One of the things I like to buy for myself is the Mary Kay Men's Facial Bar. It works and does what it says. One bar will last three months assuming you are using it once or twice a day a day on your face and neck. It's a fabulous product to have especially when clean skin can mean the difference between life and death for you face. (There's a story behind that which I will tell at some other time.)
The hardest thing to find at times is to find a reputable Mary Kay representative that will stay in business long enough to have repeat order from the same person. I am lucky now as I have found someone in my area that has and plans to be around for a while. More often than not I have found that many give up the business after a few weeks or months. It's sad but true. Not many can handle direct sales. Whatever the reason, whether it be losing all you friends or being disappointed with your sales numbers, it is easy to give up.
Lord knows I have.
I am no stranger to giving up. It's hard to have staying power in network marketing when you're being taunted and teased. You give up quickly when people run away form you because you are trying to "sell" them your products or opportunity. You give up when you're met with the pyramid objection. You give up when your family calls you a loser behind your back to everyone else. You give up when people say that they have never heard of your products and probably never use them. You give up when they tell you that they need to check with their doctor and never do that. You give up when people give you the ultimate question, "If you're product is so great then why can't I find it in stores?"
If all the great MLM products were in stores, by the way, would that really give them a competitive edge? I'm not sure about that.
Once I tried to sell vacuum cleaners in 1997. The distributorship had marketing 'system' that involved getting leads door-to-door instead of trying to get you foot in the door and spill dirt on someones carpet. Getting the leads worked and when I would do the carpet shampoo demo it worked. However, only two or three out of ten to twelve appointments would buy. Most of those told me to get out before I could finish my pitch. It sucked. To make matters worse they had me make a list of friends and family to 'practice' on first.
When it came time to practice with Aunt Gracie and Uncle Walter they almost bought. The lack of funds stopped them from buying. This came back to haunt me though. In 2002 shortly before her death I went to visit her in the nursing home. Alzheimer's had taken her brain to the point where she did not recognize her children and grandchildren. Long time memories were lost and gone forever. When it came to me she did not hesitate. She recognized me right away and proceeded to say, "I can't believe you tried to sell me a Kirby, you son of a b****!" Even though it has been five years, my sales presentation stuck in her mind well past the Alzheimer's that was slowly disintegrating her brain.
I left feeling about an inch tall. The next time I saw her she was in a casket for her funeral. Honestly, I am glad that her thoughts about me were buried with her.
What do we do in the meantime though? We obviously know that our products work. Our uplines and crosslines are making money. There are people who believe in the products as customers and consistently use them. You know there are people out there who want to make an additional income from home.
Outside of listening to your upline my suggestion is to read and study any and all material related to network marketing. Understand and know not every is going to get it right away, if at all, and your job is to find the ones who do. I take a lot of comfort in Tom "Big Al" Schreiter's books and CDs especially his stuff on first sentences and ice breakers. (Go to www.bigalbooks.com. I promise I get nothing for this and they are all an easy read.)
Most of all, don't give up. You are only a breakthrough away form living your dreams.
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