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After many years of working, I know this for certain- in any business, in various companies, and sometimes within the same company, or organization of the same MLM leader, there are people who find it easier to build their structures and succeed faster. On the other hand, everyone has some people for whom absolutely nothing ever works. The latter ones experience a high partner turnover – people don’t often join their groups, and they resign very quickly from partnership.
You can read about it in many books and you can hear about it at many conferences- new partners usually don’t really understand what kind of business they’ve joined. They might only like the products and they want to get them at a discounted price. Perhaps somebody has simply convinced them to join- a poor idea, since they will do nothing.
One of my leaders from Ukraine joined me many years ago, she had no understanding of the project that I was developing. Years later, she admitted it- she didn’t understand the business, she didn’t believe in herself, however, she knew one thing- she was a nurse from a small town in Ukraine, and I was a Polish doctor.
It wasn’t the genius of the MLM business that was attractive- my personal brand and prestige of a Western doctor worked like a magnet. Her intuition was telling her that she had to stick with me. At the time I also didn’t understand it, I was trying to show people the benefits of direct selling business and to rely on logical arguments, and I forgot that people are often emotionally driven.
My other leader says, and now I understand what he means, ‘in the end, the character determines everything’. In the end, the most important thing is what kind of person you are. People will either accept you and follow you, or they will leave you.
Personal brand is something you’re constantly building and you can’t build it in advance. It’s kind of like reputation – someone can be decent for decades and with one reckless, despicable deed they can ruin their image they have laboriously built up over years. What does that mean?
THIS MEANS THAT YOUR PERSONAL BRAND IS NOT SOMETHING SUPERFICIAL, SOMETHING TO SHOW OFF – YOUR PERSONAL BRAND IS YOU.
People often create a superficial image of themselves for marketing purposes. They pretend to be someone they are not. They try to make a good impression to attract other people. They make an avatar of their personal brand. This can’t be done successfully, it doesn’t work. The people whom they have attracted quickly realise what’s happening, they don’t want to be in such environment, and they leave. The solution is either to work on yourself in order to become a better person, or just to let go of direct selling business.
Network marketing is a team system and a business of volunteers. People team up with one another for it suits them. Cooperation meets their expectations, both financial and emotional. Such teams usually follow a particular individual who has a strong personal brand. The biggest businesses in the world have always been built by people with certain personality traits:
- They are people – oriented, ready to help and support.
- They listen to others and try to understand them.
- They are happy for their partners’ successes and for the successes of their competition.
- They are experts- they build network marketing in a professional manner.
- They are constantly raising their qualifications.
- They are visionaries – they think about the big picture.
- They are solution- oriented.
- They are successful.
Their actions and behaviour reflect all of it precisely. The people who are close to them benefit from it. And those are the people who become later the personal brand ambassadors of their leaders. They are the ones telling everyone, everywhere how they appreciate their sponsors, what great people they are, and how they help and care about one another. These people are actually proud of working with exactly those leaders. And this leaves a mark. The information spreads among people. Do you understand what happens next?
The person’s brand goes before the information about their business. Nowadays, you can check everything. You can scan every person, so people who have a strong personal brand have it easy and others cling to them and want to do business with them.
To sum up, a personal brand is a very important aspect when building a direct selling organization. Yet, a properly understood personal brand. You can’t build it, you already have it. It is like your old apartment – great, or not so great. People have a certain opinion about you- a good one, a very good one, or not necessarily a good one.
You can work on it, you can renovate it, just as you would do with your apartment. You can transform an ordinary 3-bedroom flat into a delightful suite that is a pleasure to live in. And while you’re working on your personal development, you can also change your personal brand. And this is one of the best investments you can make.
The author of the text has been actively building his MLM business in many countries for over 20 years. He was actively taking part in building the first network structures in Poland in the ‘90s, and later in Ukraine and Russia. He observed the growth of this business from the ground up on the markets of different economic potentials. At that time, his organizations developed in the Western and Eastern European markets and they are still growing. He gives lectures in three languages and he knows that the practical knowledge for the people working in direct selling is priceless. He runs an interesting blog at: www.marekstaszko.pl.