The Main Thing

"The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing."  

- Dr. Stephen Covey

Stephen Covey's phrase says it all.  First, you've got to know what your main thing is. Our main thing is to recruit and build a team of independent associates from coast to coast. This business is all about building a team. This means to consistently meet face-to-face with people to share the opportunity, sponsor them into the business, and then help them sponsor people into the business. That is your main thing. Keeping the main thing the main thing will see you succeed with growing your businss. Secondly, learn how to use the available tools to assist you with building your team. Tools include: recorded 24/7 Hotline, 3-way calling, weekly calls and webinars, and the team support site www.burgessbiz.com.

Don't get side-tracked with busy work, hanging around Facebook chit-chatting, or just selling product for that easy retail sale. The main thing means to book appointments to meet with people face-to-face. Invite guests to join you on a 3-way call into the weekly Tuesday Team Testimonials call. It means to watch the Wednesday Opportunity Webinar with a couple of prospects at your home around your computer, then sponsor them into the business while they are excited.

Once you sponsor a new person, immediately use your 48-Hour Checklist to orient them into the business. Assist them with writing their goals, starting their Prospect 100 list, and making the first 5-10 calls. Get them started right so that they see success with team building and growing their business too.

Keep the main thing the main thing. Let no one detur your efforts. Stay on target. Stay on track. Once someone is sponsored in, engaged and anchored (have started building their team), say ... "the next one's even better!" Then sponsor someone new - keeping the main thing the main thing!

It's Fun When It's Simple

"If you complicate, you can't duplicate."

- Sandi Burgess

I've learned and taught for over thirty-five years that if you want to see success with building and duplicating a network marketing business, you have to keep things very, very simple. My "Sandi-isms", as people call them, are created to do just that - to keep things simple. I try to find catchy and simple ways for people to remember things. "Sample - Sell - Sponsor - Support," or Monday MLM Mentoring, Tuesday Team Testimonials, Wednesday Webinar, Saturday Success Strategies, Biz Binder, etc. Simple tools = $$$.

Years ago, I was training all over the west coast with a skin care company, (this was in the early 80's) when this hit me right between the eyes, the importance of keeping everything we do and say with business building and training our people simple. At the time, I found myself studying every ingredient in the products, then spouting off all of that knowledge in the front of the room. And, yes, it may have felt good at the time to be smart, but I quickly learned to keep all of that information to myself. What happened was this. A good-looking young man (new to the business) came up to me on a session break and said, "The anti-roll bar, the brake caliper, and the cam shaft need alignment, and the center-locking differential and damper." My confused reaction was, "what are you talking about?" He responded, "Exactly. What are you talking about?" That's when I learned to simplify everything.


Don't take anything for granted with your new distributors. Regional Director, Elaine Tomrell and I have discussed this at length with regards to training our teams. You can't assume the person you are prospecting and sponsoring understands this MLM business. In fact, network marketing is a new "animal" to most people. Unlike traditional business models, our fabulous industry of MLM is all about building teams of people where teaching, assisting, 3-way calling, encouraging and empowering are the tools used to effectively build our business. Before enrolling into the business, our prospect silently asks, 1) what's in this for me, 2) can I see myself doing this, 3) why should I do this now, and 4) do I have to change what I'm currently doing to do this? If you complicate this business, from the approach to the enrolling of them into the business, they will not be able to see themselves doing what you do. And if they think they have to change their life, they just won't do it, try it, or get involved in any way.


We have to introduce this business to our prospects in "digestible doses." Little by little, they will start to catch the vision, and start to understand the mechanics that make this all work. Step-by-step with the tools. Don't overwhelm. Let them know they learn as they earn. A great network marketing business is made up of goal-oriented, positive, productive, happy people. Those traits don't always exist in today's world, and can be a shock to anyone looking at us for the first time. So, back it up a bit. Take your time, and make sure everything you do can be simple for your prospect to see themselves doing. Use the 3-way call with your sponsor, Tuesday Team Testimonial calls and Wednesday Webinars to paint the picture and share the story. Let the tools talk. Also, don't forget to show that fun little 90-second commercial, and memorize your One Minute Message. Remember, it's fun when it's simple!

The Winning Attitude!

Melissa Butts                                        Karla Harms

"Attitudes are contagious. 

Are yours worth catching?" 

- Mannering

There are certain people that you just love talking to and being with. They are positive, productive, passionate people who - no matter what - keep moving forward in an exemplary winning way.


Two individuals who stand out from the crowd and fit this bill to a tee, are "Backyard Buddies," Melissa Butts and Karla Harms of Illinois. In this crazy network marketing world, filled with rumors, gossip and hearsay, finding people like this - true leaders - is joyous, and a blessing to all those whose lives they touch. With the challenges of the day, unlike any other day in todays world, Melissa and Karla have kept a winning attitude that is reflected in the explosive growth of their team, and the depth of success of their customer base. They are excited, stay excited, share that excitement - no matter what - about this business, and nothing gets them down. They are on every call, every webinar, and the incredible, heart-felt product testimonials that pour in from their group is awe-inspiring. And their actions should motivate all of us to duplicate their inner spirit and winning attitude. 


Tonight's Tuesday Testimonials call featured Melissa and Karla's team. For those of you who didn't have the awesome opportunity to hear their team's stories, I recorded it and am posting it on www.burgessbiz.com. 


Developing a winning attitude is crucial to your success with this business folks. When you are negative and find yourself getting caught up in bad-mouthing, gossiping and spreading of rumors --- it will effect your business building in a very devastating, negative way. We have a phrase in network marketing that says, "edify your upline, empower your downline." If your activities are contrary to this, you are hurting yourself and your business. And your team will do exactly what you do. Best idea ... develop a winning attitude!

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." 

- Martin Luther King

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Same Time, Same Place

Thanks to my mom for making me practice the piano every morning from 8 to 9 AM, I learned how to play the piano fairly well. I was forced initially into this consistent daily habit at age 7, when my grandfather started giving me weekly piano lessons. While the neighbor kids were out playing in their yards, I was practicing the piano. I could hear them running around outside, laughing and having what sounded like fun. But I was not allowed to move off of that piano bench until I'd gone through my entire piano practicing ritual. I started with my scales for finger dexterity and flexibility, followed by practicing my assigned songs. And every week I would get new songs, so it wasn't a matter of memorizing a single song and playing it over and over. Learning meant "sight-reading," and that took consistent daily practice. 

My doorbell would often ring, while I was practicing, with a friend asking if I could come out and join in the fun. But my mother would proudly announce, "Sandra's practicing her piano. Come for her later." (Yes...she called me Sandra, and still does so today.) Once school started, that practice time never wavered or took a break, it just got booted up to 6:30 - 7:30 AM so I would have enough time to "walk" to school. (That's a whole other post where my children picture me trudging through heavy snow uphill :-) However, being born and raised in Utah, that isn't far from the truth!)  This same consistency was hammered into me when I started taking cello lessons from my father. Once I added cello practicing, I would practice a full hour on piano, followed by a full hour on the cello. Talk about "missing out" on the door bell ringing and running, prank calling, and getting into all sorts of mischief!

I often felt "pushed" into this practice-makes-perfect ritual during my middle school years, but by High School, college and beyond, I am so thankful that my mother drove consistency home with me. Why, you ask?  Because I can now play piano, cello, organ, sing, an actually majored in both vocal performance and music education at the U of U! What a blessing music has been in my life. And I have been told a hundred times (or more), "I wish I could play the piano like you."  My answer: "You can if you consistently practice!"

 (Click on link to listen.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owReY1yNCV8
"A consistent man believes in destiny, a capricious man in chance." - Benjamin Disraeli

The same thing applies to seeing success at anything. Whether it's playing professional basketball for a living like two of my sons do, or developing a strong, lucrative network marketing business, you need to consistently do the biz basics: 3-way with your sponsor, hold in-home meetings, and 3-way prospects into weekly calls. If you choose to sometimes 3-way, occasionally hold in-home meetings, and if time permits "invite" someone to listen to a call, you won't see the success you dream about. "If you work this biz casually, you become a casualty" is simply the name of the game with network marketing.

Nancy Feinberg (GA) --- Elaine Tomrell (MI)

Two of my favorite people on the earth doubled their income this month. Why? Because they consistently 3-way call with their people, hold a weekly team "update" call, put people on the Monday MLM Mentoring training, and participate in the Tuesday Team Testimonial call. They are, and always have been, consistent. Now their group is exploding, and so can yours. Be consistent with "income generating activity" - daily - weekly - monthly - yearly until your goals are achieved with rank advancing and building leaders (Gold Ships). Consistency with "same time - same place" gives your team the business basics that they can count on. When their out talking to people, they will know that there is a Tuesday call, a Wednesday Webinar and a Thursday Team call. Reliability should be  at the core of your biz building strategies. Your "action assignment" for success!


"Reliability is a most wonderful virtue. We should cultivate it. We should be consistent about the things we do, so that others will know they can count on us. But more important, we want to be able to count on ourselves. The greatest pain is to have to disappoint one's self." —Sterling W. Sill