How to Double Your Income in a Year
One of the best advices I read when I first started out in my network marketing business is from author/speaker, Brian Tracy:
“If you want to double your income in a year, all you have to do is read and study your industry an hour a day”
Self Development is crucial for your success in your MLM and in order to earn the income you want to earn, you must become that person first.
When I started my network marketing business, I had absolutely zero business skills. But the best part is that we are all born with unlimited potential and we can unleash that potential with self development and the right mentor.
The main reason for my success is because over the years I have become a fanatic in self development.
Exponential Growth Cycle
One of the best rewards you receive in network marketing is watching yourself grow.
Once you get started investing yourself in self development, it gets you into this beneficial and exponential growth cycle:
Cycle goes like this:
– the more you read and learn, the more you grow and earn $
– the more grow and earn $, the more you want to read!
– the more you read and learn, the more you grow and earn even more $
And so on… what fun!
What to Read
Before I go into specific books to read, I want to go through the 5 main categories of self development materials that you should be investing in your first year. There are other categories and topics that are important but these are MOST IMPORTANT in your first year.
1) Developing a Success Mindset
You must learn to start thinking like an entrepreneur and businessman because how you think and approach challenges will determine your success. The mindset and attitude between entrepreneurs and employees and how they think are entirely different. Most people fail in MLM because they approach their business from an employee mindset. Thinking like an employee can help you advance at your job but will doom you to failure in a business.
2) Network Marketing Industry
It is important to build a strong belief and understand that you are in a legitimate business and industry. Without this foundation, it is easily to be discouraged or have doubts about the credibility of your business when you encounter your first challenge.
3) Sales Skills
No one likes the dirty “S” word… people cringe when they thinking about selling but the NO BS NO HYPE truth is that you must sell! In order to be successful you have to sponsor and sell products! You can call it communicate, share, etc. but it is ALL ABOUT SELLING.
It does not matter whether you are building online or offline, you have to communicate and sell to people so in your first year in network marketing, you must learn to be GOOD at selling!
* Note that if you don’t want to “sell” then just quit your business and just settle for a job for the rest of your life. The last time I checked, every financial successful business person has to sell something in order to get to where he was at. If you don’t want to sell, just stick to a job but don’t complain about not living the life of your dreams… if you want to live the life you want, you must learn how to sell!
** There is no “automated” online system that does all the selling for you. Don’t fall for the hype!
4) Marketing Skills
To be successful you must learn how to market you and your business because that is the only way you can build an endless supply of prospects that want to join you or buy your products. Regardless whether you plan to build your business through your personal contacts, online advertising, offline advertising, etc, you must learn basic marketing skills.
5) Leadership Skills
It is important to get started early with leadership training because your leadership ability will determine whether you will have a successful long term business. Sales and Marketing is the first phase of your MLM business but once you bring your first associate in, leadership skills immediately come into play and will determine how fast you will grow.
What to Avoid
Avoid books on network marketing “systems”. These will provide valuable later on in your second year but if you don’t get good at the 5 topics above, you won’t even get to HAVE a system to worry about. You will have ZERO business and ZERO associates.
So get good at the 5 topics above and you can worry about the big fancy systems (whether online or offline) later on. I have seen many associates make the mistake of spending all their time to design their “perfect system” and leave no time to actually prospect and build their network marketing business. And in this industry just like in any business, when there is no sales (sponsorships or customers), you make no money and will be out of business fast.
Your Next Step
If you are relatively new to network marketing, start thinking about what category want to start working on today.
Afterwards you can find out which 12 Books/Audios that I recommend in your First Year in Network Marketing and pick one to get started.
Simon Chan