Don't Be an MLM Tool

Hey all, I just returned from a trip to the amazing and beautiful country of Japan.

That's a picture of me, my wife and 2 daughters attempting to "blend" into Japanese culture. I don't think we were successful!

It was an incredible adventure and I highly recommend it for everyone.

There are many cultural differences between the US and Japan (though those differences continue to narrow).

One difference is that in Japan there is no tipping ... and yet they provide the best and most courteous service you'll ever experience anywhere. Where I come from you tip everyone for everything. But not in Japan. Still, they rush here and there to meet your every need ... with excellence.

In the cities we joined some group tours. But we also wanted to spend some time in the countryside and get a feel for how people live there. So during that part of our trip we hired a personal guide and also a private driver.

That was a very smart (but expensive) decision.

While I loved Tokyo, my favorite experience was in the beautiful countryside of Japan.

At one of our stops, which happened to be a tourist spot, I was looking all around for a place to deposit a napkin after eating my ice cream cone. But I couldn't find a trash can.

So I went to the men's room to find one. No trash can there either (no towels or hand dryers in them either by the way).

My guide noticed me searching around while holding the used napkin and she took it from me.

I asked her, "I haven't seen a public trash can anywhere since we left the airport. What's up with that?"

She informed me that they don't have public trash cans in Japan.

"How do they get rid of their trash?" I asked.

She told me they take it home to dispose of.

Amazing.

But you know what's even more amazing?

There is hardly any litter in Japan!

I told her of the contrast I had noted:

In Japan they have no public trash cans, not even in the restrooms, yet they have no litter!

Here in America, we have public trash cans everywhere you look, but the streets are still filled with litter!

In typical Japanese fashion she didn't say anything but just smiled humbly.

So why this ironic situation?

In the US we have the tools to dispose of the trash readily available, yet people don't make use of them as often as they should. The tools do not solve the problem.

In Japan, the tools for keeping the streets clean are not readily available, and yet despite that, the people keep their country clean as a whistle.

There's a parallel with MLM home businesses here.

Many people say the key to success is having the right tools.

I agree that tools are indeed very important. They make your job easier. However, there are still plenty of people in network marketing who have great tools provided by their upline or their company ... yet they don't make use of them.

So having the right tool is important, but there's something more important...

YOUR CHARACTER

When I refer to your "character," I mean your work ethic, taking action and following through on your business.

I see so many people join a new MLM company, be handed excellent training and fantastic marketing tools. They read a bit of the training ... but they never get around to actually following through on building their business.

And even the ones who do some work at first, rarely allow themselves the time to go through the normal learning curve of starting a new business. So you don't see them still working hard 6 months later. In fact they normally only take action for a month or two at most.

Sad.

And then they blame their upline .. or their company ... or anyone but themselves. And their life continues to be littered with failed opportunities.

The answer is simple. It lies in doing exactly the opposite.

The answer is to take individual responsibility, commit to your business for the long term, make a decision that you are going through the learning curve and that you will continue to make adjustments in your business and your behavior until you succeed.

So many people tell me, "network marketing is harder now than it used to be."

Bull cookies!

It's easier than it's ever been in the history of the world!

The truth on mlm is that there are many people who succeeded in multi-level marketing before we had the great technology available to us today. They're like the Japanese who keep their country clean without the convenience of the tools. They do it because it is a commitment they made and they are willing to go out of their way to make it happen.

With the incredible marketing tools we have access to now, success in MLM is much, much easier because these tools give us more leverage than we've ever had before.

... but you have to use them.

Here's one of my best MLM tips:

When it comes to marketing tools, I've found that the Internet is the greatest marketing tool I've ever used. There is a bit of a learning curve to it. If you're new to it, you can't use it to start sponsoring people your first week in the business.

But it's worth making a commitment to learn Internet marketing. An online mlm business will pay off for you big time!