QUESTION: Dear Mama Capps, You mentioned in your training that we should not neglect to nurture relationships with people that will never buy from us. I didn’t hear the why to that question. Could you elaborate???? I have been in MLM’s but am new to social networking as you call it. Just started with a new MLM company and am grateful for your social network training and advice. Thanks JD/OH
ANSWER: Be glad to sweetie. The reason you want to abandon everything about socializing that you have learned in the typical MLM or Network Marketing is that it doesn’t work for today’s marketer. The person with whom you develop a good relationship may or may not ever buy from you or enter your business. However, If you have a true relationship with that person and have built trust and value with them, they may recommend you to 10 or 20 others who may be looking for what you have to offer.
The old sponsor, lead to the system and throw em to the wolves marketing has never worked well with the majority. If you want to really make it in the industry today you must change the way you think about prospects. Most are frustrated and turned off by the MLM song and dance way of doing business. People will buy from people they trust. If they trust you ,you don’t have to sell them. If they are not interested in what you are doing, they may send someone else your way but only if you have built a trusting and non sale relationship with them.
An example would be, I am not interested in the opportunity that you want to offer. However, months down the road my daughter-in-law tells me she wants to explore working from home. If I have known you to be someone I trust and a real friend, your number would be the one I would suggest she call.
Another would be that I have a prospect that tells me he is looking for an opportunity but wants to find something say, with nutrition as opposed to high tech phones. If we had a trusting relationship outside of (you sell me I sell you), I would send this person to you and your opportunity. This knowing that you and he would do the same.
The point to my training was to teach you to love what you do enough to share it with enthusiasm. Not sell it with an excitement that could be mistaken for desperation. Keep this in mind ( everyone wants to buy, but no one wants to be sold ) If you are confident in your product and your company people will come to you. If you find that everytime you tell some one about your business, they avoid you afterward, You are selling instead of sharing. Not everyone will want what you are offering. but those people will always know someone who will want it. If you have something of true value, getting customers and recruits is easy. Be yourself, genuinely love and respect people and just let them know what you have. Be careful not to write them off or feel put off when people say no. Develop real relationships with all sorts of people. Have fun and be genuine. I promise you that I and most anyone else will at least try your product just because we like you. Good Luck with your new deal. MamaC
Question: Mama C, Is there anything you recommend for depression? I can’t seem to shake it with all the bad news everywhere and on the news everyday. I don’t want to take the prescriptions because of the side effects. Thanks JC/WA
Answer: My top recommendation would be to turn that TV off and quit watching the news! At least limit it. I talk to many that are doing too much of that and depression and stress is the result! There is a natural product called Valerian Root which is found in many stores . There are all kinds of products out there do your research! Try different ones and find one that is right for you. I personally take a product called T-Blast. It helps me to reduce stress and sleep better. It also helps me with energy which certainly helps with mild depression. I also use the Valerian occasionally.
I’m assuming you are experiencing mild situational depression. For prolonged and more severe depression I recommend that you consult your doctor. One thing that helps along with any natural remedies is meditation. And for pete’s sake turn the channel and watch a comedy for a change. Laughter is the best medicine. For information on specific products that I use and where I get them just send me an e-mail with stress in the subject line. Good Luck and Be Happy Mama Capps
Question: MamaC, I have been so down because someone that I thought was a close friend just dumped me because I joined an MLM Company to help supplement our family income. I didn’t try to recruit her or anything. I was just excited and was telling her about my plans. She said she didn’t want to be recruited and I said OK. But now she won’t answer the phone and has told some of our other friends that she was avoiding me. I wouldn’t push something like that on my friends and I thought she knew me better than that. It’s really bugging me and I don’t know how to handle it now. Thanks SF/TN
Answer: Sweetie , your friend has obviously had a bad experience with MLM friends . And if that is so, she as not dealt with her issues. Surprising that she has not mentioned her feelings about it to you before. However, it is always confusing and gives a sense of loss when any relationship ends abruptly with no explanation or closure.
I suggest that you write your feelings down in a letter to her and explain that you are hurt and confused at her reaction. Get it all out and rewrite it over and over until you feel it’s just right .Be sure to say everything that you are feeling. Then either mail it to her or throw it away! You are the one who needs closure . Her actions indicate that maybe she wasn’t the friend that you thought she was. That or she has an extreme case of MLM phobia and I have yet to see that as an excuse to behave badly. Once you have done that then stop stressing over it and move on. Life is way too short to spend it crying over spill’t girlfriends!
Now, I do realize that MLM has been a sore spot for some who have had a bad experience. In general,I have found that it was either the wrong company for them or that they had unrealistic expectations. MLM done right and ethical is a great way to supplement your income so do your research and don’t lose your enthusiasm over this person. It’s not for everybody but sounds like it may be for you and I wish you much success MamaCapps
Question: MamaC, My fiance and I have been raising our two daughters together for the past few years. They are 4 and5. Both are from our previous marriages. We try to show them both the same attention and give to them both equally. They are so close in age that it has been easy for us except for one thing. The grandparents. His mother and grandmother treat my daughter as if she were born into their family but with my parents and my ex husbands parents things are different. They are openly bios at times and buy my daughter things to bring home with no regard for his daughter who is, as far as I am concerned mine too now. It is embarrassing the way my family acts when we insist that both the girls get equal treatment and toys or clothes. My ex’s parents are in town visiting with her and my Future Grandmother-in-law is here helping out since my fiance broke his leg. It is embarrassing for her to see how they act when she and my future Mother-in-law don’t do that and they treat both the girls the same. How do I handle this without hurting anyone’s feelings? Thanks HL/SC
Answer: Both sides visiting at the same time Yikes! I admire that you are trying to do the right thing in blending your little family. A blended family can be successful. I didn’t say easy. I said successful. However when you are dealing with Grandparents and step Grandparents, it is best to enlist the help and support of the ex’s if possible. Understanding that it is not always possible and sometimes the ex’s promote this kind of behavior, my advice is to keep your cool and be polite while you have both family’s in your home for now. To say much now, will pit the families and may certainly cause hard feelings.
That said, I will tell you that as a grandparent and a step-grandparent, I believe that there is nothing better for those children than to be a little spoiled by us. However, I believe that when a child enters your world as a grandparent, or step grandparent there is a responsibility to treat that little one like you would hope that when the situation is reversed, you would want someone to treat your grandchild. These children did not ask to be put in this situation and deserve more consideration on that point alone.
Once things settle down and they are all back in their homes, I would make a call or write a letter and explain your position. Making sure the two of you have discussed it and know what your collective position is. I would request that gifts to the individual child be restricted to birthdays. Otherwise I would request that both children be included in any other gift giving equally. I would do this by first explaining that the other grandparents have been kind enough to treat their grandchild that way and it would help you to give this child a secure and normal family life.
I would also explain that they would not want their grandchild to be sitting on the sidelines while another child was showered with gifts and affection. Especially since they live out of town and wouldn’t be able to balance it for their own. I would ask them to certainly take the child out to spend time with her alone but just not to buy things for her to bring home unless they include both children equally. At the same time, I would also explain to the other grandparents that these are the rules and they should also spend time with their own granddaughter alone too. It would be good to schedule the visits at the same time if possible.
Being a grandparent is the most wonderful thing in the world . A grandparent can have such a positive influence on a child like no one else can. They can also help financially with clothes and gifts. It is also easy for grandparents to use these things to vent frustration or disrupt the new family. I think when you politely explain that they would not want someone else to treat their granddaughter in a way to make her feel bad or left out that they will understand.
Just remember that you and your fiance are the parents in charge. It is your responsibility to protect both children from situations that may cause them to feel anything but loved by all in their lives. Set the rules that you two can live with without discord and insist everyone else follow those rules. Your responsibility is to those in your home and the children in your charge. Other’s feelings are not so important that a child should be hurt in any way. A blended family can be successful but everyone needs to be made aware that their actions impact the children in ways they may not realize.
Grandparents who read this please think about it. If you were unable to act for them , how would you like your grandchild to be treated? Please, if it is mine be kind to them would ya? MamaCapps
