Do You Need Therapy? (written November, 1998)

After a long career in MLM/Mail Order and after speaking with thousands of you over the years and dealing with hundreds of thousands of you over many years. I have come to the conclusion better than half of you don’t need or want a business – you want and need a therapist. If the next few examples sound like you or someone you know, seriously ask yourself, “Do You Need a Therapist?”

A nice woman called me the other day, the conversation went like this: “Larry I want to order some printing from you but all my experiences in this business have been bad ones. I am really skeptical.” I said, “Why are you skeptical?” She said, “Well I tried to call the two other companies listed here and I can never get them on the telephone. The company I am promoting has no phone number. I don’t want to mail 1,000 flyers and get ripped off again.” Well I said, “What has that got to do with me? You called me to print your flyer. I appreciate that. If you want me to print it, great. If not, why do I have to have you drag me down because you are feeling skeptical?” Hey – I am not trying to be insensitive to this woman. But I get these calls all the time. Here is a woman who obviously never has spoken to anyone over the telephone about these programs and now she has a real live voice and ear that is listening to her, and she thinks it is a forum. If you are skeptical about what you are doing or about what you are promoting – stop! Don’t you think everyone else who gets what you are promoting is going to be skeptical also? Why are they going to join then? If you do not have complete faith in what you are doing, why are you doing it then? You are going to fail. Unless you believe in what you are doing, then what will keep you motivated to doing it? Nothing. You will fail then. If you are skeptical, why bother? Go see a therapist.

Conversation #2 went something like this: “Larry, I saw your testimonial and wanted to know if you are for real?” I said, “Are you for real?” I get these types of calls all the time also. Yes I answer the telephone, “Uncle Larry.” You can see my picture all over and in print. You can come and visit me. You can touch me. I not only am real, but I do have feelings and I do have a tolerance level that is boiling over with stupid questions. It’s not a stupid question to ask a person what they are doing to be successful promoting whatever program they are promoting. But to ask them if they are legit? Telling the truth? Are for real? It’s downright childish and immature. If you are asking these types of questions, you are pretty much at the bottom of the MLM/Mail Order evolution scale. Again as I said above, I realize getting another human being on the telephone is rare in this business, but before you ask another silly question ask yourself, if I ask you the same question, how would you feel? If I asked you, “Are you telling the truth, are you legit, are you for real,” how would you feel? Obviously if I am talking to you and you are talking to me, we are for real. The question really is, “Are you going to do what it takes to succeed?” No one knows that answer but you. However if you still are wondering if other people are for real, are legit, are telling the truth, I suggest you suspend your activity in this business immediately and go see a therapist.

Another conversation went something like this: “Larry I did a mailing with you and I got nothing.” I said, “Did you get nothing or did you get other people’s solicitations, other people’s offers in the mails, etc., etc.” He said, “Yes I did, but I did not get any orders.” I said, “Did you pay me to get orders or did you pay me to get your offer out in the mails to quality people like ourselves that join into these programs?” This is a pet peeve of mine. Just in case you don’t realize it, I have no control over response. No publisher does. I take your flyer, print it to the number you paid for and mail them out to people in our direct mail money making opportunity business. That is it. What’s nice about dealing with me is that I provide receipts for what I do and you can actually see I have the equipment, the manpower and the experience to get the job done in an efficient, honest and inexpensive way. After that I have no way of knowing or do I have any control over whether your flyer will succeed or not. I hope your realize that I want you to succeed. When you do succeed, I know you will come back time and time again. If you don’t succeed, you’ll probably curse me till the day I die. If this sounds like you, then I suggest you quit this business now and go see a therapist. When you spend money on advertising – print and mail is adverting – mailing lists are advertising – you are putting your money – your hard earned money at risk. There are never any guarantees to success. So before you spend any money, understand that there is a real chance of losing it. If you do lose it, nobody is ripping you off. If you are this emotional about the money you are spending and about the lack of response you are getting, I highly recommend you go see a therapist.

Lastly, my 4^th therapeutic conversation went like this: “Larry, I have joined so many programs in the past and lost all my money, why should I joined into anything you are promoting then?” My answer, “You shouldn’t join into anything else.” It is obvious to me that this guy makes very little, if any commitment to any program, so how could he succeed? In my long career, I have joined into not many programs. Not many- that’s it! Why you ask? Simple. How many programs can one person commit to at one time? The jeopardy music is on – one! I join one program at a time; make a total and complete commitment to it and when it is up and running strong, I might look for something else to work. Now you might ask, “Have I fallen on my face with this strategy once in a while?” Yes! Unfortunately a few times I have put my heart and soul and money into a company and for whatever reason, it did not work and I lost money. Lots of it. Instead of blaming someone or something or pointing the finger, I got off my duff and realized that things in life happen and unless I help myself and keep trying, nothing positive or successful will happen to me. Though I failed a few times, I have succeeded dozens of times. This guy who called me will never succeed because he is program-jumping waiting for one to “click.” That is like owning 12 different burger places seeing if one will work before the other and then committing to the one that works. Well nothing will work then. You make the commitment first and then it might work. You can’t sit back and see if it works and then make the commitment. That is why so many of you fail. If this sounds like you – stop! Quit this business & go see a therapist – immediately!

In this business, when you get another human being on the telephone, don’t bog them down with all your stories of woe. Don’t you realize that all of us have stories of woe?  Would you appreciate it if someone did that to you? When you call someone in this business, be polite, be respectful and be positive. No one wants to hear your sad stories. No one. I know this article sounds insensitive. It might even sound like I don’t care. If you think that I don’t care, then you really need a therapist. So many of you are holding yourselves back from a promising career in Mail Order/MLM. It’s because of questions like these. Did you ever hear the old saying, “You have to take the bull by the horns and run with it?” Tell me in any of these conversations, is this person “taking charge?” These are the types of questions that are holding you back. Once you eliminate these childish ideas, beliefs, theories, skepticisms, etc., etc., etc. is the moment you push forward toward achieving your success goal. Everyone has been where you are today. Everyone starts on the bottom – including me – and needs to learn a thing or two about Mail Order/MLM, so there is no need not to be confident and have faith in what you are doing. You are the only one who can make a difference in your own success. If you are being negative, are you giving yourself any chance at success?  So I finally ask you, Do You Need a Therapist?

The author of this article is Larry Costello, President of All-American Print & Mail, 2200 Wilson Blvd #102-57, Arlington, VA 22201.