Who Said You Need to Have All the Answers?

Remember in school when you were afraid the teacher would call on you for the one question you didn’t know the answer to? A question would be posed and you’d look down at your desk and frantically pray, “No, no, no, please don’t call on me. Not for this one. Please no, not me.” It can be traumatizing to some kids, if they live in fear they’ll look stupid in front of their peers.

Some adults still live with that same fear. Network marketers are particularly vulnerable. What if someone asks you a question for which you don't have the answer?

Here's the thing, though: Who said, or where did you read that you need to have all the answers?  Even if you're a sponsor, team leader, Manager or Director, what is the worst that would happen if you uttered the words, "I’m not sure, but I will find out and get back to you?”

We’re mostly all adults in this business, at least according to our driver’s license. We’re at least the age of majority in our states. Yet some consultants confuse being an independent business owner with being in sixth grade. No one is going to laugh and point and call you mean names if you don’t know the answer to something. Rather, it will likely make you look more human and approachable when others see that it’s ok if you don’t have all the answers.

Starting a new business can be scary. There is a lot to learn. But it’s not nuclear science and the good thing about network marketing, is that there are no real emergencies. Meaning it’s not life and death and there is nothing so important an immediate answer is necessary. “I don’t know but I will find out” is a very good response. It shows your willingness to learn and to provide an accurate and timely response to the customer or downline member.

Network marketers who are too afraid to take risks will not go very far in this business.  Risks don’t need to be massive with extensive consequences. They could be as simple as stepping out of your comfort zone and taking a chance that you will be okay if someone asks you a question to which you do not immediately know the answer.

Interestingly, some networkers are perfectly fine telling their customers or team members that they don’t know the answer to something, but at all costs will avoid being in this situation with their peers. Some leaders who are very comfortable around most people will do everything within their power to not meet with fellow managers or directors for fear of not knowing something. That is just crazy because fellow peers don’t have any direct influence or impact on your business, so who cares if you know or don’t know something about these folks?

It sounds silly when you say it out loud, doesn’t it? I’d rather not put myself out there, talking with people because I might not know the answer to something and I don’t want to look stupid. If you are paralyzed with this feeling of not knowing an answer to something, consider what advice you might give your child if she came home and told you she wasn’t doing very well in school because she didn’t want to raise her hand to answer a question. She was too afraid she might get the answer wrong. Whatever advice you’d give your child on this subject, give it to yourself too. Then watch your business grow.

Wear Your Pajamas to Work!

April 16 is National Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day.  And yes, I'm sitting here in my PJ's and drinking a cup of coffee while I write this.  But it wasn't always that way.


When Mom passed away in 2000, Dad was in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease.  I knew he would not be able to take care of himself but no problem.  He had his pension and social security.  We would bring him to Arkansas and find him a nice assisted living facility that he could stay in close to us.  I will spare you the horror stories of nursing home care and assisted living facilities.  (Nothing like calling to see how your dad is and being told that he is missing!).  I'm sure there are wonderful facilities available - if you can pay for them.  But we felt we had no other choice but to care for him at home. And so my venture into the work-at-home world began.


I tried several different work at home "opportunities", until I finally found a legitimate business that let me work out of my home.  I went to work for one of the largest site selection and event planning companies in the world.  Everything was going well.  And then 9/11/2001 came and a recession and companies stopped having meetings. I continued in the business for a few more years.  But I was having to leave home - and my dad - more often to get business and even then I still wasn't getting the business I needed.  Meetings were still smaller and less frequent than when I started.  Except for one group of clients I had picked up by chance - the internet marketers.  Not only were they still having events, they were having more and more events all the time.  Then I was invited to attend one of these events by a client.  Curious to see what they were all about, I went.  And it was the decision that started everything and changed my life.


It was at the jvAlert event in Orlando that I met Ken McArthur and his friends.  And I discovered that contrary to what I thought, you don't have to be a business major to start a home business.  You don't have to be rich or super-smart or know all the "right" people.  All you have to be is determined and willing to work and willing to learn. And Ken and friends were willing to teach.  I learned all I could from them and took it back home.  And started making a better life for me and my family.  I stayed with the event planning company a while longer, but thanks to the marketing ideas I picked up from my new found friends, I didn't have to leave home as much.  I also rejoined a couple of those "opportunities" I had tried earlier - only this time I knew how to make them work.  I discovered affiliate marketing.  And I discovered there were a lot of people just like me that needed a way to bring in some extra money or actually make a living with a business of their own.  That's when I decided to show others how to do what I do.


Today, I am very involved in network marketing with a fabulous company called Ariix.  I love the network marketing industry - so much so that I have written a book about it that is scheduled to be published later this year!  Yes, I do have other ventures like coaching and Bob's store.  But my passion is for the network marketing industry because of its ability to help ordinary people change their lives.


So now I ask you.  Do you want the freedom to set your own schedule?  Do you want to be able to spend time making memories with your family before it's too late?  Do you want to wear your pajamas to work?  Then contact me.  Because the only thing I love more than building my network marketing business is helping you build yours!

Network Marketing Terms

When Noah Webster was creating his dictionary, I'm sure he never dreamed of word like these!  Some of the terms used in network marketing can be confusing to new team members.  Here’s a short glossary of some of the more common ones.

Autoresponder:  A program such as Aweber that responds to an e-mail or other inquiry without human intervention.

Business Builder:  A team member who is actively gathering customers and building his own team.

Circle of Influence:  Friends and family.  People who are close to you and considered part of your warm market.  People who might be easily influenced by you because of your reputation.

Depth:  The number of levels in your Network Marketing organization.

Downline:  The people recruited as distributors into a network marketing company.  

Duplicatability:  The extent to which a Network Marketing opportunity can be easily understood and implemented by new team members.

Renewal Fee:  A yearly fee paid to a Network Marketing company in order to maintain your status as a distributor.

Saturation:  The theoretical point at which a network marketing company runs out of potential customers and recruits.

Sponsor:  A distributor in a Network Marketing company who recruits and trains another distributor.

Three-way or Three-way call:  A recruiting call between a new recruit, his sponsor, and a new prospect.  When a new recruit needs has a new prospect, he will three-way his sponsor or another experienced upline member into the call.  The sponsor will do the business presentation and the recruit listens and learns.

Upline:  All of the people above you in a network marketing organization