Skill #7-Promoting Events
(Audio)
Go Pro-7 Steps to Becoming a Network Marketing Professional
TRANSCIPT-The Importance of Promoting Events Skill #7:
In Network Marketing, meetings make money. It’s just that simple. Yes, technology can help us connect with people in ways that are becoming more and more e – cient, but nothing replaces face-to-face interaction.
Meeting people one on one, in small groups, or at local or bigger events, will have a huge impact on the long-term suc- cess of any Network Marketing organization. But one partic- ular type of event is the most powerful, and that is the “desti- nation” event. It might be a company-sponsored event or one put on by your upline leadership, but a “destination” event is one where most of the attendees travel to a di erent city, stay at a hotel, and participate in a conference or convention.
Some try to argue that the destination event is dead in the new technology world and people won’t travel for these things anymore. All I can tell you is those people aren’t top earners in our profession. If you study what the successful people do
to build their Network Marketing organizations, you will nd that virtually every one of them uses destination events as a cornerstone for building their business.
There’s something magical about getting away from your day-to-day grind and focusing completely on your dreams. Total immersion, even if it’s only for a weekend, is GOOD. You can use it to refocus and recommit to your future and gather the strength necessary to go back home and do what’s necessary to move your business forward.
You gain strength from the presentations you hear dur- ing the event. Sometimes a person says something at just the right time in your life, and it changes you forever. Over 20 years ago I was at a convention when a guy by the name of Johnny Daniel said, “You can tell the size of the man by the size of the problem that gets him down.” at statement went right into my heart and has helped me ever since. If I ever get sad or depressed, something inside me says, “Is this the size of Eric?” I answer, “No,” pick myself up, and get moving again.
I’ve had hundreds of those moments over the years at des- tination events. I gave up blaming at an event. I decided to be- come a professional at an event. I realized no one could stop me at an event. I decided to go to the top at an event. In fact, as I think back, I can’t think of a single signi cant moment in my Network Marketing career that didn’t happen at an event. ey are that powerful.
In addition to gaining strength from the presenters, you also receive incredible validation of your decision to be in- volved. It’s a concept called “social proof,” and it’s very im- portant. As human beings, we’re wired to seek proof from sources outside of our own thoughts and experiences. At a destination event, you see lots of other people who’ve made the same decision you have, and that feels good. Also, you see how some of them have overcome their fears and gone to the highest levels in your company. You start to think, “If they can do it, maybe I can do it too.”
There’s also some positive peer pressure involved. Most destination events include recognition programs—who won the contest, moved to the next rank, earned the top income, or spoke from the stage.
When I went to my rst event and saw all the people walk- ing across the stage, I had one thought: “ e next time, I’ll be walking across that stage.” It was inspiring that so many people had accomplished what I hadn’t done yet. It made me think I could do it and it made me work on a plan to make it happen. In addition to being inspired, I also didn’t want to show up at the next event without some improvement in my business. at positive peer pressure helped me face my fears and make it happen.
Overall, the sense of community at a destination event is comforting. We all live in a world lled with ignorant people when it comes to Network Marketing. at can get discour- aging at times. But when we go to a big event, suddenly we are surrounded by people who think like WE think. ey have similar beliefs, hopes, dreams, aspirations, and positive attitudes. Spending time with this amazing group of people can literally ll us back up again so we have strength for the next push.
Once you understand how important destination events are to the success of your business, you need to learn how to e ectively promote them to your organization. It’s really very simple: e more people from your group attend events, the more money you’re going to make in our profession. Top leaders know exactly how many people are attending and they make sure to grow that number at every new event.
ink about it. Take two distributors who each have a group of 100 people. Distributor A makes it a priority and gets everyone to attend every major destination event. Distributor B doesn’t make it a priority, so only a handful attend. Which group is going to be more successful? It’s not even a contest.
e rst step in developing a culture that promotes atten- dance at destination events is to personally be more commit- ted than anyone else to attending, and helping others make the same decision. at means you need to lead by example, and never miss a destination event.
When I rst started in this profession I didn’t know how I was going to do it. I didn’t have the money and I couldn’t a ord the time; I had the same obstacles as anyone else. But something happened to me at my rst event that changed ev- erything. I scraped up enough money to get there and it was a mind-blowing experience: e stage, the lights, the people, the stories—it was awesome.
During one of the sessions, I stepped out to go to the bath- room and when I came back to the entrance to the big con- vention hall, I found myself standing next to one of the top income-earners in the whole company! It was like standing next to a celebrity. He had achieved what I wanted to achieve, and more. I stood there trying to think of something smart to say. Finally, I simply introduced myself and asked, “What’s the secret?”
Today I know there isn’t a secret and he could have said the same thing to me, but instead he had a little compassion and gave me an important lesson that serves me to this day. He said, “Eric, do you see this room? It holds about 2,000 people. We have these events about three times a year. Here’s the secret. At the next event, half of these people won’t come back, but the other half that does will be making about twice the average of everyone else in the room. Your job is to be in the 1,000 people who come back. And it doesn’t stop there.
At the next event half of those 1,000 won’t come back, but the 500 who do will be making four times the amount of the average in the room. is continues from event to event. If you continue to come back, you’ll end up being among the highest paid people in the room, and eventually you’ll even nd yourself presenting on stage.”
I said, “ at’s it?” And he replied, “Eric, obviously you’re going to have to continue to work on your skills in between events, but my experience has shown me that if you outlast people at our big events, you’ll make it to the top.” is was pretty simple for me to understand. I thanked him and made a resolution on the spot to never miss a big company event.
It wasn’t easy. Sometimes the event tickets alone were a problem. I made it a priority and found a way to buy them. Sometimes childcare was an issue. I relentlessly searched for babysitters until we found someone we could trust. Some- times I struggled with how to get to the event. Instead of tak- ing a nice comfortable direct ight, I sometimes had to book one with two or three connections. Instead of ying, some- times I had to drive, even piling into one vehicle with a group of people to get there. ere were even times when I reserved a bus and recruited people in my area to share the ride. e point is, I made it a priority and I made it to the event—no matter what.
As for accommodations, today I stay in a suite, but it wasn’t always that way. At the beginning I o en shared a room with as many people as possible. Instead of room service, we would go to the local grocery store and get food for inexpen- sive meals. And the minibar was strictly o limits.
Bottom line, the advice I received all those years ago WORKED. Because I was ambitious and hungry, I gured out a way to outlast the people who were less committed and, just like that top income-earner had told me, my income contin- ued to grow with each event.
On top of that, another strange thing happened. I started to feel di erent than everyone else. I started to feel like an “Iron Man.” I started to be proud of the fact that I was still standing when other people lost faith. So, if you’re more com- mitted than anyone else to attending the destination events, that all-important commitment will serve you very well.
Once you are fully committed, the next step is to grow the number of people on your team that attend with you. Most people announce the next big event to their group, sit back, and hope people register. Professionals understand there is a big difference between being an “announcer” and being a “promoter.”
Promoters make the event a priority in their group. ey are relentless with their message. ey tell stories that inspire people to action. ey take nothing for granted and don’t rest until people have registered. ey paint a picture in people’s minds about how great the event will be and the bene ts of attending. One thing I learned long ago was to never buy someone’s excuse, at least at the beginning. I can’t tell you how many people started o by telling me the reasons they couldn’t attend the next destination event, only to nd out their reason was just an excuse, and wasn’t really true.
e problem with amateurs is they buy that rst story and that’s the end of it. A person says, “I can’t get o work,” or, “I can’t a ord it,” or, “I can’t arrange childcare,” or, “Who’s going to watch my dog?” or, “ ere’s a birthday party that weekend.” And the amateur says, “Oh well, it is what it is. I hope you can make it to the next one.”
e professional has a completely di erent mindset. When they hear an objection, they don’t buy that story be- cause they know it’s probably not real—or at least not real enough. Instead they work with that person to help them un- derstand the meaning and importance of attending the event. en they brainstorm with them to gure out a way to over- come their initial problem. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve talked to who had already decided they weren’t going to attend the next event, and within ve minutes, they’d changed their mind and registered. e lesson here is to tell your story. Don’t buy theirs.
ink of this skill as if you are a publicly traded company and your stock value is tied directly to how many people you have at each destination event. If that were the case, you’d make it a priority to always have a bigger number at the next event, wouldn’t you? You might start with just you at the rst event, but then the goal needs to be to bring some people with you to the next one, and to grow that number at the next and the next and the next. ere’s no such thing as a silver bullet in Network Marketing, but this skill is as close as it gets.
Return back to GO PRO Table of Contents