MLM and Mission Impossible

I was tweeting this morning and came across some sad news in "current events." Actor Peter Graves, who portrayed secret agent Jim Phelps in the Mission:Impossible TV series, passed away. You might also recall his role in the comedy movie "Airplane."I loved Mission:Impossible and since I was looking for new article ideas, I could not resist exploring how MLM is like Mission:Impossible!Now, we all know that MLM success is NOT impossible, since we all know some people who have succeeded (some wildly so!) However we are also often reminded of the low percentage of people who succeed. So just what did the IMF (Impossible Mission Force) Leader so when he got his assignments (that self-destructed in 60 seconds!)Pick the agents who will work the assignment
Come up with a plan
Interject some cool gadgets and special effects
Come up with disguises as needed
Pull it off!Choosing your MLM "secret agents" involves targeting people likely to be leaders. Some believe in targeting people with MLM experience while some believe you should avoid them. That's the subject of another article!When it comes to having a great plan, that is really a great system for education, prospecting, and following up that everyone who joins your team can plug in to. And the system also gives you some of the gadgets.So what about cool gadgets and special effects? All spy shows have them (James Bond anyone?) I don't know if it is still there, but in 1998 I visited a very cool restaurant called The Safe House in Milwaukee where they have all sorts of spy stuff including a 1-way mirror in the ladies room and even a secret entry! We really don't have to rely on smoke and mirrors to succeed in MLM but we do need to stay abreast of technology. Very few people succeed today with strictly the phone, mail, and meetings! And the rules have even changed for the phone with the national "do not call" registry. There are rules governing the usage of email lists as well that we must follow.You can't do MLM without a website these days, and your company replicated site just isn't going to do the whole job either because it doesn't brand YOU. You should also understand and use social media. So far I am getting along without a "smart phone" but I am sure I'll get one someday soon!What about disguises? I have seen some people do some very deceptive things in MLM and I don't agree with those tactics, nor do I use them myself. There is just one instance where you might need to "withhold" what business you are in (and you are not pretending to be something you are not; you are just not telling the whole story!) When you are advertising your website and branding yourself you will come across some websites that censor information and prohibit the mention of MLM or network marketing. You can either avoid them, or you can do as one of my mentors suggested and "think outside the box."At first I thought this was a waste of time, since it certainly makes it more difficult to target the right people and give them a "call to action." But then I got to thinking, what is wrong with a "2 pronged" approach? On the websites that do not censor, go ahead and mention MLM and ask people to visit your site, download your ebook, order your DVD, or whatever gets you leads. On the sites that do censor, just cover more general topics of interest to anyone who does business by networking and serving people. You can still have a link to your website and if the viewers/readers like you, they will check it out.I hope this has been helpful. I would like to mention that I have recently submitted several other articles which cover certain segments of this topic in more detail, so i hope you'll check out all of them to get the whole picture!RIP, Peter Graves. We'll miss you!