Today, I want to share some of my favorite Eric Lofholm quotes and do a quick book review of Duplication: The Key to Creating Freedom In Your Network Marketing Business. I should start out by telling you that Amazon recommended this book to me, based upon my previous purchases. I purchased the book in March 2015 and read it over a period of two days.
Overall, I give the book 7 of 10 stars. The content was great, but the book was very, very short and could have been expanded on more. Hence, the 7 of 10 star rating. That being said, I still think there are some powerful nuggets and wisdom in the book that would benefit any network marketer, regardless of their company or experience in the industry.
Top Eric Lofholm Quotes from Duplication
What I want to do in the paragraphs below is share some of my favorite Eric Lofholm quotes from the book. Each quote is in bold and italics. At the end of each quote I will share my own two cents on the topic. The quotes are listed in chronological order.
# 1: This ability to duplicate your own efforts is what makes the network marketing business model so powerful. The task of duplicating yourself successfully is also what makes network marketing so challenging.
Network marketing is great because you get leverage via other people. You can grow your business through others and earn a small commission from each person’s efforts. While it’s a great concept in theory, it can also be challenging at times, especially when your success is tied to other people. It can be difficult to find motivated and talented people who actually duplicate you.
# 2: Being a sales superstar is not a requirement. Most top earners in most companies are not super recruiters.
Anyone can recruit a lot of people, but network marketing is about building a team. Knowing how to build teams and build people are your most important jobs if you want to be successful. You can recruit new reps until the cows come home, but if you can’t get others to produce (or stay), you won’t make much money.
# 3: To have long term success, network marketing involves a large group of people doing a few simple things over an extended period of time.
This is really the secret to success in our industry. Get a lot of people do a little bit, day in and day out, over a period of several years. Get everyone to find new customers and sponsor a few distributors and you can build a huge organization. However, this is much easier said than done.
# 4: Most people starting into a new network marketing business have no idea what to do or how to get started!
Most new people on your team have never owned a business before. They don’t know much about sales, marketing, lead generation or recruiting. Most people in your team have always had a boss telling them what to do, and now that they have their own business they don’t know what to do. You’re going to have to be very involved with most people on your team, doing a lot of hand holding and helping.
# 5: Keeping it simple is the secret.
Don’t overcomplicate this business. If an eight year old can’t do it, don’t do it yourself. Keep things caveman or cavewoman simple. The simplicity is the beauty of our industry.
# 6: Neither personality nor talent is duplicable.
You can’t duplicate yourself, your talents, or your abilities. However, you can duplicate a process, a system, or a result. Everyone is different, with different talents and abilities. Help each person build their business in a way that works for them, but have them plugged into your team’s system.
# 7: Follow the system, not the guru.
Systems are the secret to success in business. 99% of your team will need some type of system to follow if you expect them to accomplish much. If people rely on you, you will get burnt out.
# 8: Reinventing the wheel is usually not a good idea.
Whenever you think you have a great idea, run it by your successful, plugged in upline first. Chances are they’ve tried it before and can tell you about their experience. So many people get involved in the industry, and want to try out a bunch of unproven methods to build their business. These methods seldom work. There are no shortcuts to success. Trust me, I’ve searched high and low. Leverage your upline’s experience whenever possible, so you don’t make the same mistakes they did.
# 9: Each new distributor should immediately get a checklist of things to do right away.
You need some type of checklist for your new team members to follow. It should have a list of tasks for new distributors to follow, so they know exactly what to do to get started right.
# 10: Getting your distributors to attend live events is the single most important thing you can do to grow your team.
Events are the fuel that will propel your business. If your company doesn’t have events, create your own events for your team. Promote every event and attend every event yourself. It will help build excitement and momentum in your business. The people who attend these events are your serious people.
# 11: If you do conference calls, start to give the emerging leaders some training roles on team conference calls.
Don’t be one trick pony. Delegate training calls to your experienced, successful, and self motivated reps whenever possible. Teach them how to teach, so everyone doesn’t have to rely on you, or only hear you talk.
# 12: Successful network marketing takes time.
Rome wasn’t built in a day. It takes minimum several years to build a successful business of ANY kind. Do the work and have some patience.
# 13: When we teach others, we actually get better ourselves.
The best way to learn something is to teach it. If you’re trying to learn new skills to help you with your business, pick a topic you need help with and teach it. You will learn a lot from doing your research, preparing your presentation, rehearsing, and teaching the class. Normally, the teacher learns more than the students.
# 14: Leadership is transferred one-on-one.
The best way to develop leaders in your team is to spend time with them one-on-one, either on the phone or in person. Transfer your knowledge to them. Spend time with them. Help them learn and improve their skills.
# 15: One of the ingredients to a successful relationship is time.
It takes time to build a rock solid relationship, inside or outside of this industry. You have to spend time with your team to build up that trust and mutual respect.
# 16: Instead of forcing the three-foot rule on a new recruit, you offer them a menu of eight to ten or so tactics and invite them to select the ones that best fit their personal style.
There is more than one way to skin a cat. What works for one person will not work for everyone. Know several ways to build the business so you can help each new team member find a strategy that works for them.
# 17: Each person on your team has certain gifts which translate into their business strengths, and it’s to your organization’s advantage to promote their energy advantage.
Figure out what people on your team are good at and show them how they can leverage their own skills and talents to build a successful team of their own.
# 18: Taking action is something everyone has to do for themselves.
You can’t build a team for someone else. People have to want it for themselves. They must have a big, burning desire. You can coach and support people, but at the end of the day it’s their responsibility to take action and build their own business.
Final Thoughts
In summary, these are my favorite Eric Lofholm quotes from his book Duplication: The Key to Creating Freedom in Your Network Marketing Business. It’s a quick read, loaded with great information and can be used as a training manual for new team members. If you haven’t read it yet, you should. What are your thoughts? Which of these Eric Lofholm quotes is your favorite and why? Leave a comment below and let me know what you think.
About the Book
The book is published by Eric Lofholm International. It was first published in 2014. The book has 38-pages. The ISBN number is 978-0-9898942-2-7. You can purchase a copy on Amazon. It has 14 reviews with a 4.8 star rating as of March 2015.
Sincerely,
Chuck Holmes
Network Marketing Professional (21+ years)
Top Recruiter & Top Rep
mrchuckholmes@gmail.com
One of the approaches I see people take when attempting to duplicate is to make their team members copies of them. By that I mean they want others to operate in the same exact manner using the same exact method. To me, I find that is something that isn’t necessary. The people with the potential to help you grow the business generally have techniques and methods of their own that work best for them. The idea should be about duplicating the growth and success, not necessarily duplicating the exact process used to get there. Thoughts?
Duplicate the results, not the process.