Ebb and Flow of Network Marketing

"And so I say to you: ‘Ask, and you will receive; SEEK, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.'
"For everyone who asks will receive, and he who SEEKS will find, and the door will be opened to anyone who knocks."
- Luke 11: 9-10. [Good News Bible]

No matter how long you've been in this business, you will have experienced what I call the "Ebb and Flow of Network Marketing." It's simply the highs and lows you experience from dealing with people. We have all experienced it, even the top earners in the business.

See if this has happened to you. You've just made a great presentation to a prospect and, in spite of your being able to neutralize every objection they have put forward, they still don't sign up. You feel rejected, frustrated, and disappointed. You begin to wonder why you ever got into this business and what you're doing wrong. You go into a bit of a "funk," and start to feel sorry for yourself.

After a bit of a lull, you decide to try another presentation to another prospect. This time, they're ready to sign up almost before you open your mouth. You're on Cloud 9, you can move mountains, you are master of your domain!

What has happened? You've just experienced the "Ebb and Flow of Network Marketing."

Every MLM distributor goes through it. This emotional ebb and flow is often what stops many network marketers from achieving the financial freedom and security they desire. They let their emotions control how much work they put into the business, and a few "no's" cause their efforts to diminish. Consequently, their business grinds to a halt.

Successful networkers, however, adopt a posture of emotional equilibrium, not getting too "high" with each success or too "low" with each failure. In his CD series, "Key to the Vault" (which I highly recommend to any network marketer), Bob Schmidt tells the story of John Wooden, the legendary coach of the UCLA basketball program, who won 10 national championships in a 12-year span. Wooden wanted his players to achieve a level of emotional maturity, or equilibrium, regarding their performance on the court. He wanted his players to behave in such a way that, after a game, a locker room observer would not be able to tell whether the team had won or lost. Wooden stressed to his players that if they had simply gone out and done their best, the outcome was not the issue. Therefore, being high on victory or low on defeat never entered into the equation. That's what he meant by emotional equilibrium.

Remember the acronym S.E.E.K. - Seek Emotional Equilibrium Knowingly

Learn to control your emotions; don't let them control you. If a prospect's failure to sign up with you causes you to go into an emotional tailspin, you have lost control of the situation. Because your business depends on you, you are letting your prospect control your business. This is equally true for a prospect that does sign up. If you get too high on that success, and base you next actions on what the prospect has done, you have again let them take control of your business.

Don't let your mood, your emotional state, control your efforts. S.E.E.K., and you will find the path to achieving the success you desire.

Bruce Bailey, Ph.D.