I had some interesting comments on a thread on Facebook which inspired me to blog about this today.

I put the question out there, ‘what’s the biggest challenge in your business,’ and someone commented that it is finding people that possess leadership qualities.

That got me to thinking to when I started out in the business. Was I already a leader?

Surely if leaders are born then that must be the case. Hmmm well I had lots of jobs and always did quite well in them.

I was promoted to roles such as ‘Supervisor,’ so I suppose that makes for some leadership qualities but and this is a big BUT, there were quite a few supervisor types I’ve met along the way who just followed the company system but would never dream of starting up their own company.

They weren’t showing much in the way of leadership skills. To be a good Supervisor you need to be able to get on with people and to be able to take a little heat when things go wrong.

So is that leadership then? I’m not sure. It sounds more like being a good employee to me. What do you think?

In Network Marketing we talk a lot about leaders. ‘Looking for leaders,’ is the way we often approach our prospecting.

The thing is this. To be successful in Network Marketing you need to follow the ‘system.’ This means that even if you have amazing leadership skills you need to use them to inspire your people to follow a system that is already in place.

Let’s say you find a leader. He or she has huge influence and effortlessly enrols people into the organisation. If they are a typical leader the chances are that they will start to question everything immediately! With leadership often comes big ego.

Now you have a leader but also a headache. Lots of leaders don’t want to follow other people’s systems. They want to make their own.

Now if they are highly intelligent and have the skills to do so then they will learn the business and create their own system (which to be successful will anyway need to closely resemble the systems already working in the business!)

If they don’t take time to learn the business and try to create their own system then they will probably fail and say ‘this doesn’t work.’

So it seems to me that unless we’re talking about someone who already has a record of success in the business, we’re probably better to focus on prospecting people who have good people skills and have a desire to be independent but are willing to learn the system.

So don’t despair if you don’t know loads of ‘leaders,’ yet. As you become one you will attract more of them. It’s just the way it is. In the meantime focus on people who are ready to make a change and have some good energy and enthusiasm about them. In this business you also need to be a good follower and when you start you have no one to lead but yourself anyway!

Next time we’ll talk about why following a system is a must and why being a creative entrepreneur is not enough to be successful in Network Marketing no matter what you might be reading on the internet!

Check in with your comments below and let me know what you think.

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As more and more network marketers join us online the options they have for setting up their MLM business online are multiplying at the speed of light!

Today I’ll cover some of the advantages and drawbacks to the two main types of systems available so that those just setting up online can make an informed decision about how to go forward:

The Turnkey MLM system (Cookie-Cutter)

This is the most tempting on first look because it usually promises to do everything for you (soon it will be cooking your dinner!) I’ve bought into many a ‘system’ like this because it just seems so simple, and because I was lacking the skills I needed to set up my own customised system.

Benefits of the turnkey system:

Set up immediately for you so minimal effort from you (although of course you still need to market it!)

You can get into action quickly and not spend time setting up your website

Easy to get others in your downline set up also

May look very professional and impressive

Drawbacks:

It is owned by someone else who you may not even know so you have no control over it and no idea what the owner’s agenda is.

You could wake up tomorrow and find that the system is closing down, as has happened to me in the past.

Turnkey systems are available on a mass scale so before you know it – you are seeing thousands of identical sites all over the internet and all with an identical message.

The owner will no doubt be promoting their own MLM which is fair enough, so if you bring your team on board to use the system who knows where it may lead?

(There are some exceptions to this of course and you will need to do your due diligence)

The Customised MLM System ( My favourite)

Benefits of the customised MLM system:

You can create your own unique capture pages and websites which is much easier today than you may think.

You can set up customised sites for your team with their own branded capture page and auto-responder messages

You can make it available just to your team members if you want and of course you provide value and incentive to join you.

Your team members are empowered to own their own ‘list’ no matter what may happen with their MLM. (This builds security)

You can help them to get started immediately by providing this system thereby overcoming the usual technical issues and learning curve for newbies on the internet

Your team members can take it to the next level and create their own system or component parts if they wish to because that is what you’re teaching and empowering them to do with the customised system.

Therefore you can either join a working attraction marketing team using a system which is unique to your group, or you can create your own.

Drawbacks

Difficult to keep up with changing technology and training for your team members.

On a final note if you feel overwhelmed with all of this you are not alone! This is why the opportunity to establish yourself as a leader online has never been greater.

If you are fearful of creating your own system just remember that these skills are all learnable as long as you plug into a good training system and have patience with yourself as you learn.

The industry legends that are really well known for their ‘systems’ such as Randy Gage, (offline systems) Mike Dillard and Ann Sieg, (online systems) ruffled a lot of feathers when they began to preach their new message.

Do you think that when Randy Gage started branding himself with his ‘duplication’ message the leaders of the day all clapped their hands?

When Mike Dillard set up his systems did everyone say, ‘oh right okay let’s stop doing traditional MLM right now and follow Mike?’

And when Ann Sieg hit the big time… well we all know what happened there and she is still ruffling feathers now with her ‘anti old-school’ message and ’7 Lies.’.

So what’s my point?

Duplication is absolutely necessary to build your team but you can be the first one in your system if you want to be! There comes a time in MLM where you just have to say, ‘okay enough is enough. Now this is my time and I am going to be the leader and do things that make sense to me.’

For more details of what I recommend you provide to your team to be successful with attraction marketing check out this:

MLM Online System

After years of creating my own systems (and having all the headaches that go with it) I’ve finally found a system that is highly customisable for the advanced marketer but easy to set up and get started for the newbie online.

I’ve found that the level of training and technology required to market successfully online for MLM and provide websites for your team is just too complicated and time consuming to handle without a big web team and as this system is now completely generic it ticks all my boxes

Get more details and take your no risk trial here: MLM Online System

If you set up your system through this link I’ll be offering you free support so if you’ve got any questions just email or call me once you’ve signed up for more info.

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