This is a series of letters to Sandra Hansen, my new distributor in Norway.  And it will be part of my ongoing series on successful network marketing.  I will call this lesson,  Network Marketing 101

Okay Sandra:

You asked me to help you build your networking business.  Well, I am going to take it step by step and in the process write a workbook for others, for future networkers, who may want to follow our path.  So forgive me if I am stating the obvious or repeating things you already know.  This exercise will help a lot of people in the long run and it will help me as I re-think the lessons I have learned from so many others who have worked their way through the maze to success in networking.

1.)  Commit to success.

There is no reason for me to invest large amounts of time if you are only interested in making a few thousand dollars a month.  You can do that on your own two feet and by just moving the product to people who need it.  If we are going to work together it will be to build you all the way to a good, livable, monthly income and then we will stop and decide from there.

Don’t be afraid of this.  Ironically, it takes just as much work to build this business sloppy and create a small income as it does to do it right and get a good income.  But it is a different kind of work.  A more disciplined work.  You will be teaching your kids how to clean up their rooms instead of picking up everything yourself.  And that is always more frustrating.   So, at first, it will seem to slow you down.  But in the long run, you will be making more money for less work.

2.)  Learn, learn, learn.

Some networking leaders will want you to be an obedient soldier, with blinders on, focusing only on them and what they teach you.  They will be recruiting you into their “cult.” Ha.  They will try to “force” your thinking and your opinions to fit their view of things.  They will want you isolated from any competing views.   Not me.  I want you to check things out on the websites and the internet.  Search to your heart’s delight.   Many of your prospects will be doing the same thing.  You want to be there first and have answers for them.

Now let me tell you why I am not insisting on “isolation.”  I have spent 35 years in networking.  And I looked carefully at all the opportunities and I chose XanGo because it is the best.  So I can assure you that the XanGo opportunity will hold up to all the arguments online.  I am not going to take the time here to outline why I turned down many other offers and opportunities, I just ask for one thing.  Call me with the topics or questions from critics or rivals and let me have the opportunity to respond.

3.) Buy the book First Things First.

This is a book published by XGoPro.  It costs $25 but it will cost much more if you are ordering from Norway.  Just go to First Things First.  This book is worth it and a lot less than an airline ticket to Salt Lake City, where you could meet with the team that put it together.  It will be a time and money saving investment.  It is not a book you read through in one setting but one you constantly consult while building your group.  You will keep going back to it and different stages of growth.

4.) Talk to me about yourself.

My wife and I want to know your life story, or as much as you feel comfortable in telling us.  Let’s set up a time as soon as possible to talk by phone.  Do you have Skype?  It is a free telephone service that you can download on your computer.  If you get it we can talk on the phone free of charge.

5.) You’ll notice that I said, “My wife and I.”  Because you and I are of the opposite sex and in this day and age, when many couples both work and when there are many single working parents, it is very likely that you will be prospecting and working with members of the opposite sex.  When that happens do your best to reassure them that you are a professional and this is business.

Well, that’s it for now.  Next, I will give you one of the most important steps in network marketing.  It is a simple step that involves no risk, no rejection, no pain.  It can have an enormous impact on your odds of success in networking.  And yet, most people never take it.

But that is coming next.