You'll never be paid what you're worth, but...

"I'm not getting paid what I'm worth." If I've heard it once, I've heard it (as the cliche goes) a thousand times. That- and other versions of the same thing.

Things like, "It's takes too much time for what I get back."

Or, "I've got to make money. I can't do this..."

At the core of all of this is the fundamental reality that in the early days of any business- particularly an MLM- your "hours to income ratio" is upside down. That is, you work more for less money. Sure, the possibility is there that one day you'll work "less" for "more," but in the same way that an infant has to first crawl, then walk, and then run (and even just "lay still" before any of that!), there is a progression to your business. Particularly in terms of how much you work and what you get paid.

And, this reality is one of the reasons that many people quit. In fact, I think they quit too soon.

You've seen the pic to the below before. Look at the guy on the bottom. He's clearly almost there, yet he stops. No doubt, if he just knew where he was- and how close he was- he would have continued...

Upside down

Here are some things you need to remember about "getting paid what your worth."

1. You'll never be paid what you're worth. Ever.

Here's what I mean by that: you are priceless. And you're not for sale.

What is for sale is your time.

And, whereas most people exchange "hours" for "dollars" (i.e., you go to your job / career and are expecting to put in a certain amount of time in return for receiving a specified amount on your check), an MLM gives you the opportunity to move away from the "dollars for hours" exchange. Of course, first you've got to work through the exchange...

2. You will see things change for the good if you continue working.

When Cristy began working her essential oil biz, she worked 30-40 hours a week...

And her first check was... about $50.

I wasn't impressed.

The next month, she worked 30-40 hours a week... and her check grew to over $400. That comes to about $3.50 per hour. Not even half of minimum wage.

As she continued working, though, her checks continued rising... to $1,000... then $2,000... $5,000... and more.

She still worked 30-40 hours each week, but now she was making $9.00 / hour by the time we divided her check by the time worked... and then $18.00... and $50.00... and more!

And she was beginning to get paid for the work of her team- and not just her own work. In other words, the hours to income ratio flipped in her favor. And it did so dramatically!  

Avoid the temptation

A lot of people quit in the early days, though, because they're not getting paid relative to the time they're putting in. Rather than pushing through like Cristy did, they scale back... 

If they're making that $400 / month, they evaluate how much of their time is worth $400... and give no more than that. 

* If they feel that $400 is worth 10 hours a week (i.e., 40 hours / month- or $10 / hour) they work 2 hours a day or so... 

* If they feel that they're a $20 / hour person, they put in 20 hours that month... 

* If they feel they're worth $40... they work 10 hours that month...

Of course, the valuation scale is arbitrary and personal- the value that stirs one person might not matter to the next.  And, the problem is that this mind-set never allows you to get traction and move to the point that the true power of the NETWORK of your entire team every works for you, and that the time-to-money ratio flips to your favor. 

Here's the tendency...

If you'll continue pushing through, something radical happens. Namely, you begin to leverage the power of your entire team. 

It works something like this: 

If you teach one class this month, you taught one class... 

If you teach one class AND have nine team members each teaching one class, you taught TEN!

Whereas traditional business models are built on one person crushing a massive goal, the power of network marketing is that a LOT of people pull together, each doing a bit to create HUGE momentum. 

When our team members ask how much they should work, we tell them this:

Put in the time

Here's what I mean: Every few years, Young Living releases an Income Disclosure Statement. It looks like this:

If you review the statement, you'll see the dollars amounts that various distributors got paid at each rank throughout the organization. And, you'll see the time those distributors reported working.

Now, keep in mind, these are the averages. Often, we think we have to be "better than everyone else" to succeed. You don't. If you can work 17 hours per week- and do as good a job for that 18 hours as the average distributor, you can hit Silver (they earned about $2,200 / month for that time!).

Reality check

In other words, let's get real for a second- you're not going to hit that rank working 5 hours / week- unless you're hyper, hyper skilled and talented. Or unless you put in the 5 hours and a spouse or partner buts in the other 12 each week (which is certainly a valid way to get those hours).  

Whereas the natural tendency is to scale your hours back to work relative to what you're getting paid (i.e.., $400 / month isn't worth 30 hours a week... it's worth 5 hours a week... and $50 / month certainly isn't worth 30 hours a week... it's worth... well... one or two, if nothing else is going on). Instead of shirking back from the hours, work the hours relative to the rank you want to have- not the rank you currently do have. In time, the results will come!

Make sense?

By the way...

Frequently, I write that there are three things that GROW your biz- 

* New enrollments

* Repeat orders (Essential Rewards)

* Multiplying leaders

During the early stages of your growth, begin doing all three. Enroll people, move them to Essential Rewards, and identify those that have everything from an interest in getting their products for free to those who want to build an empire. 

Continue working consistently... and the results will come!