How to read a mind

How many times have you been burned? That's right. You thought you saw the light at the end of the tunnel, then BAM! Something turned it off. You found yourself holding the bag. Sound familiar?

What would have happened if you had the ability to properly analyze an opportunity before you decide to spend a dime?

Spotting MLM Cutthroats

At the bottom of page 11 of Success In 10 Steps, you see a reference to "greed and ego." That gives you another good point to make with your prospect.

Prospects don't come into this process thinking about "greed & ego". But if they have experience in MLM, there's a good chance they've already run into the problem. It's worthwhile pointing out that the greed & ego of sponsors and/or companies is one of the reasons so many prospects are never successful in network marketing.

Let them know how important it is to have their radar up and operating sensitively.

This doesn't mean you search for some Pollyanna who lives their life only for others. Putting yourself first is the natural order.

What it does mean is that you MUST avoid sponsors whose goal is to be successful no matter who they have to step on. You want someone who is determined to be successful by creating those win-win relationships with others.

Voodoo M-L-M Economics

You'll find "Voodoo MLM Economics" in the first section of "Success In 10 Steps". This is one of my favorite sections.

A few weeks ago, I was talking on the phone with one of my prospects who had downloaded the ebook. Prospects fall into one of two groups:

1. Already in a business & trying to figure out how to make it profitable.
2. Looking for a bus1ness to make profitable.

This lady was in group #1. And since I was on the line with her, she decided to reverse-recruit me. So she told me about her incredible company and their 98% retention rate.

Nobody ever left that company. Everybody stayed. Fascinating.

OK. You could give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she was new and was just repeating what she had been told by her sponsor. But she was also telling me how wonderfully successful she was, too, so she probably doesn't deserve the benefit of the doubt.

We know that in M-L-M, like any other business, most people aren't going to make it. Most people are going to leave. Most people are going to quit before they are successful. Most people don't commit themselves. Most people don't value spending time training themselves. Most people won't put in the time necessary to actually work their business.

The White Knight - Naked

Companies come and companies go. So do opportunities in life. 


How many times do you see your friends quietly slip out of your life when things appear to go south for you? 


They don't mean to do that sort of thing, they just have an internal fear it might rub off on them. So they slowly do a disappearing act and you are left alone, smack dab in the middle of some of the biggest challenges that life has thrown at you.

In M-L-M, The Marketing Will Build Your Empire

Early in "Success In 10 Steps", you can read about "the monk in the white lab coat." I don't think it's just the people I've talked to recently. I can definitely remember when I used to think this way.

There are just a LOT of people who believe that far and away THE #1 reason to choose a network marketing company is the product. And even after talking with them a bit, it is a very tough idea to dislodge.

M-L-M companies must have a great product to compete in today's market. But it is effective marketing, not a product, that will either build an empire or not. Specifically, you should be searching for a group with an effective, results-producing marketing program in place. So it's important to give prospects as much evidence as you possibly can that product focus is not what will build them a great income from home.

Your Best M-L-M Prospects ...?

When you look to find new business partners in a cold market, you should ONLY ever focus on people actively looking to make money from home. It is a waste of your time to pursue anybody who has not recently demonstrated that desire.

OK. Let's divide "people who want to make money from home" into 2 categories:

1. Those who have experience in M-L-M.
2. Those who don't.

How to use the telephone

What does weight training have to do with Success In Ten Steps? 


If you have read the eBook, you may be asking this question yourself. How many times has someone told you that to have success, you have to get on the phone? 


But it's hard to pick up that "300-lb" barbell. However, what would happen if you had 30 to 50 friends who helped you lift it 4 days a week?

Hannibal The Cannibal and Network Marketing

I know we've all, at one time or another, experienced a snake or two in the upline. But where else, other than early in "Success In 10 Steps", will you ever see Hannibal The Cannibal connected to network marketing?

The purpose of any headline or subhead is to force the reader to keep reading - to ensure that they cannot put your piece down. And that's how we get to the section, "Hannibal Lechter Missed His Calling."

Do you really want to get better?

What would you do if you were offered one million dollars to fight the heavyweight champ for one round of boxing? The conditions: you have to stay on your feet for the whole round to earn the money. How long would you last? 10 seconds, 20, 30?

If you are like most people, you would be flat on your back in less than 30 seconds. Remember, running away is not allowed. Many people find themselves beat up from this industry. They are down for the ten-count with no hope of getting up off the mat.

The Law of the Garbage Truck

How often do you let other people's nonsense change your mood?

Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss, or an insensitive employee ruin your day? Unless you're the Terminator, for an instant, you're probably set back on your heels. However, the mark of a successful person is how quickly she/he can get back her/his focus on what's important.

Five years ago I learned this lesson. I learned it in the back of a taxicab in Indianapolis. Here's what happened:

I hopped in a taxi and we took off for Indianapolis Airport. We were driving in the right lane when, all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his breaks, skidded, and missed the other car's back end by just inches!

The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and he started yelling bad words at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And, I mean, he was friendly.

So, I said, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!' And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call, 'The Law of the Garbage Truck.'

The Questions Your Prospects Ask

It is key to make your network marketing business as duplicatable as possible. And the less you have to talk, the more duplicatable it gets. The ability to use the Success In 10 Steps ebook and just point to sections that answer certain questions or to sections that would be valuable to people makes your life a lot simpler.

The format of the ebook has been very successful. It's had over 107,000 downloads in the past 4 years. A lot of people have used STS to generate leads and build an MLM business. It is set up to make it easy for people to do network marketing. You don't have to be an expert at anything. You hardly even need to be able to answer any questions.

We know the 3 questions people most ask when they're looking for a business:

1. Is this something I can do?
2. Can I make money at it?
3. Can you help me?

For them to answer question #1 positively, the business has to be really simple. And it's important to show them that it's going to be simple for them to give this system to the people they bring into the business.

They may not be thinking that far ahead. But as soon as you point out to them that they have to be able to give THEIR prospects a simple system or their business will not duplicate, they know that is true.

On page 10 of STS, Michael Dlouhy talks about the 100 MLM companies that he joined. It's a good story that can answer several different questions.

Most of the people who download the STS ebook are people who have already been in network marketing, but who have struggled with the business. They're looking for answers. They don't know why they haven't been successful. They know it's not because somebody else is smarter than they are. They are frustrated.

So Michael joining 100 different MLM businesses to kind of get an idea of how the whole thing works resonates with them. It makes sense to do that. And it helps give your prospect some background that helps them see all the value they can possibly get from reading this ebook.

Page 10 is definitely one of the sections I would point out to prospects. Again, when you only need to point someone to a page in the book to answer their questions and gain credibility, it becomes obvious that this is a very easy business to do.

M-L-M & Boy Scouts

I'll be sometime in your life you've read or heard the Boy Scout Oath:


On my honor I will do my best

To do my duty to God and my country

and to obey the Scout Law;

To help other people at all times;

To keep myself physically strong,

mentally awake, and morally straight.

What makes a leader?

How often have you had someone talk you into an opportunity and you found that there was no one there to give you guidance? Who's in charge here? Where are the leaders to help you understand what works and what doesn't work? If there are leaders, why are they having me do all their testing?

Leadership is a key element to success in any venture, organization, and government. The challenge is getting good leadership. However, while good leadership can get you started, you really want leadership who will take you by the hand and hang on with you until you are ready to leave the nest.

Yo Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rum!

If that "heavy hitter guru" you're talking to looks at all like this buckaroo, you may want to re-think the opportunity.

At the end the first chapter of Success In 10 Steps, you'll read the story of Michael Dlouhy going to the lady's ranch in Texas. She invited a number of MLM leaders to her ranch to talk about her new M-L-M company and get feedback from people on her ideas. She wanted their advice.

What happened was, virtually all of them saw an opportunity to benefit themselves. It became about them, not her. Certainly, again, greed & ego reared their ugly heads.

One of the beautiful features of network marketing is a commission structure designed to reward people who help others become successful. That is terrific. However - in MLM, as in any other business, a lot of people will put a lot more focus on their own personal gain than they do in yours. And there's nothing particularly wrong with that. It's pretty much human nature to do what is in your own self-interest.

That's how life works.

WD-40 On Your Steak?

Has anybody ever fooled you with a novelty T-bone steak? It looks exactly like the real deal. You're ready to dig in. But something here isn't exactly right -

Oh, yeah - it's plastic.

It seems like a lot of people use that plastic steak as a model for the relationships they build in order to sell their products. They are looking at this very short-term. They think what's important is the immediate sale.

But the fact is, what's important is the long-term relationship. What will help you achieve your dreams is building strong relationships with people who have similar dreams. Plastic relationships will not do that.

The Daffodil Principle

Here's a story that I can't remember where I got it but it is a great and vivid example of the "slight edge".  I hope you enjoy it:

Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, "Mother, you must come see the daffodils before they are over." I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead. "I'll come next Tuesday," I promised, a little reluctantly, on her third call.

The next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and so I went. When I finally walked into Carolyn's house and hugged and greeted my grandchildren, I said, "Forget the daffodils, the road is invisible in the clouds and fog, and there's nothing in the world that I want to see bad enough to drive another inch!" My daughter smiled calmly and said, "We drive in this all the time, Mother." "Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears, and then I'm heading home." "Will you just go with me over to the garage to pick up my car," Carolyn said. "I'll drive. I'm used to this." After several minutes of driving, I had to ask, "Where are we going? This isn't the way to the garage!" We're going to my garage the long way," Carolyn smiled, "By way of the daffodils." "Please turn around," I said. "It's all right, Mother, I promise. You'll never forgive yourself if you miss this experience."

After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a gravel road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand-lettered sign that read, "Daffodil Garden." I got out of the car, took a child's hand, and followed Carolyn down the path. Then, we turned a corner of the path, and I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most glorious sight. It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it down over the mountain peak and slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns - great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, white, lemon yellow, salmon, pink, saffron, and bright yellow. Each different-colored variety was planted as a group so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its' own unique hue. There were five acres of flowers.