Ive done a lot of reading, and I cant help but notice how many people have negative reactions to MLM and Network Marketing. There are a lot people telling their tales of a business started with promises of rich rewards and a lavish lifestyle with a home based business that crashed soon after take-off, never getting more than a few feet off the ground. These people are quick to blame MLM itself, calling it a faulty system and a scam, and close their minds to the possibilities of Network marketing forever.



But is this truly the case? Is MLM nothing but a pipe dream sold to the many thats benching off of the successes of a few lucky people who were in the right place at the right time? No, thats not the case at all. Its true that there are a lot of people who start an MLM venture and eventually quit, but the problem doesnt actually lie with the system. The numbers of failed MLM businesses points to the fact that most people who start them do so without properly preparing themselves, and are unaware of how different a work-at-home business is from a standard 9 to 5.





Why dont we dig a little deeper, and apply some logic to the situation to see what is really going on? To do so, Im first going to ask a question: If I took at random forty people who worked at average, normal day jobs and put them in charge of any kind of business that was their responsibility to run, do you think that business would immediately flourish? Of course not. The problem is they have what I like to call the Follow the instructions mindset, and most people have it. It has its own strengths it creates very effective problem solvers, people who are able to, once given a direction or set end goal, find the most efficient way to achieve those ends. What it takes to start a business from the ground up, however, is an Entreprenuerial mindset, which is something completely different. In normal circumstance, people without an Entreprenuerial mindset dont tend to actually start their own businesses it requires far too much risk and capital to do so. What we see is the people who dont immediately have what it takes are in a sense weeded out, whereas MLM is open to anyone at the cost of literally almost no capital whatsoever. We therefore see, in MLM, an increased amount of people trying to run a business who would not ordinarily have thought themselves capable.



Obviously, it isnt terribly common for these people to excel at a completely different form of career. These people dont tend to suddenly attain a pioneering mindset and just jump out of the gate forming a rapidly growing business. MLM requires a completely different mindset altogether, plain and simple. A person must be able to, when put in a situation where they have no specific goal or direction, derive their own goals and directions, and then go about solving the problem of how to follow through with them. The follow the instruction mindset is still important. When given a stretch of road to pave, they can figure out the best way to pave it, the right materials to use, the best path for it to take, and the most efficient way to go about the job. - An entrepreneurs mindset enables a person to look at a plot of land and say We need a road going through here. You have no idea how many people Ive seen who were bursting with excitement over their home business, willing to put forth whatever effort necessary, but because there was no one there to tell them where to start and how to get going, they actually ended up with very little work put into their businesses. A fault of MLM? No. - Simply an unfortunate case of the wrong mindset.



So weve taken note of two different mindsets and what each one excels in. But what if youve always worked a 9 to 5, and you are just itching to create a home business for yourself? Youve never done this before, does that mean youre not cut out to do it? Not at all. If you take note, I have been using the words mindset and paradigm for a reason. There is not a person born into this world knowing how to build a million dollar business. They have to learn just like everyone else; they have to condition their minds to a certain way of looking at things. Anyone can do it. It takes a willingness to change your perspective, to look at things differently. Its something that you have to condition your mind to do. Changing the way we view things is not easy. It goes against the natural way we are. We humans are naturally adverse to change, and we very much enjoy keeping the simple familiarity in the way we currently see things. It takes a lot of perseverance and persistence to change your mindset, but sticking with it not only will make you a far more effective business person, but it will also broaden your entire scope of the world.



Lets look into this mindset. Persistence is necessary, and is a crucial theme in the mindset of an entrepreneur. Some people are naturally endowed as patient, persistant people, but what if youre not? Well then, we need to build that persistence, and the key to persistence is faith. Faith is what enables someone to persevere at a time they may feel like giving up, and more importantly, it can help to alter the way we look at things change our attitude. Consider this: Suppose I place you at one end of a football field that is covered with thousands of paper cups, all turned upside-down. I come along and tell you that Ive placed two thousand dollars under one of those cups, and that now you are to set about the task of overturning each cup one at a time. Once you find the money, I inform you, you can keep every cent of it. Lets take a deep look into your mindset in this situation. Each time you turn over a cup to find it empty, are you going to feel bad? Will you view it as a failure that you didnt find the money under that particular cup and get discouraged? No, I dont imagine you would. Youre going to go on to the next cup without a worry, and youll consider that one less cup you have to look under. After youve overturned, say, 500 of them, are you going to be disappointed that you havent found it yet? No. Youre going to view those 500 cups as progress youre 500 cups closer to the money. Why is that? Its simply because you honestly believe that the money is out there somewhere, under one of those cups thats left. You have faith. This displays a very important principle I know as the principle of Progression. It is the principle of recognizing progress on the basis of faith, and its extremely important. When I first began my life as a marketer, I busied myself each day by calling over one hundred leads of poor opportunity. There was obviously little chance that each one would actually be a success. I often went over fifty people at a time without a single positive response. I told one of my grandmother about this, to which she came back with a predictable That must be so disappointing. I, however, didnt think so, and responded by saying No, actually, its not. I know sooner or later Ill get someone who is interested in what I have to say, meaning Im about fifty phone calls closer to them than from where I started the day. Thats Progression at work, and when youre starting your own business, its a necessary principle.



Weve established that the driving force behind the Progression principle is faith. If I told you that there may or may not be money in one of those cups, turning over two thousand of them would probably be a little less exciting. Now, faith always comes from somewhere, so where is it that we derive our faith that we need to derive persistence and have a more constructive attitude for our business? The answer is education. Being informed. Starting and running a business requires that you make a lot of very crucial choices, and making the right choices for your business requires that you are informed and know what youre doing. For MLM, make sure youre educated on the company you want to work for. You need to know everything you can, because youve got to find the best opportunity you can. With a company that offers a good opportunity, not only will your business grow much faster, but youll believe in them more and have a higher level of faith in the company itself, helping you to maintain a positive, constructive attitude. Make sure you end up under a company you have a lot of trust and confidence in.



Part of attaining the entrepreneurial mindset means avoiding one very dangerous thing I call the Vacuum of Normalcy. This is a mindset that doesnt like change. Its the mindset people have when they overlook something without really analyzing it because its different from what theyve always done, and its a very debilitating mindset to get into. Whenever a new idea or concept emerges there are always people who get caught in the vacuum and let it pass them by. Look at the internet. There are still people who refuse to utilize the internet for their business solely because they dont understand it and prefer to do things the way they always have. You have every right to do this with your business, but most all people who do are seriously missing out on a great opportunity. I refer to this mindset as a vacuum for two reasons: Firstly, it has a way of keeping people sucked into it, and it can be very difficult to escape. We like sticking with what we already know to work instead of exploring other options that may benefit us. Secondly, it creates a stale, stagnant atmosphere that prevents the creation of new, fresh ideas.



MLM opportunities have not fairly earned the reputation they have garnered. Network marketing is one of the most amazing and profitable opportunities out there today, and the wonderful thing is that it is open to anyone willing and capable of benefiting from it. The real problem is that people dont realize they have to be capable. A home business is no easy task, as it takes more than a fair share of hard work, dedication, and unwavering persistence. It also takes a change in the way you look at things. But if you are able to, there is no doubt in my mind you will experience incredible success.