Do I have to approach friends and family? This has to be one of the most frequently asked questions with home based businesses. Most opportunities will give you the 100% true answer. No. You do not have to approach friends and family.
As true as that answer is, it is also very misleading. Remember, you don’t have to breath either. But if you don’t, you will not survive very long. Friends and family are the life giving breath of almost any new home based business. They give the promoter a head start and an almost immediate organization. They give the promoter the confidence that they can be successful. That they can earn a living promoting whatever they are promoting.
Several years ago a very good friend of mine started his own MLM company. I knew absolutely nothing about MLM at the time. As a matter of fact I expected to receive a bag of chocolate candies in the mail because I misunderstood him and thought he said M&M.
Anyhow, I think the orders were something like $100 a month. From almost the very start of his business I was a distributor. I let him charge $100 on my credit card each month. I got a package in the mail of a bunch of stuff I did not use and I threw away the contents. Don’t get me wrong, he sold great stuff. But it was stuff I just didn’t use.
Why did I do this? For one reason only. We were friends. I did not care about the products, I did not care about the $100 per month. What was most important to me was to see my friend succeed at something he truly loved. My joining his network marketing company was my show of support for what he believed in. Even though, at the time, I did not have much confidence in the MLM concept.
You see, no-one wants to see you succeed more than your family and your true friends. They want to be able to brag about you. They want to be proud to know you. They want you be all you can be. They love you.
Family and friends are understanding. They will tolerate a screw up. They are wonderful to practice presentations on, and they will do all they can do to help you.
I realize that many of you know this, but are still reluctant to approach friends and family because you have approached them time and time again in the past and have always failed, or at least never achieved your goals. But, if you truly believe that the products you offer are exceptional, that the opportunity is realistic, and that you are going to build a money-making organization, wouldn’t you be doing them wrong by NOT contacting them?
Do you want your family and friends to miss out on the wealth you know you can build for them? Wouldn’t you be doing them wrong by not making a presentation to them? If you know in your heart that what you are doing is fair and honest and includes products or services of real value, you would be doing your friends and family a real dis-service by ignoring them. You are only taking advantage of them if you sell them on something you do not really believe in.
Understand, your friends and family have the same goals and aspirations as you do. But, they either feel that a different way of accomplishing those goals is better suited for them, or they are still lost and trying to figure out how to accomplish their goals. Either way, you can help them, but only if you introduce them to what you have to offer.
A big part of being a success is doing things that are outside your comfort zone. If you are uncomfortable approaching friends and family out of fear of rejection, then you need to do it if for no other reason than to overcome that fear.
If you are uncomfortable approaching your friends and family because you do not really believe in your products, your company, or your opportunity… then you need to change companies to one you really do believe in. You will never be truly successful doing anything you don’t believe in.
Brande and Chris Bradford are active participants in a home based business opportunity and are the publishers of GREAT HEIGHTS, a monthly newsletter focused on home based business issues. To subscribe to their newsletter, send a blank e-mail to: Great-Heights-Subscribe@yahoogroups.com or visit: http://www.brandebradford.com
