistic potential of this industry and to do it in a way that our testimony is not damaged.

Just my thought ……

Have you ever been busy doing the things in life that you believed to be the things that God has led you to do, but you just couldn’t “get it together?” Then, one day you wake up, believing in God and his place in your life, and yet you start the day tired, on edge, and you don’t want to do it anymore?

When I came back to the Network Marketing industry I did so because God led me to do so. The only problem is that I came back with the same mindset and business model that had caused me to leave the industry discouraged over two years ago.

After several months of trying to learn and understand the current market conditions and praying  a lot, I have come to the conclusion that I need a “hard reset.”

I have always loved the pure, raw, entrepreneurial nature of this industry. I love innovators and thinkers. I love honest and ethical opportunities that provide products/services that people need, want, and enjoy. There is no industry in the world that provides such opportunities.

However, with every opportunity for good people to do right things there are also opportunities for abuse. Dominant personalities taking advantage of people just looking for their own view of success. People convinced to spend “just a little more” money that they cannot spare for a return that very few ever see. (A 95% industry-wide failure rate speaks volumes!)

Industry leaders blame lazy downline and unsuccessful downline blame unresponsive leaders.

Hype outweighs any concept of reality and talking about managing expectations is most often laughed at and scorned.

Everyone seems to want something for nothing and are willing to have other people pay for them to get it. Selling the “sizzle” is more important than helping people realize their own potential by helping them develop their skills, talents, and abilities.

It is time for change! I believe with all my heart that is why God brought me back.

That being said, I need a “hard reset.” You know what I mean. That time when you have been so corrupted by all the “stuff” that the only answer is to wipe everything out and start over. It’s a pretty drastic move but there are times when it is the only way to completely remove the corruption. The scariest part of the “hard reset” is knowing  that when you push the button there is no turning back.

As of today, I have “hard reset” everything about my business model. My hope is that this reset will provide hope for the struggling, comfort to the weary, and an energy for right change that will carve out a niche for people like me in this wonderful industry.

I am looking for 12 leaders to step out of the shadows. 12 people who will join me in my business, my vision, and my life. Only hard working, visionary, servant-leaders need apply!

Wanna play? Click here to get more details!

You know, in the Network Marketing arena, we are told that the best way to learn about leadership is to “follow a great leader.”

I personally think that we need to be careful about that idea. I would much rather say, lead by following the right leader. By choosing the right leader to follow you will learn the right skills that will in turn make you a better leader for your team.

How do you choose the right leader? Psalm 1 says, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.” This means that you need to be careful who you follow and/or take counsel from. The responsibility is yours to check out the advice you receive and the leaders you follow.

Psalm 1 also says, “But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.” As we are choosing the best leader to follow, we need to consider God’s word and the view of leadership we find there. Once we know God’s thoughts we can trust anyone who knows and follows God’s leadership ideals. They will always give us advice that will benefit us first.

Then as we learn to follow the right leader, we need to ask God to make us that kind of leader for our team. They need to see in us what we have found in the leader God gave us.

Leadership has always been more about surrender and sacrifice than it has been about being honored and lifeted up. When we learn to care for the needs of our team we will create an atmosphere where great leaders will be born.

As I have said before, if your leadership produces skilled leaders, you will build a strong and stable business that will grow and survive for years to come.

Just a thought ….

When Jesus was preparing to assemble the twelve into a unit, he didn’t just take the first twelve who came along.

His choices were very exacting and were the result of time spent with God the Father in prayer. (And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles; Simon, (whom he also named Peter,) and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called Zelotes, And Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor. Luke 6:12-16)

When looking at those that he chose, not all of them would have been the pick many would have made.

Some were loud mouthed and impulsive, some had enemies that would brand them as hypocrites, some were people who were to “goodie-goodie” for the sinful crowd, and one was a traitor looking for a chance to gain power for himself.

Yet, these were the ones Jesus chose out of all those who had accepted him as the Messiah.

What is the lesson we can learn from this kind of choosing?

1. We need to be selective in the building of our team. Having the people on board that God wants will far outweigh having everyone in who wants to join up. (I have a friend in Australia who was among the top 5 distributors in his company with only 5 personally sponsored front-line.)

2. We need to sponsor with much prayer and with the goal of serving God in mind. When God gets the glory for all we do in business we will be blessed for our efforts. (Don’t ever confuse “success” with God’s blessing. His blessings come when we are empty of self and are seeking his honor above everything else.)

3. Don’t judge a book by its cover. Remember, the twelve Jesus chose had a whole host of problems that they had to work through all the time they were with Jesus.

4. Accept the role as servant leader. Jesus took the twelve and began the process of training them for the work that they were to accomplish. His focus was their training and their skills and their knowledge. His greatest desire was their success. You should build your team that way!

As Jesus took these men aside and committed his life to train them, they gained an understanding of his vision of life and his world-view. When he left them to continue the work without him, they were ready to do all that Jesus had done and even greater things because Jesus built the right team.

You are not Jesus, nor do you have the insights that he has, but you should take care, as a believer, in the development of your team. When God is pleased with the team you build, you and it will accomplish things that would otherwise not be accomplished on your own.

Just a thought ….

I was reading Psalm 23 this week. As I read I was struck by what I found to be an awesome Thanksgiving thought:

The beginning of the Psalm speaks of the blessings of the Lord afforded to the believer in the good times.

No want, green pastures, and still waters all sound wonderful ….

Everyone who is a believer wants to live in this picture of perfect bliss … but what happens when things turn dark?

David continues on and the picture turns from the beauty of the green pastures to the darkness of the valley of the shadow of death.

Yet even there David is thankful for God’s presence!

In the darkness God is David’s comfort (thy rod and thy staff they comfort me).

In the darkness God is David’s source (thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemy).

In the darkness God is David’s protector (thou anonitest my head with oil).

In the darkness God is David’s benefactor (my cup runneth over).

With God’s presence so easily sensed in these dark times David knows that God’s goodness and mercy will be with him in this life and that he will dwell with him for eternity (Surely goodness and mercy shall dwell with me all the days of my life: and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever).

With these truths known, we should make everyday (dark or light, comfort or struggle) a day of thanksgiving.

Our lives will be edified for it and our ability to edify our family, friends, and our team will be strengthened.

We also should seek to be there for those we love even as God is always there for us!

This will establish our place as leaders in our group and will testify of our faith in God through Christ.

Happy Thanksgiving to all, today and everyday of your life.

Dave

I am on kind of a crusade these days. I see ads all the time that deal with the subject of sponsoring. These ads all tell us that if we just buy an ebook or learn social marketing that we can have an endless supply of leads and sponsor large quantities of new distributors (10, 15, even 20 per month).

We are then told to expect a 95% drop-out rate and to just keep sponsoring and the “cream will rise to the top.”

Then I look at the life of our Lord Jesus and see that when he built his team, that he did it with twelve (none of which could really be called the cream) rather than with the multitudes.

By building a smaller team, Jesus was able to teach them on a personal level. He could spend time with them and answer there questions, deal with their pride, correct their faltering faith, and just be there for them all the time.

It makes me wonder … should Christian networkers learn a lesson from our Master on this one?

I think so. I would rather work with a group of 12 close friends whose lives I can touch and who can touch mine than to sponsor so many people that I really don’t know who they are or what they are really looking for in life.

Could there be a Judas among my 12. Yes, but Jesus carried on and the gospel was still preached in spite of him.

I just don’t want to get to the end of my life and know that most of the people I told about my great business opportunity knowing that 95% of the people I sold on business ownership failed to be successful.

I know many will say, “I gave them a chance and their success is up to them.”

I am glad Jesus never determined that my spiritual success was to be left up to me!

Even as a believer, I can still know great success if I will just walk with the greatest teacher and mentor ever given. (The Holy Spirit)

My opinion is in the manority in the industry but I still hold to it.

If you wan to know more about why I think this way just email me and let’s get together and talk!

Dave