Dr. Bill Quain is a respected author, college professor and ambassador to the network marketing industry. I first learned about him nearly a decade ago when I was an Amway distributor. He’s published more than 10 books to include “Pro Sumer Power” and “Overcoming Time Poverty: How to Achieve More by Working Less,” along with several other titles.
I read his book “B2B Means Back to Basics” many years ago and just recently re-read it for a second time. What I want to do in this post is share some of my favorite quotes from his book and provide my insights on each quote. His quotes are listed below in bold and italic. I provide my two cents immediately after each quote. They are listed by where I found them in the book.
# 1 Successful businesses are built on the basics. Everything else is for show. To achieve success in any business, including MLM, you need to simple do a few basic things over and over again: prospect, get customers, show your presentation, follow up and train your team.
# 2 Results are the only thing that count. This is so true. In the world of business, effort is overrated. Results are the only thing that matters. Results are the only thing that brings home the bacon.
# 3 If you learn the basics and then execute those basics over and over and over, then nothing – and no one – can prevent you from achieving your goals in life. Once you learn the ropes of your business and you make a commitment to succeed no matter what, nothing can stop you.
# 4 The key to success in the business is to keep things simple. Keep things duplicatable. See the people. Show the plan. Teach others to do the same. Don’t overcomplicate things. Keep things so simple that even a caveman could do it! Once you complicate things, and make it hard for the average person to follow along, people will get frustrated and quit.
# 5 The Internet is a tool, not a business. The internet is nothing more than a vehicle to grow your business. It is a marketing medium, just like direct mail. That’s it. Until you master HOW to leverage the internet to grow your business, you will keep failing.
# 6 You’re in the business of building business builders. In MLM, you primary objective is to find and develop leaders. That should always be your top priority.
# 7 If you plan on quitting the race every time you come to a hurdle, then you’re in for some major disappointments in your life. Major disappointments – because you’re never going to accomplish anything! Your key to success to anything in life is to get up one more time than you fall down. Success is never easy! You must be mentally tough.
# 8 Most new people are convinced the business works, but very few new people are convinced they can work the business. If you have a self-image issue, you need to work on it. Most people sell themselves short and underestimate what they are really capable of.
# 9 Not every IBO who plugs into the system will build a profitable business … but every IBO who is running a profitable business is plugged into the system. Systems are key in every business. You need systems for yourself and for your team, to simplify the business and have a streamlined process that anyone can follow. Franchises are very successful because of the systems they have!
# 10 The key to building a successful business is to find out what everyone on your team wants, and then show them how the business can satisfy those wants. It’s like Zig Ziglar said, “If you can help enough other people get what they want, you will get what you want (paraphrased).”
# 11 New IBOs don’t want to be treated like employees, but they don’t know how to be their own bosses! Most people who first enter the world of network marketing have never owned a business before and don’t know how to start or grow a successful business. They need your help to teach them those skills, but on the same note, they don’t want you to act like their boss.
# 12 Truth is, there are thousands of people with talent, but most don’t work to hone their skills to the point where they can succeed at the professional level. Talent is not enough. Applied knowledge is what matters most. You can have the talent and skills, but if you don’t do the work, nothing else matters.
# 13 There are certain things you have to do to be successful in any business. That’s just the facts. Success is nothing more than doing certain things a certain way!
# 14 Studies show that people spend more time planning their vacation than they do planning their retirement. Scary, but very true. Failing to plan is planning to fail. Unless you plan out your future, you will be disappointed.
# 15 You see, there’s a big difference between activity and productivity. Successful people recognize this and spend 80% of their time being productive and only 20% being active. This is an area where a lot of network marketers mess up. Being busy does not mean you will be successful. You need to spend the right amount of time on the right activities. Results are the only thing that matters.
# 16 There’s absolutely nothing wrong from making money from your friends if you solve their problems and add value! I agree. Why shouldn’t you make money for helping your friends?
# 17 Don’t be ashamed or afraid of making profits. Be proud of it! The purpose of EVERY business is to make a profit. Everything else should be secondary. You should also be very proud to be an entrepreneur.
# 18 The business of America is business. Our society is a capitalistic society. Without small businesses, our economy would collapse.
Buy the Book
Final Thoughts
I really enjoyed this book. I think it would benefit any network marketer or small business owner. While the book isn’t specifically about network marketing, it is very good. Overall, I give it 8 of 10 stars and think you should add it to your leader’s library.
The book is published by Inti Publishing and was first published in 2001. It contains 110 pages and comes in softcover format. It can be purchased anywhere books are sold.
If you’ve ever read “B2B Means Back to Basics” by Dr. Bill Quain, I would love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below to share what you liked or disliked about the book. I look forward to hearing from you.
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The general concept within the books is great, but I can’t find anything on Bill Quain PhD anywhere online. There are lists of his books but that’s about it.
What’s his background, what’s his PhD in, before being an author what did he do for work.. IE Aside from being in MLM, what credentials/experience does he actually have?
I don’t know much about him myself, to be honest with you.
Really thankyou very much it benefits me a lot
I like the part that says keep things simple and duplicatable. So many times, in business, we over-complicate. If we just find what works and do it over and over, success will come. The other one is being afraid of making profits. So many people think if they are making a decent profit, they are “ripping off” the consumer. I disagree. We are in business to make a profit and if a person feels you are “taking them”, they just will not purchase your product or service.
The ONLY purpose of a business is to make a profit. If you can’t or won’t do that you won’t be in business long.
The internet is a tool! That stood out here. Indeed, I am so in agreement with these claims. The internet is nothing more than a way of getting more deals closed, more networks and more relationships. Coming back to rule number one, successful businesses are built on the basics. Everything else is a show! Many people take advantage of good tools in a bad way, like owning a fleet of logistics trucks, developing a show-off site that does not add much value to your business model etc.I also liked the results part. This is the only thing that counts from a business perspective. In case one is predominantly preoccupied, with systems, protocols or traditions, network marketing will kind of fail to say the least. The key is indeed to keep things simple.Just my two pence on this, I also believe college education is not really a benchmark of any progress towards business unless the business person gets a business mindset in place and does wonders as an entrepreneur. College teaches you systems and methodologies, the world wants RESULTS!I enjoyed the post to bits. These business principles Chuck are rare to find in one post. Cheers!
“The Internet is a tool, not a business.” So true! Unfortunately, many people are looking for a “Get Rich Quick” plan instead of working their business properly. It’s a matter of taking your plan and following it- without giving up. If you move on to the next thing you are always going to be in the process of trying instead of doing.