Why you need to become an expert to make big money in MLM

It’s the dirtiest little secret in home-based businesses. When I learned it, I could hardly believe what I was hearing.

I remember it like it was yesterday.

It was several years ago when I was in not my first, not my second, but my third network marketing business and I was extremely frustrated with how not so good things were going.

What was even worse was that my experiences had started to become something of a broken record. He had experienced this feeling every time he had been.

Worse still was that when I looked back on my home business career, this feeling of frustration had dominated my entire experience. I had literally spent the MOST of my time as a network marketer feeling this way about my home-based business.

I was at the tipping point and vowed never to do this type of business again.

During my frustration, I would stare with anguish, pain, and envy at the superstars in my company. What did they have that I didn’t?

I was especially burned by those who had joined the company after I did and seemed to just rise to the top of the compensation plan as if it was their birthright.

I wanted that same success so I could make a name for myself and use it to generate more opportunities and income for the business empire I so wanted to build.

I remember venting about these frustrations when a close friend and home-based business co-owner, Kim Rhodes, blurted out, “You got it backwards. Those people FIRST made a name for themselves, then used their names to build that.” success”.

I felt as if my breath had been stolen.

Before I knew it, Kim continued…”You don’t come out of nowhere and build a great MLM business without a track record to back it up. Everyone wants to work with someone who is already a leader, not risk their success by working with someone trying to become one. Build a following FIRST, then the business will build itself over time.”

It was like losing a multiplication question on the SAT. How could I have missed something so obvious?

Maybe it was the way new network marketers are often trained… All you have to do is believe in yourself and continue to show the plan and you will be rich!

What they don’t tell you is that the people who really get rich don’t just believe in themselves and show the plan, they have something to back them up, usually something they’ve already paid for, like high social status. A-list status, experience, or warm market, that helps them build much faster because their prospects have full faith that these people can help them succeed.

So by the time they “make it big in MLM”, these people have truly earned it and therefore deserve it.

Whether they’ve built a great organization at another company that they’re now bringing into the new company, they’ve spent years becoming a doctor to earn people’s respect, or they’ve run a successful traditional business and spent the last 10 to 20 years building a powerful and warm associate list market.

So how can you do the same?

Well, one of the best ways to create a name for yourself that will help you grow your business is to brand yourself as an expert. It may be in the field of study in which your company’s product is found, or in the science of building a business itself.

Whatever it is, your business will grow faster once you become someone who is already documented in training others for success.

There are two main ways you can brand yourself as an expert so you can attract more (and better!) prospects to you and your business.

The first is to become an expert on your product or service. This works best if you have some kind of experience in that industry.

The most common backgrounds that can add credibility to your “expert” status are education and business. An example would be someone who had a law degree and was in her home-based business selling legal services. Another would be someone who was a weight loss coach who is also building a home-based business marketing weight loss products.

These are the best scenarios, but not the only options by far. The most popular way to brand yourself as an expert in recent times is to start a blog.

The great thing about a blog is that over time, your content and posts are what give you credibility, so you can build a background for yourself, regardless of your education or any outside companies.

A more traditional way to build credibility for yourself is to write a book. Many legendary MLM leaders (such as “Big Al” Tom Schreiter and Mark Yarnell) used to take this route in the days before the internet made it possible for every day Joe and Joan with very little money or no business to brand themselves.

I suggest using several different methods; in fact, create a combination of the entire arsenal that is available to you.

Other tools like YouTube, Twitter, and better yet, your OWN related products and services to promote (outside of your MLM) make an even stronger case for your credibility.

The other main route that can be taken is the “how to build an MLM business” route.

You have several options here. If you’ve had some success, then the best thing to do is start writing about the golden nuggets of wisdom you’ve gleaned (in a newsletter, blog, or both) and, if possible, even create your own products ( ebook, sound, etc)

If you haven’t been very successful yet, all is not loss. You can build on the success of a bigger name like Mike Dillard or Ann Sieg, promote THEIR products as an affiliate, and then add some of your own content with your custom twist on the basics.

No matter how you slice it, you simply need to start building a case for why people should follow YOU to success if you really want great success in the home-based business arena.