Would you rather have one leader or 100 distributors? Building network marketing leaders is better than building distributors if you’re looking for that elusive thing called residual income.
distributors against leaders
A distributor is a person who joins network marketing and who will always need him to serve and help him. The main point about a distributor is that they come and go. There is no long-term commitment. It’s best to realize early on that a distributor will eventually quit. It’s okay to have distributors in your organization as long as you’re aware of the distinction.
There are many reasons why a person would choose to be a distributor rather than a leader. Some of them are:
- Save money on the product
- Have a feeling of belonging
- personally develop
- You want some quick money
Knowing that distributors are temporary, you’ll want to spend only 10% to 20% of your time with them. You want to help them achieve their goals, and you don’t want to spend too much time and energy on them.
To build your organization and create residual income, you’ll want to find and cultivate Leaders. Leaders are the real deal. Leaders are committed to you, and more importantly, they are committed to building their own organization. The leaders will stay for a long time. Leaders have the “long-term” mindset, which is what it takes to build a business.
When you focus on leaders, you will do your business differently and that means you will think differently. You will do the activities that will support and make your leaders successful.
The skills and techniques that you teach your distributors, such as product knowledge, how to place an ad, how to track ads, and all the skills they need to be good distributors, are very important. But you should know that this will only take you so far. You will do more with those who are leaders. Your mindset will be different.
How will your mindset be different? Here is an example. Let’s say a member of your organization has a meeting at his home and expects a lot of people. They ask you to come and it’s 200 miles away. You go? Do you think about what it will cost you to go?
You decide to go and it takes hours to get there. Once you’re there, you find that only a few people show up for the meeting. Do you get angry and discouraged because there are not many people there?
As a leader, you know that it doesn’t matter how many people show up. That’s not the point. The point is that you were there to support your business partner. If this person has expressed to you that she wants to be a leader and has shown it to you, then it is up to you to support her, to do whatever it takes to help her.
You will put your time (80% to 90%) and energy into those you wish to cultivate as leaders.