Affiliates Are Number One Priority: by David Wood

Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.

Affiliates Are Number One Priority

I took a one hour nap today and had an inspiring dream. Mr. David Wood, CEO and co-founder of The Empower Network, came to my home and set up a TV monitor with a video of him interviewing me at one of his Masters Retreat. The Masters Retreat just so happens to be the most valuable training product that they offer, which I own, myself.
 

I woke up too quickly because I was enjoying that dream. When I went back to my computer, I discovered that David Wood had just written one of the most inspirational posts in Facebook that I have ever read! I was inspired to make this video blog post to share with the world. The words are David Wood’s and I just had to put in my two cents, too!

The number one REASON that Amway became a $ BILLION+ company is because affiliates come FIRST over and above everything and everyone else. THAT’S why The Empower Network is on its way to surpass that. NOTHING and NO ONE will stop that from happening and when you decide to join me, you’ll be glad you did.

The biggest problem that Network Marketing companies have is at the top – here are some of the things that will make affiliates “vote with their feet” as Orrin Woodward would say:

1. Terminating affiliates, and taking away a check that they’ve earned fair and square. If you own a company – you may own your trademarks, copyrights, and patents – however, you don’t own your affiliates. They are independent contractors, with the right to sell whatever the hell they want.

Are you already an affiliate for a company? You’re going to love this freedom when you click the join button, below!

2. Treating affiliates like they are employees. They’re not. Affiliates are people who have their own hopes and dreams, are building a business for their own reasons …and an employee is someone you are paying to help execute your hopes and dreams. You can fire them if they don’t. That’s another great reason why you decide to become happily involved with me.

If you own a company – your affiliates are not your employees – YOU are THEIR employee. Very different way of thinking, and most owners don’t realize that.

3. Not appreciating your affiliate leadership in the field. Sometimes it’s a punch in the gut to realize this – but if you own a company, and are not an affiliate, too…

(Examples of company owners who are also reps would be David Wood and David Sharpe of The Empower Network– and Nick Sarnicola at Visalus, among a very few others – Chris Kent over at Numis always has acted like an affiliates as well, along with Jake Kevorkian – great guys)

Affiliates Are Number One Priority

Anyway – if you’re not an affiliate, you have to realize, that it’s not your genius that created your company – it’s the genius of your affiliates. You’re essentially nothing without them. You didn’t create your sales volume – they did. Their sales tools. Their sales ability. Their blood, sweat, and tears. Their relationships.

Don’t take credit for what they do. Give them the credit. Include them in your masterminds. They deserve it. You, as the owner, are there to serve them, not vice versa. Your affiliates ARE your business, and your livelihood. They are more important than your employees, more important than your scientists, more important than JV partners.

Your affiliates are EVERYTHING. Treat them like Gods, if you want them to stay because they are welcome to leave at any time they choose.

The BEST teams I’ve ever seen at edifying leadership are the independent teams from the Amway organizations from the schools of Bill Britt, and Dexter Yager. Their leaders have stuck with them for 50 and 60 years because they get treated right.

4. Not paying people.

This is a big one. This is how a company financials should operate:

a. Company gets money b. Affiliates get paid c. Infrastructure costs get covered d. Business investments (tech, science, etc, joint ventures) happen e. Company owners take a payout

All too often, that is reversed. David gives credit to Chris Kent for teaching him that.

Affiliates Are Number One Priority

If you are not paying people – there had better be a damned good reason, and your people had better know, and you best have all of your available resources focused on solving it, now. If you don’t, you won’t have a company.

The Empower Network has been a few days late paying people 2 or 3 times, when they introduced something new and had commission calculation mismatches, or something.

Every time, when that has happened, The Empower Network’s entire staff has stayed up for days straight, through weekends, drinking redbulls all night to stay awake to fix it.

The Golden Rule is:

Commissions are not your money that you’re re-allocating to affiliates – it’s your affiliates’ money that you temporarily have custody over until you pay it to them, like they rightfully deserve.

Not paying commissions that are due is straight stealing, in my opinion.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the rant! We’ve all been raped by some companies before, here’s the most important thing to understand:

If YOU own a direct sales or a network marketing company, your affiliates are everything. Treat them like it.

Affiliates Are Number One Priority, so don’t be a wussie…

Click the button below and join us. You’ve made a wonderful decision.

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