Are You & Your Down-line Duplicatable? One of the biggest problems today once you sign someone up is to get them to duplicate your efforts. Sure, you want all your down-line members to be "go-getters", but you also want to ensure that they're not doing something stupid that's going to cost them a lot of money and they drop out. If I've learned one thing in my 8 years of networking is that unless EVERYONE is saying and doing the same thing to recruit others, your chance of success is greatly reduced. That doesn't mean that you want a bunch of "clones" or that you have to develop some sort of "cult-like" atmosphere. But, what it does mean is this--everyone needs to know EXACTLY what to do to recruit and maintain their down-line. When you buy a McDonalds franchise you get a handbook. This is the "hamburger bible". If you alter from it and fail, it's your own fault. You'd think that this simple concept would apply to networking too. Well it does. But, unfortunately, many people today don't treat their MLM business with the same dedication as those franchise owners. Why? I think it's because of the amount of money it takes to get involved in MLM today. Most companies have lowered their start-up costs to less than $150. Some even have a FREE start-up kit. Could you imagine going into a McDonalds tomorrow and hearing the owner/manager say, "Yea, I just ordered their free start-up kit and here I am!" MLM is a "easy come, easy go" business. The amount of money that it takes to get into a program determines the quality of person you get--at least most of the time this is true. Plus, how much knowledge and training do you really expect to get for FREE anyway? You're right, you get what you pay for is still true in the MLM industry, too. The best way to get your group to duplicate your efforts is to give them a training manual or training tape. You should never assume that your down-line knows how to get started and what to do. Most of your new recruits will barely know how to fill out an order form correctly--don't assume that they know how to sponsor 10 people a month! I always like to send out some sort of starter kit to all my new recruits which includes a copy of my book "How To Sit Back And Get Rich In Any MLM" which contains 20 chapters of useful "HOW TO" information. Plus, I send them sample ads, self-mailers, post-cards and a order form to buy some from me. And, I also include a 30 minute training tape where I SPECIFICALLY go over how to order and how to recruit people. I teach if you know how to order and how to recruit one person, you now have the knowledge to sponsor 1,000 people! Remember, if you have some sort of "special" way of recruiting your down-line (like your very own store front, magazine or Internet) you must be able to teach your down-line that you recruit using your method to go out and do the same thing you are. I once knew a guy who had a catalog and card deck that he owned. He ran his own ads to recruit his Down-line in these publications at his cost. And when his down-line called him to find out how to go out and sponsor people he told them to buy an ad from him for $1200! As you can imagine very few people could afford that and he set himself up for failure from the beginning. So, regardless of your "niche" or special technique of sponsoring people, unless you have a duplicatable system set up for your ENTIRE down-line you won't be making the kind of money you should with your group! Gary & Viktoria Lake City,FL