Every day I get lots of mail from women who are just starting out in their first network marketing business who are looking for training tools and other resources that can help them learn how to successfully launch their new venture. When I started (more years ago that I like to count), the resources were very slim and most people took their basic training in the MLM school of hard knocks. Without a savvy sponsor with a good training system you were destined for a lot of difficult times ahead.

How things have changed since then! Newcomers in the 90’s have it a lot easier -- they can pick and choose from a wide variety of books, tapes, and publications available to help guide them smoothly through their startup phase and beyond.

So here’s a list of a few of my favorite business building resources for women (and men) that I wish I’d had in my backpack when I started. And the really good news is that all of these training tools are affordably priced to fit into even the smallest business budget.

My all-time favorite MLM training book is Venus Andrecht’s, MLM Magic, How an Ordinary Person Can Build an Extra-Ordinary Networking Business from Scratch and its accompanying workbook. This book is not only fun to read, it details the author’s own success secrets which she used to build a $100,000 MLM business in a year. This is recommended reading for anyone who seriously wants to build their own successful MLM business and offers a distinctively female view of how to do it. Venus covers goal setting, recruiting, prospecting, and downline support and gives you the real scoop on what it “really” takes to build a profitable MLM business. The book and workbook are available through Venus’ publishing company, Ransom Hill Press, 1-800-423-0620. Ask for a copy of their new catalog when you call -- it offers all of Venus’s books and lots of other good stuff too.

A newsletter that is an excellent source of creative ideas and approaches for small business owners is Barbara Winter’s bimonthly Winning Ways, the unabashedly positive newsletter for self-bossers. Each issue is always a delight to read. Winning Ways, P.O. Box 39412, Minneapolis, MN 55439, 6 issues, $31. Barbara is also the author of the popular bestseller, “How to Make Money Without A Job”. This is a fantastic book for aspiring entrepreneurs and is available at your local bookstore. Although its focus is not on MLM, it offers lots of advice for the entrepreneurial newcomer and the challenges they face.

The Network Trainer is one of my favorite publications and its focus as its name suggests is on MLM training. This bimonthly magazine offers articles by many of the top MLM recruiters and trainers in the business. Each issue also includes Big Al’s Recruiting Newsletter, which offers great tips on how to build a successful business as well as lots of other good training books and tapes. For more information about their publication just visit their site on the web at: http://www.tntmag.com

And finally, if you really want to get off to a rocket fast start you should get your hands on the MLM Success Library. The library consists of five books and five tapes at a super 50% discount and includes books by Tom Schreiter of Big Al fame, along with MLM greats Randy Ward and Don Faila, plus a lot more. For more details on the Library click here.

These resources only scratch the surface of the incredible amount of information available to new MLMer’s today. I could easily list at least 50 more if I had room. But if you want to start smart and avoid a lot of the headaches and challenges that MLM newcomers face, you can’t go wrong with this short list of my favorites.

Being a married entrepreneur has its downside. If your business falters, you risk not only your well-being, but the stability of your family.

You’re forced to juggle multiple conflicting demands on your time and you may have to placate your spouse when you are absent from home too often.

Urgent family needs draw energy and resources away from your business. Sometimes, you wish you had only you to answer to. At least then, if the chips fall, you’re the only one who suffers. If you are happily married and self-employed, more often, resentment about being accountable to your family takes a back seat to the gratitude you feel for your spouse’s support. My husband Stephen works a corporate job that pulls in benefits and a regular paycheck, allowing us, with four children to support, to handle my irregular income. This column doesn’t leave the house without passing by my husband’s editing eye. When coaching a small-business owner, I’ll often ask for Stephen’s financial expertise.

When I travel from home, it’s my husband who changes diapers, gets the kids off to daycare, and reads them bedtime stories. On one of my infrequent “quitting days,” my husband is often the one to help me rebound. Though I am a sole proprietor, my husband is really a partner in my business.

Too often, the spouse of an entrepreneur is an unsung hero, tolerating the difficulties of self-employment without hearing praise from customers, or experiencing the satisfaction of meaningful work. In my book, “Honey, I Want to Start my Own Business”, a woman complains about spending her days filing in a basement with two toddlers underfoot, while her husband enjoyed lunches out with clients and doing creative work. Her resentment was compounded by a husband who neglected to thank her for her daily efforts.

Resist taking your spouse for granted. Here are six creative ways to acknowledge your spouse’s contribution to your business success:

1) Say Thank-You! Send a bouquet of flowers, or a mail order gift with a card that says, “Thank-you for your help - I couldn’t have done this without you.”

2) Go Public! Tell your customers or clients about your spouse’s contribution - with your spouse in the room. Throw a party in honor of your spouse and invite your clients and customers.

3) Give them a break! Surprise your spouse with a mini-vacation. Do they take care of your children? Hire a babysitter for a day. Do they help you in your business part-time? Give them the day off and schedule them for a massage or a ball-game instead.

4) Share your success! Bring home your financials and show your spouse exactly how their effort contributes to your sales. Cut them a check from your profits and encourage them to spend it on themselves. Tell them your favorite customer success story and point out how they helped make it possible.

5) Romance! Create a romantic evening or weekend for the two of you. You don’t even have to spend any money - leave them an affectionate note on their pillow or on their dashboard. And remember - hugs are free and take only a moment.

6) Nominate your spouse for a national award! I have created a NEW national holiday, “Acknowledge your Supportive Spouse Week”, celebrated the first week of May, 1997. Write to me at P.O. Box 209, Bausman, PA 17504, with an SASE addressed to your spouse and a one-two page description of how your spouse (or intimate life-partner) has supported your entrepreneurial dreams. Your husband or wife will be eligible for valuable prizes, and will be touched by your public acknowledgement of their contribution. Deadline: May 15, 1997.

Even the most supportive of spouses will grow unsupportive over time if you neglect the basics of recognizing their partnership in your venture. Perhaps Mother Teresa doesn’t need to be thanked for her work. But most of us regular human beings thrive when we know we are appreciated, loved, and acknowledged.

Pick up the phone and call your spouse - A loving marriage can never have too many thank-you’s.

Azriela Jaffe, author of “Honey, I Want to Start my Own Business, A Planning Guide for Couples” (HarperBusiness ‘96), self-syndicated column, “Advice from A-Z, Family Matters for Entrepreneurs”, and free online newsletters, “Entrepreneurial Couples Success Letter” and “The Best Ideas in Business.” Founder of The Critical Link, P.O. Box 209, Bausman, PA 17504, phone (717) 872-1890, fax (717) 872-0963, email jaffe@lancnews.infi.net or AzJaffe@aol.com. Website www.isquare.com/crlink.htm

In the good old days of MLM, the prevailing advice for getting a newcomer off to fast start in their brand new, shiny business was this:

Get a piece of paper and a pen and write down everyone you know — don’t prejudge, just write down all the names of all the people you know — your family, all your friends, relatives, high school teachers, dentist, doctor, your kid’s teachers, your lawyer etc. Don’t stop until you have at least 200 names.

If you asked why you were doing this (as if you hadn’t guessed already!), your new sponsor just asked you to relax and follow the process. Once your list was complete you were told the good news — that you were going to contact everyone on this list (your warm market) and offer them your fantastic opportunity — one by one.

What do you think happened next? — the brave ones actually did contact at least 5 people on their warm market list, but after 5 no’s and lots of rejection — they were beginning to wonder what they had got themselves into and if this was really the business for them.

Now, I know that many people still like to use this system of prospecting, but I think that it is the WORST possible way to introduce an MLM newcomer to this business. Why? These so-called warm market prospects: family, friends and business associates are actually the hardest sell of all for an MLM newbie. These people already have a pre-conceived idea of who you are and they are often skeptical and negative when approached in this manner. They did not solicit this attention from you and the most common response you will get from a lot of people is the dreaded question: “Is this one of those pyramid things?”

I think a kinder and gentler approach is to teach your new recruits how to prospect to people who actually are looking for a business opportunity and let them practice their techniques on these strangers (cold market) before they tackle the really tough warm market.

In the past the warm market method was used by most experienced MLMer’s because it was a holdover from other sales professions (insurance, investments, etc.) and was a sales technique that had worked well for them. And it does work, if you are an experienced sales person or if your sponsor is an experienced sales person and is willing to help you do two on ones or three ways calls with your prospects. But how many sponsors really are capable of doing this for their new people?

The sad truth is that this technique fails for the average person 9 out of 10 times and leaves them with a very unfavorable impression of the MLM industry. In the 90’s we have lots of other proven sales techniques that work well and have no personal rejection associated with them — what with the various leads programs, direct mail, audio and video tapes, the Internet and a host of other marketing tools available at a reasonable cost.

So do your new recruits a favor and teach them to get warmed up by marketing to the cold market first and go after the ice cold warm market later!

How many times are you willing to hear “NO” in order to achieve the level of success you are aiming for?

Before you answer that question, realize that even the top earners in our industry fail 80-90% of the time!

Did you know that Colonel Harlan Sanders (of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame) was “rejected” 1,009 times before he heard his first ‘yes’ when trying to sell his unique chicken recipe? Do you think he would have been willing to hear “NO” 1,010 times?

Did you know that Walt Disney was turned down 302 times before he was able to secure the financing to build the dream park he envisioned when standing in the middle of a California orange grove?

It’s true what they say about every “No” bringing you one step closer to your first “YES”!

Learn from your mistakes and move on. Figure out what you could have done better in your prospecting efforts or product presentation, and make the changes. Tony Robbins has a saying that has helped him through the years:

“Success is the result of good judgment. Good judgment is the result of experience, and Experience is often the result of bad judgment!"

So, use the “rejections” and the “objections” to fuel your determination. Realize that you’re getting some GREAT experience, which will ultimately lead you to the success you’re seeking!

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

You can “play” with each “No” you get. Calculate your plans like this:

- Decide where you want to be in six months...a year.

- Determine what you will need to do to get there.

If you want to recruit 1 new distributor a day - then make sure you are contacting at least 20 people each day. If you want to sell 10 bottles of product per week, contact 150 potential customers that week. You’ll get a “yes” or two in there. Be FLEXIBLE in your approach. Notice what is working and what isn’t. Get rid of what’s not working and do more of what is. You’ll start getting fewer “no’s.”

Don’t try to ‘convince’ people. It is a waste of your valuable time (like the old Mark Twain saying about teaching pigs to dance. You’ll just frustrate yourself and annoy the pig.) Go after the people that CAN see the need for your product or WANT to become a part of your exciting business.

DON’T GIVE UP!

As long as you follow this one simple rule - you will guarantee your own success. In the end, it’s the one who keeps going the longest that wins the dance marathon. If Colonel Sanders could approach one more person (at age 60!), then so can you.

“I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.” - Thomas Edison

This article is an excerpt from “Network Marketing Tip of the Day” a new online service, started in February 1997 by two proud and experienced advocates of the Network Marketing industry, Kelly Kalcheim and Gina Rea. Subscribers to Network Marketing Today receive daily tips via e- mail each business day on recruiting, marketing, getting and staying organized, compensation plans, taking full advantage of online technologies, strengthening customer and distributor relations, training, and “Keys to Success” in the industry.

Kelly, a former executive with MGM Studios, and Gina Rea, Small Business Owner, have a combined total of over 20 years experience in the network marketing industry and are co-authors of the soon-to-be-released “SuccessKeys: The Ultimate Guide to Network Marketing.” If you would like to sample a FREE one-week trial subscription to Network Marketing Today, send an email with the following information:

TO: NMTOTD@getback.hartley.on.ca

SUBJECT: SUBSCRIBE TIPS

BODY: DEPT MLMWOMAN

Copyright © 1997 Kalcheim & Associates. All rights reserved. PO Box 51214, Riverside, CA 92517-2214; (909) 680-9515.