What The Movie Shawshank Redemption Taught Me about Network Marketing: Tips for MLM Success
I am a little obsessed with this movie and applied its principles to network marketing success in What This Movie Taught Me about Network Marketing.
Shawshank Redemption is my favorite movie of all time.
I watch it every year and it always brings a few tears to my eyes, but the story relates a lot to how to become successful in network marketing. How does this film relate to MLM?
Andy Dufresne, played by Tim Robbins, is sent to prison in 1947.
I won’t ruin the movie for you, so I will tell you just the things that matter.
Andy had to survive prison. He did some things that will relate to becoming successful in network marketing.
Here are the steps of what he did:
- He got sober before Prison. Obviously, you can’t drink in prison, but there is always a way to drink in Prison and do other bad things, but Andy gave up a huge bad habit.
What big habit is getting in the way of your success?
One of the biggest things that changed the trajectory of my business was giving up just listening to music and daydreaming.
I didn’t watch TV anymore, but I would listen to music and daydream for about 4 hours a night. I gave that up and started to do virtual mentoring programs online.
2. He shut up and observed. For the first month in prison, Andy didn’t speak. He watched everything and saw how the operation worked.
Are you truly listening to the leaders in network marketing?
You can learn a lot about MLM business success by watching what the leaders do.
I shaved a lot of time off my learning curve by watching training videos on YouTube from a few good MLM trainers.
3. First two years were the worst. He got assaulted by a gang of men called “the sisters,” a bunch of racist looking guys.
The first two years are the hardest in any business.
If you are prepared for battle (the hardships of MLM) then you will inevitably succeed.
A lot of people quit network marketing before it works for them. I admit, I wanted to quit a lot in the beginning, but I knew from watching the Leaders that they stuck it out during the hardest times.
Network marketing should be treated seriously, like a profession, because it is a profession.
No one masters a new profession by “trying it for a few weeks.”
Look how hard most athletes train and how long “A” students in college study every day.
MLM is a profession and the more you study and work in the beginning, the more likely you will become successful.
Even, if you don’t understand it, you can still use an awesome product and learn as you go.
People have said that network marketing is one big “self-development course disguised as network marketing.”
So, relax and don’t worry about making a million dollars your first year.
The first couple years in network marketing should be focused on self-development, working your your sponsor and learning from the best.
4. Acquiring knowledge. After the hellish two years of getting raped, Andy started working in the prison library.
He was a business professional on the outside and was already educated, but on the inside he learned other skills needed to survive.
Leaders read. One of my mentors, Tai Lopez, reads a book a day, or at least claims he does. It paid off for him in becoming a sought-after mentor and it will benefit you.
The more you learn, the more you earn. People will start listening to you the more you know about business, marketing and MLM.
Become an “authority” in network marketing, because people new in network marketing want to be led by someone with more experience.
Persistence
Andy wanted to revamp the prison library, so he began writing to the State Senate once a week.
He wrote a letter a week for six years until the senate finally gave him $600 basically to stop sending letters.
His persistence got him enough money to fully develop one of the best prison libraries.
The point is persistence pays off in many ways. You have heard of many stories where the “underdog” wins with persistence.
“(Andy) crawled through a river of crud and came out clean on the other side.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger says it is all about sets and reps and he won Mr. Olympia six times.
What “income-producing” activities are you doing daily to get you closer to your goals?
Again, I won’t ruin the movie, but Andy’s persistence led to his ultimate success.
Little by little, things worked in Andy’s favor and it’s the same for you.
Little by little becomes an upward spiral to success.
Collaboration
Andy had created a lot of friendships inside those old prison walls.
They helped him get what he needed to keep his sanity and in return he helped educate them.
Network marketing is a “people” business and it’s very hard to become wildly successful in MLM by yourself.
I am all about being an introverted online marketer, but I still seek out information from others and get on the phone with my downline from time to time.
If you want lots of money without focusing on helping others, you will lose in business and pretty much, life.
Mentoring and reading is necessary to become a leader in any business.
“Either get busy livin’, or get busy dyin’.”
That is a famous quote in Shawshank Redemption said by “Red” played by Morgan Freeman.
If you are not learning new skills to propel your business and yourself forward, you are dying essentially.
Most people gave up on their dreams a long time ago and switched to distractions instead, like TV, to avoid their present situations.
Don’t fall into this category. It is okay to slip into these bad habits a couple times in life as long as you gain insight and move forward and keep pressing on.
Prison is about rituals and so is life. You either have positive rituals that propel you forward, or negative rituals that drag you down.
I partied for sixteen years of my life and suffered a heart attack when I was 32. I kept getting back up.
I realized why I was “sabotaging” my life. Now, I make it a priority to push forward and making a positive impact on myself and others.
Greater Vision
“Some birds aren’t meant to be caged, their feathers are just too bright.“ Red in Shawshank Redemption.
The meaning of becoming successful in network marketing evolves over time.
At first, it’s about the money, but over time it evolves into wanting to help empower others on a global scale.
The more you help people, the more you get in return.
Think about some Billionaires.
They helped millions of people by providing solutions for them, like Steve Jobs and Apple. He provided us electronic gadgets of high quality.
Oprah gave us tears and insight on her show and with her magazines. . .
Jay-Z gave us unparalleled rap lyrics. . .
Here is a simple formula to follow:
High Value = High Return
Low Value = Low Return
If you’re not providing much, you won’t get paid much. Simple as that.
Relax though. . .
We are a “work in progress” and have many chances and will go through many “setbacks” to get to our perfection.
Setbacks are normal in business. Get used to them and embrace them. Quitting is not an option.
The only thing quitting does is postpone your success. Stop postponing your success.
Leaders make 95% of their decisions work for them. . .
Like I said in the beginning of this post, the first two years will be difficult in network marketing. This is normal.
If you follow Andy’s determination in prison and Arnold Schwarzenegger in bodybuilding, acting, and politics, you will go far.
Don’t ever quit on your MLM dream.
Thanks for reading and best of luck in network marketing or direct selling!
P.S. I am personally looking for 25 success-driven people to help get to $100,000 a Year. Find out how I make a full-time Income from Home in my PJ’s on the MLM section of the Everything Entrepreneur Blog.
