So You Have A Lousy Sponsor? (written September, 2002)

”It’s My Mother’s fault that I am a failure.” Doesn’t that sound funny and ridiculous? Your Mother brought you into this world, but she’s not responsible for your success or failure as a human being. Is she? I thought that responsibility is yours!

And yet how many times have we heard one of our associates blame their sponsor for their failures? Their sponsor is no more responsible than their mother. Yes they brought them into the business, just like mom brought them into the world. And of course it’s “wonderful” if you have a supportive, intelligent willing sponsor to help nurture and train you. Sometimes we get lucky that way. But considering the stats (95% of Network Marketers fail), the odds of your getting Mr. Wonderful or Ms. Awesome sponsor may not be in your favor.

So the question becomes: “Am I going to let someone else determine my success or failure in this company?” Of course you’re not. Your success is your success created and deserved by you. It’s your destiny. Not your mother’s – not your sponsor’s. It’s all up to you!

Here are your recommended actions for success from your Uncle Larry:

#1) When you are first brought into this company, move quickly to soak up as much helpful information as you can from your sponsor. Almost always (in the very early stages of your recruitment) they will be very willing to help. Then if they do bail on you, you will have already gotten as much help from them as you could.

#2) Take responsibility yourself for getting the tools and information that you need to build your business. If the company has an information line, call it on a regular basis. If they have a fax-on-demand, retrieve it right away and then once every few weeks to see if it’s been updated and/or modified. After all you are going to be giving that number out to your potential recruits and you want to be aware of exactly what’s on it.

#3) If the company has training materials available order at least one of each item so you are familiar with what is on offer. Do not make copies of audiotapes or videos. Hopefully you are working with an ethical company that keeps the cost of these materials at a reasonable price for their distributors. But if you make unauthorized copies and distribute them, you are violating several state, federal and copyright laws. This is not a risk you should want to take.

#4) If there is a weekly or semi-weekly conference call get on it. These are usually not toll-free calls, but it is a necessary expense of running your business. Be active on the call by asking good quality questions that enhance the interactive conversation.

#5) Visit the company’s website (if they have one) on a very regular basis. Many MLM companies use this forum to keep their distributors up to speed on happenings within the company and you want to be one of those distributors!

#6) Make sure to stay abreast and participate in the online forums (such as AOL’s MLM Boards). They have ongoing discussion among other distributors in the company and you can pick up some great help and meet other members of the company.

So there you have it. Take control on your own success. Nobody else will. You know what? When you do succeed, you’ll be far more proud of your accomplishments!

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