Christian Business Builder

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 ……

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 ….