Kenny Santos on Mindset, Belief, and Building a Successful MLM
Kenny Santos is an author, coach, mentor and a Real estate investor. Here’s our powerful interview where we discuss the mindset it takes for MLM success.
Thank you so much, Kenny for doing this interview. You have a lot of expertise in various niches that I’m really curious about. So, let’s get started!
Where were you born, what was growing up like for you and what did you parents do for a living?
I was born in Toronto, Canada.
Growing up was pretty average. My parents immigrated from the Philippines. My mom was a nurse and my Dad was an engineer.
I had a lot of pressure to have good grades and I worked hard to get them. I excelled in science and I wanted to be a marine biologist or even an astronomer because the mysteries of the ocean and outer space intrigued me.
My parents discouraged me from following those passions by telling me it would be hard to get a job in those fields. I ended up becoming a nurse. I was good at it and I liked it for a while but I always knew that there was something else in life that I was meant to do.
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When did you catch the “entrepreneurial bug?” And, when did you get a little success?
The entrepreneurial bug bit me when I stumbled upon a book that many entrepreneurs know “Rich Dad, Poor Dad.”
I was at a friends house and it was just sitting on the coffee table. My friend had already started to read it so I just started reading at the page where his book mark was. I couldn’t put the book down. I ended up getting my own copy and finished reading the book.
When I was done, I started again because I still hadn’t read the first part and finished the book a second time.
It took me a little while before I created success as an entrepreneur. I was in my Network Marketing company for 9 months before I made my first dollar.
I had an awesome mentor by the name of Cheri Tree. She made being part of the profession so much fun and helped me find a lot of passion in network marketing that I never even considered quitting.
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Which did you start first, network marketing or Real Estate? And, how was the first couple years for you in each industry?
I actually started in network marketing and real estate at the same time. I was in a unique situation where my Network Marketing company had an educational product about real estate investing.
Real estate: I learned how to do wholesale deals first as they really don’t need any start up capital. My first deal I had in my first 60 days. I made $1500. I was so excited!
I eventually moved into different real estate techniques like “buy and hold” and “sandwich leasing” but I never got into the “fix and flip” like some of my colleagues.
Network Marketing: I started slow. As I said before, I didn’t make ANY money until my 9th month in the business.
I was very persistent and became action oriented and started to make 5 figure months in my second year. It took me a little while to finally quit my job as a nurse but I eventually “retired” from nursing after 4 years as an entrepreneur.
From an economic standpoint, I certainly could have quit earlier however I still liked nursing and the security of a paycheck.
What was the most important lesson you learned from the struggles in each profession?
I’m going to cheat on this question and give you 2 lessons.
The first one is the most important and it applies not only to both professions but to every aspect of your life. If your readers can get one thing from this interview, it is “Love Yourself”.
I know that it sounds cliché but it really is the secret to a happier and more successful life.
If you love yourself, you won’t procrastinate the income producing activities in your business (like prospecting). If you love yourself you’ll stay disciplined.
If you don’t love yourself, you won’t feel worthy of success and you’ll self sabotage your success without even knowing it by procrastinating.
I used to think that once I “make it”, then I will feel worthy. But I had it backwards, I had to feel worthy first so that I could “make it”.
Your self worth does not and should not be at all related to your net worth. When you love yourself, you feel worthy and you start believing in yourself.
The second lesson relates to network marketing and prospecting. When you are prospecting, your focus should be about finding people who are open.
I used to think that it was about convincing people. I put a lot of pressure on myself trying to convince people to buy or join my team. I got really good at convincing and overcoming objections but a lot of people ended up quitting.
If your prospects need to be convinced to buy or join, then they are not someone that you want as a customer or business partner.
If you change your goal from convincing someone to simply finding out if they are open, you’ll be able to prospect more and have a lot more confidence doing so.
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One of my favorite quotes about MLM is “MLM loves speed.” How important is it to grow a network marketing business faster than slower?
MLM is easier to build fast rather than slow. If you can take action and build a success story quickly you will have more credibility and confidence. It is so much easier to build from that point.
Who looks more credible? The network marketer that’s been at it for 6 months with little or no success or the network marketer that’s made some sales, advanced rank and received some bonuses in his first month?
Don’t fret if you are are like me and a slow starter. Just make some success (no matter how small) and leverage that into a story. It will sound like this.
“I just started to take this business seriously and I got my first sale!”
If you are in a product based MLM and you want to start building some success and momentum then grab a free copy of my audio “MLM Momentum”. You will be able to start the momentum process in as little as 48 hours.
Are there any tips on how to slow down the “attrition rate” in MLM?
The best way that you can do to stop attrition in MLM can be summed up in just 3 words:
STOP THE HYPE!
No one really cares that you have “a scientifically proven, award winning product that’s been created by a Nobel Prize Winning professor from a prestigious University” or that your company is “ground floor with the best compensation plan.”
Using hype attracts people that are much more likely to quit and it actually pushes away the real leaders.
Who would you rather have on your team?
- The person who you had to hype up to join? The one where you said, “This is easy! All you have to do is follow the system. Save your spot now.”
- Or the person who you had to qualify to be on your team. The person who says yes to questions like this:
-I’m looking for someone that is hungry, ready to work and open to following a system. Is that you?
-This is a business which means you have to invest time and money in to this. Is that something that you are open to?
The first person is more likely to quit and the second person is more likely to work. If you want to stop attrition on your team, start recruiting workers.
You won’t find any workers if you use hype to sell your business.
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I love your blog. You offer so many tips and valuable information. How old is it, how many posts are on it, and what is the daily traffic like to it?
Thank you! I’m glad that you get value from my blog. I worked hard on it. It’s a constant work in progress but it’s looks a lot better than it used to and It will only improve in content as it grows older.
I actually started blogging back in 2008. At the time it was very focused on real estate and is now more focused on network marketing and personal development.
I have over 2000 posts. Shame on me, I don’t know the daily traffic on it. I would have to talk to my web developer for that.
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What is your best method to get traffic back to your blog?
The best method to get traffic back to my blog is consistency, I don’t blog everyday but I do blog a minimum of 4-5 times each week.
After I do a blog post, I syndicate it to various facebook groups and also I my email list.
On every video that I do, I invite people to go to my blog to get a free audio download.
I noticed your product “Law of Attraction Life Hacks.” What is that about, who is it for, and how important is Law of Attraction for creating success in business?
The “Law of Attraction Life Hacks” is a free audio download. Most people know about the Law of Attraction but they find it hard to incorporate it into their daily life.
This audio shows 6 simple ways that will allow you to implement the Law of Attraction into your everyday life in an effortless way.
The Law of Attraction is super important for creating success in business.
Thoughts do indeed become things.
When you change the way you think, you change the way you feel.
When you change the way you feel, you change the way you act.
When you change the way you act, you change your results.
That’s why Napoleon Hill’s book is called “Think and Grow Rich” not “Work and Grow Rich”
If you aren’t in the right mindset, it doesn’t matter how skilled you are and how hard you work, you’ll never create success in business.
However, if you are in the right mindset and using the Law of Attraction you can become successful much faster and easier.
You’ll still work hard to get success but it will be more fun, it won’t feel like work.
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What is your favorite book right now?
My favorite book right now is the Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. It’s the book that really started it all for me.
It’s the first personal development book that I read.
It inspired me to dream and then to take actions on my dream.
It has affected me so much that I’ve shared dozens of copies with friends and family members.
I read that book every 6 months. It keeps me on track and reminds me that the Universe loves me, supports me and has my back.
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What are your goals for 2017?
– finish writing my book
– start making affiliate commissions on my blog by selling other people’s products. Making $1000/month through affiliate links seems like a good a good start.
– coach 3 new people to $10k/month in their network marketing business
– Go on a cruise with my son so I can build even stronger bonds and make more memories with him.
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What is your favorite quote and why?
“The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” ~Steve Jobs
This quote is so eye opening to me. I was taught that you have to “want it bad” in order to succeed. But “wanting it bad” isn’t enough.
There are many network marketers that “want it bad” but most of them (90+ percent) just don’t make a living or create dream money with it. The reason it took me 9 months to finally make some money in this profession wasn’t because I didn’t “want it bad enough” it was because I didn’t find the business building activities fun.
Once I found a way to build my business that that was fun, my progress went much faster.
If you like what you do, you’ll do it often.
If you do often you’ll get better at what you do and do it well.
Michael Jordan was not born with any extra skills or talent in basketball. He actually didn’t make it on his highs school basketball team.
He just loved playing basketball so much that he played all the time. He played so much that he couldn’t help but become great. He loved basketball with a passion.
Passion means willing to suffer for. The ones that really become successful are willing to suffer because they love the process so much.
How do they suffer?
They are willing to look foolish in front of their friends.
They are willing to lose sleep because their craft takes up so much of their time.
Some of they go hungry because they are too busy to even eat.
In network marketing, you can’t just be passionate about your goals.
If that’s all you are passionate about then maybe you’ll make a couple thousand dollars a month or even get some rank bonuses but only if you are really disciplined but then you’ll plateau there or even stop.
However, if you love the process as well as the goal, then you can’t help but to do it everyday with passion and focus. That’s how to create real success.
Fall in love with the process, keep focused on your goal and dream about it everyday. That alone determines “What is meant to be”
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Thank you so much for this interview, Kenny! This is full of valuable nuggets. I can hear your experience and wisdom in these words.
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