•Tom "Big Al" Schreiter  •Robert Butwin  •Rod Cook   •Jeffery Combs  •Jerry "DRhino" Clark •Greg Arnold  •Artemis Limpert  •Robert Blackman •Dr Zonnya •Ellie Drake - Contributing Editors

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Back Stage Secrets Of The Amway Empire Revealed!
By Robert Blackman

If you do know them, then this will be a brief refresher course--one that every Networker should be able to scream out in a cold sweat when awakened at 3 a.m., I assure you!

Stats are important because it is one of the few "links" us Networkers have with the REAL world.

Real world, Robert?  What do you mean by that?

Simple.

Our Grade Schools, Mid-Highs, High Schools, Colleges and Universities all teach MATH, Statistics, Geometry, Trig, and Chemistry.

They don't teach Network Marketing, now do they?

No, they don't.  School teaches us "formulas" and what to expect when we add 2 +2.  That is what I call "Real World Teaching".  But, they don't teach us what 2 + 2 equals in Network Marketing language.  It is indeed, a foreign language to them.

The challenge is to get people who have NEVER heard of the concept of Network Marketing to "fit" it into their current programming they've had in their life.  That's why I'm a "STATS NUT!"  It helps me in my prospecting.  It keeps me going when the going gets rough and I call for 8 hours straight on the phone on a Friday and nobody joins my "deal".

Ever been there?  Ever doubted yourself?  Don't worry.  You're not alone, so have I!  The real "key" to any sustained campaign is ACTION!  Getting yourself to take action.  Getting your downline to take action.  Forget everything else.

Ignorance of FIRE = Robert Blackman

That we me in the beginning.  I made a lot of money then, and I made it fast.  I was a Network Marketing salesperson,  not a networker.  My days in Amway taught me to be a better networker and realize that my most important ASSET was the people in my downline.

It wasn't my product line.

It wasn't my pay plan.

It wasn't my brochure.

It wasn't my training tape.

It wasn't my website.

It was the men and women in my downline.  Without them, I would be nothing.  Your ability to secure your residual future depends entirely on how well you can persuade your downline to take ACTION!  And, they need to do so quickly, or the likelihood of them ever taking action diminishes greatly.

I used to joke about how the Amway people do it to you--get you to take action, that is.  I used to say: "The reason why Amway is so successful is that the night that you join, they get a name list of 100 to 300 people from you.  And, before your head hits the pillow that night, they've already called half your list!"  So, if you woke up the next morning with "buyers remorse", they didn't care--they had your contact list--NEXT!

There is some truth to that quote though.  More "plans" or presentations were made last night on behalf of the Amway corporation than any other Network Marketing program in the country.  Here's their secret:

--Massive exposure through Massive Action.

Hey, want to know why your banker joined Amway before he joined your deal?  They showed him the plan before you did!  While you were stammering around and fumbling through your script, someone from Amway got on the phone one night and simply asked the guy was he happy with what he was doing and was he open to other opportunities.

That reminds me of the story Len Clements told me when he took a cross country train trip.  At dinner each night you sat with someone different than the meal before.  Of course, as the conversation began to pick up the obvious questions like, "What do you do for a living, Len?" came up.  Len decided to just say: "I'm a Network Marketer"

Much to his amazement, a large percentage of those folks he broke bread with didn't know what that meant!  There's a clue here--saturation is a MYTH.  When you can sit a dinner with people you don't know and all of them don't know  what the occupation of "Network Marketer" means, that is a clue that this thing is still WIDE OPEN to you and I!

Enough said....back to the banker signing up in Amway and not your program...  They took action while you were watching TV, or surfing the Net looking for an "easier deal to make money in."  Have I hit home, yet?  I know this hurts, but it's the truth.  Your business has failed to get off the ground not because of your pay plan or your product line.  Your business has failed to get off the ground because you're not showing enough presentations, period!

I get people who tell me all the time: "Robert, I can't sponsor anyone, nobody will join my program"  When I ask them how many presentations they made last month the phone goes cold silent.  Their usual response is: "What do you mean by a presentation--uh, I called the 100 names you sent me and nobody joined!"

Good grief.  Some of the most neurotic, flighty, undisciplined, procrastinating and unorganized people in the world are in Network Marketing.  They fail to grasp the simple fact that this business is not about them, but about what they can do for their prospects!  Amway kicks our butts every day, every week and every month in Domestic and International sales because they realize that PEOPLE are the ASSET!

They realize that People connect with other People.  They realize that meetings, home plans product pickup and tapes telling others their "rags to riches" story are the foundation to their business.  They realize that if simply mailing a brochure, sending a cassette or video overnight, or blasting 1,000,000 FAA sights was the secret they'd cut out the distributor in a heartbeat and use the commission money for their own!

The companies need you and I because we are not just commission salespeople.  We are business owners and you and I will bend over backwards and upside down again to make this program work!  We take a: "Whatever It Takes Attitude!" Today, I will be teaching you what keeps those Amway folks going, night after night, meeting after meeting, convention after convention, even though they are spending more money than they are making each and every month.

I know, I've been there. 

--If you've never been to an open meeting with 250 people (like I used to run every week in Oklahoma City)

--If you've never been to a convention with 25,000 Screaming, Eager, Sales People like I have all over the county.

--If you've never shown a 2-5 year plan on a napkin at Denny's or IHOP like I have.

--If you've never done a "Team Calling" every Monday Night where you have your downline show up at your home with their "LIST".

If you've never done any of those things then let me show you a "glimpse" today of WHAT keeps that business growing every day regardless of:

--The price of their products

--The payout of their comp plan

When you REALIZE that it is not your products or comp plan that makes you RICH, then you start to relax a bit.  You take the pressure off of yourself and your presentation and you just start looking for people who are either just "looking" like you were, or for people you just "connect" with.

You see, when I joined Amway back in the mid-90's I was already making 6-figures in Direct mail.  My friends thought I had caught some sort of "virus" or went "manic" on them when I announced to the world that I was STARTING an Amway business.

Now....If you haven't ever been in Amway, then these stats will interest you and be vital for the building of your main program, whatever that may be.  Let me say that as an "ex-Amway" distributor I sincerely enjoyed my association with them for 4 years.  I will not go into all the "gory" details as why I chose to walk way from my downline there and sign it over to someone less deserving, as I'm sure we all have an Amway story or two (but, I'm willing to  bet mine is better than yours, though, LOL!)

Needless to say, I would not KNOW what I do today about warm marketing, prospecting, building people and building my own self-esteem today if it wasn't for my 4 years in Amway.  In fact, I still listen to many of my old Amway tapes every month.  Some of the best motivational speakers in the world are born in Amway.  I thank them for what they taught me.

One of the most important things I learned from them in Prospecting was to actually break down how much each:

--Phone call

--QI (quality interview)

--STP (show the plan)

Meant to me in real world dollars over my lifetime.  For this example I will use a "30-Years Approach" to show you how much each action you take is worth to you in your business.  Now, remember, this may be matching "apples" to "bananas" here, but the THRUST of my training and method to my madness today is that:

THERE IS A DISTINCT CORRELATION BETWEEN YOUR ACTIONS TODAY AND YOUR PAYCHECK OVER A 30 YEAR PERIOD.

In other words, I'm going to breakdown for you how much money each phone call and each presentation is worth to you over a 30 year period.  I used this training in my Amway days to "LOCK" people in and keep them "IN" when doubt and buyers remorse engulfed them.  It helped me when some guys wife was bugging him about all the money and time he was spending away from his family.

It helped me explain to the person who had never owned a business before about laying a foundation and take a long term approach to their business.  And, it just gave me and my entire downline COMFORT that our efforts today were not being made in VAIN, and that we were truly working for something that mattered in the future.

You see, INSTANT GRATIFICATION does not exist in Network Marketing.  Oh, sure there are those:

--Fast Start Bonuses

--Coding Bonuses

--Retail Bonuses

That can pay you MONEY now.  Instead, what I'm talking about is developing and reaping a walk-away residual income in Network Marketing.  Joe Schroeder says: Build a group of 500 active downline members and you can't stop them from buying even if you put a gun to their head.  Dale Calvert says: Build people and they will build the business.  John Merris says: People don't care what you know until they know how much you care.  I agree with all three of these Pioneers.

But all three of their philosophies aren't worth a wooden nickel unless someone like you and I get off our rears and contact someone day in and day out, until our dreams are realized.  Now, don't immediately right-out-of-the-gate try to prove or disprove these numbers.  That will drive you absolutely NUTS!  Instead, what I want you to do for a moment is to take off your skeptical "hat" for a change and really sink your teeth into what I'm about to show you.  Why?

Because these numbers weren't created out of "THIN AIR".  They were put together by people with 200,000+ or more in their downline.  They were put together by people who make $100,000 or more a MONTH.  Not a year.  But a month.  They were put together by people who had nothing better to do than sit around and analyze their downline and call reports from 20 years of work.

Now that I've laid the foundation, let's get to the meat of this:

HOW MUCH IS YOUR BUSINESS WORTH!

This is definitely a report that you want to print out and over with a cup coffee, a glass of merlot or a shot of crown and with your pen and calculator in hand.  Yes, study and dissect these numbers, it will do your soul good.  First here is a LEGEND for you to study: DD = Direct Distributor ($15,000 in volume a month), QI = Quality Invite (Where you get on the phone and are able to go over your script and invite someone to sit down for a brief overview of what you are doing), BI--Brief Interview (Where you sketch out a 2-5 year plan and explain the concept of wholesale distribution to your prospect in person, usually at a Denny's or at a Hotel 30 minutes before the "Plan".  The BI is effective because it is like an interview and weeds out people who are not qualified to be at the PLAN.  You can show 1 or more people a BI at the same time.  I normally showed 2-6 people at a time a BI at the Hotel meeting 30 minutes before the plan.  I didn't "mess around" with a lot of one-on-ones.  The POSTURE you get with 6 people at a table in the coffee shop is INCREDIBLE!  It's like all 6 of them are trying to outdo the other guy or gal and win my attention.  When I had 2 or more at a BI I always would sign them both up after the plan with a kit.  It made my job easier.  STP = Show The Plan (Stage 2 of the process.  You normally will do a BI first and then invite your prospect to an open meeting where someone who is a Direct or above would be showing the plan. 

With that in mind, here's the "Backstage" training only Directs and above get to know in Amway: How Many Phone Calls To Find a DD?  4 Phone calls = 1 QI,  2QI's = 1 person at the open meeting 4 people at the meeting = 1 person sponsored, 4 people sponsored = 1 DD 128 Phone Calls To Find A DD.  How Much Residual Income Is  A DD Worth Over 30 Years?

1 DD = $650 a month

1 DD/year = $650 month * 12 months = $7,800.00 a year

A lifetime of a DD = 30 years

1 DD/Lifetime = $7,800.00/year * 30 years = $234,000.00/Lifetime

How Much Is Each Activity Worth Over A 30-Year Period?

By Phone Calls: $234,000/128 phone calls to find a DD = $1,828.13 per phone call.

By QI's: 4 phone calls = 1 QI = $7,312.52 per QI.

By Each Person At An Open Meeting: 2 QI's = 1 at a meeting  =  $14,625.04 a person at an open meeting.

By Each Person Sponsored:  4 sponsored = 1 DD  =  $58,500.16 for each front line you sponsor. 

As you can see, by breaking down what each activity is worth to you over a 30 year period you quickly gain insight to why companies like Amway work so well when they don't have the lowest priced products and the highest pay plan.  They build people.  They educate people.  They get people to take action.

They don't run ads.  They don't do mailings.  They are STILL the largest Network Marketing company in the WORLD!  And, they will continue to be, unless some other company teaches their troops how to take "massive amounts of action" in the first 90 days of their business.  ACTION.

Tom Peters says: Anything worth DOING is worth doing POORLY.  Yes, action overcomes everything.  I QUIT my Amway business thousands of times in my head.  I RE-JOINED my Amway business every week at the Open meeting.  I RE-JOINED my Amway business every week at product pickup.  I RE-JOINED my Amway business every week when I popped in a new tape.  I RE-JOINED my Amway business every month at the trainings in Dallas.  I RE-JOINED my Amway business every 3 months at the Conventions.  I RE-JOINED my Amway business every day when I got up and had to go run a printing press! 

Amway gave me the confidence that what I was doing TODAY would pay off TOMORROW!  Amway taught me Delayed gratification.  And, they had 100's of speakers to back that fact up.  Everywhere I turned there was some Car Wash owner who took 7 years to be a Direct Distributor and he now makes $50k a month.  They not only taught delayed gratification, they had the muscle and documentation to back it up.  They showed me that I could do anything I put my mind and heart into.  They showed me how to "inspire" others to step out of their comfort zone and take action.  Does your opportunity?

See the difference.  Absorb these numbers, my friend.  Analyze them and compare them with your own opportunity.  Critique yourself.  Start realizing that if you take a "Social Security" attitude towards your program, you'll be successful.  In other words, give your program the same discipline and consistency and effort as you do at your job where a small percentage is contributed towards your retirement.

Why can't your Network Marketing opportunity be your own form of retirement?  It can.  No, you probably won't work 40 years at the same job.  But, you WILL still contribute a small amount to your Social Security account regardless of who you work for, now won't you?  Same goes with this industry.  You may not be with the same opportunity for 40 years.  You may have bounced around.  You may be "between" companies.  But, don't forget that your greatest asset is the relationship you build with those you come in contact with.

And, don't forget that unless you start taking MASSIVE action you'll never have a retirement check from your Network Marketing opportunity.  Realize that everytime you: Pick up the phone and dial a number, Invite someone to a meeting or conference call, Show the Plan (STP), Send an e-mail, Send a brochure, Mail a cassette, Mail a video or Talk to a co-worker.....You are making money.

You may not "see" it now, but you are, indeed making money.  Now, you may not see that money now, when you need and want it, but it will be there.  When I learned that you could put a dollar value to phone calls and showing presentations I got excited.  I was able to teach myself within the REAL WORLD teaching--trading dollars for hours.

At your job, if you went to work for 8 hours you expect to get paid for 8 hours.  If you didn't you'd probably quit, wouldn't you?  Well, that explains why so many people with such high hopes and expectations quit your downline.  They worked 8 hours and expected to be paid for 8 hours work.  Someone forgot to tell them that the money doesn't necessarily come every week.  Sometimes it takes months for it to show up. 

Start telling your downline that every time they make a call, they are getting paid.  Their money is just being "banked" by the MLM bean counters.  Put in your time and effort and this industry WILL reward you with your dreams.  It always has for me.