I’ve never thought about compensation plans this much in my life, but with so much misinformation being thrown about on the internet, I really thought it was time for me to set the record straight about the team beachbody compensation plan.

First things first, just a quick note about compensation plans, in general.  If you’re selecting a business opportunity SOLELY based on compensation plan, you’re making a HUGE mistake.  I’ve written posts on how compensation plans work, and I’ve written posts on what criteria you should consider when selecting a company to partner with, so I’m not going to recover that ground today.

But I have heard more than one “leader” in the industry take pot shots at the Team Beachbody compensation plan during my time as a coach.  My typical reaction to that is this:  a dog doesn’t bark at a parked car.  When someone views something as a threat, that’s usually the ONLY time they crack their lips to make comments and snide remarks.  So I usually just ignore it, and ignore them.  That’s the best possible response to ignorance.

Then, I thought about the business of college football recruiting.  Other coaches have been bad mouthing Joe Paterno FOR YEARS (he’s too old, he’s out of touch, etc…). and yet, Penn State football is still one of the most relevant programs in the country EVERY YEAR, and Joe Paterno continues to recruit blue chip athletes to Penn State EVERY YEAR.

So my point is this:  just because someone decides to open their mouth and say something, or write it online, doesn’t necessarily make what they have to say true, or valid.  Even me, you might have reason to doubt what I say, if this is your first time reading my blog, and you’re just getting to know me.

That’s why I brought evidence with me on this one.  And by the way, if you happen to come across someone from another company who has something “interesting” to say about the team beachbody compensation plan, would you do me a favor?  Ask them to see a copy of their company’s earnings disclosure statement.  If they stutter, sputter or pause, just remember that you read this post.

The Team Beachbody coaching opportunity started in mid 2007.  Beachbody had been in business for over a decade before that, selling their record breaking workouts through infomercials and direct marketing, but Carl Daikeler and his team decided that their growth would be long lasting, explosive and sustainable if he partnered his products with a network marketing model.

In Team Beachbody’s first full year in business (2007/2008), our top earner made just under three quarters of a million dollars.  From 0 to 750K in just over a year is pretty good, right?  by the way, you can find that information on your own here or in the chart below:

This is what year 2 looked like:

And here’s year 3:

So by the end of year three, we had already produced our first million dollar earner.  And, at the time I’m writing this post (9/27/11), Team Beachbody has produced THIRTEEN million dollar a year earners in that window of time.  And here’s what I know:

1. None of them brought over a huge team from another business opportunity, they all started from 0 coaches and 0 volume.
2. None of them was a network marketing “guru” or “grand poobah.”
3. None of them specifically targets network marketers as a primary audience.

I had a rep contact me about joining his business team the other day.   He doesn’t realize it, but he’s also a part of a company whose reps I see yapping at our heels.  When I looked at his company’s earnings disclosure, I had to chuckle just a little bit.  The AVERAGE time it takes for a person to reach the top of their compensation plan, and put themselves in position to reach that million dollar a year or better mark, is over THIRTEEN YEARS!

Don’t get me wrong, it’s STILL better than the chances you have of becoming a millionaire at your job (like .00009%), but the fact that he was selling his opportunity to me as a “better and faster growth opportunity” than Team Beachbody was purely absurd.

Now, let me tell you something that’s a little bit different about Team Beachbody than many other companies.  In most other network marketing companies, with few exceptions, you do NOT have the opportunity to sponsor your spouse.  So, your husband or wife can be a partner in your one business center, but they cannot have their own.  Why is this part of the team beachbody compensation plan important?

Of those thirteen million dollar a year earners Team Beachbody has produced in just under 4 years, TWO of them live in the same house!  Pete Pena and his wife Sue EACH earn over a million dollars a year from Team Beachbody, making them the first and only couple in the business to do that so far.

Why is that exciting for me?  Take a guess whose team I’M a part of, who I’m learning how to build a business from, and who’s built the training and support system that is experiencing some of the fastest growth within Team Beachbody?

When we talk about professional sports, we don’t say “Man, I wish I was making what the guy at the end of the bench who doesn’t play makes!”  We say, “Can you imagine what it would be like to make what Peyton Manning or Tom Brady makes?”

At least that’s not what I do.  I try to figure out what the top earners are making, and then I try to figure out if they’re willing to teach me how to get where they’re at.  if not, I’ll work to find other mentors who can help me do it also, but Pete and Sue have been more than happy to share their time and mentorship, so I haven’t had to look further.

Now, we’re looking for a few more people who want to totally transform their financial situation, like Pete and Sue did.  But not just want to, but also willing to do the work it takes to get there.  There’s no magic pill, or gimmick, or secret handshake that gets you to that million dollar a year mark.  There’s hard work involved, but the roadmap for how to get there is in place.

If you’d like to get more information on how to get your opportunity to be Team Beachbody millionaire #14, click here.

Jamie

Connect With Me On Facebook:  Jamie’s Fan Page

Oh yeah, before I forget.  This post is not in any way a guarantee that YOU will become a million dollar earner with Team Beachbody.  I’m only showing you what’s possible.  It’s also possible that you could join our team, and earn nothing.  Or, it’s also possible that you could join us, and earn $1,000 bucks a month.  The ball’s in your court.  Take a look at what we’re putting together here.

There is a lack of true mentorship available in the world today.  This is especially true, in the world of network marketing.  There are people thirsting to learn what it takes to build a successful and profitable business, just waiting for someone to coach them towards success.  Without question, if they had a mentor in their life, they could get it done, and get it done right.

I’m not talking to those people today.  I’m also not talking to those “mentors” who aren’t quite sure how to be the best mentor they can possibly be.  Some people find themselves in a mentor capacity based solely on their position in the line of sponsorship.  They didn’t sign up to be a leader, they signed up to make a few extra bucks selling _________.  Those are both topics I’ll cover another day.

Today, I’m talking to a group of people who most likely don’t even know they’re a group.  Who, you may ask, is that?  These are the people who actually do have a mentor in their life, but have no clue how to ACCEPT mentorship.  Uh oh, I can hear the crickets chirping.  I realize I may have lost a few of you here, but I’m going to keep going anyway.

First, let’s carve out a working definition of what mentorship actually is.  Wikipedia calls mentorship “a personal development relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps a less experienced or less knowledgeable person.   So ask yourself this question:  In my business, right now, do I have someone more experienced or knowledgeable than I am, who is willing to help me personally develop?

If the answer is yes, but you’re not growing, then I hate to break it to you, but the problem is YOU.  See, here’s what I know.  Most people don’t want a mentor.  What they actually want is an acceptor.  They want someone who will validate the dumb decisions that they’ve already decided to move forward with before they even speak to their mentor.

Most people just have the completely wrong view of mentorship.  They view any form of feedback as criticism.  They don’t want to be told that the way they’re doing things could be wrong, that the ideas they have that thousands of people tried before them that didn’t work won’t work for them either, and they CERTAINLY don’t want to be told that they’re not the perfect examples of everything perfect they believe themselves to be.

A mentor, a coach, a Yoda, whatever you want to call them, has one role and one role only.  Their charge is to provide you with what you NEED to achieve your greatest level of success.  But what happens is that when they focus on giving you what you need, and your focus is on getting from them what you WANT, there’s a disconnect.  But understand, the disconnect is on YOUR end.

A long time ago, I learned about what’s called the Four Window Panes of Your Life.  I’m going to warn you now, I’m going to mention God in this post, so if the mention of God offends you, don’t read it.  Maybe the information in this post doesn’t apply to you anyway, and maybe it won’t help you grow your business.  I’m just telling it the way that I heard it

The first window pane in your life is the things you know about yourself that everybody knows.  You have red hair, you’re skinny, you look like Beyonce, you need a haircut, etc.  All of the things that can be determined by your 5 senses are contained in this window pane.  It takes little to no effort to figure these out.

The second window pane is the things only you and God know about you.  That you’re afraid of the dark, that you cheated on the SAT’s, that you secretly listen to Barry Manilow albums and cried at the Care Bears movie.

That you sometimes doubt whether you’re good enough, smart enough, brave enough, wise enough, good looking enough or funny enough to do what it is that you need to do in order to be successful.  Until you’re ready to be honest with yourself about what’s in this window pane, it will be next to impossible for you to experience any real growth.

Then, there are the things God knows about you, that you don’t even know about yourself.  What you were put on the Earth to do, the people’s lives you were sent to have an impact on, when and how you’re going to die, the full potential of the greatness that lives inside you.  All done with my references to God, unless you want to chat about him personally with me.  Then, just feel free to shoot me a message.

For the purposes of this post, I’ve switched these last two around, so that it makes sense, but the final window pane is the things I know about you that you don’t know about you.  And when I say I, let’s substitute I out with YOUR MENTOR’S NAME.  It’s in your ability to receive feedback in this last pane that your rate of success is determined.

We all have blind spots in our lives, not one of us is exempt from them.

Your mentor should have taken time to get to know you, and is most likely also working with you to grow your business.  And if they’re more experienced than you are, they’ve likely seen other people in very similar situations to yours before.  So when they provide you feedback, it’s probably not just based on your situation, but countless others.

But they’ve also had a chance to observe you, and make assessments based on your actions.  It’s not always about the latest and greatest marketing strategies, tools, gadgets and widgets, although that’s what most people THINK they need.

What marketing strategy, tool, gadget or widget will help you grow your business, if when people finally get to talk to you they realize that your personality sucks?  What if you’re a really abrasive person, and you need to fix THAT before you can be effective with prospecting?  If your mentor doesn’t have your trust, then they really can’t help you achieve genuine success.

All they can do is pat you on the head, smile and nod at everything you tell them, and tell you that you have everything it takes to be successful already inside of you.  And they’re right, you do, you just have to get over your own ego long enough to allow them to help you bring it out for the rest of the world to see.

So if you have a real mentor in your life, whose feedback you trust as accurate, but you’ve been going in the exact opposite direction of where they’ve been leading you, here’s what you should do if you really want success.

Call that person immediately, and apologize for being stupid.  It’s ok to be stupid, but acknowledging that you’ve been stupid is a sign of maturity, and of your willingness to be unstupified.  Then, let them know that you want their TOTAL AND HONEST feedback on your growth, your business, and what it is that you’ll need to do in order to reach your goals.

Take in that feedback, no matter how painful it may feel.  Look yourself in the eyes, and really assess the truth in the feedback.

Then, commit to applying that feedback.  Simple.  Not easy, but simple.

How do you feel about my thoughts on mentorship?  Leave me a comment and let me know!

Jamie

PS-Connect with me on Facebook at Jamie’s Fan Page

If you want me to be your Yoda, the first step is to partner with me here.

READ MY LIPS:  Facebook will NEVER charge it’s users to be on Facebook.  NEVER.  EVER.  You may be asking yourself how I can make such a bold statement about this.  Do I know Marc Zuckerberg personally, am I on the Board of Directors at Facebook, o do I have an “unnamed source” on the inside?

NOPE!  None of the above.  In fact, to the best of my knowledge, I don’t think I even know anyone who works at Facebook.  Or has worked for Facebook.  But let me let you in on a little secret that I DO know about Facebook.

I understand their business model very well, and as an extension of that, I understand how Facebook makes money.  And believe me, what they would be able to collect in subscription fees is pennies compared to how they make money today.

Facebook, much like Google, is actually in the advertising business.  To be specific, they are in the advertising SPACE business.  So all of those ads that show up on the right side of your page, all the banners that appear when you’re playing Farmville or Mafia Wars, and even the fees that games like Mafia Wars and Farmville charge for extra bonuses and prizes on their games, all serve to keep your Facebook experience FREE.

If those things ever go away, then Facebook might make the move to a subscription based service, but since every change they make and continue to make appears to make it more accessible for greater numbers of people to advertise on Facebook, I don’t really see any way that’s going to happen.

Which brings me to your network marketing business…

Please keep in mind, what I’m about to say may not apply to you.  Ok, fine.  But here’s the thing-you will most likely sponsor someone, or at some point have someone in your downline who this DOES apply to.  Isn’t it awesome that you will already have the answer for how to help them grow in this area?  They’ll be all like “Oh my gosh, you’re so smart, and you’ll be all like “Oh my gosh, I know,” and it’ll just be great LOL!

With that said, here’s a fact about our industry.  MOST network marketers have no clue how they get paid. Seriously, they don’t understand how their company’s compensation plans work, and they don’t get that each compensation plan is designed to create incentive around certain business behaviors.

I actually did a pretty basic post about MLM comp plans and the behaviors they manage to, that you can find here.  And while I’m not a big fan of selecting a company solely based on the compensation plan, I think it is important to understand some key concepts, that would save people a ton of time in choosing which business they should partner up with.

I hear people all the time, online and offline, saying “this compensation plan is the best,” or “this compensation plan sucks.”  What that really displays is a lack of maturity in their thought process, or just blatant attempts to mislead people for their own purposes.

There is no best compensation plan in this industry.  And you know what?  If you’re not willing to learn the skills to be successful, and do the work necessary to achieve that success, a great compensation plan isn’t going to mean much, is it?

So here are my recommendations.  First, you need to figure out what type of person YOU are.  Are you the type of person who is going to build a large team and sponsor lots of people, or are you the type of person who is going to have lots of retail customers?  Do you have a warm market that sees and respects you in a business light, or will you have to go out and find new people to market to?

Once you hash these things out, then take a look at the company that you’re considering.  A good place to start is with whatever incentive trip(s) the company offers.  What are the behaviors that will result in you qualifying for that trip?  In most instances, those will be the same behaviors that pay you the most money as well.

If those behaviors don’t line up with who you are, it’s probably not going to be a great fit, and I would suggest you give some thought to whether that opportunity is right for you.

Again, I don’t think compensation plan should be your total focus in selecting a business opportunity, or even one of your top ten, but because there is so much hype around compensation plans these days, I thought it would be good to put out a different take on the whole compensation plan conversation.

What are your thoughts about MLM compensation plans?

Jamie

Let’s Connect on Facebook:  Jamie’s Fan Page

I was watching a replay of the 2010 Borgata Poker Open the other day. I’m a huge poker fan, I’m not very good(yet), but the competitiveness and strategy involved in the game reminds me a lot of sports. As the tournament started to come to an end, it was down to the final two players, Dwyte Pilgrim, and the guy who finished in second place. As with anything, no one really remembers who finished in 2nd, do they?

Anyway, there was one particular hand that absolutely stood out to me. Now in this hand, Dwyte’s opponent was the first person to act, and he made a bet, designed to get Dwyte to fold his hand. After taking a few moments to think about his move, instead of folding, Dwyte made a much larger bet for ALL of his poker chips.

His opponent, completely confused by this move, took a few minutes to really consider his next move. He had more chips than Dwyte, so even if he called the bet and lost, he would still be in the tournament, though at a distinct disadvantage.

Also, he had a pair of queens in his hands, which is the third best starting hand in Texas Hold ‘Em. Only a pair of Aces or a pair of Kings would be a better starting hand, and with only 2 players left at the table, the chances of Dwyte having EITHER of those hands at this moment were super slim.

After some time, Dwyte’s opponent folded his hand. Being in the TV audience, we already knew what Dwyte knew, and his opponent clearly did not. Dwyte was holding a pair of Twos in his hand, which means that not only did his opponent have the better hand, but he had the better hand by a LOT.

Dwyte had just made a monumental bluff, that propelled him forward to win the tournament, and his opponent had just made a MONUMENTAL error. What really stood out to me the most about this hand was the analysis of one of the announcers afterwards.

He said that the difference between an amateur and a professional poker player is that not only do the pros plan for their next move, but typically, they have their next 3 or 4 moves already mapped out as well. In this instance, the amateur player knew what he was going to do UP TO THE POINT where he laid his bet.

But he was totally unprepared for what he would do if Dwyte chose to make the move that he did. And that lack of planning cost him Seven Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollars, and caused me not to even remember his name!

Now, what does this have to do with your network marketing business? EVERYTHING.

In most companies, and mine is no exception, you have what’s known as a ranking system. For some companies, they use gems and precious metals, and for others, they use military rankings and symbols, but you know what I’m talking about.

Silver, Emerald, Crown Ambassador, Royal Matrix Master, whatever-the point is that these ranks are stopping points along the way in building your business. I’ll say it again, most of these ranks are STOPPING POINTS along the way in building your business.

Where I’ve seen many reps, and where I’ve even stumbled in my own business building is when you set a particular rank as your destination, and not as a stopping point along the way.

In my current opportunity, the rank that a lot of reps talk about reaching is Diamond, everyone wants to be a Diamond. So they set out to achieve Diamond, and after some work and commitment, they get to the Diamond level. CONGRATULATIONS!

But now what? If you built your business only to reach the Diamond level, you most likely don’t have enough of a foundation to move forward towards any of the 15 ranks above the level of Diamond in our company. So what happens then?

People who build this way typically don’t stay Diamond very long. They flow up and down between Diamond and the previous rank, and are generally miserable because they have NO CONTROL over how much money they make in their business. It’s like building a one story house with a foundation for a one story house, but you REALLY wanted a three story house.

What happens if you try to add 2 more stories? You lose EVERYTHING. And that’s what happens, reps begin to get impatient with the people they have on their team, because they aren’t growing fast enough, but in all actuality, the problem is YOU.

Some people you sponsor aren’t ready to grow right now. Quite honestly, some of them might NEVER be ready to grow. You have zero control over that. The ONLY thing you can control is your action and your attitude.

So instead of being your downline’s boss, here’s what I suggest. You sponsor enough people to figure out which people need your physical time, and which people need you to be their friend. Some of the people you sponsor aren’t READY to build a business, they just need someone in their corner who believes in them.

The people who are ready to build right now, you help them build right now. You physically get in there with them, show them by example what they need to do to build a big organization, and make it happen.

This will do two things-First, it will keep you from being frustrated by your people who aren’t growing yet. Two, it will create success stories on your team to show your other reps that listening to what you’re teaching them to do is a good idea.

In network marketing, indirect pressure works so much better than direct pressure. Don’t ride your reps who don’t perform. YOU go perform, and then just show them what the rewards of performance are.

Go on qualifier trips WITHOUT THEM. Go retire your husband or wife from their job, while they have to keep farming theirs out for a paycheck. Go live the dream that we show people is possible in network marketing, but ALWAYS remember to let them know that THEY CAN HAVE IT TOO.

Leave me a comment, and let me know what’s holding you back from being the top earner in your company.

Jamie

Come connect with me on Facebook at Jamie’s Fan Page

Every “guru” on the internet uses the buzzword “branding” so much, that it’s almost become one of those words in the MLM industry that doesn’t really mean anything to anyone outside our industry.  You know what I mean, like downline, upline, business opportunity, compensation plan, rank advancement, or any of the other hundred or so phrases you can say to a prospect guaranteed to get you a blank stare?

These “gurus” will tell you how important it is to “brand yourself,” and that the first thing you should do is run out and buy YOURNAME.com as your first domain.  After all, when people are looking online for your name, you want them to be able to find the information YOU put out there, right?

This sounds like a great idea, but quite honestly, it’s a solid house built on a rotten foundation.  And I know this first hand, because I drank the Kool Aid just like everybody else.  I ran out and bought JamieGaymon.com two years ago, and through hard work and diligence, I’ve built this site into a pretty decent traffic and lead generating machine.  It’s not Facebook, but it sure doesn’t suck either, LOL!!

Here’s the rotten foundation though-in the beginning of your business, NO ONE is looking for you online.  And I mean NO ONE.  Unless your name is Jesus Christ, Adolf Hitler or Peyton Manning, your family and friends aren’t even looking for you online.

Want a truly humbling experience?  Go to this site, type in your name as a search term, and see how many people are looking for you every month.  Now don’t get me wrong, you can generate a ton of buzz about yourself through a well thought out and executed marketing plan to “brand yourself.”

But I’m assuming you joined a network marketing company to become successful in network marketing, right?  So let’s use the same principles to get you on the path to success that provides the least resistance.

I remember 9th grade algebra very well, because that was the last math class I did well in.  Once I realized I would NEVER use any of this stuff in life once I got my high school diploma, I did just enough to maintain my GPA, and focused on what was important to me.

In that class, we learned something called the FOIL method for solving equations.  FOIL stood for:

FIRST

OUTSIDE

INSIDE

LAST

And you used it to solve equations written like:

9(x-5) + 6y = 7(3x+5) -4y

So to solve for x, you would follow the formula to get your answer.  Take the first part, and solve what you can, then solve for what’s outside the parentheses, then inside, is it coming back to you now?

In the interest of time, and because I want to keep this as simple as possible, we’re only going to focus on the FIRST part of this equation.

When you become a network marketer, what comes first? That should be easy to answer, but for most of us, the answer is generating sales and bringing on new reps who generate sales.  So shouldn’t THAT be the main focus of any and all marketing that we do?  I don’t care if you’re an attraction marketer, facebook marketer, or whatever, your main goal is to sponsor people into your network marketing company, and create retail customers who purchase from you on a regular basis.

So if you’re going to invest in web real estate, wouldn’t it make sense to set up shop somewhere that people are already BUYING?   In my humble opinion, your FIRST order of business online should be to dominate the conversation ALREADY going on about your company, their product and/or service, and their business opportunity.

#1, I can tell you that none of the other reps in your company is doing this, so you will be swimming in relatively safe waters.  Think I’m wrong?  Use the same tool above to look up any of your company’s keywords.  What you’ll find is that they probably get a decent amount of traffic, and have very low competition (a decent amount of traffic is 1,000 views/month or greater).

Now, you may want to look at your company’s policies before you select a domain name, because many will not allow you to use any of their branded names in your domain.  That doesn’t mean you can’t still build a site that ranks for their keywords, because my website with my name is on the first page of Google for my company’s name, and I get a good amount of traffic from it.

You just have to know what you’re doing   I’m more than willing to teach you how to build a site from the ground up that ranks, just contact me, and we can talk about your goal for the site, and how much I charge for consulting projects like that.

Why build a brand first, when you can leverage an existing brand FIRST?  People are logging on to the internet Al Gore created to buy products from and become reps with your company EVERY DAY, why would you not leverage that?

Then, won’t it be easier to brand yourself, when you have documented success in what you claim to be an expert in?  Isn’t a big part of being an expert proficiency?  Nothing says proficiency in network marketing better than consistent and increasing checks.

But hey, maybe I’m completely missing the mark here!  So leave me a comment, and let me know what you think!

Jamie

PS-I have a very special offer for the next person who joins my team at our top package.  If achieving the #1 ranking in Google for a keyword that gets nearly 2 million views per MONTH seems appealing to you, call me at 301.541.3873.  SERIOUS INQUIRIES ONLY.

I had a rep in my current company ask me what I thought about another business opportunity the other day. And I told her that while I do use the product they offer, their business opportunity isn’t anything that I have an interest in promoting.

I could get into all of the reasons why I only promote one business opportunity, yet have several income streams surrounding it, but that’s another post for another day.

She was shocked to hear that, because in her mind, the compensation plan for the new company was better than the compensation plan in the existing company. She started to tell me about all of the bells and whistles of the new comp plan, and why it was so much better.

I hate to say it, but I honestly didn’t hear most of the comp plan talk. I had already done my due diligence on the company, so I would venture a guess that my understanding of their compensation plan is pretty much on target. But here’s the statement that made me pause, and really pay close attention to what she was saying.

Here are the highlights:

- She’s been a part of the business team for a few years
-  It’s increasingly difficult to keep her team motivated
- Her business keeps ping ponging back and forth between ranks

In my younger days, I would have torn her head off about how stupid she was being, and given her a breakdown of why the failure in her business was her fault.  And I do believe that it is, but since she wasn’t asking for my advice, I didn’t offer it.

As I’ve grown older in our industry, I realize that most times people tell you a story, or bring a situation to you, they don’t want advice.  What they actually want is for you to give your APPROVAL of what they already plan to do.

It’s one of the challenges all mentors face, in that most mentees don’t really understand what the mentor-mentee relationship should look like.  So unless someone asks me for my opinion, I don’t give it.  Doesn’t mean I don’t have one, it just saves me from having to say I told you so when whatever dumb thing they’re doing blows up in their face.

But I digress, here’s the point of this post.  She didn’t ask for my help, but as a reader of my blog, you did.  So I’m going to identify for you the landmines in her business that she stepped on, and the best ways to avoid them.  And please keep in mind, a new company and/or a new compensation plan isn’t the solution to fix ANY of these issues.

She’s been a part of the business team for a few years – On the surface, it seems like a fairly innocent statement, but here’s what’s missing.  I have no idea what steps this person has taken to grow their business, how much learning they’ve done about how to market themselves, none of that.

But what I can say, with a fair amount of certainty, that when you evaluate the success of your business solely on time in vs. results, you are still thinking like an employee.  This business is not an hours for dollars exchange.  if your not making the check you want to, increase your skills or increase your belief.  But in 9 of 10 instances, the major issue in your business is reading this sentence right now.  Read that last sentence one more time before you move on.

The reason there’s such a high failure rate in our industry is because people quit and start over.  When you do that, the clock on your success starts over again at 0.

It’s increasingly difficult to keep her team motivated – The Mother Goose Syndrome kills another MLM business.  That’s when a rep registers a few reps, thinks they have enough success to stop sponsoring new reps, and sits on their existing group, waiting for them to hatch.

You can identify the MG’s by their insistence that the success (or failure) of their business rests squarely on the shoulders of their downline.  WRONG.  The type of training on growing a business that your downline needs is for you to be the PHYSICAL example of growing your business.

If you take nothing else from this post, remember this:  on average, your downline will duplicate HALF of what you do.  For some of you, that’s exciting!  For others of you, not so much.  Either way, I don’t make the news, I just report it

Her business keeps ping ponging back and forth between ranks – This is just an extension of the previous problem.  Because you won’t commit to understanding how sponsoring works, and what your role as a sponsor actually is, it will continue to happen over and over and over again.

You’re not their manager, inspiration, boss, supervisor, welfare check, handout giver or Mother Goose.  Your role is to provide an environment where everyone on your team has an equal opportunity to be successful, and then put your physical energy into helping those reps who SHOW you that they want to be successful.

But if you won’t commit to sponsoring as many people as it takes for you to figure out what someone SHOWING you they need your help looks like, it will never work.  You’ll get frustrated, because you own your own business, but you have 0 control of your own income.  If this is you, don’t feel bad, I’ve done it, too.  I think if you ask, most network marketing leaders have done something similar.

The difference is, that at some point, it clicked for them that what they were doing wasn’t working, and they learned from it.  And then they applied what they learned.

It’s ok to be dumb.  We ALL start our businesses on day one, dumb as a board to the ways and methods of building a network marketing business.  What will determine how fast and how far your business grows is how long you let yourself STAY dumb.

Every legitimate network marketing company ha a compensation plan that, if you understand how it works, and commit to doing whatever it takes to build, will yield you a significant income.  I repeat, EVERY.  YOU are the biggest variable in whether it will work or not, so work on fixing you, and the rest will fall into place.

I don’t believe in dumb people, but I do believe in people doing dumb things.  Don’t be one of them.

What do you think?  Let me know if I hit the nail on the head, or you believe I’m WAY off the mark on this one.  And if the info is good, share it with someone you love!

Jamie

PS- If you haven’t opted in to my newsletter at the top of the page, you’re going to miss out on something important.  Come on, you didn’t really think I put ALL of my secret business building tips out in the open, did you?

I was talking with another rep in my company the other day about how to grow her business, and she was laying out her game plan to grow her team of reps.  She started with her goals, which are totally achievable and doable, and within a reasonable timeframe, and I believe she has everything it takes to make them happen, and I told her that.

Then, she started to lay out her marketing plan of attack.  She had everything figured out, how many people she needed to expose her business to, how many exposures it would take to yield a new rep on her team, everything lined up.  Then, she started telling me about her target market.

Houston, we have a PROBLEM!!

Her audience was completely made up of people who want to buy health and fitness products, and get in shape.  And here’s what I said to her, “Oh, you want to grow the retail side of your business?  I think that’s a good way to do it then.”  And then she said, “No, I want to sponsor new reps on to my team.”  Cricket…

Do customers become reps?  ABSOLUTELY THEY DO!  But, here’s the key-NOT IN YOUR TIMEFRAME.  If you have business goals that you are looking to accomplish by X date, doesn’t it just make sense that your target market would be other people who have financial goals they would like to accomplish on a specific timeframe also?

Potential customers want to buy your product or service.  Becoming a rep to sell your product is an UPSELL, but it’s a long term vs. a short term upsell.  A short term upsell would be selling them on buying another related product.  Like if your company sells workout programs, then also offering them the opportunity to buy a corresponding supplement.  That’s a good immediate upsell.

Customers are going to want to use the product, see if it does what they’ve been told that it does, see if other people think it’s a valuable product as well, I think you get the point.  Customers come into a transaction with a completely different mindset than someone looking for an opportunity.

Without any hard facts to back me up, I would hazard a guess that industry wide, it probably take, on average, somewhere between 90-120 days for a customer considering becoming a rep to become a rep.  Compare that with someone who is already interested in earning income, who will become a rep almost immediately.

In my opinion, that type of marketing is one way that network marketers shoot themselves in the foot, totally irritate their prospects, and end up casting a bad light on our whole industry.

Imagine for a second that you walk into your local Best Buy, to get a new flat screen TV.  You mozy on back to the Electronics department, and are met by one of their associates.  You let him know what you’re looking for, and they walk you right over to the TV set of your dreams.

Then, before you get the chance to buy your TV set, or even get it wheeled to the cash register, they bring a manager over, and start putting the full court press on you about the 50 reasons you should come and work at Best Buy.  HUH?!?!?!

Exactly, it doesn’t make sense in that environment, and it doesn’t make sense in ours.  Congruency is a huge part of what makes a marketing campaign successful.  Meaning, if you advertise on your store for people to come buy a TV, when people come to your store, they expect to buy a TV.  Now, you might train your salespeople to upsell them on a BIGGER and BETTER TV, but we’re still talking about buying a TV, so we’re ok.

People hear the word marketing, and get all panicky and start going into convulsions.  And the word network conjures up images of the computer guy at your job, or cheesy politicians shaking hands and kissing babies.

Network marketing is very simple – your goal is to build a network of people, or leverage an existing network of people.  You will have success by identifying those people who are in the MARKET for what you have to offer.  Through good MARKETING, you create awareness of what you have to offer, and those who are interested raise their hand and say, “I want that.” Then you give it to them, everyone is happy, and your company sends you a check.

Help enough people get what they want, and you will never have to worry about a financial concern again.  Unless you’re stupid, and don’t pay your taxes

Leave a comment below, I’d love to hear your stories of “when marketing goes wrong!”

Jamie

PS-If you think my thoughts about network marketing are cool as the other side of the pillow, maybe it’s time you let me take you under my wing, and show you how it’s done.  Find out how to join my inner circle here…

This post is not going to get me any brownie points with ANYONE, but I think it’s something that needs to be put out there, so here we are.  Let’s start with a question-Why do you think some companies no one has ever heard of burst onto the scene, achieve record growth, yadda yadda yadda?

Ok, pencils down.  Yes, you in the front with your hand up, what do you think?  “Uhhh…is it because they have a remarkable product?”  Good guess, but no, that is not the correct answer.

Yes, you, go ahead, what is your answer?  “Well, it has to be because of their killer compensation plans, right?  I mean, that’s what they all say, ‘we have the best compensation plan in the Universe!’  That’s GOT to be the answer.”  Sorry, no, that’s not it either, and that’s a TERRIBLE usage of the word got in your previous sentence.  Stay after class, you have extra homework.

Give up?  Ok, I’ll tell you what the real answer is that the owners of those companies and many of the leaders inside of those companies just don’t want you to know…

Companies headhunt top business builders from other network marketing companies, and PAY them, quite handsomely, to leave their current business and take as many of their downline coaches as they possibly can with them.

On its face, I don’t have an issue with this practice.  My background is in recruiting, and in a free market economy, I don’t see anything wrong with offering someone a better deal, especially if they’re already unhappy with their current deal.  So if you’re creating a win win situation for another person, I’m perfectly ok with that.  You may not be, but I am.

However, here’s a breakdown of ALL the things about this type of situation I’m NOT OK with:

1. I’m not OK with the fact that Company X just bought a team, and will then use that fact to promote to you that they’re experiencing record growth from their revolutionary comp plan and duplicable system.  DUPLICABLE SYSTEM?  Pardon my French, but who in the Hell can duplicate that???  And by the way, calling something duplicable when it isn’t is called LYING where I come from.
2. I’m not OK with the fact that most of the business builders who come along for the ride don’t see one red cent of that incentive check that leader got.  That check was usually given in consideration of the fact that the “leader” would use those funds to continue building a strong and successful downline organization.  BUT, here’s the big secret-since those reps don’t even know that this check EXISTS, what they don’t know won’t hurt them, RIGHT?  OOPS!  Now they know
3. What I’m really not OK with is so called “leaders,” then getting on conference calls, and webinars, and Youtube videos, and Facebook, and Skype griping about how wronged they were by the company they just left, crying real tears and telling their teams they love them and they made the move to give them a better chance at success, and what an awesome opportunity the team will have in the new business, and how unified they should all be to make the move, any of this sounding at all familiar to you?  It should, this happens ALL of the time.
4. But what I’m the most NOT OK with in these types of situations is the way they make the MLM industry look as a whole.  New people come into our industry every hour of every day.  They have a dream about this industry being able to help them and their families achieve financial stability, and maybe, just maybe even reach financial independence.  They join one of this teams, whose entire marketing strategy is based on moving like nomads from one big payday for the upline to the next.  So then what do they get taught?  Talk to your friends and family (but never the right approach).  Prospect everyone you come in contact with (but never how).  Buy lead lists and cold call (but never how, and seriously, does ANYONE still pay for leads?  It’s 2011, for goodness sake).  Newbie rep goes out, tries to do what they’re being taught, and gets his or her teeth kicked in.  This goes on for months, sometimes even years, until slapped in the face with their massive failure, they draw the only conclusion that makes sense to them-network marketing DOESN’T WORK.

Like I said, if a company feels that this is a legitimate tactic to grow their business, I have no issue with that whatsoever.  But the honesty factor, or should I say the MISSING honesty factor is my main concern.

We live in the land of opportunity, and network marketing provides the greatest opportunity to the greatest number of people of any industry, hands down.  The numbers don’t have to be fudged, people don’t need to be misled for ANYONE to come into our industry and achieve massive success.

What does that take?  A willingness to commit to making it happen, the ability to learn new skills AND apply them, and oh yeah, some hard work.  A simple enough formula, when you commit to it.

But for me, I’d just like to see businesses operate with more integrity than what the above represents.  As an industry, we’re better than that.

Leave a comment below, I’d love to hear your thoughts and insights on this subject.

Jamie

PS-Since 2007, this company has produced 10 million dollar earners inside this industry, and not ONE of them got paid to leave another business and bring a big team with them, they all started organizations from the ground up.  Click here to find out what this team knows about building it big that others don’t.

What is Shakeology?

You want to know what isShakeology, right? You’ve heard some buzz about this product, but you want the inside scoop on it? This is definitely the right place for you!

First, let’s take a look at this quick video:

Shakeology is a meal replacement shake, and not just for weight loss, either. Some people use it just for the Shakeology Cleanse, to help jump start their workouts, or to overcome a plateau in their program. If you’re unsure what the cleanse is all about, you should check out this detailed Shakeology Cleanse FAQ.

Still other people buy shakeology for the sole purpose of helping them shed unwanted pounds, and this is the typical role people envision meal replacements serving. And for this purpose, I have to admit that Shakeology is one of the premier meal replacement shakes for weight loss available today.

But, there are still other people who purchase shakeology to help them maintain, or even gain weight. For someone who is serious about packing on muscle, adding a shake to their regimen will absolutely help them gain, and also help their body to run even more efficiently.

What is Shakeology Doing Inside of Me?

In this shakeology review, I’m going to show you the type of results this product is capable of producing, from some people who use it on a regular basis:

As you can see, Shakeology has multiple uses, and it handles them all with equal precision. During my time online, I’ve seen tons of fat loss tips, but never anything that can help so many different types of people achieve their fitness goals.

What is Shakeology Going to Cost me?

A topic that never fails to come up is the shakeology price. I was surprised to find out that for the value this product brings to the table, it’s very reasonably priced at $120 for a 30 day supply.

I’ve had people ask me if there’s some type of shakeology scam, if the product really does what Beachbody claims it does? I can say very confidently from my own experience that there’s no scam here, and that Shakeology is the real deal, and worth a second look.

So when I’m asked What is Shakeology, my answer is very clear. It’s the healthiest meal of the day, and absolutely worth every penny!

Why is This Shakeology Review Different?

Here’s what a typical Shakeology Review looks like. Some testimonials, some information on the product, and a call to action for you to buy it. Does that sound familiar? Some of those features will be present in this review also, but here is the glaring difference. I’m first going to provide you with what I believe is one of the keys to determining if the review you’re reading can be trusted or not.

When you’re dealing with a product being sold by a home based business, such as Shakeology, it’s not strange at all for testimonials to be included. But what I would stress to you is that you want to find out if those testimonials are from CUSTOMERS, or from representatives of that business. Why is it important to know this before you buy shakeology?

It’s easy to get the reps of a company to talk about all of the wonderful things the product they market does, because they have a VESTED interest in that product’s marketability. I’ve heard people ask if there’s some sort of shakeology scam going on, because the number of testimonials available for this product is ridiculous.

But what’s even more telling is that you can find CUSTOMER testimonials everywhere. Youtube, Facebook, Google, pretty much anywhere you turn. You can find someone who made the decision to purchase shakeology, use it, and achieve a greater level of fitness, without receiving ANY financial compensation from Beachbody. Not to discount testimonials given by reps, but the fact that there are so many customer testimonials so readily available about this product is a great sign that this Shakeology Review is right on the money.

Here’s the first set of testimonials for this shakeology review

Now that’s a shakeology cleanse, literally!! One of the most underappreciated benefits of this product is the impact it has on a person’s regularity. This is one of those fat loss tips that flies under the radar sometimes, but this is an important piece of the better fitness puzzle that another shakeology review might be afraid to cover! By the way, if you missed out on what the cleanse is all about, here’s a wonderful resource: Shakeology Cleanse FAQ.

Is this a positive Shakeology Review?

If it’s not fairly obvious already, I believe Shakeology is at the top of the list of best meal replacement shakes for weight loss, and just for better health in general. I made the decision to purchase shakeology for the first time two years ago, and it has had a significant effect on my efforts to get myself back into shape.

I didn’t think for a second about the shakeology price, because I was immediately blown away by its value. So were these people:

I know this hasn’t been a typical shakeology review, but I think there are enough people handling things in a typical way that something unique can be a bit refreshing. And with that, here’s our final set of customer testimonials: