In MLM – is it possible to successfully build two businesses at the same time?
 
Good question. And one that I get from time to time from brand new consultants who join my team. They already have an MLM or network marketing business and now they are thinking of adding another to the mix. “Do you think that’s a good idea or not?” they ask me.
 
Whether it’s possible is one thing. Whether it’s advisable is quite another.
 
I usually answer the question with one of my own:
 
“Is your current home business largely profitable and does it for the most part run on autopilot, producing great revenue for you – including a residual income?”
 
(Dead silence.)
 
Thought so.
 
“Okay, so since your current home business is not yet at this point…here’s the reality you’re looking at:
 
As you embark on building MLM #2, you’ll find yourself having less than 100% to give to your existing MLM business. You’ll also have less than 100% to give to MLM #2.
 
Because now 100% of your time, energy, creativity, and other resources won’t be dedicated to just one business anymore – it will have to be split between the two.
 
So you won’t be able to give either one of your home businesses your all.
 
And that’s a problem.
 
Because your all…your absolute all in terms of your input…is what it takes to successfully build an MLM business. ONE business.”
 
(Seems pretty obvious when you look at it this way, right? Yet you’ll be surprised at how few people really think about it in these terms!)
 
There is another issue too – one that is of equal importance.
 
It’s the issue of leadership.
 
Network marketing, of course, is an industry of leadership.
 
Some of the most essential character traits of a leader are: having a clear vision and life purpose, a strong sense of direction and an undivided commitment to the task at hand.
 
In fact, I will go as far as to say that it’s unlikely you will ever be able to create a following of any kind, or build a team in network marketing or an MLM organization if you don’t exemplify those traits.
 
Now, ask yourself this: if, in the eyes of your prospect, your passion appears to be divided between opportunity A and opportunity B, will this hinder or help their ability to perceive you as the leader with that laser-targeted focus?
 
“Well, which is it?” your prospect is thinking. “Which is their main business? And which one should I join them in?”
 
Likely they won’t join either.
 
As any direct response marketer will tell you, give your prospect more than one way to go, and they won’t move at all.
 
Am I saying you shouldn’t have multiple sources of income, or that you shouldn’t build more than one network marketing opportunity in your life time? Noooo. Far from it.
 
In fact, every top producer I know (myself included) have multiple income streams. But – the “additional” income streams are all passive.
 
We only have one primary program that we devote time and energy to; one product line that we spend our advertising dollars on promoting.
 
Not one ever… One at a time.
 
That’s the key, see… Build one business to momentum –> make it profitable –> leverage it –> automate it –> scale it –> outsource it.
 
Before you even think of starting another one.
 
Firstly, because you need to give 100% to one MLM opportunity to get it to where you want it. Giving 50% to one and 50% to the other (or 60-40 or 40-60 etc) is not a receipt for success.
 
And secondly, because of how you are perceived by those watching you.
 
You may know your purpose and passion as clearly as ever before. But it’s quite another thing to make it come across to people. Those who are looking for unwavering, rock-solid leadership and a crystal clear sense of direction.
 
Simply put, a person who tries to ride two horses will have a hard time convincing people that he knows where he’s going.
 
That’s how I see it anyway…
 
 
<----- PS: Feel free to re-tweet, share or "like" this post if you think it can be of help to others...and/or leave me a comment below!

 
 
 
Successfully,
 
 

 
 
More here:
 
Meet me on Facebook
 
Watch me on Youtube
 
Get “Her Success Blueprint”
 
 
 
 
 

Related Posts:

• Got Leads?
• Should you tell your friends and family that you’ve started an MLM business?
• On those days when you feel like throwing your computer out the window…
• I’ll be doing it again – this time it’s New York & Bermuda! ;-)

Tags: home business, home businesses, MLM, mlm business, mlm opportunity, network marketing

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 7th, 2011 at 1:28 am and is filed under Leadership. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.