I recently re-read Wave 3: The New Era in Network Marketing by Richard Poe. This is a popular network marketing book written in the 1990s.
What I would like to do in today’s post is share some of my favorite quotes from the book and provide a quick review of the book.
Book Review of Wave 3: The New Era in Network Marketing
First off, I really enjoyed this book. Overall, I give it a 7 of 10. What I enjoyed most about the book were the stories of successful distributors talking about what they did right, and wrong, in their business. The book was well organized, easy to read, and it had some great content. If you haven’t read the book yet before, you should. Yes, the the content is over 20-years old, but most of it is still relevant.
Favorite Quotes from Wave 3: The New Era in Network Marketing
What you will see below are some of my favorite quotes from the book. Each quote is in bold and italics. After each quote, I will share my own two cents on it.
# 1: As long as she worked for someone else, she would never be happy.
I can’t speak for you, but I know I was not created to work for someone else. Some people are great employees. Others were designed to be their own boss. At the end of the day, you have to decide if entrepreneurship is a good fit for you. It is not a good fit for everyone. If being an employee is more suitable for you, focus on your career and leverage network marketing for the personal and professional development you will receive. If you decide to go the entrepreneurial route, I can’t think of a better vehicle to use than network marketing.
# 2: You can never be free as a professional selling your hours for dollars (Jerry Rubin).
Most professionals, even those who own their own business, are struck trading hours for dollars. They have no leverage, and if they stop working they stop getting paid. Even if you earn $100 or more per hour, you will either max out or burn out if everything is dependent solely on you. Network marketing gives you a leveraged, residual income.
# 3: When you work for linear income, you must jump to another’s commands.
When you work for someone else, you must do what they tell you to do. When you are stuck earning linear income, you are limited to the number of hours you can work.
# 4: Attrition usually knocks out 90 percent of your distributors before they make any money for you.
We are the only industry in the world, that I know of, where people start a business and quit in 90-days or less. Most people who join our industry are not entrepreneurs, nor do they have any financial stake in their business, so it’s easy to quit. All businesses take time to launch, nurture and grow. Most entrepreneurs in traditional businesses expect it to take minimum two to three years before they make a profit. Even when they’re not making money right out the gate, they stick with it. Attrition will be one of the biggest challenges in your MLM Business. Embrace it. Expect it. Accept it. Just don’t quit yourself.
# 5: To make it big in MLM is one of the hardest tasks you can undertake.
Anyone who tells you this industry is easy is lying to you. This is the hardest thing I have ever done. That being said, the payoff is worth the sacrifice if you can stick with it and build it big. The lifestyle this industry offers beats any other industry I know of. More importantly, just like any other industry, you must develop specialized knowledge. You must master a few basic skills if you want to make the big bucks.
# 6: However, no amount of automation will ever eliminate the need for human effort.
This is a people business, and always will be. Yes, you can leverage technology to work smart, but you still must connect with people on a human level, and build relationships with people to succeed.
# 7: To succeed in MLM, you must become a positive thinker.
Positive attracts and negative repels. Check your attitude every day. Check your body language and posture. Check your thoughts! Are you someone worth joining? Are people excited when you enter the room or excited when you leave the room?
# 8: People pay much more attention to who you’re being than to what you’re saying.
Talk is cheap. Your actions speak ten times louder than your words. Do what you say and say what you do. Be so busy “working” your business you don’t have time to tell your sponsor and upline what you are “going” to do.
# 9: Many new recruits make the mistake of quitting before they’ve even mastered the basics. They fail to understand that network marketing is a profession that must be learned like any other.
All professions require specialized knowledge. Network marketing is no different. When you are new, there is a high likelihood you do not have these skills mastered yet. If you want to succeed in network marketing, you must get in the trenches and master the basic skills: inviting, prospecting, following up, launching reps, promoting events, etc. For most people, this will take 1-2 years to get really good at these things. Once you’ve mastered these skills, it’s much easier to succeed.
# 10: I’ve had the worst luck with people who were successful in previous careers (Mark Yarnell).
Most people who are already successful in their career will join this industry and try to do things their own way. They won’t be coachable or follow a proven system. As a result, they will fail. Previous success in a career, business or job does not mean someone will succeed in the business. What you are looking for is someone who is coachable, hungry and willing to work.
# 11: Go by the facts – not the hype.
Avoid hype whenever possible. Try to be a logical thinker, rather than an emotional thinker.
# 12: Ninety-nine percent of MLM Companies spike and disappear in eight months.
Be cautious of start-up companies and ground floor opportunities. Most of them won’t even make it one year in business. The best time to join a MLM Company is after it has been in business 2-3 years and BEFORE it has hit its critical growth phase.
# 13: Many growing network marketing companies die because they are under-capitalized.
It costs a lot of money to grow a company. Money must be spent on infrastructure, employees, research and development and more. You want a company that has the capital, or can get it, so it doesn’t grow too fast and implode.
# 14: What makes network marketing work is the division of labor between distributor and parent company. A good company takes care of everything except selling and recruiting.
This is what I love most about our industry. The parent company takes care of all the details and behind the scenes stuff while we focus on helping the company find new customers.
# 15: I’ve gotten to the point where, if a person won’t make a one-year commitment, I refuse to sign them up (Mark Yarnell).
If someone tells you they will try it out for a few months and see how it goes, don’t sponsor them. Any new business, of any type, will require at least a one-year commitment just to get the business off the ground. This is not a lottery or get rich quick type of business. It’s a real business that requires time, hard work and patience.
# 16: An unhealthy obsession with gadgets, gizmos and systems often masks a fatal pattern of avoidance.
Don’t trick yourself into thinking that technology alone will build your business. It won’t.
# 17: Your phone is the most important thing.
Of all the resources you have at your disposal, the phone is the most efficient tool you can use to grow your business. If you are wise, you will take the time to learn marketing so you can have people calling you, ready to join or buy.
# 18: Many network marketers fail because they treat their businesses like hobbies or part-time jobs. They dabble, rather than commit. Most simply lose interest in the business after a short time.
Act as if you have ONE MILLION dollars invested in your business. Make it a top priority and don’t dink around with it. Treat it like a real business and it will pay you like one.
# 19: In truth, there is only one way to make money in network marketing – moving product.
At the end of the day, we only get paid when people purchase the products or services the parent company offers. It doesn’t matter how many people you sign up, if no one orders the products, no one makes money.
# 20: Your sponsor is your most crucial resource.
Leverage PLUGGED IN upline leaders whenever possible. Utilize their experience and skills to help you shorten your learning curve.
# 21: I want to help my downline as much as I can, but it’s easy to end up hand-holding and babysitting them instead. I believe we sponsors can best lead by example, by keeping our fire intact, our conviction and commitment level high. A sponsor should be a warrior, a leader, and a conqueror, not a den mother.
The last thing you want is your team to be 100% dependent on you. Teach people to be self-sufficient and train people in a group setting whenever possible. Don’t do things for people that they should be doing themselves.
# 22: Most people hate selling. This is a fact.
Teach people simple ways to do the business so they don’t have to be a glorified salesperson.
# 23: If you push too hard, you may lose customers who would otherwise stay in your network for years.
Meet people where they are at and never pressure people to do more with the business than they want to. Don’t expect others to be as excited or as committed as you are.
# 24: If you yourself are a true believer, that is the most engaging sales pitch of all.
The most important person you will ever recruit is yourself. If you don’t believe in your products or services, neither will your prospects.
# 25: Whenever possible, you should sell by demonstration, rather than persuasion.
Put the products in people’s hands and let them try the products out. This will help them sell themselves on what you are offering them.
# 26: Prospecting has always been the most arduous hurdle networkers face.
If you learn nothing else, take the time to learn how to generate your own leads. This will make the business fun and profitable.
# 27: Anyone over the age of 25 knows over 2,000 people on a first name basis.
You know a lot more people than you think you do. If you were paid $100 for every name you could come up with, you would easily come up with 2,000 or more names. Have that mindset when you are creating your name’s list.
# 28: Your first four to five months in this business should be dedicated exclusively to contacting your warm market.
Start out by reaching out to the people that you know. This will help you get off to a quick start and will teach you how to talk to people, so you can feel confident entering your cold market.
# 29: I swear to you, if your enthusiasm is high, you can get people to follow you off elevators.
Get excited. Be excited. Excitement and enthusiasm are contagious. Ignorance on fire is much better than knowledge on ice.
# 30: Until your recruit makes a commitment to actually work the business, he or she is nothing but a name on the list.
Spend your time where it is deserved. Do not want success more for someone else than they want it for themselves. Match people’s efforts. Do not build their business for them.
# 31: One of the most common mistakes is to provide your prospect with too much information.
Do not give your prospects or new team members information overload. Keep everything simple and do baby steps. Your new team members do not need to know every single detail to get started and start making money. Less is more.
# 32: The champion prospector is always the one who sorts through 100 bad prospects… to come up with five pearls!
This business is a numbers game. You have to go through a LOT of people to find the right people. Fortunately, you only need a few of the right people to create a full-time income in network marketing.
# 33: Don’t waste your time pleading or arguing with people who seem closed or unduly skeptical.
You are in the sifting and sorting business, not the convincing business. You are looking for people who are looking. Guess what? Not everyone is looking. You are mining for gold. Your job is to turn over enough rocks until you find your gold.
# 34: Psychologists agree that fear of pain is far more persuasive than desire for pleasure.
Your prospects, customers and team members will be motivated more by the fear of loss than by the desire of gain. Leverage that to your advantage. Build depth and give people something to lose. That is the best way to motivate them.
# 35: Other people are your greatest resource in network marketing.
Your network is your most valuable asset. Long-term relationships equals long-term money in network marketing.
# 36: Stick with your upline and stay away from other leaders, cautioned Mark Yarnell, until you’re making about $50,000 a year.
Find one leader in your upline who has what you want and follow their lead. Block out everyone else. Following multiple leaders will lead to mixed messages and confusion.
# 37: In the beginning, do it your sponsor’s way.
Follow your successful upline’s system. They are experienced and know what they are doing. Do not reinvent the wheel, especially if you are new and inexperienced.
# 38: Focus your time and energy on your frontline leaders-those people whom you personally recruited and personally sponsor.
When you sponsor someone into the business, help them get started and drive depth until you find someone serious you can work with.
# 39: Experienced networkers say your front-line is never wide enough. You should keep recruiting front-line leaders, long after you have five leaders in place.
Always be recruiting. Never let a month go by where you don’t personally recruit two to five new distributors. EVER. Remember, your team is watching you. If you stop recruiting and go into management mode, many of your team members will do the same thing. Your job is to set the pace and inspire others by your own personal example.
# 40: To find one good leader, you must sift through scores of prospects.
For every 100 people you sponsor, you might find one good leader. In today’s world, it might take even more people than that. The fastest way to find leaders is to taproot everyone you sponsor and drive depth. Normally, your best leaders are not personally sponsored anyway. They typically show up on levels four through seven.
# 41: In short, the number and quality of your leaders directly controls the amount of time freedom you can ultimately draw from your business.
Remember that our real business is finding and developing leaders. Once you have two to five serious leaders on your team, you start to earn back your time freedom. Once you help each of them find their two to five leaders, your dynasty is in place!
# 42: Answering questions is one of your most important and time consuming duties as an upline leader.
Be smart about how and when you answer questions. It can consume all of your time if you do it by phone. I’ve found the best way to answer questions is by email, because you can answer questions quickly and do it at a time that works for you. Also, it would be in your best interest to keep a document of the most common questions you hear from people. You can post these questions and answers on your team training website or send it to every new rep who joins your team.
# 43: Your success or failure in network marketing ultimately depends upon your ability to create self-sufficient leaders.
Without leaders, everything relies on you. The more leaders you have in your team, the easier your life gets for you. Always keep your eyes and ears open for leaders deep in your organization. When you do find a leader in your team, build a friendship with them. Treat them as if they were personally sponsored by you. However, don’t let your ego get in the way. Encourage them, but don’t expect them to do things exactly like you do. If anything, be accessible and be their biggest cheerleader.
# 44: In other words, most people in network marketing have no expectation or pressing desire to get rich. All they want is a little extra money, and a little extra time.
You need to realize that most people who join your team would be happy simply making an extra $200 to $500 per month. People join network marketing for many different reasons. Some do it to get a discount on their products. Other joins network marketing to be part of a social club. Some people want a side hustle. Others join the industry to learn real world business skills. Only a few people join to make the BIG BUCKS. Treat everyone well. Don’t expect others to be committed like you are. Meet people where they are at and never pressure people to do more with the business than they want to.
# 45: Network marketing is one of the few known methods by which the masses can gain control over their daily schedules.
We are one of the only industries in the world designed for the person with little skills and little capital. It’s an equal opportunity for anyone. Your pedigree, family name, religion, education and political views do not matter. It’s normally less than $100 to join. You get a free mentor. You get free training. You can start part-time without risking your primary source of income. There is practically ZERO risk, other than your time. Most other businesses are too expensive for the average person to get started with AND most traditional businesses take a full-time or double full-time commitment.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, this is my review and favorite quotes from Wave 3: The New Era in Network Marketing by Richard Poe. I hope you enjoyed the review and quotes. If you haven’t read this book yet, you should. It is available anywhere books are sold. Order a copy on Amazon.
What are your thoughts? What is your favorite quote listed above and why? Leave a comment below to let me know what you think. I look forward to hearing from you.
Chuck Holmes
20+ Year Network Marketing Professional
Top Earner & Top Recruiter
Email: mrchuckholmes@gmail.com
P.S. Learn how to grow a successful network marketing business. Secret tips, training, and practical ideas. Free training delivered by email.