Quick Tips (written February, 2015)

These quick tips are based on my many years of experience and are exclusively meant to help you with your promotions. The difference between success and failure in the MLM business is so small. So many people are so close they don’t even realize it. Use these quick tips to push yourself over the hump.

Tip #1 – MLM is a business – not a hobby. Treat your own efforts with respect and only deal with people who do likewise. Don’t waste your valuable time and effort on people who don’t treat this like a business. A hobby is for fun and who cares. A business is your livelihood.

Tip #2 – You need to invest money. There are no businesses that exist that do not require you to invest money. If you have no money, get a job, save the money you make, then invest it. Or borrow money from someone you know or go into business with an investor. You work the business, they invest the money, both of you split the profits. You cannot go into business without an investment of money.

Tip #3 – You must advertise. In fact, most of the money you invest should go into advertising and promotion. You will not be able to create sales unless you advertise. People don’t come to you – you go to your prospects! The only way to do that is to advertise!

Tip #4 – Advertising is not an exact science. If it were, then if you do x, you will get y. Unfortunately advertising does not work anything like that. Advertising is like: If you do x, you can only “guess” and “hope” what y might bring. If advertising was an exact science, then everyone in the world could simply do x and get y. When you do any type of advertising, please use a little common sense. Next time somebody tells you to just do something because you will definitely get what they tell you, run for the hills. There is no way anybody can gauge any kind of rate of return before they do the actual promotion.

Tip #5 – When you advertise you are giving yourself a chance to succeed. Not a guarantee. However, when you don’t advertise, you are guaranteeing you will fail.

Tip #6 – What does the word “average” mean? Average means in English terms that one person did well and one person did poorly. Put them together and that is the average. Do we aspire to be “average”? Average therefore is a scary term that is constantly misused and misunderstood. The next time someone mentions the word average, think twice.

Tip #7 – What should the average rate of return be? Or better yet, what is the Industry average? Unless I missed something, there are no professionally done studies on what our Industry average is. How could there be? Aren’t all offers different? Don’t some offers cost $5,000 and some are for free? How could an average be generated from this example? Even though we are in the MLM money making opportunity Industry, don’t some companies promote telephone services, some health products and some promote other things? How can we average these different types of companies together? A little common sense would suggest that the next time you are planning to join a program and the person mentions an average rate of return based on the industry average, run!

Tip #8 – Use some common sense when you advertise. Do you answer every ad? We are all very similar in this business. If you answer very few ads, then unless you are a junkie, expect a very few people to answer yours also.

Tip #9 – Be a good example. In life we are told to be a good example to our children. The same holds true in MLM. Be a good example to the people who join under you. Try to teach them what it takes to be successful. If you are doing what it takes, it’s easy for them to follow.

Tip #10 – You only need a few good people to duplicate your success instead of hundreds of people doing nothing. There is power in the few as opposed to the masses.

Tip #11 – The difference between success and failure is you! You make the difference by being persistent in the face of adversity. By moving forward when everything in front of you is falling down. By believing you will achieve success. You are the difference.

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