What role does your business play in your life?

1. A nice way to make some extra money.
2. A job that helps pay the bills
3. It’s my career; I’m a business owner and my business is part of my life

If you’re like many network marketers, you likely answered A or B. Most of us got into the business as a way to make a few extra bucks a month, whether to save for a large purchase or just to improve our family’s monthly finances. And, there’s nothing wrong with that intention.

Regardless of your intention, though, if you have a network marketing business, you’re a business owner and owning a business is a career. Now, in many cases, it’s not a full-time job – with Teamzy, you can achieve your most important business activities in an hour (or less) a day. But, just because it’s not a full-time gig doesn’t mean you can’t strive for full-time earnings. How do you make the switch?

Change your perspective

If you want to grow your business and earn more money each month, you have to change your perspective about your business. It’s nearly impossible to optimize your income-earning potential if you think of your network marketing business as just a side gig or something that pays some bills in your household. When you think small, your business will stay small.

However, when you think of your business as your career and you begin to think of yourself as a business owner, your business has the potential to grow alongside your ambitions. Your mindset changes – instead of seeing your business as something small that you do here and there to make a few extra bucks, you see it as something that can help you and your family achieve your dreams, whether it’s a down payment on a new home, a dream vacation or to eliminate any outstanding debt.

Change how others see you

A funny thing happens when you take your business seriously; others will take you seriously as well and see you as a business owner. Instead of being someone who sells a bit on the side, you’ll be seen as a professional – an expert in your field, whether it’s fitness, wellness, skincare, home decor, etc. They may even seek you out when they want advice about a problem or challenge they’re facing (or share your information with a family member or friend who is).

They’ll see that your business isn’t something you’re just dabbling at; you’re a true professional and someone who can help. And, when they see that you’re not the typical icky salesperson and truly have their best interests at heart, they’ll appreciate your style and many will wish to buy from you or work with you in the future. If nothing else, they’ll wish you well and may be on the lookout for people in their networks who could benefit from your business (especially when you plant the seed and allow it to grow through consistent follow-ups).

Share your business

Be honest: when you’re chatting with someone – a friend, neighbor or parent at your children’s school – do you feel uncomfortable talking about your business? So many small business owners avoid talking about their businesses in regular conversation. Perhaps they don’t want to seem annoying or are afraid of what the other person will think.

The bad news is you’re not doing yourself, your business or the other person any favors by hiding what you do.

In fact, you’re doing all three a disservice by keeping your business in super secret stealth mode. After all, how will they know you can help them if they don’t know about your business and how it can help? And, you know what? Your business is part of your life; it’s only natural to talk about it. Think about other hobbies and things you’re excited about – do you hide them, too or do you mention them in conversation, like “I’ve taken up hot yoga and it’s amazing” or “Check out this necklace I made in a class I’m taking downtown”? Chances are you’d mention them in conversation, so why not mention your business, too?

During the course of the conversation, when the topic turns to you and what you’ve been up to (and it will), share more about your business. Explain that service is at the core of what you do and you’re excited to help others find solutions to the problems that are plaguing them. You don’t need to go into a full sales pitch; just chat about how you work and how your products/service can help. They’ll often be intrigued and may ask for more information for themselves or mention your business in conversation with someone else.

And, if they don’t take you up on your offer now?

That’s totally fine! It often takes several ‘touches’ to prompt someone to buy from you or join your team. If they’re not interested now, that’s not to say they won’t be in the future. You’ve planted the seed and over time they may become a loyal customer, a great team member or introduce you to people in their networks who are interested in what you’re offering. And what’s better than that?

Prioritize your business

Life is hectic, and some times are crazier than others. However, through it all, your business has to be a priority. Now, that’s not to say that it’s more important than your family – nothing is more important than that. Network marketing businesses are different than other businesses in that they don’t have to take up all of your time. In fact, when you follow a system, you can achieve all you need to do in a day in an hour or less.

Although your activities may only take up an hour of your day, it’s often the first thing that gets pushed down your to-do list when you get busy. With so many people and tasks demanding your attention, it’s tough to focus on the less demanding tasks of the day. Unfortunately, the lower it goes on the list, the less likely you are to do it at all. And, when you don’t do your daily activities, your business will begin to suffer.

Except if you think of yourself as a business owner

Then you know you need to make your activities a top priority, no matter what. You’re more likely to clear out 30 minutes to an hour in your schedule to Power Hour through your tasks in Teamzy and get it done each day. You see, if you let your business slide when life gets hectic, you’re less likely to enjoy the benefits of having a business, from making people’s days to helping them solve a problem to (of course) getting paid. It’s impossible to lead a thriving business if you don’t see it as a priority in your life. By making your daily activities a priority in your day, you’ll cultivate professionalism and lead a growing business.

☝️Pro Tip

When life gets crazy, it often helps to do your business activities first thing in the morning, before the demands of the day catch up with you. Teamzy makes it easy to connect with and follow up with your peeps anytime.

Commit to improvement

What separates true professionals from, well, everyone else? They’re committed to constantly improving, whether it’s improving their selling or communication skills or their overall business prowess.

It doesn’t matter if you’re brand new to the business or you’re a seasoned professional – everyone needs improvement in order to build strong, thriving businesses. That’s not a knock on your skills. Even the folks who consistently post the biggest numbers need to sharpen their skills from time to time to serve their customers, prospects, and distributors. They want to be able to offer their people the best service they can offer and to do that, they need to train.

Think of your favorite athlete. Chances are, they don’t just play on game day or event day and then sit on their bums the rest of the year. Instead, they train so they can be at their best when it counts the most. They train to sharpen and improve their skills, even if they’re already the best in their field (after all, how do you think they got to be the best? They were training when everyone else felt it was more convenient to stay home).

There are many ways to improve and sharpen your skills.

Make it a point to do one or more of these things for the health of your business. Remember, the more you do, the more your business will grow.

• Read books by business experts to get motivated and help you maintain your mindset as a business professional.
• Stay on top of the latest trends and information in your industry. After all, your customers and distributors may be buzzing about these topics already; what better way to flex your professionalism than by becoming an expert?
• Sign up for training. Training sessions not only help you reconnect to the system, but you’ll also get tips to help you utilize what you’ve learned in your business. Additionally, training programs put you in touch with other like-minded, ambitious professionals who can hold you accountable while you learn from one another. Although Elite Business Bootcamp is already in session, you’ll have three more opportunities this year to sign up. Stay on top of important updates so you’ll be in the know for next time.