Three Asks a Day
I did network marketing for five minutes once.
Yes, yes I did.
For those of you confused, network marketing is those companies where one person sells a product and then they get some people to sign on with them and sell the product too, but the first person gets a little piece of those people’s sales, etc. It’s where the term ‘pyramid scheme’ gets thrown around a lot.
Now, like many of you, I’ve had completely bizarre experiences with network marketing, but also amazing experiences. I’m a proud customer of my friend’s Pampered Chef business, I’m obsessed with Scentsy and I use Mary Kay skin care every single day. But my point is not to get into the pros and cons of that business system.
During my five minutes of working a network marketing business, I actually learned a TON.
This particular company, at the time, not sure if it’s still the same, stressed mindset and personal growth. They made all these online resources available - calls you could listen in on, recordings of speakers at events - that kind of thing. And I devoured it all.
At the time I didn’t realize it, but what I was doing was stockpiling all these amazing tips that were super helpful to me in my artistic career. And I’m happy to start sharing them with you.
The first one I want to share today is three asks a day.
Three asks a day.
It’s funny, I can still hear this particular person who was in my ‘upline’ saying this in my head. (By the way, upline is a made up network marketing term …)
‘Ask three people a day.’
The concept was that you wrote a list of ‘everyone you knew’ and then you picked three from your list to ask them to meet with you about the products. And then over time, the asks would change. You might be asking them what they thought of the product you gave them to try or asking them what they thought of the product they’d purchased and were they interested in hosting a party.
And you know what? I did it then and it worked.
It worked so well that I still apply this to my artist journey. And it still works!
One example I’ll share was when I started my YouTube Channel (which started out as a total fluke by the way … another story for another time …). To be able to monetize your channel, you need to achieve 4000 watch hours (i.e. people needed to watch your videos enough that it hit and accumulated 4000 hours - not sure if it’s still the same number …) and you needed 1000 people to subscribe to your channel. Curiously or luckily or whatever the case, I hit the 4000 watch hours pretty quickly but man oh man getting ONE THOUSAND PEOPLE to hit subscribe was a game of agonizing inches. Oy.
So, I started. Three asks a day.
I wrote this HUGE list of people I knew and slowly worked my way through it.
Did all of them respond and subscribe? Nope.
But this same person who taught me the concept of the three asks, also said in that same training: the worst they can say is no.
The worst they can say is no. (Also, another conversation for another day).
So I pushed through.
Three asks a day.
When I was nearing the end, I reached out to someone on my list - someone I’d worked with when I was a teenager at a summer camp. And bless his heart, he galvanized his network and got me the remaining few hundred subscribers that I needed to hit the golden 1000.
Three asks a day.
As an Artist, you’ve got to get comfortable asking people for things.
And I’m telling you, pushing through three asks a day WORKS.
It works because three seems like an entirely manageable number.
It works because in giving yourself this daily task, you build momentum.
Momentum attracts momentum. (Yet ANOTHER conversation to be had in the future!)
It works because it forces you to be really clear about what your current goal is.
It works because even if they say no, you’ve made a connection with someone and they just might circle back in the future.
Three asks a day.
My name is Marion Abbott and when I did network marketing for five minutes, one of the best business lessons I learned was ‘Three Asks A Day.’ And it works.
PS. The friend I was referring to? His name is Mike and he runs a travel agency. Do me a favour and check out his site and see if you can give him a Like or a Follow or better yet, book a trip with him.