A Tale of Two Companies

It was the best of opportunities. It was the worst of opportunities. I took a look at two very different network marketing opportunities this week. I thought you would be interested in my impressions. To me it was a real learning experience. I'm certain this will help me to build my business in the months and years to come.

The first opportunity I looked at is full of problems. The compensation plan is designed so that only the really big people at the top are making huge incomes. The little guy with no organization would starve to death in this company, unless he really rolled up his sleeves and went to work.

The products in this company look like just about the same stuff that everyone else is selling.

If you join this company, you'll be wasting time going to a lot of meetings. There's the weekly opportunity meeting, where you go and listen to the same pitch week after week. And the weekly training, where you go and hear the same training outline week in and week out. And then there are the national, international and regional conferences, and training workshops -- which means wasting a lot of money on airfare, hotel rooms, taking time off from work to travel. I don't know how they expect a part-timer to find time to go to all these meetings. And if that's not enough, there are weekly conference calls that you have to pay long distance charges to listen to.

Sure, there are some people doing real well in this business, but there are many more who just aren't doing anything. If fact, a whole lot of people are just buying the products and using them themselves. Not selling anything, not making any money at all. After years in the business they don't have any retail customers, much less a downline organization. What kind of an opportunity is that?

Well, so much for that opportunity. I'm sure it will never make it, and I would be wasting my time in it.

Moving right along. . .

The second opportunity I looked at is far superior. I'm really excited about this one.

The compensation plan is geared toward getting distributors active and successful in the business. There is no limit on the amout of money that can be made, and many distributors who have been working hard for several years are making several hundred thousand dollars a year.

The company has a high quality line of products, and the market for these products is huge. Though the company's products at first appear to be similar to others on the market, on closer inspection it is clear that they are quite unique -- superior to anything else available.

This company has a proven support system. The distributors who use it are seeing their businesses grow a phenomenal rate. The key feature to the system is that it is easily duplicated. New distributors can bring prospects to weekly presentations where they'll meet a lot of positive, excited people and hear plenty of sincere and impressive testimonials. The company also sponsors regular trainings, conferences and workshops, where distributors can network with each other and benefit from the experience of those who have already built large organizations. Plus, for distributors or prospects in areas where there are no meetings, the company sponsors weekly training and opportunity conference calls. So literally anyone, anywhere can do this business and, more importantly, can easily duplicate their own efforts by using this proven success system.

The best thing about this company is that people love the products. Many people become distributors just to buy the products at a discount. And they keep buying them, month after month, year after year. Even people who aren't interested in building a business continue to buy and use the products.

This is the kind of opportunity that only comes along once in a lifetime. You would have to be crazy not to get involved in this one.

So which company would you choose? The first one or the second one. Well, in reality, they're both the same company. The difference in the two different descriptions is purely in attitude. The basic facts are the same. It's all a matter of how you look at them.

I've been advertising my opportunity in the local newspaper, and I've hit upon a good combination of ad copy and voice mail message that is getting me a lot of good responses. What I've found in talking to these people -- people who answer a "business opportunity" ad -- is that many of them are looking for a "magic bullet." They want you to tell them that you've discovered a secret way to make money without having to work for it. Some clever gimmick, some unexposed secret that will do all the work for them.

There is no magic bullet and there never will be. To be successful in any business requires hard work. Network marketing makes opportunity more accessible to the average person. It does not, however, eliminate the need for hard work.

The truth is, you can be successful at just about anything if you have the right attitude. Even with a lousy company, mediocre products, a phantom upline, and a mean dog that scares away your customers, you can be successful if you have an attitude of success. People do it all the time. It requires an unshakable belief in what you're doing, and a commitment to do whatever it takes to reach your goals.

"I'm willing to do whatever it takes." Say that to yourself a couple of times. Doesn't it feel good? Don't you think that would inspire confidence? What if you called someone in your downline and said, "I'm willing to do whatever it takes to help you build your business"? What if you told your prospects the same thing? What if you actually meant it?

Attitude is everything. The products, the company, the support system -- these things are important primarily to the extent to which they give you belief and confidence in what you're doing. Once you've got that, people will sense it and they'll follow you anywhere.