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Overall, the sense of community at a destination event is comforting. We all live in a world filled with ignorant people when it comes to Network Marketing. That can get discouraging at times. But when we go to a big event, suddenly we are surrounded by people who think like WE think. They have similar beliefs, hopes, dreams, aspirations, and positive attitudes. Spending time with this amazing group of people can literally fill us back up again so we have strength for the next push.

Once you understand how important destination events are to the success of your business, you need to learn how to effectively promote them to your organization. It’s really very simple: The more people from your group attend events, the more money you’re going to make in our profession. Top leaders know exactly how many people are attending and they make sure to grow that number at every new event.

Think about it. Take two distributors who each have a group of 100 people. Distributor A makes it a priority and gets everyone to attend every major destination event. Distributor B doesn’t make it a priority, so only a handful attend. Which group is going to be more successful? It’s not even a contest.

The first step in developing a culture that promotes attendance at destination events is to personally be more committed than anyone else to attending, and helping others make the same decision. That means you need to lead by example, and never miss a destination event.

When I first started in this profession I didn’t know how I was going to do it. I didn’t have the money and I couldn’t afford the time; I had the same obstacles as anyone else. But something happened to me at my first event that changed everything. I scraped up enough money to get there and it was a mind-blowing experience: The stage, the lights, the people, the stories—it was awesome.

During one of the sessions, I stepped out to go to the bathroom and when I came back to the entrance to the big convention hall, I found myself standing next to one of the top income-earners in the whole company! It was like standing next to a celebrity. He had achieved what I wanted to achieve, and more. I stood there trying to think of something smart to say. Finally, I simply introduced myself and asked, “What’s the secret?”

Today I know there isn’t a secret and he could have said the same thing to me, but instead he had a little compassion and gave me an important lesson that serves me to this day. He said, “Eric, do you see this room? It holds about 2,000 people. We have these events about three times a year. Here’s the secret. At the next event, half of these people won’t come back, but the other half that does will be making about twice the average of everyone else in the room. Your job is to be in the 1,000 people who come back. And it doesn’t stop there. At the next event half of those 1,000 won’t come back, but the 500 who do will be making four times the amount of the average in the room. This continues from event to event. If you continue to come back, you’ll end up being among the highest paid people in the room, and eventually you’ll even find yourself presenting on stage.”

I said, “That’s it?” And he replied, “Eric, obviously you’re going to have to continue to work on your skills in between events, but my experience has shown me that if you outlast people at our big events, you’ll make it to the top.” This was pretty simple for me to understand. I thanked him and made a resolution on the spot to never miss a big company event.

It wasn’t easy. Sometimes the event tickets alone were a problem. I made it a priority and found a way to buy them. Sometimes childcare was an issue. I relentlessly searched for babysitters until we found someone we could trust. Sometimes I struggled with how to get to the event. Instead of taking a nice comfortable direct flight, I sometimes had to book one with two or three connections. Instead of flying, sometimes I had to drive, even piling into one vehicle with a group of people to get there. There were even times when I reserved a bus and recruited people in my area to share the ride. The point is, I made it a priority and I made it to the event—no matter what.

As for accommodations, today I stay in a suite, but it wasn’t always that way. At the beginning I often shared a room with as many people as possible. Instead of room service, we would go to the local grocery store and get food for inexpensive meals. And the minibar was strictly off limits.

Bottom line, the advice I received all those years ago WORKED. Because I was ambitious and hungry, I figured out a way to outlast the people who were less committed and, just like that top income-earner had told me, my income continued to grow with each event.

On top of that, another strange thing happened. I started to feel different than everyone else. I started to feel like an “Iron Man.” I started to be proud of the fact that I was still standing when other people lost faith. So, if you’re more committed than anyone else to attending the destination events, that all-important commitment will serve you very well.

Once you are fully committed, the next step is to grow the number of people on your team that attend with you. Most people announce the next big event to their group, sit back, and hope people register. Professionals understand there is a big difference between being an “announcer” and being a “promoter.”

Promoters make the event a priority in their group. They are relentless with their message. They tell stories that inspire people to action. They take nothing for granted and don’t rest until people have registered. They paint a picture in people’s minds about how great the event will be and the benefits of attending. One thing I learned long ago was to never buy someone’s excuse, at least at the beginning. I can’t tell you how many people started off by telling me the reasons they couldn’t attend the next destination event, only to find out their reason was just an excuse, and wasn’t really true.

The problem with amateurs is they buy that first story and that’s the end of it. A person says, “I can’t get off work,” or, “I can’t afford it,” or, “I can’t arrange childcare,” or, “Who’s going to watch my dog?” or, “There’s a birthday party that weekend.” And the amateur says, “Oh well, it is what it is. I hope you can make it to the next one.”

The professional has a completely different mindset. When they hear an objection, they don’t buy that story because they know it’s probably not real—or at least not real enough. Instead they work with that person to help them understand the meaning and importance of attending the event. Then they brainstorm with them to figure out a way to overcome their initial problem. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve talked to who had already decided they weren’t going to attend the next event, and within five minutes, they’d changed their mind and registered. The lesson here is to tell your story. Don’t buy theirs.

Think of this skill as if you are a publicly traded company and your stock value is tied directly to how many people you have at each destination event. If that were the case, you’d make it a priority to always have a bigger number at the next event, wouldn’t you? You might start with just you at the first event, but then the goal needs to be to bring some people with you to the next one, and to grow that number at the next and the next and the next. There’s no such thing as a silver bullet in Network Marketing, but this skill is as close as it gets.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Anything Worthwhile Takes Time

If a person starts a traditional business, they expect to break even in their first few years and possibly pay back their initial investment in the first five years. But when a person starts a Network Marketing business, they expect to get their money back in the first month, make a profit in second month, and get rich by the third month. And when that doesn’t happen, they blame Network Marketing!

It’s like people don’t want the laws of the business world to apply to Network Marketing. We DO have a better way, but we’re not selling magic beans here. Anything of value takes time to develop.

I learned a great lesson early in my Network Marketing career: From time to time in your life, your income might take a lucky jump. You might be in the right place at the right time. But if you don’t quickly grow as a person to that new higher level, your income is going to come back down to the level of who you really are. In the end, you only get to make what you are.

How many people do you know that hit it big and lost it all? I learned this lesson the hard way in my first few months in MLM. Back in 1988, I joined a company that had a $5,000 upfront package, which paid the sponsor between $1,200 and $2,400, depending upon their level. Although I’m glad most of those big money packages have left our profession, back then a person could make some pretty big money fast.

In my first month with that company, I earned approximately $7,400! If you remember, my strategy was to quickly call my dad’s friends before he could get to them. I was ecstatic! In my second month, I earned about $12,200. Unbelievable! But then reality kicked in. I wasn’t a $12,000 a month person. I hadn’t worked on my skills. I wasn’t developing myself. I was just riding the wave. My third month’s check was $1,098.60. Looking at that check was like looking at myself in the mirror. It showed me who I was. It was an ugly feeling.

My first reaction was to quit and blame everyone and everything for my bad check. But eventually I realized that to earn more, I needed to become more. I needed to work on my skills so I didn’t have to rely on luck or timing or positioning.

You might have heard, “You can get rich quick,” or, “There’s no work involved,” or, “The product sells itself,” or any number of trumped up statements. But you must learn to give up those false and unrealistic expectations and go to work on YOU.

The 1/3/5/7 Formula

There’s a formula I’ve seen work in our profession. I call it the 1/3/5/7 Formula. As a general rule, it will take you about one year to become competent and profitable in Network Marketing. You’ll know the basics, you’ll cover expenses, and you’ll be learning. It will take about three years of consistent part-time effort in order to go full-time. It will take about five years of consistent effort to become a six-figure earner or above. And it will take about seven years of consistent effort to become an expert.

That doesn’t mean you can’t make more than that in the short-term. Many people do. It just means if you want to KEEP making that kind of money, you need to eventually become an expert.

When you think about it, seven years isn’t so bad, especially when a good portion of it is part-time. You’re going to be seven years older anyway. You might as well become an expert over that period of time instead of just going through the motions.

How to Learn

Once you make the commitment to focus on your skills, the next thing you need to do is figure out the best ways to learn. One of the best things that ever happened to me was realizing there are no bad experiences and no good experiences, only learning experiences. This was a major breakthrough. In other words, let go of the outcome and focus on what you can learn from every experience. This took so much pressure off me. Instead of always looking for great experiences, I started focusing on how MANY experiences I could have, because the more I had, the more I could learn.

Another attribute of a top earner in MLM is they are what I like to call “an active student.” As a professional, they are always learning, always growing, always trying to get better.

Lou Holtz said it best: “In this world you’re either growing or you’re dying so get in motion and grow.”

I think that’s true. Never stop learning.

Model Successful Behavior

Try to avoid reinventing the wheel when you get involved in this profession. The hard work has already been done. No matter what company you’re in, it’s easy to find someone who’s very successful. It doesn’t matter if it’s getting customers, finding prospects, inviting, presenting, following up, closing, getting people started, building for events, or any other skill, there are people in your company right now who have them mastered. And unlike other professions, the successful people in your company are eager to share their secrets! All you need to do is model their behavior and you can begin to enjoy their results.

Study

Audio programs got me started. Back in 1988, someone gave me a bootleg copy of a talk Jim Rohn gave to the Shaklee company. It was called, “The Seed and the Sower,” and it rocked my world. I’ll bet I listened to that audiocassette in my car 500 times. From there I did some homework on Jim Rohn and purchased his “Challenge to Succeed” audio program. Mr. Rohn gave me hope, but more than that, he gave me direction in my continual personal development. That audio program launched my personal development journey.

Through the years, I continued with dozens of different audio programs, all incredibly helpful in keeping my mind right. There’s something magical about audio. It whispers in your ear, reminding you of your dreams, of your potential and how to get there. In addition, it’s repetitive. You probably won’t read a book over and over, but you’ll listen to an audio program over and over, especially if it’s entertaining. And it seems like each time it’s different—and it is, because YOU are different.