The day’s of the “company man” are far behind us. Our fathers lived in a world where people picked one company, and devoted their entire career to that one company…and counted on a comfortable retirement. As we watch companies come and go around us, we know that security is gone, and earning a living has taken on a new dimension. It is common for people to switch jobs two or three times in their working lives, and many choose to juggle two or more jobs at a time. Loyalty between employers and employees is at an all time low.

Enter MLM…with a low entry cost compared to other small business start ups or franchises, joining a MLM business is quite an attractive proposition. Let me explain…it could cost anywhere from $10,000 to $100,000 to start with a traditional franchise, yet for as little as $50 to $100 you can become a distributor in a MLM business.Because of that low start up cost, and the potential for an exceptional income, MLM tends to attract many people that aren’t really qualified to run a business, and are pre-destined to fail.

Often, the new MLM business builder is just looking to get rich quick, with little effort on their part. It’s likely they have a history of failures, and have little or no money. Ninety percent of people who get involved in a MLM business have no sales or business experience, and they come to network marketing with unrealistic expectations about the amount of work that is involved in running a legitimate, successful network marketing business. They’ve been pitched a dream, and expectations are high.

Those who come to network marketing without the skills needed to run a business almost always oversell the opportunity (because that is what they are taught), and come across to their prospects as desperate…because they are! When a prospect senses this desperation, it turns them off, and makes them react negatively towards whatever you are offering.

In interviews with MLM industry leaders, several lessons were revealed that all aspiring network marketing business owners need to learn in order to become profitable in their business.



Not everyone is your prospect. Most new MLM business owners are told by their upline that everyone is their prospect. They are told that everyone who breathes can benefit from whatever their product has to offer. While that may be true, NOT everyone WANTS their product. Big difference.

You MUST develop good communication skills. Every MLM business is a relationship based business, and learning to use the phone, the written word, and the internet effectively is key to your network marketing business.

You must take control of your new MLM business…take ownership. If you continue to “do as you’re told” by your upline, and follow THEIR proven plan, you are merely their employee, and are working to make them successful, not yourself.

Learn to position yourself as the expert, not your upline. No more three-way calls where you take a prospect to your upline for help or information. That only serves to position your upline as the expert, and your credibility has gone down the drain. Learn all you can about your product and it’s benefits so that you can answer your prospect’s questions…take charge!

Be teachable. If you are new to MLM, and come into the MLM business with your mind closed to different approaches to running a network marketing business, you are destined to fail. Invest in proper MLM business training…be coachable and open to new, current ideas and MLM strategies.



As with any business or career choice you have made in the past, you needed training. Nobody is born with all the skills needed to run any type of business. These skills are learned, and sharpened by experience. Be willing to put in the time and effort required to build a successful network marketing business, and you will find the success you are seeking.

To your success!




By: Lynn McArthur