What Michael Phelps Can Teach You about Network Marketing December 15, 2008 4:11 PM You can learn a lot about network marketing from an Olympic swimmer like Michael Phelps. Phelps was able to win a record breaking 8 gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympic games.  The previous record was owned by Mark Spitz with 7 gold medals.   So what can Michael Phelps, a 23 year old professional swimmer with no experience in network marketing to my knowledge teach you about network marketing?   A lot if you pay attention to some of his philosophies.   Success Philosophies Are Universal   One big misconception, not just in network marketing but in life in general, is the concept that there are secrets that successful people know that unsuccessful people don't.  In many cases these so called secrets are unique to the endeavor that the successful person is pursuing.   While there is certainly industry specific knowledge that needs to be acquired, the philosophies behind success are universal.  They apply whether you are swimming, participating in a network marketing business or even working on a traditional job.  The key is to learn them and apply them.   So what would Michael Phelps teach you if he was your "Diamond" or top distributor leader in your upline?    Here are some of the concepts that I believe Michael Phelps would share with you based on some of his quotes regarding his Olympic experience.   Limits in Network Marketing Are Self Imposed   One of the first concepts that I believe Michael Phelps would teach his team is that all limits are self imposed in network marketing.    For every limit that you can site as to why you cannot have success, I am confident that we can find a distributor in this industry that has had an equal or even greater limit and still had success.   Regarding making history, Michael Phelps said "I won't predict anything historic. But nothing is impossible."   While you might not want to predict that you are going to make a million dollars in your first year of network marketing, also understand that it's certainly not impossible for you to do that.    Limits in network marketing are imposed simply by the mindset of the distributor and have nothing to do with what is possible in reality.   Here is what Michael Phelps says that puts this all in prospective.  "I think that everything is possible as long as you put your mind to it and you put the work and time into it. I think your mind really controls everything."   Give Your Network Marketing Business Your All   Too many distributors fail in this industry because they aren't committed.  You can tell when they make statements like "I'm going to give this a try for 60 days."    You can't expect success in network marketing by giving it a try.  You need to be committed and give it all you have.   Michael Phelps was committed to his career as an Olympic swimmer.  He didn't "try" to be a good swimmer.  He made a decision to be a good swimmer and committed to do whatever it took to make that happen.   Here's what he had to say about his commitment...   "I want to be able to look back and say, 'I've done everything I can, and I was successful.' I don't want to look back and say I should have done this or that. I'd like to change things for the younger generation of swimmers coming along."   Too many distributors, if they are honest with themselves will say that they didn't do everything they could to build a network marketing business.  This is the exact reason why they aren't able to achieve success in network marketing.  If you want to be successful in this industry you must give it your all.   You can learn a lot from successful people even if they weren't successful specifically in your area of pursuit.  Success principles are universal and can be applied anywhere.  It's up to you to identify them and apply them to your area of pursuit.    To get the help you need to grow your business, click for step-by-step Internet Network Marketing Training.

Become the hunted and not the hunter.

Using the Wrong Business Strategy

Most network marketers are hunters. They go out and they hunt for prospects they can talk to about their network marketing business. You know; the insincere compliment and the small talk just so they can ask you what they really want to ask you.

Unfortunately many of you may have tried these business strategies yourselves. Hopefully you have come to the realization that they don't work.

Sure, you might get lucky and come across someone who is hungry for your business opportunity regardless of how you approach them. You can even argue that it was worth it just to come across a strong prospect that can revolutionize your business.

However, just because a business strategy has the potential to work doesn't make it the best way to do the business.

Network Marketing Sales

Network marketers, regardless of what you have been told, are in the sales business. Maybe it's not the same type of sales as some of the more high pressure sales industries like car sales and stock brokerage services. However, it is still sales because you don't get paid unless a sale is made somewhere in your organization.

Let's say you are selling some type of health or wellness product. Which one of these prospects do you think is more likely to buy? A prospect that walks into a health and wellness store looking for a product? Or a prospect that you randomly meet on the street?

Of course, the prospect that walks into the store!

It's the same way in network marketing. You stand a much greater chance at making a sale to a prospect that already indicates an interest in what you have to offer than you do with a prospect that doesn't initiate contact with you.

However, you aren't going to open up a store to promote your network marketing products. If the products you offer could be sold in a retail environment effectively, they would be. The company wouldn't need you as a distributor.

So how do you get people to hunt for you instead of you hunting for people?

Use Internet Marketing Strategies

You do it using Internet marketing strategies and techniques. Using the power of the Internet you can put a system in place that generates unlimited prospects to you and your business. The key is to set up a system that attracts prospects to you that are interested in what you have to offer.

For instance, if you market a weight loss product, you could write an article that gives advice on how to lose weight.

The article would then link to a free report that offers additional tips on how you can lose weight. The report would promote an e-book or physical book that teaches your prospect a program to effectively manage their weight.

You sell the book to generate retail profits and then offer your network marketing company's products on the back end.

By following this process you now offer your products to people who already have an interest. No more random offers to people who may or may not be interested. This will increase your recruiting ratio, reduce your frustration and make your business as a whole more enjoyable to work.

If you are looking to recruit more people into your network marketing organization a key tip is to "find more people to talk to".

Your prospecting list is like your inventory if you owned a traditional retail store.

In a traditional retail store if you have a low amount of inventory, your income potential is lower than if you have a high amount of inventory with an in demand product.

The same holds true in your network marketing business.

Many network marketing distributors wonder why they aren't recruiting new distributors on a consistent basis. Yet when you look at their list of prospects you find that the list is a rather small one.

The key to success to recruiting big numbers is to have a growing list of prospects to talk to.

Why is having a big list of prospects so important to the success of your network marketing recruiting process?

This is probably the most important tip a network marketer could get. If you're not growing your prospects list your business dies.

Here's why:

First, a large list of prospects gives you the numbers that you need to recruit a lot of people into your network marketing organization. Recruiting is a numbers game.

The more people you have to talk to about your network marketing business, the more people you are going to recruit into your organization.

Another reason having a big list of prospects helps the recruiting process has to do with posture.

When you have a low number of people to talk to about your network marketing business, your posture tends to be very low.

Another Success Tip: Posture is key to your network marketing business. Without it, you can't lead a team.

This is because you feel you need your prospects to join because you don't have other prospects that you can go to if they don't join.

A large list of prospects creates large posture for you as a network marketing distributor.

A large list gives you the confidence to know that if certain prospects on your list don't get started, you still have plenty of other prospects to talk to.

As you build a prospecting list that continues to increase in size, you are able to increase your posture even further. When you have a large list, you can begin to eliminate prospects you feel won't be a match for your network marketing opportunity and focus your efforts on strong prospects.

Success Tip Question: How Do You Develop a Large List of Prospects?

Again, this is going to be fundamental to the success of your business. Do you remember the big tip of this article? Always be growing your prospects list.

The key is to have a strong prospecting funnel.

One of the best prospecting funnels that you can create is using internet network marketing.

Internet network marketing strategies such as article marketing, pay per click marketing, ezine advertising, social networking and other strategies get your marketing message out to the masses. A certain number of people will respond to your message, which results in building your prospecting list.

By taking the time out to build your prospecting list you will dramatically increase your recruiting efforts. The additional posture and prospecting numbers this simple action creates is enough to literally double or triple your personal recruiting. The size of your paycheck is in direct proportion of the size of your prospecting list.

How do you build your prospecting list? That's the topic of Lead Generation.

The deciding factor may be that they live in an area which is not considered a good target for building a network marketing business.

Maybe the area is populated with families that earn a very low income. Perhaps the area is sparsely populated and has a limited amount of prospects to talk to. Another possibility is that the population in the area had bad experiences with another network marketing company and is now sour on the idea.

Success in network marketing is not predicated on where you live.

Success in network marketing is predicated on how good you are at networking with potential clients and business partners for your business.

Success in network marketing is also predicated on how good you are at marketing to those potential clients and business partners.

What this means is that no matter where you live, you can have success in network marketing!

Success in Network Marketing Does Not Depend on Your Location

Too many distributors use the place that they live as an excuse for failing to achieve success. They mistakenly believe that the location of their residence has something to do with how successful they can become in network marketing.

What's interesting is that distributors use this excuse regardless of what type of market they live in.

This market is too small.

Distributors who live in markets with small populations complain that they cannot build the business in their area. They say they simply don't have enough people to talk to about the products, services or business opportunity they offer through their network marketing company.

They claim that if they lived in an area with a bigger population, they could build their business successfully.

This market is too big.

Yet if you visit distributors who live in areas with larger populations, they too complain that they can't build a network marketing business in their area. They complain that because where they live has such a large population, people tend to be skeptical about business opportunities.

They believe that they just can't find enough prospects willing to look at a business opportunity with an open mind. They claim that if they lived in an area with a smaller population, they could build the business.

This market is too low.

The income of the population in the area also serves as an excuse. Distributors who live in low income areas complain that their prospects can't afford the business opportunity.

This market is too high.

Distributors who live in high income areas complain that their prospects don't need the business opportunity because they already make great incomes.

The cycle of excuses never ends!

The bottom line is it really doesn't matter where you build your business. There are distributors who have built huge businesses in third world nations where the average household earns $300 to $500 a month.

There are distributors who have built huge businesses in wealthy areas as well and have several distributors in their organizations who already earn six and seven figure incomes outside of network marketing.

Your area is only an excuse holding you back from building a successful business.

The Information Age and The Internet Break Your Business Boundaries

The wonderful thing about living in the information age is that you don't have to build your network marketing business in your area if you really don't want to. Using the power of the internet, you can find prospects in any area that you wish.

Stop using your area as an excuse for why you can't build your network marketing business. Either make a commitment to build the business in your area, or find an area where you feel more comfortable building and then use the power of the internet to build there. Never let small excuses cheat you out of big opportunities.

How do you use the Internet to build your network marketing business? That's the topic of Internet Network Marketing.