Have You Been Trained Yet? The Shocking Truth about Industry Support.

Eileen Silva © 2006
email: ensilva@aol.com
web: http://www.easilymakingmoney.com/

So you want to get rich . . . be free to design your dreams. You’ve licked stamps, bought lists of names, addressed envelopes, handed out cassette tapes, made “cold” calls, “hot” calls, indescribable calls, and attended umpteen meetings and programs designed to teach you the business. Now, let me ask you something . . . how do you define effective training?

You see, I realized recently (you know how these lightening bolt insights are . . . they just shoot into your consciousness) that even some of the industry’s most touted trainers do not understand what training is.

Training is an activity, which involves more than the giving of information; it is the giving of information combined with the implementation of exercises designed to encourage the “trainees” to put the programs into action.

In effective training, the trainees not only can see themselves being able to do the activities, but they are they are encouraged to do them soon . . . and often even break into small groups to practice the techniques on each other.

Now, here’s where you really have to draw in accountability: if the “trainees” never do anything but take notes and listen without a definite follow-up plan to practice what the trainer taught, then, to be perfectly frank, it will probably be a warm fuzzy experience that does little or nothing long-term.

Some of you know that I used to teach school – English and Home Ec (What a combo!). I discovered right away that there was a big difference between “learning about” a skill like cake decorating (or MLM recruiting) and successfully implementing the learning.

We, of teaching roots, often joke that those who “can” . . . “do” and those who “can’t” . . . “teach.” What I have noticed is that wise trainers lead from the back of the room. They may train continuously all day --- for instance --- but they establish solid follow-up systems to make sure that their trainees are getting out of the stands and onto the field.

When I taught school in California, we had what we affectionately referred to as our “lifeline” – our trusty Stull Bill objectives, to help us stay on track as instructors. Our entire school year was broken down into those “lesson plans.” Each plan had an objective, a means of implementation, a means of evaluation, and an analysis of what further action to take, based on the results.

Guess what! --- That’s a great way to train everybody to do anything! You’ve got to know what you’re going to do, what you think you’ve done, then, discover what you really did (if anything) and what you are going to do about it.

In light of this, it would be a great idea to take a serious analytical look at your personal and company “training” materials and programs. Many of them will be too filled with “information” and totally devoid of experiences.

You can revamp those programs to create many times the impact you’ve been getting by breaking things up into logical training concepts and then assigning exercises for everyone to practice. Weekly “trainings” could actually become workshops where you break everyone into small groups for interaction. Remember, in training, interaction is a key element. Usually it occurs often, but it definitely is a “must” in the assigned action which the training requires of the attendees.

To be useful, training must be:

1. conducted at the right skill level
2. clearly understood by those in attendance
3. legal (you need to be aware of training “barefoot doctoring” practices designed to entice the novice into diagnosing and prescribing)
4. broken down into a Stull Bill objective format so that it forwards your business
5. duplicable by the attendees

I believe that savvy MLMers today are creatively conducting trainings --- at the computer, and even over the phone. And, as my husband, Taylor Hegan, says frequently when he makes a mistake, “You don’t have to be smart to do this business . . .” True enough, but to make a lot of money you do have to be fruitful and multiply. One of the best ways to do this is to become a trainer of trainers.

Getting Started

Eileen Silva © 2006
email: ensilva@aol.com
web: http://www.easilymakingmoney.com/


I am amazed at the number of ad promotion respondents who say, when asked what program(s) they have worked, “Well, none. I’ve been studying the industry for a couple of years.”

To that, we reply, “Great! Now it’s time to get out of the stands and onto the field. After all, with the price of the start-up kit at less than $50 (less than the price of a fine restaurant tab for two) and the potential income limitless, what is there really to wait for?”

In response to our encouragement, many people express an enthusiasm to get started, but it is tempered with a fear of choosing the wrong company. If you are one of these “studiers” or if you are attempting to recruit others who are undecided about how to select the “right” program, feel free to use this article as your blueprint.

Here are starting questions to help you to sift through the possibilities:
1) Do you prefer goods or services?
2) Can you get excited and stay excited about the company’s goods and services
without any money being earned?
3) Is the product or service unique in some way?
4) Is the product or service’s price competitive? Can it be retailed?
5) Are the people who are working diligently making money?
6) Is the company management solid, with a history of experience in MLM?
7) Are the company materials good?
8) Do you see the company services in place to support a growing distributorship?

Here are some things to look for:
A) Fax-on-reward;
B) Toll-free voice mail messages;
C) Toll-free ordering with extended hours;
D) Drop ship retail services;
E) Corporate training/ conferences/ lucrative types/ prizes;
F) Small minimums in ordering;
G) Minimal or no paperwork requirements;
H) Computer services upon request (for a fee of course);
I) Accurate, prompt checks that clear the bank;

Once you have decided that everything you really need is in place, it’s time to get in gear. I believe you should immediately:

1) Have a separate phone line with 3 way calling and a professional greeting when you are away ( no children answering please);
2) Get business cards;
3) Set up a business checking account;
4) Establish work hours and a work plan;
5) Purchase or print necessary materials;
6) Purchase enough inventory to get on your own program (your first three days of the business is critical to create a one month “Knock ‘em down” story yourself;
7) Purchase enough inventory for your customers and your distributors;
8) Study your mentors in the company and invest in yourself to constantly read how trade materials like you’re now reading created by cutting edge producers.

Remember - your industry is unique. Your previous success with other endeavors is no guarantee of success, and your previous track record of modest success elsewhere is no encumbrance; it is actually an asset. It helps your story appear even more dramatic. I recall when I made my first big check on MLM company. It sounds astonishing to announce moving from no check to $9,000 in one month.

As you are committing to your sponsor to prepare yourself in these ways, be sure and ask your sponsor what he or she is going to do for you! My husband, Taylor Hegan, and I have a $1,000 sponsorship support program available to qualified recruits who commit to build with us. Find out what you are eligible for. You are an asset, and as one, should be valued throughout your service in the company, not just at moment of enrollment.

Last, but not least, read and reread articles like these and generic news items that support home-based businesses, your personal endeavors, and/or your products.

To the degree that you recognize the impact of continued mentoring within this industry, you can anticipate joining with those of us who have studied and then worked our way to millions, while designing our own lives.