There Are Three Important Stages You Must Go Through

I’d like to share a secret that very successful network marketers know and most unsuccessful network marketers don’t know.

The Secret

To have success in network marketing, you have to go through 3 Stages. Each stage is important and you can’t skip any of them. The secret is knowing which stage you’re in and how to transition to the next stage.

STAGE 1 – “ME”

In this stage it’s all about you. How much can you make? What are your goals? How many people can you recruit? “I love the products because…” “What if someone asks how much I’m making?” “How can I get that person to join my group?”

This stage is where you build up your belief and confidence in your company, product, and opportunity. It’s also where you develop that unstoppable confidence in yourself. The ME stage is very important, but you won’t get very rich if you stay in this stage too long.

If you stay in the ME stage you tend to blame others for your failure. The company failed ME. My upline didn’t support ME. ME, ME, ME. Etc…

Unfortunately, most people are stuck in this stage… not just in network marketing but in life. To be fair, you MUST go through this stage in everything you do. Even Mother Teresa must have thought, “What do I want to do with my life?” (I think.. maybe she’s different…)

The vast majority of people who quit network marketing and speak negatively about it never made it beyond the “ME” stage.

STAGE 2 — “YOU” (TEACH)

In this stage you figured out that your success comes from helping others succeed. You build events, run conference calls, do 3-way calls and step up to a Servant Leadership position. This is a critically important stage in any venture.
Some people are still stuck in the ME Stage but act like they are in YOU Stage. They say all the right things but you can feel their energy is still all about them.

You know you’re still stuck in the ME stage when you feel like you want the opportunity more for others than they want it for themselves. “I wish my brother would just get it.”, “You’re my best friend so I’m going to buy your way in and put people under you.” Although you might think this is about others it’s really about you. If you truly wanted to support your brother you’d let him “get” whatever he needs to get, not what you want him to get.

You know you’ve reached the YOU stage when you stop caring if people get involved in the business or not. You know that if it’s right for them they’ll get in. If not, there is something else they need to be doing and you’re happy to support them in that.

You’re also in this stage when you are strong in your convictions — you did well in the ME stage — and are able to teach others how to get strong in their convictions.

In this stage you become the teacher. You teach others to recruit. You teach others to get confidence. You teach others about life.

This stage is very rewarding and seductive. Once you get on stage and make an impact on people’s lives you can feel like you’ve found your calling. It’s powerful to know you can teach others and help them change their lives.

But… just like the ME Stage… if you stay in this stage you won’t create true residual wealth. This stage is a trap that can make you feel good but also stop you from getting total freedom.

Most motivational speakers are stuck in this stage. In network marketing people in the YOU Stage are earning $1000 to $10,000 per month. This is you if you have your little team of people who you feel responsible for. They see you as their leader. They look up to you and learn from you. You’re the “woman” or “man”.

Most network marketers never get out of this stage. Those who do end up earning millions.

STAGE 3 — “US” (TEACH TO TEACH)

This is the ultimate stage for creating true leveraged and residual wealth.

This stage is difficult because it goes against nearly everything we are taught in school and traditional business.

In this stage you begin to teach others to teach others how to get to the YOU stage. This is a very subtle and important distinction that most people don’t get in network marketing, and it’s why most people don’t make big money in network marketing.

Just as you become the leader and develop a following you need to stop and begin to move away from the team. As you separate you’ll discover others rise up to lead their group (and maybe even other groups). These are the people you now spend time with. They’ve reached the YOU stage and it’s now your responsibility to teach them how to do what you are doing… get into the US stage.

In the YOU stage you are the leader. In the US stage you are the leader of leaders. You can’t afford to spend too much time with non-leaders. You must spend time coaching and teaching those who step up and become leaders themselves.

In traditional business this would be like the owner of a sign company who teaches his top employee how to open up his own sign shop. He wouldn’t do that, of course, because he would lose his best person and give himself competition. The same is true in real estate, insurance, software, etc… This is why this stage is counter-intuitive for most people.

In network marketing you WANT to create competition for yourself. If you help someone earn more money than you, you are doing GREAT. Help just one or two more people do that and you’ll be making more than you can dream of. Plus you’ve created independent “leaders of leaders” who no longer rely on you. They’ll do it even if you sit on a beach in Tahiti… hey, that sounds like a great idea.

In the US stage you don’t run the conference calls you teach others to teach others to run the conference calls. You may speak at the events but you spend more time teaching other to teach others how to speak at the events. Your leadership is shown in how many leaders you have creating leaders. It’s your job to make people independent..

Teach to teach is more difficult than you think. You have to force yourself to stop being the “guy”. You have to raise other people above you. You have to let go of your ego and be a “builder of leaders”.

It’s also difficult because if you haven’t been through the first two stages you won’t have the credibility to lead the leaders. The trick is to “teach to teach” at the right time. Not too early and not too late.

When a network marketer reaches this stage at the right time with the right people, their income becomes so massive they can often feel unworthy. Self sabotage is common among these top people if they haven’t built a strong self-image and self-worth.

Personal development is the key to reaching each stage and staying on top of your game.

I’ve been an avid reader, viewer and attendee of personal growth experts since 1987. I have contracts with hundreds of top experts on MasteryTV and make it a critical part of my network marketing business because I know how important it is to help people reach and transition to each stage.

Look at yourself and identify which stage you are in right now. How can you get to the next stage? What kind of personal responsibility will it take to get to the next stage?

Be your best…

Tom Wood
Independent Affiliate
GeneWize Life Sciences, Inc.