My first book, Successful Network Marketing for the 21^st Century, was an industry best seller for several years, but I always felt some key knowledge was missing. So, over the last three years, I’ve been working on a new book in an effort to share that knowledge and am happy to announce the release of The Twelve Power Secrets for Network Marketing Success. It is packed with millions of dollars’ worth of ideas for building a large and lucrative network marketing business.

Following are the high points of my power secrets one through four. (Also see Part 2 and 3 of this series for the complete list.) Put this information to work and do as I have—build a lifetime stream of residual income, so that you can have both financial and time freedom!

Power Secret One: Select the Right Company

During my nearly 29 years of network marketing, I’ve selected the wrong company a number of times. What I mean by “wrong” is that they weren’t a good fit for me. Even if a company is growing rapidly, has an amazing product, a solid compensation plan, and great marketing materials, it doesn’t mean that it’s right for everyone. The questions you have to ask yourself are: “Does the company have the same values as I do? Are they marketing in a way that is suitable to my personality? Do they offer a product or service that I can get passionate about? Is the compensation plan suited to my abilities, time commitment, and talents?” Once you answer these and other questions, you will have a better feel for whether or not a company is right for you, and although selecting the right company doesn’t guarantee success, it does drastically increase the odds. The key is to make a good selection through due diligence.

Power Secret Two: Pick the Right Sponsor

One of the biggest mistakes I see made in network marketing is picking the wrong sponsor. Typically one of two things happens. First, a person gets sponsored by a friend, family member, or associate who doesn’t know anything more about building a successful network marketing business than they do. The second option usually occurs after a bad experience with the first option, and so the individual begins researching to find a big hitter to sponsor them. The problem with being sponsored by a big hitter is that he/she doesn’t always have time to work closely with new people. After all, he/she probably has thousands of people in his/her network, all needing some level of attention. The key here is to be sponsored by someone who is serious about building a big business and is willing to dedicate the time to help you succeed. It’s also important that your sponsor have similar values and be someone you would enjoy working with very closely. Again, picking the right sponsor doesn’t guarantee success, but it sure helps.

Power Secret Three: Develop Purpose, Goals, and Objectives

Over the years I’ve trained and coached tens of thousands of network marketers and have found that most don’t really know why they are in business. It’s critical to long-term success to have a solid “why” or purpose for being in business. It might be to have more time freedom to enjoy your family or to secure your financial future so you can give your time to ministry or charity work. It might be to become the largest contributor to a charity or ministry. Whatever your purpose, it needs to be vibrant enough to keep you going during the tough times. Once you have a solid purpose, then you must determine what needs to happen in order to achieve that purpose—these are called goals and are the stepping stones or road signs along the way toward your purpose. Goals need to be written and reviewed daily. Often, goals are too big for you to determine what to do on a daily basis, so you should break them down into manageable activities called objectives. Start each day by reviewing your purpose, goals, and objectives, then start working on the highest priority objectives, and you will quickly reach your goals and achieve your purpose.

Power Secret Four: Right Attitudes and Beliefs

Many people fail in network marketing because they don’t have the right attitude. They treat their business like a hobby, working at it whenever time allows, rather than treating it like a business and scheduling regular time for business activities. I’ve also encountered many people in network marketing businesses, who show signs that they believe that what they are doing isn’t quite on the up and up, which makes it difficult for them to talk with people.

It’s critical to success in network marketing to build belief in three areas: You must believe in: 1) the network marketing industry, 2) your company and the products/services, 3) yourself as a network marketing business owner. If your belief is not strong in all three areas, success will elude you. If you are struggling with challenges in this area, see my book The Ideal Business (www.RodNichols.com).

This is the first part of a series of three articles. To keep reading, check out part two.