Drew Berman: From Hot Dog Vendor to Seven Figure Network Marketer
Drew Berman started selling hot dogs, then went into Real Estate, then went on to become a 7-figure network marketing trainer. His story is below in our exclusive interview.
Wow, Drew! I was just reading your about me and was blown away. I am excited you agreed to this interview. So, let’s get started!
Where were you born and raised, what did your parents do for a living, and what did you want to become when you grew up?
I was born in NYC .. actually in Queens – a place suited for Kings (that is an Eddie Murphy joke from coming to America ) Typical childhood of sports and fun and shenanigans in the 80’s.
My mom was a teacher, my step dad worked as a police administrator and my dad was in sales. I always had the sales and entrepreneur bug.
I had odd jobs – paper routes and such. When I was a senior in high school, I got a job as a hotdog vender – at the old Shea Stadium enter the Mets used to play which was super fun.
Growing up I kind of wanted to be a baseball player – but never took it too seriously.
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Was there any Entrepreneurship in the family, if so, how did that impact you?
My dad was always in sales and my grandfather had multiple businesses as I grew up. I always heard stories of successes and failures. He died at 82, doing some deals on his deathbed. He was always up to something.
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You were a hot dog vendor as a teen, how was that, and did that prepare you for life ahead?
Working at Shea Stadium was super cool. I learned time management and money management for sure. It became clear to me that work could be fun and profitable. I made a lot of money and I even made a lot of tips.
Our training was kind of ridiculous … walking up and down the aisles in an empty stadium, before the season, with empty bins, yelling “HOTDOGS” to no people … it was kind of out of the twilight zone.
But 2 seasons into I got into the groove, learned how to make the crowd laugh, it was really fun. That got me working at Madison Square Garden.
I got to see a ton of concerts – Madonna, Elton John, The Rolling Stones … and got to watch Knicks and Rangers games. I got job offerings and friends … and people would recognize when I was out and about. It was great training for life.
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Then, you travelled the world and landed in NYC and sold Real Estate. How was NYC? That’s my favorite city. And, what was life like then?
NYC in the 90’s selling real estate was a ton of fun. It was fast paced and I worked in partnerships. We called it co-broke or go-broke. Meaning we would co- broker a deal, and in partnerships we could do many more deals. I like showing apartments and running around the city.
One of the ladies there hated running to apartments – she liked dealing w the landlords, the faxes and the paperwork. I hated that part. We made a great team … so I married her.
We had a great gig. We were making lots of money … meeting people from all over the world who wanted to live in NYC.
We were paying $2700 a month rent for a 700 sq ft apartment. I walked to work. We were there for the good, the bad and the ugly. The best of being young and having fun. The worst of living in NY during 911.
When did you discover network marketing, what were the first couple years like, and what was the biggest struggle for you?
In the year 2000 I took an adventure of a lifetime. I was 28, not yet married, and I signed up for a 35 country, year long, 200 person, organized bike trip. It was called Odyssey 2000 and had never been done before or since. It was epic. I’ll save the details for another interview.
When I came back in 2001, I was a square peg in a round hole. I couldn’t make real estate work. Everything had changed. I changed.
I went to a BNI meeting to network. A guy approached me with a sentence that changed my life. He said, “you seem like a sharp guy, are you the type of person that keeps options open for additional streams of income”. And he handed me a cd. I actually listened to it. And I was hooked.
Next thing I know I was in Amway. I had no idea because they were re branding as Quixtar, an online version of the same. I went in treating it like a business, wasn’t skeptical at all, and really went for it.
It was complete and total disaster. I was cantankerous. I went to every event. I was on autoship for the training tapes … yes tapes. Cassette tapes. I listened every day. I read from the success books every day. I went to every event and function.
And after five years I had zero results. I had spent more then I made. I was losing respect and relationships. I was trying to sell soap and recruit anything with a pulse. I promised my upline I would get 2 prospects a day.
One night during a snowstorm, my wife was putting on her pajamas and I was putting on my snow boots. I went outside during a blizzard and literally chased a guy on the street asking if he was open to new opportunities. Eventually we had to have a network marketing intervention.
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What did you ultimately learn from this struggle, and what should a new network marketer do to start right?
I finally quit. I went back into advertising, and I was busting jump trying to make ends meet. I was working 60 hours a week and getting nowhere. I new there was a better way. I still had all the millionaires from Amway whispering in my ear … I was still listening to the tapes.
Then I was introduced to the landmark forum, Peak Potentials, and started my personal development journey. I learned so much from my Amway years. It made me think different about money, work, purpose, vision … and residual income.
I learned in order to grow my business I had to grow myself first. I started learning more about the law of attraction. When the Secret came out … that’s when things started to change for me.
The one key difference maker, for me, is the law of attraction. If we focus on what we have we get more of what we have. If we focus on what we want we get more of what we want.
You went on to enroll over 500 people. Can you share some of your lead generation techniques and how you got your team to duplicate?
Ahh – now duplication, I think that’s a myth. People are not duplicatable… systems are. I got back into networking when a man walked into my office down 40 pounds and 8 inches off his waist.
When I tried the program I was hooked. I found a company with vision. With systems. With structure. With fun. I enrolled over 500 and grew the team to over 12,000.
The closer I stayed to the company resources, the more duplication I had. The more I tried to recreate- the less duplication I had. They asked the amazing trainer Jim Rohn … where he met his prospects … he said wherever they are.
As I meet people I train them. We have a team infrastructure where we teach the basics. How to connect, how to set appointments, how to use language to help people take action. We teach a simple 3 step system – 1) develop rapport 2) set appointment 3) show presentation w upline support on the phone on a 3 way call. Simple. Easy to duplicate.
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I like your two choices on your blog describing MLM: An expensive hobby or a lucrative business. How did you get your business into lucrative?
We go to events. We buy the books and the cds and the products. Most of us network marketers are product users because we love the products. We share it with people we know, or we Introduce it to people we meet.
We either do it part time or full time … but it’s not so effective if we do it some of the time. If you got a part time job at Walmart, there would be a structured clock in and clock out time.
To go from hobby income to professional income you have to treat it like a business. There. I said it. Did I scare some people away? I may have. But those who treat it like a once in awhile hobby, they get once in awhile results. If you want it to become lucrative – you have to treat it as a business.
Events are only a small percentage, and yes if we could make them mandatory we would. If you bought a McDonald’s franchise you’d have to go to McDonald’s University.
A network marketing company works like a franchise. If you want to be your own boss you have to be your best employee. A good way to tell if you are going from hobby income to professional income … is to ask yourself if there were 100 people doing what you do, in your business, would you be happy with your business?
I just bought your book on Amazon, You Online You Offline: How to Make a Fortune in Network Marketing. Looks great. Can you tell us a little about it?
I studied marketing at George Washington University in DC. Network marketing is about creating a network, and offering value to them so that they want to buy from you. You are not selling a product you are selling a result.
No one wants to buy a drill. What they really want is a hole, the beautiful little hole that they so deeply desire, then sell the drill. Most people got it backward. Buy my drill!!! Buy my great network marketing product!!! Wrong. Find a want, need or desire – then offer a solutions.
In my book, How to Make a Fortune in Network Marketing, I talk about the 4 questions. If you write them down, answer them in a different color, and read them every morning and every night – you will have a dramatically different and more profitable business.
1. Who are my ideal business partners (associates, team mates, customers)?
2. Where are they?
3. What makes them tick? (What do they think about? What do they want?)
And question 4 is a game changer. . .
4. What do I have to do, change or improve to attract more of them?
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I love your blog! How old is it, how many posts are on it, and what is your daily traffic like?
I love the blog. I have several hundred blog posts dating back to 2009. Tons of interviews with network marketing experts. A lot of great how to’s. Traffic? Now that’s a good question.
I love all the traffic and I can handle more. Is that a good answer? I think anyone looking to improve their game in the network marketing space will find value.
Traffic goes up and down… obviously when I write a good post, then promote we always get more. Everyday we have repeat visitors and everyday we have uniques visitors.
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What is your favorite book right now and why?
I’m reading and re-reading Bob Proctor’s You Were Born Rich. It’s all about the Law of Attraction.
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What are your goals for 2017?
Goal is to have over 20 people on my team earning 6 figures or more. I also like coaching people from multiple companies. I am really a stand for the profession. I want to see the profession get better and better. Gandhi says “be the change you want to see in the world” I say be the change you want to see in the Network Marketing Profession for 2023 and beyond.
I have a few spots open for coaching clients. People I work with over 3-6 months should expect to see intangible results – better time management, better language, less fear etc. And also tangible results – more sign ups, more income.
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What is your favorite quote and why?
I love the law of alignment.
When what you want, what you say, what you do, and what you think are all in alignment. That is when the magic happens.
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Thanks so much for this interview, Drew!
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