Most entrepreneurs are clueless about what it actually takes to build a successful business. So are most network marketers. When it comes to building a successful business of any kind, most business owners don’t understand what their real business is. They don’t understand how to spend their time. They don’t understand that not all activities are created equal. They don’t understand that most of their time should be spent on the “revenue generating activities” and nothing else.
You see, your network marketing business opportunity is not your real business. Neither are your products. Your real business is marketing your MLM business! Let me say that again so it sinks in. Your real business is marketing your MLM business. In other words, your primary mission is to SHARE your products and business opportunity with as many qualified prospects as possible.
Assuming that statement is true (your real business is marketing your MLM Business), which I believe it is, that means you should spend most of your productive time marketing your business to others. That means you need to spend most of your time:
- Creating Advertising and Marketing Campaigns
- Generating Leads
- Sharing Your Business Opportunity and Products with Your Leads
- Following Up with Your Leads
Every other business activity that you do is SECONDARY to these four tasks. Cleaning your office does not count. Reading company literature does not count. Making a dream board does not count. Watching YouTube videos or reading blog posts does not count.
More importantly, having a great product line and business opportunity is not enough. Instead, it is just a starting point. Those two things (a good opportunity and product line) are paramount, but your ability to market your business effectively is at least 100x more important.
Most entrepreneurs I talk with don’t understand their real business. The barbershop owner thinks his real business is cutting hair. The mechanic thinks his job is fixing cars. The restaurant owners thinks his job is preparing meals. In all of these cases, the business owner’s logic is flawed.
In reality, the barbershop owner’s job is to find new customers and keep the ones he has. The mechanic’s job is to market his business to find new customers and keep the ones he currently has. The restaurant owner’s real business is to market his restaurant so people know about his business and visit often.
Once you understand your real business in network marketing, your business will never be the same. Once you realize that your real job is to spend most of your time marketing your network marketing business, in order to generate leads, and then convert a portion of those leads into paying customers and distributors, only then will you break through the barriers and achieve success in network marketing. It really is that simple.
What are your thoughts? What do you think your real business is in network marketing? Leave a comment and let us know.
Sincerely,
Chuck Holmes
Network Marketing Professional (21+ years)
Top Recruiter & Top Rep
mrchuckholmes@gmail.com
I’m not sure I totally agree with you on this post. Oh, you’re absolutely right that marketing is hugely important, and that many business owners don’t focus on it nearly enough. However, on your statement that everything else takes a back seat to the four tasks you list, I think that’s perhaps too strongly put. One way to test a hypothesis is to examine the edge cases, the extremes. In this case, what would happen if you ONLY focused on lead generation, follow up with existing customers, and marketing/advertising. Would your business continue to exist? I’d argue that it would not. There would be distribution of product to customers, no collection of money, no maintenance of records for regulatory reasons, etc. All of these tasks are important as well, and your business depends on them. So while I get your point, I’d say that instead marketing is a crucial activity, and one that often does not get sufficient focus. However, it’s not the only part of your business that matters…
All of those other things still need to be done, but not by you. You should have an employee or someone else that outsources it.
Yes, I agree. Marketing is the only way that your business will truly succeed. If you put anything before the four items Chuck described here, you are heading down a bad road. It is very easy to get caught in tasks that are not creating income for your business. Marketing is the primary way to create income. This is not just for MLM, but for any business.
I really like how you stated using employees or outsourcing the work that needs to be done, but is not the “money making” work.
Very good response to this comment.
Always focus your time on the most important things.