Harnessing the Hidden Strength of Network Marketing

What does it really take to build a sustainable MLM business? This episode peels back the layers of network marketing to expose the pitfalls that many unsuspecting entrepreneurs face and presents a roadmap to enduring success. 

Discover the misunderstood world of multi-level marketing as Daphne cuts through the noise to reveal the hidden gems of this industry for mompreneurs. From personal anecdotes to actionable advice, you'll leave equipped with the knowledge to build a resilient network marketing venture with intent and vision at the forefront.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:13

Hey there, fellow mompreneurs, this is Daphne, your friend, your coach and your partner in this thing that we call mompreneurship. I'm just going to go ahead and kick this episode off with a quote, and I honestly don't remember where I read it. It's been years, but I've been saving it for just the right time and this episode is it. Here it goes. I make absolutely no apology for striving to be rich and for teaching and inspiring others to do the same. So let's make no mistake I think you deserve to be rich, I think you have a right to be rich. I think you provide enormous service to society by getting and being rich. So today I want to chat with you about a topic that's not just near and dear to my heart, but it still gets me fired up all these years later, and that's multi-level marketing, and some may call it network marketing or direct sales, but to me it's all kind of one in the same. But I feel like MLMs get such a bad rap, and I'm not one to get up on my high horse and without my sword and go to battle against those who have negative things to say about it. But I do want to give a few insights today as to why some people have better experiences with MLMs while others may not, which could most definitely put a bad taste into someone's mouth about the opportunity I could imagine. So where I'll start with is this when someone does a post on social media that I don't necessarily agree with, or it's just nothing of interest to me, I'm mature enough, I'm a big enough girl where I can just keep scrolling. I'm not one that ever has to say my side or waste my time by chiming in to something that's probably not even going to matter five minutes from now. But I do admit that there are two kinds of posts that really get under my skin. These types of posts make me want to get out my super fast Ninja Warrior fingers, get behind that keyboard or my phone as fast as I can and just comment with my two cents. I still don't. But these two types of posts, they get me super close to doing that. So let's talk about them.

Speaker 1: 2:29

The first post it's when people do a post and they're asking for a recommendation for a product, such as maybe a shampoo or a makeup, or even needing help losing weight. But immediately as soon as they're asking for help, in that same post they'll put but nothing from an MLM and I just kind of stop and I ask myself why, if I'm looking, if I'm personally looking for a referral on a product, the first place that I'm going to look for is someone who sells it via an MLM One. I want to support their business, but if you think about it MLMs they have to put out some pretty good products in order to stick around all these years. Their business model or business models, are based on either an affiliate or referral type program, no matter what you want to call the consultant or distributor, but if a product's bad or it doesn't work, people aren't going to refer it, they aren't going to sell it, they aren't going to buy it, they're not going to keep signing up for it. When I buy from an MLM, I get an advisor, I get my go-to person, there's a money back guarantee. There's communities with other people that are using the same products are doing the same thing.

Speaker 1: 3:47

Now, don't get me wrong. I am all for spending my money on the big guys too. I like my name brand shoes and my purses. But if you were to walk through my house and I think I even mentioned this on like episode one if you were to walk through my house or even sit in my car, you'll find so many things that come from an MLM, down to my kitchen tools, tupperware, candles, car sense, makeup, skincare, hair supplies, totes, carriers I mean the list goes on. So when I see those kinds of post, I just I just don't get it. And if it's because you had a bad rep in the past or don't want to be bothered with any extra sales pitches, etc. Just be honest with that person. I work with plenty of people that tell me that I don't need to check in with them, I don't need to follow up with them, that they know where I am if they need me. They don't want to be a part of any of my groups or my challenges. They're just simply loyal customers.

Speaker 1: 4:47

Then there's the second type of post, and this is my absolute favorite pet peeve post and I actually saw someone do this the other day, which obviously Sparked the need for me to record this episode. It's the post where someone is asking Do you know of any work from home jobs that aren't MLM? Now I don't know again if these people have just been burned in the past or have had a bad experience with MLMs, or Maybe they're a more common one is they're just naive. They only know what they know and if you've never been on the other side or part of an MLM, you don't know what that experience is like. And these people, when they do those posts, most of them are going off of what they've heard from somebody else in the past. They've heard that MLMs are pyramid schemes. They heard that their ants, neighbors, kids, teacher once signed up for something and never made any money with it.

Speaker 1: 5:54

But regardless, when I see these posts, yeah, it makes me angry because I'm so passionate about network marketing and I know firsthand what it's done for me and my family. But in addition to the anger, it makes me sad. And it makes me sad for two reasons. The first reason I'm that kind of makes me sad when I see these types of post is because, more than likely, that person will never be convinced otherwise the MLMs are bad and they'll never have the opportunity to experience a life different than most do. And the second thing that makes me sad is the part of the reason that people don't want to be with an MLM is they realize they can't just sit back and collect a paycheck.

Speaker 1: 6:40

Most people that work from home or you know for someone else. This is statistics. They actually don't put in a full day when they work at home. Most people that work for somebody else, working from home, at best put in Accumulative of a couple of hours of productive time a day and in a full day. Truly, there has to be a true discipline that's involved in order to be successful and make money. When you're starting from zero, when you're part of an MLM, you don't get a base pay. It is all commission based and a lot of people need that security of having something consistent come in. But if they only knew the unlimited possibilities that they're missing out on by not even ever giving it a chance.

Speaker 1: 7:34

One of my favorite phrases that I've been throwing out the last few years is this ain't your mama's network marketing business. Because our industry has changed and evolved so much over the years and the number of working moms that have entered into the MLM workforce it's quadrupled in the last couple of decades. A Lot more moms women are doing MLMs, either part-time or full-time, as An opportunity to have more time with their families while still being able to bring in an income. Let me share with you a couple of pretty eye-opening facts about our industry 10 and a half million people globally Work in the network marketing field as our full-time job. 10 and a half million people do network marketing full time. In addition to that, 43 million people Consider it a side gig where they earn some additional money. 40.2 billion dollars in direct sales made the United States the global leader in the MLM industry. That's insane, 40.2 billion dollars in direct sales. 75% of direct selling participants in the US are women. That's no surprise, and 75% of the women that participate in an MLM have no experience in prior MLMs or even a commission-based sales job. 75% of these women are starting off with no experience, no direction, no background, no clue what to do, and they're doing it still. Network marketing accounts for 20% of all millionaires globally.

Speaker 1: 9:40

Now I understand that network marketing wasn't the dream, but neither was the struggle. When did living paycheck to paycheck, being behind on bills, not affording vacations or the little extra things, or needing to post on Facebook asking who's hiring? When did that become the ideal over creating a life for you and your family that most people can't even visualize? When an individual is reluctant to take the necessary actions that are required to live a richer, fuller life, it's an indication that their own current comfort. Excuse me, let me repeat that when an individual is reluctant to take the necessary actions that are required to live a richer, fuller life, it's an indication that they own their current comfort more than they own their future. I wanted to make sure that came across clearly. So they have two choices One, they lower their expectations in life, because greatness isn't just going to happen to them. Or, two, they find the courage and the discipline to execute and they decide to become the person that they need to be in order to get to the next step.

Speaker 1: 11:01

One of the biggest reasons that I feel that more people are not more successful when they join a multi-level marketing organization and maybe this is where you might be struggling too, if you're in the business, but I truly believe it's the lack of sustainability. Either they don't sign up for sustainability or they don't build their business for sustainability. So let me explain the difference between these two, and then we're going to review our professional vision, and then I'm going to share with you five things that you need to take action on today to begin creating sustainability in your business. Are you ready? Okay, so the first thing that I mentioned is that people don't sign up for sustainability, and the majority of you might agree with me on this one.

Speaker 1: 11:55

People typically sign up with an MLM because their friend is doing it. Maybe they wanted to help their friend out, or they like the products that the MLM offered, so they signed up to mainly receive the discount. They weren't thinking in the future of building a business and making a business out of this. They didn't start off already having sustainability as part of their plan? It sounds familiar, right? We're not signing up on day one thinking about building our empire Now it can quickly be installed in us. Like you know from our upline conversations or the more that we kind of get into the trenches and learn about the organization.

Speaker 1: 12:36

But for the most part, sustainability was not part of the initial plan. Now, unless someone has a great passion for the products and a desire to be successful with the company, chances are they aren't going to do the necessary steps to create a sustainable, long term profitable business. So if you signed up to get a discount on your favorite lipstick brand but you don't see yourself five or 10 years from now still loving that lipstick or putting all the work and the effort into showing people how amazing that this lipstick is, you're just going to linger. You're going to stay in that fuzzy area of maybe making a few bucks here and there, but nothing substantial, and then when your friend quits or they discontinue your favorite shade of lipstick that has kept you a customer for so long, you'll start to slip away into the darkness too. So the second part of lacking sustainability so I mentioned the first one is people don't plan to be sustainable. You know they're signing up for a quick little fix, something like that. This wasn't the long-term plan.

Speaker 1: 13:48

So the second part of lacking sustainability is there are people who don't build their business for sustainability and long-term success. They build for popularity, and I've seen it happen in this industry numerous times and it's what they we call, I guess you could say, the one-hit wonders. They get really hot in the business quickly. They're the next new thing and then the next thing, you know, they have a business that has fizzled out. Maybe they tried to just build with all of their friends and so they had a business that from the outside, looked good. Or maybe they were putting too much of their own money in to reach company or rank goals, which is not good business practices or ethics. So, like I mentioned, they had a business that looked glamorous on the outside but behind the scenes they're barely keeping it together. They were chasing their ranks. They were chasing their recognition, which there's nothing wrong with that when you're achieving it the right way, but not by juggling your business or trying to bribe your sister to buy something under her cat's name. Now, I know you just laughed at that because if you're a network marketing, tell me you have not done that.

Speaker 1: 15:01

Too often we go after the immediate gratification. We wanna bring pleasures to ourselves as quickly and often as we can we try to avoid the pain of the hard work that's required to grow those deep roots of our business. And if you're just here to have some short-term fun, that's great. But if you're here, if you're part of network marketing for the long haul, stop trying to make your business look good to other people. It gets exhausting really fast, always trying to keep trending at the top.

Speaker 1: 15:34

And, I'll be honest, there were many times I was frustrated and, I'll even say it, a little jealous of some of the success that other people around me were having. To me it felt like I was working so hard and oftentimes smarter, and pouring into my business only to see other teams and team members just shooting up the ladders of success in the company, wearing the matching colored dresses at the recognition events. You know they're laughing it up in all their photos. It often left me feeling alone and wondering what was I doing wrong in my business. But my husband kept reminding me and reassuring me slow and steady wins the race. And although this business is not a race by any means, the metaphor is that in order to win, you need to keep your head down, you need to be consistent and, just like the compound effect shows, your business will build. I would rather it take me twice as long to get to the top than to go so fast that I crash and burn, and that's unfortunately what happens to some people. And that's when you start to see the posts or the videos of people going. This is why I left my network marketing business and now I'm over here at this company. So follow me and now buy all the new products that I'm promoting. My husband has a saying. It says you take you with you. So no matter what company you're with, if you continue with the same methods and building processes and lack sustainability, you're just gonna keep jumping from one thing to the next.

Speaker 1: 17:15

Truth be told, I don't watch a lot of TV a lot of my free time, and the actual way that I enjoy to spend my time is by working. I have my hands in so many different things so I'm never without something to do, but there are a couple of TV shows that over the years that I admit that I have been sucked into and thoroughly enjoyed. The first one is pretty much any and all type of cooking shows, and I really do think that one it helps me with my creativity and my meals. But two I really feel it helped me build the confidence that I needed to launch my coffee shop a few years back and to this day my husband and I will. Anytime that we're boiling any water we'll look at each other and we'll say did you salt the water, chef? If you know, you know right, if you know what show that that's from. But it's still. It's just one of our little inside jokes.

Speaker 1: 18:09

But in addition to cooking shows, the other show that I used to love to watch was a show called Bar Rescue and it was about this guy. His name was John Taffer and he would go into various bars and over the course of like less than a week he would redo them I mean, from the aesthetics to training the bartender staff, the kitchen staff. I mean it's rebranded, remodeled, it's just incredible right, and at the end of the show they produce this like incredible makeover, like even the people that own the bar don't even see it until they're revealing at the end it's a pretty cool show. These are bars, though, that were at their breaking point. These were bars that had invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into their businesses and that were losing thousands of dollars a month. The show really was their last-ditch effort to try to have any type of opportunity at keeping their doors open. These were bars that this makeover was their make or break, because the reality is only one in 6500 bars annually actually stay in business. One, one in 6500 bars actually stay in business.

Speaker 1: 19:39

And, just like me, opening up a coffee shop in a small town, not everything is a sustainable business, but what we have this opportunity and network marketing it can be a sustainable business. I've been partnered with Body for 13 years, and the last couple of years I've had to back off not 100%, but I was putting together some new courses for entrepreneurs. I opened the coffee shop. We bought a church bus and converted it over to a coffee bus. We bought some rental properties. I mean, these last two, three years have been when I say go, go, go. They truly have been nonstop, and so I've not been as present in my fitness business in the last couple of years as I was all the years prior.

Speaker 1: 20:25

But guess what? Hubby was right, slow and steady created sustainability. Now, did my business drop some these last couple of years? Sure, of course it did. But also keep in mind that COVID also happened, but to me it just meant that it was time for my business to get a good cleansing and wash out what wasn't working and who wasn't going to be a part of it in order for me to move forward. Overall these past few months, I've been able to step right back in to where I left off just a good few years ago, and a huge eye opener to me, showing that I had created, that I've created this sustainable business all these years, was just a couple of months ago, towards the end of 2023. I sat down and I just wanted to run, you know, my customer report, reach out to some people that maybe I hadn't been in contact with for a while and just kind of really get a good glimpse of where my business was and where I was kind of starting off the new year at right, and, amazingly, the systems and the structures that I had created those years prior carried me all the way through here years ago.

Speaker 1: 21:43

All those times I was frustrated that I was, you know, building this business, for not, it was getting me prepared for this exact time in my life when I needed to take a step back. It was for this time in my life when I needed to put my energy into different priorities. This business literally just keeps paying out in more ways than one. So I'll say it again build a business that is sustainable, not just popular. So how do you do that? Well, I'm going to tell you right now. The first thing that I want you to do is I want you to review your professional vision, which means I want you to ask yourself these five things why was this business important to you? What would achieving your goals provide for your family? What would it enable? If you reached your goal, what percentage of ownership are you taking and what percentage of emotional connection do you have? Then the next thing that I want you to do is I need you to take action with these five things. So the first thing was I wanted you to ask yourself five things to review your professional vision, and then the next step is you need to take action on these five things. And these five things are share what you do. The second thing is do what you do Like, truly practice what you preach.

Speaker 1: 23:14

Number three grow who you are. Fill your head with personal development every day. You can focus on your business all you want, but if you don't focus on yourself, your business will not go anywhere. You set the energy for what you receive, so show your network that you're doing it. Number four decide to show up every day. And number five surround yourself with people who understand and respect your time and behave accordingly. If you want people to take you and your MLM seriously, then show them that you're serious. God's gift to us is potential. Our gift back is what we do with it. So what if people don't understand what an MLM is or why you joined it? Don't allow those people to hurt your feelings. They aren't the ones that you're gonna want to attract anyway. Deciding to become an entrepreneur is making the commitment to have the courage to affect the people around you. That's gonna define your success when what you do, what you offer, what you have, gives you the ability to help change someone's life. That's true sustainability.

Speaker 1: 24:34

As I mentioned earlier, maybe the reason those people put in their post no MLMs is because they understand the work that is required. You have to be a self-starter, regardless of what's available to you or who your upline is. You have to make yourself available to learn and grow, because it is hard work. There's been many times that I've questioned is this for me? Years ago, someone asked me how I kept going through all the challenges that comes with being a part of network marketing, down to team members going inactive, missing bonuses or ranks by just the bare minimums, people constantly ghosting on you or people always giving a negative impression of who you are, all because of what you do or what you're a part of. And the best answer that I could give for what was keeping me going was because I couldn't imagine the what if, if I were to stop. I didn't want to look back years later wondering what I could have accomplished, what I could have built up, the experiences that I could have given to my family, the places I could have traveled, the people that I would have missed out on meeting.

Speaker 1: 25:52

You have everything to make it happen. Make the mental decision that you're an entrepreneur and that you're proud to be part of the network marketing world. Don't chase the accolades and the recognition. Don't try and be the best, the fastest, the topist earner or the biggest cheese. Just try to be the best you that you can be, every single day, for you, your family and your business. Always be learning, always be growing. Keep investing in yourself and your business and your future. This is the most amazing thing about MLMs is that the door of opportunity is right in front of you. It's up to you to turn the knob, swing that door wide open and walk right through, making no apologies for it.

Speaker 1: 26:44

Okay, as we're wrapping up, I just want to give you a quick reminder that my vision board workshop is still free until January the 31st. So maybe you are in network marketing and you're struggling with your business. Maybe you have heard of the possibilities that can be when joining network marketing and you might want to put that on your vision board. Whatever your goals are for 2024 personal goals, business goals, health goals the vision board workshop is going to be your tool, your resource, in order to achieve them. So be sure to hop over to my website, daffinywaltercom, click on programs and check it out. As always, you guys, thank you for spending your time with me today. I appreciate it so much and I will talk to you later.