All Powerful Ears

I sat down at Starbucks recently, and in the name of making new friends, asked the gentleman across the table how he was doing today. "Great", he responded "just knocking out some work".

Gotta love it when someone eagerly opens up the door, "Oh yeah, what do you do?" Little did I know that I had just unwittingly walked into the longest monologue that I've ever heard. This gentleman went on for about forty five minutes about affiliate marketing with a sports performance vitamin company. He split his time between how awesome this product is, and why I should become an affiliate marketer with him. I literally interjected about ten times during this whole period, saying things like "yeah", "wow" and "that's great.

Inevitably I decided that if I had to listen to another minute, I would probably implode, so I promptly reached into my pocket, looked at my inert phone and said "Excuse me, I've got to take this". I stepped outside, retrieved my ipod from the car, and came back in with headphones on.

Unfortunately, I've seen many network marketers who do the same thing, talk and talk and talk. USE YOUR EARS PEOPLE!! They make all the difference in the world.

Taking the time to actually listen to a person will go a long way towards connecting with them and showing them that you care. In addition, it gives you a lot of insight into why your Network Marketing opportunity might be right for them. If you can show your prospect a way that network marketing could help them realize their personal dreams, it will be a lot more powerful than spewing out 10-20 reasons and hoping that one sticks. Remember that even when you are building your business, it is never about you, it's all about your prospect.

I know that many of you are going to dislike the following statement but this tip can save you VAST amounts of time:

-Use your ears to help you realize who will not be right for your opportunity, the sooner you can confidently disqualify people, the less time you will waste on people who are wrong for you or your business.

Had the guy in Starbucks taken 5 minutes to ask me about what I do, he would have realized that I do quite well for myself in network marketing, and that I would probably not be someone that he should spend 45 minutes trying to sell on his affiliate marketing opportunity.

I would like to throw in a caveat to this tip, it does take time and experience to be able to spot people who are bad for your opportunity, and you should never rule someone out before you've spent time talking with them (about them) and know 100% that they wouldn't join, wouldn't succeed, or wouldn't work with you in your opportunity. If you are new to network marketing, it's best to get your prospect on a three way call and allow your sponsor to help you figure out if that person is a valid prospect.

So get out there, use your ears, make some friends, gain some insight and find people who are right for Network Marketing!

Stay Blessed!
Chris Widener Jr.