Sales has long been the area of business where the most money is made. Go into most companies today, and the earnings of their sales people will be significantly higher than other staff. Sales is the lifeblood of any company; without sales the company would not survive and would cease to exist.

However, the perception in Network Marketing is that we should be selling our business opportunity to as many ‘prospects’ as you can find. I remember a number of years ago, my Brother and I being involved with Amyway and our up-line telling us to create a ‘circle of influence’. This ‘circle of influence’ was to include anyone we knew, including friends, family, doctor, passing acquaintances etc. etc.

Now if you’ve ever been in network marketing system and been told to do this by your upline, you’ll know how pitiful the results are. Despite being told that we probably knew at least 300 people, we were only able to put together a list of around 100, and I would hardly have put them under the category of a ‘circle of influence’. Like most network marketers, my brother and I had little to no business experience at the time, and everyone on our list knew this; calling up your friends to offer them a ‘business opportunity’ was obviously met with more than a few raised eyebrows. Think of the least business savvy person that you know, and then decide what your reaction would be if they were to approach you with a home based business opportunity.

The problem was that we had no status with the people we approached, and your status is one of two main components in attraction marketing.

Think about this for a minute: if Donald Trump called you up to tell you that he had a business opportunity that you may be interested in, assuming you were in the market for new business opportunities, what would your reaction be? Now go back to that person I asked you to think about earlier, the least business savvy person you know, and compare your reaction. Donald Trump has status to the point where you may even feel flattered that he had called you, whereas your friend doesn’t.

Establishing yourself as a leader and expert in your field is one of the ways that you can gain status in the eyes of your prospect, so that when they are ready to buy, you will have positioned yourself in their minds as a place to buy from. People don’t like to be sold to, but they do like to buy. You won’t sell anything to anyone unless they’re in buying mode, no matter how good that product or service is that you’re offering; if the prospect isn’t buying, you’re not selling.

The question is, how do you establish yourself as an expert and leader in your field? Well, think about any experts or leaders that you know, and ask yourself what it is that they do that makes other people perceive them as experts or leaders?

These people firstly have a track record, but the leaders that you know of and will have heard of, have usually put something out into the public domain, such as a book, which shares information on how they got where they are today. They are giving information on how to succeed.

You too can raise your status as an expert leader, by providing information on that will help others to succeed. This may go against some accepted ‘wisdom’ that says you shouldn’t give away your secrets to success, but we’re talking about building a successful online business here. I would even go as far to suggest that every time you learn something new, something that will help you build your home based business and become more successful, you should share it with other people either through a blog or online video or whatever method you feel comfortable with. 97% of people won’t do anything with this information, but your perceived status as a leader will have been established in their minds.

You should also look at your posture and how you come across in the eyes of your prospects. A successful leader doesn’t have to go looking for new prospects to sponsor; they will come to him or her. In fact, most leaders will actually turn some prospects away if they feel that they aren’t right for their business. There are only 24 hours in the day, and only so much time you can devote to helping others build their business; you don’t want to waste your time on those who won’t help themselves. Therefore, a successful leader will have an air of authority. I’m not talking about being arrogant or condescending, but anyone who has children will know how to have authority and knows how to say ‘no’. Once you do this a few times, it becomes very empowering, and your air of authority will be conveyed to all your prospects.

I’ll cover the other main component to attraction marketing in the second part of this article…