Hrvoje Horvat on 20 Years in MLM, Leadership Training, and NLP
Hrvoje Horvat is a veteran network marketer, leadership trainer and NLP master. Here is our powerful interview with him below.
Thank you so much for taking time to do this interview, Hrvoje! You have quite an interesting story I want to learn more about. So, let’s get started!
What was childhood like for you, what did you want to be when you grew up, and what did your parents do for a living?
Well, as a kid I want to be a medical doctor, but later on I forgot that idea. My childhood was pretty ok for me, mostly I did what I want, except the school which I didn’t like so much.
I mean always learning for me was a great thing, but not the stuff which are not useful like lot of stuff in the school. My father always had entrepreneurial mind, but we lived in communist country where that was not a loud.
So, he works on big projects always and last project was was the biggest Tennis center in which he build in Croatia. My mother worked in kindergarten in account office.
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Was there any entrepreneurship in the family?
As I said in last question my father had entrepreneur mindset, but he worked in communist country in that time.
So, entrepreneur mindset was not good accepted in society where we lived. It must be covered with doing things for better of all people in the country or in the town.
What was in some point great because I learned that working for benefit of others can give you great feeling, btw. That is one of the important thing in MLM helping others to be successful!
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What was your profession before discovering network marketing and can you tell us what was missing from your career that led you to join MLM?
Before I joined my first Network marketing company, I was working as manager of two café bars. Didn’t like the idea to spend whole my life in cafe bars managing waiters.
So I quit that job after two years of working. In the same time I was also a tennis coach. It was excellent job, I didn’t had any boss, playing tennis and it was good.
But, I was aware that I cannot play tennis forever and if I get some injury I will be out of the business. So, I like the idea of Network Marketing because you can talk with people and help them to made some money.
Another thing which was great in Network Marketing is that you can work with your brain, and brain works until person is alive. Of course I like the idea of passive income. So, idea of working whenever you want is really great!
What were the first two years like in network marketing and what was the biggest struggle?
It was long time ago, but in that time there was no internet and we were doing home meetings with a white board. I must say that public speaking was one of my greatest fears. I had to overcome that and that was not easy.
But when I did it then everything start to work great! I was every day in some home doing presentation, so I was doing 30 presentation per month. Business starts to go well, there was usual problems with duplication and crossline problems, but I somehow manage it.
Also must say that in that time I didn’t earn lot of money in the first year. It was big struggle, and everybody was talking to me: “Ah, you are still doing that?”. After some time I start to earn some nice money.
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When did things start to shift where you were starting to have success with network marketing?
Turning point for business was when I start to do 30 presentation per month. That was the turning point, results didn’t show up in the first two three months, but then things start to change.
Lot of people joined in my group and everything start to be good. I start to held a workshops for my people and people start to learn. Main goal was to create more leaders under me in my group.
What was not such a easy job since in that time there was no some special education about that. At least we didn’t have.
Now, things are changed, now there is so many courses that you can watch and listen only courses all day and not have enough time to work.
Even then we had one rule which said: “Learn and apply what you learn immediately”. Since we didn’t have so much to learn, what we learn we applied. Now I see people which are going from course to course and not doing much.
You now have 20+ years of experience in network marketing. What are some of the core principles you teach new network marketers?
Network Marketing is a still Leadership business and that is what is most important in Network marketing. Even now when everything is online and on internet. It is people business, so Leadership skills are the most important.
When you put your people in first place and yourself on second place then everything goes fine. Good duplication also goes from good Leadership skills. When you come first and goes last, when you still prospecting even you have big group, when you show with your example that is the best thing for your business.
Also there is no better motivation for your group then when they see you how to sign up new people.
There is persistence without it no body can be successful in any business, the same is in Network Marketing. One thing is very, very important in Network Marketing, which in some other business it’s not so important and that is honesty.
If you cheat people in some other business, well you can go with that, but if you do it in Network Marketing than you are out of the game for sure. Because the word will spread so fast that everybody will start to avoid you and people will start to quit because of that.
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I enjoyed looking through your blog. How old is it, how many posts are on it, and what is the traffic like to it daily?
I am glad that you like my blog. 🙂 My blog is one year old at this time. I must say that in the beginning I really didn’t know how to write and what to do with a blog, but later on when I buy some courses about blogging it was much easier to work.
Until now I have 150 post with 1300 comments on a blog. I have also second blog on Croatian language and this blog has also around 150 blog post.
The traffic on the English one is let say around 100 persons per day at the moment. What is not so much, but enough to earn money with my blog.
Blog works and it is great marketing tool. You can see that all big companies have blog on their websites, but it takes some time.
In any case in first year nobody can expect some big result. I am talking about free traffic. If somebody invest money in ads than things are changing.
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I notice that you have a lot of videos on YouTube. How has video marketing helped your online business, and what video platforms are you posting on today?
Yes I have lot of them on YouTube, mainly they are for Croatian market on my language, not on english. Video is great for branding yourself.
People can see you and it is the same like you are talking with them in person. It works much better than only written words or audio recording.
Also put videos on Vimeo and in the last time I use Facebook live and Periscope on english and Facebook live on my own language.
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What is the best way that you get MLM leads today?
I am catching leads in different ways. One way for sure is blog and that works fine, another way is with webinars, another way is with Twitter where I have automated set up, but I don’t know how long will Twitter work for good source of leads because it is more and more automated and everybody on it made automation. 🙂 Of course here is Facebook as my number one source of leads.
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You offer Webinars on Air. Webinars have been a powerful way to get a lot of signups at one time. Can you tell us about that?
Yes I have webinar on air on my blog as an offer. Just like before it was home meetings, later on hotel presentations now it is webinar presentation. I must say that I like more option when I can see person face to face, but webinars works also fine.
You know on webinars, you don’t know if people are watching webinar or drinking beer in the same time, playing games on mobile phone.
So, webinars demands additional skills. There is different way of interacting with people who you cannot see. In any case webinars this day works very good to sign up new people in business.
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When did you discover MLSP and how has that helped your online business?
I discovered MLSP one year ago and it was a huge change in my business. I start to transfer almost everything online, and start to work online business. MLSP is a huge source of new information for everybody, even for those who are long time in online business.
I am big fan of learning, and MLPS give such a value and lot of training which can help anybody in their main business.
Internet is one big store and if you don’t know how to attract people to your booth you are out of the game. People who are not ready to learn and invest in them, they will have only trouble on this big huge internet, they will spend time and money and earn very little.
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What is NLP and how does that improve business and life success?
NLP is shortcut from Neuro Linguistic Programming. There is many techniques how you can improve your life and get rid of the some trauma or some fears out of your life.
Let’s say that you have trauma and big fear from dentist. There are techniques for how to remove that trauma and fear. So, next time when you will go to dentist you will not feel fear.
The most interesting thing with NLP is communication skills where you are learning how to make a good rapport with people and how you can manipulate with people.
But there is lot of different theories about manipulation. When you manipulate people for their own good that is called Leadership, but when you manipulate people for your own good that is called manipulation.
NLP for sure can make life easier in communication with people but it is not crucial for creating success in Network Marketing.
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What is your favorite book right now and why?
My favorite book is from Robert Kiyosaki: “If you want to be rich and happy don’t go to school”. Not because I don’t like learning. I do like it very much, and at the end of the day I am also in teaching business, teaching people, creating courses and so on.
But one thing I don’t like, is that brain washing which you get in school. On the other hand, people are taking loans to finish some college and then they have to pay of that loans for years and nobody ask them did they find a job or not.
If they find a job, they are prisoners of that job and loan. In the same time it is great way for them to start Network Marketing business and start to learn again and get out of the depth they have.
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What is your favorite quote and why?
My favorite quote is: “Don’t let schooling interfere with your education” – Mark Twain
Reason is very simple, most of the people after they finish college never read any book in their life. With their school they are stopping their education.
What is wrong, because today knowledge doubles every 13 months. 70 years ago knowledge doubles every 20 years. Experts says that in the near future knowledge will double every 24 hours.
So, stopping education after finishing college is crazy. Just for illustration if somebody goes to surgery would he like to be operated from a doctor who finished medical school 30 years ago and never learn nothing new?
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This has been incredible, Hrvoje! So much wisdom and insight in your interview.