As a 4th-grader in a small Texas town with not much to do, hanging out at my best friend Mark's house would become the daily routine. His dad was a doctor, a very good doctor. And every evening he would spend at least an hour plowing through some of the biggest textbooks I had ever seen.



One day while waiting for Mark to come downstairs, I asked Mark's dad this question, "If you're already a doctor, why do you still read so many books?"

He had a great answer, "Because I want to stay in the top 5% of all doctors in my field". He would go on to explain, "By being a better doctor you get better pay, better jobs, better everything".

And that my friend, is the essence of becoming a true professional. It means, separating yourself from the crowd and accepting FULL responsibility for your own success or failure.

In network marketing, it means investing in yourself and making a commitment to learn the skills that others can't or are not willing to learn. By doing so, you put yourself in a leadership position that "attracts" people to you. Leaders in the industry often refer to it as "attraction marketing".

Now I have to admit, I didn't remember that valuable lesson until years later; after spending more money than I was making, after struggling to keep my small-but-growing downline motivated, and after a long and emotionally draining ride on the MLM roller coaster.

However, when I discovered the concept of attraction marketing I realized that if I learned the principles that it teaches, it would mean several things:

* It would mean the end of "overcoming objections" and trying to convince people to join my business or buy my products because I would become the "hunted" instead of the "hunter".

* It would mean the end of throwing away money I didn't have on crummy business opportunity leads every month.

* It would mean the end of chasing away my family and friends.

* And it would even mean that the emotional roller coaster would finally come to an end.

Today, I generate all of my own leads for both distributors and customers. My prospects pay me whether they join my business or not. And, I don't hesitate to tell a prospect "no" if I don't think they're right for my business, because I no longer feel desperate to recruit someone.

Now, I'm not telling you this to brag or pat myself on the back because it didn't happen overnight. It happened over time. So take the time to learn and develop the attraction marketing skills you need to build your own business.

There are however, a lot of different skills to choose from, but the ones I recommend most are:

1. Learn to do your own online advertising using pay-per-click or ezines. It doesn't have to be expensive and Google Adwords has a great tutorial.

2. Learn how to use "capture pages" to create your own leads. (ever wonder how the lead companies do it?) You'll also find plenty of good information online about capture pages.

3. Learn how to use auto responders. You can free up your time by letting them do all the following up with your prospects for you. You'll find 2 of the best at www.1shoppingcart.com and www.aweber.com.

4. Learn the art of "copywriting" so you can create your own killer ads and write irresistible letters that pull in customers like crazy. Again, you'll find tons of info online.

There's no doubt about it, when you choose to take action and apply the principles of attraction marketing to your own business, you lift yourself above the rest of the crowd. But best of all, when prospects come to you first, your business becomes a heck of alot easier and lots more fun.