The Gift of Friendship in Network Marketing

It certainly can get difficult when we all have busy schedules -- working out, running our businesses, taking care of our families -- to take the time out to spend quality time with our adult friends and families. I had such an amazing weekend building high-quality relationships with top-notch people that it struck me that today's post should really be about the "hidden" benefit to network marketing.

Many people hear "network marketing" and think, "Oh boy, another one of those MLM pyramid scheme crazy people," but with business gurus such as Donald Trump and Rich Dad/Poor Dad Robert Kiyosaki, Secrets of the Millionaire Mind T. Harv Eker more and more publicly extolling the virtues of self-employment and business opportunities that produce residual, passive income as the only true path to wealth in today's economy, many people are taking a second look at the benefits of network marketing business opportunities. I personally have gotten involved in network marketing companies who offer products that I love and personally use, so that I can obtain deep discounts on products I would purchase anyway -- getting all of my fitness products, meal replacement shakes and wine for FREE -- plus avail myself of the tax deductions and benefits of using my personal home, vehicle, phone and utilities for conducting my various businesses. I especially love the ability to write off cute fitness clothes and shoes, dinners out and bottles of wine on my taxes. It feels positively decadent!

I have found many other "hidden" benefits to engaging in network marketing or, as some call it "relationship" marketing. Through involvement in successful companies like Visalus and Wine Shop At Home and Beachbody, I am afforded, and strongly encouraged to take advantage of a tremendous amount of training from experts in many fields to help me grow my business. A strongly present theme in all of the trainings I have attended, books that I have read, or mentors I have listened to over the past two years is that of RELATIONSHIPS. Creating, cultivating and nurturing relationships for the "purpose" of building your base of influence, client lists or network, but what happens in reality is that you just plain old get to go out and have an excuse to MEET people. Talk to people. Go to events with people. New people, different people -- people who you may never have been exposed to or exchanged a word with had you not been involved in network marketing.

It is in this kind of goofy way that I've determined that these types of network marketing businesses really enhance people's lives in SO many more ways than purely financial. Being trained and taught to make eye contact with people at the grocery store and smile at the gas pump is producing a generation of network marketing entrepreneurs that are also making the world a little bit more of a friendly place. Skeptics may say, "Yeah, that's because they want to sell you something." Well, if you turned on your television or opened a magazine today, someone was trying to sell you something. Billboards, the car wash guy who upsells you to the deluxe package or the oil changer who talks you into the fancier filter because your car needs it -- you're ALWAYS getting "sold" something when you are out in the world. The difference is, at least for me, that I don't look at every interaction with someone as a sale, or even a potential sale. I work with people for free all of the time, because the rewards of my job are beyond the financial. Of course, engaging in network marketing has afforded me a very nice paycheck, but part of the process of gaining people's trust and respect for my skills and knowledge requires me to oftentimes help people achieve their goals even if I get "nothing" (meaning, no money) out of it.

Having worked in a law firm for the better part of the first half of my adult life, I can tell you that I resolved messy divorces, helped people avoid going to jail for crimes they may have committed and reunited parents with children who had been put into State protective custody, and less than 1% of the cases I successfully concluded ever were accompanied by the heartfelt thanks of the client whose life or finances or family I had saved. So I value beyond measure those times and moments, emails and phone messages that I get when I am told, "Thank you, you made a difference in my life." THAT is the true reward, THAT is what you get when you take the time to build a relationship and THAT is what truly makes our lives meaningful and rewarding.

So, maybe take that skeptics view off of network marketing, it could just be making the world a better place. . . it certainly has improved mine!