Culture Is Queen

What is culture? How do we define it? What does it do? Why is it important? Culture is one of those words like integrity that everyone loves to toss around, but not many can define it.

I define culture as a set of rules by which we agree to play the game. The game may be a business, living in a community, religion, or anything where people come together to play the same game.

The founder, leader or leaders define the rules sometimes from their values and Vision, and sometimes pulling from the communities’ values and Visions.

Golf has been around for hundreds of years and has a very specific culture, not only defined by the rules of the game but more precisely by the rules of etiquette. A golfer is expected to hold themselves accountable to honor the rules precisely. There are no umpires. A golfer that cheats is laughable, scorned and usually left to play alone … an outcast, not by the founders of golf but by the community itself.

The same is true for a live, work, play community using the rule of law. The United States is a community held together by the rule of law. You are an outcast if you steal another person’s belongings, etc. Or like Christianity via the Ten Commandments.

Unfortunately, too often, it is not intentional or crafted with an awareness of how crucial the culture is to the success of the business.

Culture is often random or divisive where various leaders promote their own values and vision, creating cultures in conflict. This results in an overall culture of chaos, conflict, confusion, and too often criminal behavior.

A value, Vision and mission statement is the start of creating culture. These ideas are, of course, mainstream today. However, here is what is not mainstream … everyone in the organization reciting them by heart, everyone having them posted in their work and living spaces, and everyone promoting them to every new member joining their team.

They’re lip service pieces, not integrated or accepted by the community at large.

Look at how the Ten Commandments has been established and infused into the spirit of every Christian. All religions have a similar code that is embodied in the community.

Think about religion as a role model and look at how many hundreds or thousands of years they have prospered. Think about how many religions “go out of business.” Not very many.

The real economic value of Network Marketing is the Asset or Legacy Income potential. Ambitious people can earn extra income or a very high-income doing thousands of things. Capitalist societies are defined by the abundance of opportunities available.

There are precious few opportunities where you can build something part-time with little or no capital and get paid on the efforts of a large, growing sales force long after you do the creative work.

Other similar models would be getting an invention patented and distributed on a global basis or writing a hit song etc. The value of the build is in the longevity of the income. Name other ways to earn $20,000 a month. Name other ways there are to build something that pays you $20,000 a month forever. The difference between Earned or Linear Income and Asset Income is about 200 times.

Your reputation, time, money, and courageous efforts are wasted in building an opportunity with a culture of demise. There are four major causes of a Network Marketing company going out of business … meaning your Asset turns to dust.

1. They never grow beyond small.

Never generate the capital to compete and honor the efforts of the founding distributors. There are many reasons for this, including junk products, no capital or poor management.

2. They just grow too fast.

Out recruiting and selling the capacity of their infrastructure, systems, product supply, etc. They break the system. They lack balance between how many resources they invest in promotion vs. infrastructure and management talent.

3. They grow recklessly.

Growing non-compliantly, illegally, and get sued by the regulators … AGs, FTC, SEC, or FDA.

4. They offend the sensibilities of the media.

They end up getting harassed and embarrassed out of business. Google has a long memory. I like what I call, the Cultural Commitments … a document that clearly defines the rules by which the network is going to play the game of selling and recruiting.

• Make whatever claims you need to in order to inspire your prospects to join.
• Think about your most extreme health issue and then craft a story about how the product cured it.
• Be careful about putting these claims on video or in print, but know that the company will look the other way if you do.
• Take anything you can about the products and spin it in your marketing efforts to sound profound even when you know it is BS. Things like: “Our product is an FDA approved medical device.” (so is my toaster. LOL) or “Our product is the most potent, pure, and effective on the market.” (oh, really … and you know that how?)
• If you hear anyone say anything that sounds exciting, repeat it as though it were fact: “We are the fastest growing weight loss product in the history of fat.” (if you say it enough it becomes real, right?)
• Say whatever you need to say about the money to enroll people. “It is fast and furious, just like our cars.” (sure it is.)
• Go after other Network Marketers. Try to make them feel wrong about their products or opportunity. Be overt about this or subtle … whichever way works. Plaster your social media pages with just how much better your opportunity and products are than theirs.
• As a company, if you bring us a prominent leader from another company we will pay them to join under you. We will keep the agreement “secret” so everyone else on your team does not feel slighted. The cool thing about a secret is that no one ever finds out.
• We’ll recognize rapid rank advancement and income over all other activities and accomplishments.
• We’re here to set records of how fast we grow. Nothing else matters … not even how long we stay in business, but we are “revolutionizing the Direct Sales profession.”

I know you think these are funny, but what is not amusing is that the culture of many, perhaps even most, Network Marketing companies are closer to the above than the below. However, the culture of those companies is not stated as such … they don’t have that poster in their office. Perhaps they have a fantastic poster which no one pays any attention. Or they have no poster, no mandate, no rules. Such an opportunity attracts a certain lawless and/or dense population.

Most Network Marketers are not lawless.

They are just ignorant about the business model. They are desperate to succeed and blindly addicted to being right about their chosen opportunity.

• Above all, we passionately, powerfully, and compliantly promote our products.
• We tell the whole truth about our income opportunity using our Income Disclosure Statement at every opportunity.
• We honor the prospect by asking what they want and listening to their truths.
• We champion every other Network Marketer and company, encouraging them to succeed in their own chosen opportunity.
• We are 100% transparent in all of our contracts, agreements, and policies with the sales force
• We are committed to organic, repeat, customer-driven growth.
• We embrace the opportunity for everyone to build a sales team of their own, creating exponential growth and wealth.
• We are transparent about being a Network Marketing opportunity … we love it and own it.
• We promise to pay those that build their business forever on the sales they produce.
• Our mission is to educate and inspire tens of millions of people worldwide to benefit from our products and create a wealth-building opportunity for those sales leaders that manifest that mission.

The kind of Culture you embrace and promote in your opportunity will either lead to a horrific demise or a family legacy of generational health and wealth. The choice is yours. The consequences are ours as a profession.

The work is worth it,

Richard

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