I Don’t Have the Money to Do Network Marketing

When I first looked at network marketing, I thought it was interesting, but I ended up telling the person I couldn’t afford it.  

He responded with a very important question that I’ll remember for the rest of my life.  It changed my perspective on money entirely.

They Say “I Don’t Have the Money” 

In this series, we’ve been talking about what prevents a person from joining the business. 

What we’re talking about today is a common objection. How many times have you sent someone information and they looked at it (or they didn’t) and they say, “I don’t have the money” or “I can’t afford it.”  

I know this objection well because it’s exactly what I told the person who shared the business with me. 

The Conversation That Changed My Life 

It was back in 1989. I was still in the Navy spec ops. I was living on a Navy salary and I knew that what I really wanted in life, I would not get, based on what I was making in the Navy. 

When I first looked at the business, I told the person that I couldn’t afford it. 

And I’ll never forget what he said to me that day.  He asked me, “Tim, how long have you been saying ‘I can’t afford it?’” 

And I said, “Well…uh…I guess all my life.”

To that he said, “Did you say that to just reply and answer the question, or can you really NOT afford it?” 

I said, “Well, um, I don’t know. I guess I could afford it. Like, I might need to sleep in my truck, but I could afford it.”

His point was that if you believe this business model is real, and you want to do it, then the “I can’t afford it” objection is just an obstacle to overcome.  

It was in this conversation that I realized I needed to find a solution so that I could build a better life.  

What They’re Really Saying is “I Can’t Do It” 

In the world of self invalidation, very often a person has some other reason or hesitation (ie: I can’t do it, I will fail) about doing Network Marketing, but they give another reason instead. 

That’s what happened to me. I had the idea that I couldn’t do it. I was invalidating myself. But instead of admitting my fear was not being able to do it, I just spit out, “I can’t afford it.”  

Sometimes people will say they can’t afford it because it’s just an idea someone else has told them, or it’s an idea they have adopted. 

It’s kind of like the person who always has bad luck. “If I didn’t have bad luck, I would have no luck at all.”  Have you been in a situation where someone laughs at you for something, and then you begin to think it’s true? You allow yourself to be that person who was being laughed at. 

Or, you are talking to a person with a negative attitude and you find yourself adopting that same attitude and you continue on with that negative outlook. 

Another possibility is that you adopt the “I can’t afford it” idea because someone asked you for some money at one point in time and you just fired off with “I can’t afford it” or “I don’t have the money” – and from that point on it just became a good excuse. 

Figure Out A Way 

After that conversation with Rick, (the person who brought me into Network Marketing), he told me something that is key. 

I’ve never forgotten it. 

Once I admitted that I could afford it our conversation went something like this: 

Rick: “Okay, well, do you have anything that you could sell?”

Tim: “Hmm, I don’t know…”. 

Rick: “Well, I’ll leave that to you. If you believe this and you want to do this, then figure out a way.” 

He didn’t come into my world, or walk through my garage, or tell me what to do. He just told me to simply figure out a way to make it happen. 

That’s when I realized I needed to find a solution so that I could build a better life. 

I Sold Everything That Wasn’t Going To Make Me $10K A Month

Truthfully, I just had a little conversation with myself and I thought, let’s just pretend this is real. 

What if, in a year or two I’m making X amount of money. If that’s the case then I wouldn’t have a problem buying new golf clubs. I purchased my used clubs at a garage sale anyway. If this business is real, I could go to another garage sale, or even buy new ones…better ones. 

I had guns, a bicycle, an MK V helmet…that was really hard to give up. At the time, I was a deep sea diver and those helmets were very valuable to us. The helmet was not expensive, but it had a lot of value because I was in the last class that was trained to dive with that helmet. 

I ended up having a garage sale and sold everything. And when I say everything, I’m talking about all of these things on my list.  If the thing didn’t make me $10,000 a month, then I was going to sell it. 

I made it happen; I got the money I needed to start my Network Marketing business. 

The money from my garage sale was enough for me to get going. Another successful action I did was that anytime I sold a product, I used the profit in those sales to buy leads and more products. 

And I just continued on that process. 

Now, I do believe that there are circumstances where a person can’t afford it. If a person genuinely can’t afford it, I’ll ask them if they would be willing to get customers to build a business; and build from that point.  If they’re not willing to do that, then you know that “not enough money” is just an excuse for another underlying objection.

And that’s the self invalidation. For those of you who haven’t seen it yet, the very first video I did in this series, “The #1 Reason People Don’t Join Your Business” shares the idea that some people are just down on themselves in a particular area. It exposes itself in different directions and situations, but the bottom line is the person doesn’t believe they CAN do it. 

I’m forever indebted to Rick, who walked me through this and helped me see that I could solve this obstacle so I could go after my dreams. Without Rick’s conversation, I would have just self invalidated myself and told myself I couldn’t do it. 

Focus On The Pipeline

The simplicity is that all businesses do the Pipeline. (You can access my free Pipeline training here.) You generate leads, you contact them, you set an appointment, you do a presentation, you follow up, and then you get a customer and you serve them. After doing all of that, you make money.  

That’s how all businesses in the world make money. 

You have to do the Pipeline to find a spouse. It’s what every church does in order to get a congregation. The steps of the Pipeline are used everywhere, including Network Marketing. 

What I realized is that I just needed to learn the Pipeline, and then DO the steps in the Pipeline. 

Build A Better Life

Now, all these years later, it did work out. I was able to buy better versions of everything I sold. Well, except for the MK V helmet. I didn’t ever buy one, but I could if I wanted to. 

And that’s the main thing.  I needed to find a solution to my own objection so that I could build a better life. 

And that is exactly what happened. 

Rick helped me realize that if I could see that the business model was real, and if this was something I wanted to do, then the “no money” objection was just an obstacle I needed to overcome…to figure out a way. 

I hope you’ll share this with someone if you think this little discussion could help them in any way. And, I’d also love to hear from you on this topic. 

Have you ever been stuck in the “can’t afford it” objection? What helped you to resolve it? What steps did you take to make things happen for you? I look forward to reading your responses. 

P.S.  If you don’t have a team, haven’t recruited anyone (or less than 10 people), this is THE course you should get – Network Marketing Training Course