Patience Is The Key To Long Term Success In Network Marketing

By Dean Garrison
Posted Sunday, August 29, 2004

So you're not rich yet? Join the club!!! I have been fortunate enough to be a full-time network marketer for five years now, but I am still a few years from retirement. In fact, just because I am full-time it doesn't mean I am wealthy either. Let's just say that I do better at networking than I could do working for someone else, and the time freedom is great!!! But do you want to know something I have learned in the last five years? I have learned the value of patience in our business.

I hope you will appreciate how hard it is for me to admit this, but... If I would have stayed with my first ever MLM company I would have retired years ago. But what did I do? I did like so many other people and spent years looking for "greener pastures." It was always the company's fault when I didn't make $100,000 in 3 months, not mine. I guess you could say that I had a lot of growing up to do. You see, I made $30,000 in one year with my first real network marketing adventure eleven years ago. But like the naive 20-year old that I was, I went in search of "greener pastures." It wasn't until a few years ago that I again made that much money with a single MLM company. I guess you could say I wasted somewhere around eight years of my life chasing "pie in the sky" outfits. Lucky for me I am still just 31 years old.

What I have found over the last few years of doing this business is that the most successful people are those who find one good company and stick with it. I am not talking about some ridiculous cycler or leads program, I am talking about a time tested company with good consumable products. Preferrably you should pick a company that has been in business for at least two years because ground floor companies are generally a crap shoot. And beyond that you simply have to commit to that company through good and bad.

Every single one of us have had occasion to talk to an associate or upline who was moving on to something better. Slow product shipments made them do it. A recruiting system that could make them rich over night was lacking. Their sponsor didn't want to give them any spill over. The company president didn't send them a free fax machine. Whatever!!! Here is a secret that you must know about network marketing and your sponsor probably doesn't want to tell you so I will. 80% of all of the people you bring in to the business will be looking to quit from day one, they are looking for an excuse. When you couple that with the fact that every single network marketing company in the history of the world has experienced it's own set of problems at one time, then you will quickly understand that you can't build a long term business with 80% of the people out there. You are looking for the 20% who will commit long term. We call them leaders. Everyone else is what we would call a "temporary associate."

I am not saying this to be negative, I just want you to understand what it takes to succeed. You are simply looking for those people who fall into the 20% catergory. These are the people you will spend your time with, not the junkie who will try to get you in 5 other programs. Believe me, I have been there and done that. I still fight it every single day because a large number of my contacts in this business are "MLM junkies." These are people who give up on good companies every day, it just took me so long to realize that. Let's talk about a company most of us know called Changes International.

I am not a distributor for Changes nor have I ever been, but as one of the good companies in our industry I like to talk about them from time to time. A few years ago I was considering joining Changes and started asking around. It just so happens at that time that the company was having some slow product shipments (at least that was the word in the street).

I talked to dozens of people and most told me that they were leaving and going to For Mor or somewhere else. For Mor is a fine company in their own right but that is not the point. The point is that people were all going off in search of something better. Very few that I talked to were staying put. But guess what? Those that did stay put are laughing all the way to the bank today, while those that left have probably been with 4-6 companies since and they are still looking. Changes got over their growth problems and they are now one of the very best direct sales companies in the world. What this company taught me is that all companies go through this kind of stuff.

There will always be controversies and the best advice is just to weather the storm. Remember the controversy with Nutrition For Life and Kevin Trudeau? They lost some distributors but the smart ones stayed put and made their dreams come true. How about Tony Little leaving Longevity? Tony Little may have taken some of those distributors with him but the smart ones stayed put and made money. A lot can be said for people who will just stay put. In my own company the top earners are all people who have been with the company for a few years. And believe me, in those years they have seen a lot of spilled milk.

I know it is sometimes tough to stomach it when your company drops the ball, but it makes a lot more sense then constantly starting over, like I and many of you have done for years. Eventually we just have to settle in for the long haul.

THE SAME GOES FOR PRODUCT USERS...
Like it or not this business is still about moving products, it is not solely about recruiting. But, you know, I have found the exact same problem can be found with product users. The fact that your customers like nutritional products means little or nothing. MLM Junkies like networking too and that doesn't help you keep them, does it?

The average product user is looking for a 14-day fix. They have been eating jelly donuts for 30 years and expect to lose 10 pounds in the first two weeks with your product. So they end up trying your product and all of your competitors products but never have any luck with any of them... BECAUSE THEY WON'T GIVE THE PRODUCTS TIME TO WORK!!! I have found that a full 50% of product users are like this (that may vary from company to company). They are also looking for "greener pastures" from day one. This is certainly unfortunate but it is a fact of life. It really has little to do with how good your products are sometimes, it is just that the person taking the product won't give it a chance to work. Period.

SO WHAT DO YOU DO TO SUCCEED IN THIS BUSINESS?
The number one rule is to stay focused and patient for the long term. If you have done your due dilligence in selecting your networking company then the success will come, but you have to hang in there and pay your dues. You need to focus on finding the good 20% of business builders who will commit just like you have. You need to find the good product users who will give the products a chance to help them. You need to continuously commit to sorting for quality people. It's as simple as that.

Changing companies is not going to allow you to find more quality people, in most cases. The truth is that you don't need the best company, the best pay plan or the best products to be successful. If you did need all of those things then all of the millionaires would be in one company, wouldn't they?

I for one am quite happy to have a company that is above average in every area, but I no longer drive myself crazy by trying to find the perfect company. The perfect company doesn't exist, at least not in my mind. The most important thing you can remember is that 95% of all network marketers fail. If you can truly understand that then you can simply succeed by doing the opposite of what 95% of them do. So the next time your upline, downline and sidelines all tell you it's time to throw in the towel, just keep in mind that the 5% who ignore them are probably the people making the real money. Believe me, I learned this lesson the hard way. If I would have stayed with that company I was with 11 years ago I would probably be making $1,000,000 a month right now. Some of my old associates are. And that, my friends, is worth thinking about...

About The Author:
Dean Garrison is a network marketer and publisher. Visit his Home Business Super Site at: (http://wwww.revolutionteam.com)

If you are currently looking for a business opportunity you can look at Dean's current project by going to (http://www.revolutionteam.com/deandg)