Ryan Chamberlin

Ryan, how did you get started in network marketing and what were you doing before? When I first heard of network marketing I was 25 years old and I was running a mortgage company in Belleview, FL. that I had started in 1997. In October of 1999, a good friend of mine talked to me about Team National.

Prior to that, my wife, Jennifer, and I were working together and we had tried a couple of different things. At that time we had been married for about six years, we had one small child and we weren't making a lot of money. I think my tax returns for 1999 were showing about $18,000 for the year.

So when that friend called me about Team National, my first response was that it probably would work well for other people but probably not for me. We had tried two other network marketing companies and had not made any real money. My wife was definitely not excited about me even taking a look at it. We were in six figure debt, and other things were going on but I got excited about the program. It sounded different.

What sounded different this time, Ryan? Actually, there were a couple of different things. For one,

the point of life where I was at was different. Maybe, just the difference in me at the time was the change needed.

But the concept of the company was just so unique. I could really see where they could cut some of my expenses, so I began to do a mental justification as to why I was going to join. Because even if I wasn't going to make money, it looked like I really could save money, I could immediately see a benefit here.

That was different than the other two companies'. Where there are products involved, it doesn't really matter what they are— when you're broke, it doesn't matter how good the products are, you simply can't afford them. With Team National it wasn't set up that way.

I'm certainly not negative about any other company. I strongly believe in direct sales and network marketing. I think it was just the timing being right with Team National and really, after looking at the compensation plan, I could see a way to make an extra $1000 - $1500 a month. At the time that's all we were looking for; I wanted to bring my wife home from work to be with our two year old so we could stop taking him to daycare. That was our goal and looking at Team National it looked like a simple way to reach it.

I tell people today, that two year degree I got in college was the best four years of my life and we graduated Magna Cum Lucky!

Jenny and I were married about a year or so out of high school. I was twenty, she was nineteen, we now have four boys, 8,5,4,1 and the last seven years have been totally life changing with Team National.

Although Jenny did not start out supporting Team National, she has become very active with building the business. If the truth be known, Jenny had the right to be a little skeptical of my commitment to team national. There had already been several situations where I had made wrong business decisions. So if your spouse is a little skeptical, don’t use this for an excuse not to build the business, use it for a reason to build it. When success comes things will work themselves out. Now Jenny speaks, trains, and has done opportunity presentations. In addition, there is no way I could do some of the things I do without her support and leadership in the family.

So, it's 1999 and you threw yourself into Team National. Did you start out strong right away? Yes, we threw ourselves into Team National. I didn't know a ton of people but I did know my 'why'! We saw an opportunity here so I called some people in Arkansas, about 1000 miles away from me, I basically gave myself a mental ultimatum; I decided I would do this thing full out for 90 days. Basically, I thought to myself that if what they are saying is true, then I should be able to do what they say and see results in 90 days, if not, I'm done. So I did that… and it worked!

That was my first project, focusing on 90 days.

I know people come into this business and set five year goals but what I see is a lot of five year commitments broken in 30 days.

When people come into this industry what I like to see them do is, sure, set some five year goals, but also make some strong, hard commitments to give it everything they've got for at least 90 days, because if they don't they're setting themselves up to fail and won't achieve their five year goals anyway!

Ryan, you said that when you got involved, back in '99, that you knew your 'why'. What was your why? Well, it had to do with my scenario at the time. Basically, people that age, are generally not in a position where they are putting everything on the line or having a company and employees or even knowing what it's like to work 80 hours a week and never see your kids. I'm also heavily involved at church. I'm a piano player there and have been since I was 14 and there were some things I was unwilling to give up for anything.

But I think my why was centered on my knowing that there had to be a better way than trading time for dollars. I was in a position to meet and get to know other men in business and what I could see was that though they were generally older than I was, they were in the same position as I was, the only difference being that they had been there longer.

All of this started to gel in my mind and it got to the point where I was very, very open to the idea of going after a different financial vehicle. I started going after books like Robert Kiyosaki's Cash Flow Quadrant, and reading books by other leaders.

I had been involved with the Amway Corp. five years prior and one of the wonderful things I did get there was exposure to books and tapes. I set that stuff down when I went to start my mortgage business so I didn't really personally grow from that but the seed was planted and I personally grew from experience.

You know, by the time I was seven years out of high school, and had put 3-4 years of hard work into a company, and when I say hard, I mean I had put everything on the line, my home was about to be foreclosed on, I was receiving repossession notices for vehicles, credit cards maxed out and still putting 60-80 hours in at work.

While I'm suffering a total financial breakdown, I'm also feeling very unfulfilled as I see my life not going in the direction I want for myself and my family.

I could see people 20-30 years older than me in similar situations. And even some that might have had more money, but they still were stuck trading time for dollars and not realizing their full potential.

And that's what I really wanted… to be in a position to realize my full potential.

Ryan, can you describe or discuss that 'aha' moment. Maybe you didn't even call it your 'why' then, but specifically, what was that motivating factor for you? There really wasn't a specific factor until after I received my first check. There were two sets of decisions that allowed me to jump in with both feet, and of course, your commitment grows and changes as you do. My commitment and motivation today aren't the same as they were then.

I was in survival mode when I first started with Team National. I felt like I had finally found something that could get me out of the box.

Before I even took action I had convinced myself that this system would work for me; that I could work it.

Then I went out that first week and took action that resulted in my getting a check in the mail. I remember staring at that check and thinking, "I can't believe that I produced this!" Understand, finances aren't the most important thing in life; they just seem to affect everything we do. My motivation at that time was to clean up my finances so that I could bring some balance into my life and create the time I needed and wanted for myself and my wife and kids. So my thoughts were predominantly looking at this opportunity as a vehicle to change my financial picture, and getting that first check confirmed it would do that for me. When your finances are out of whack, and you're struggling day to day and week to week, it's hard to even think about balance in these other areas.

Once I earned a check, I wanted more, so I decided to work the Team National system. I wasn't good at it at the time, I was scared to talk to people, I wasn't very outgoing and hadn't ever stood in front of a room and talked to a group people.

I remember the first couple of months, standing in front of a room full of people and trying to explain something, I was nervous and shaking. But there was nobody else who could do it and because I had earned checks, people just assumed I knew what I was talking about. I think what happened was that because they thought I knew what I was talking about, basically, I started thinking I knew what I was talking about.

So really, you just jumped in? Yes, I just jumped in out of desperation. The closest distributor to me was over 1000 miles away and they had just coached me over the phone. I did have a lot of passion. I've had people tell me now that I was simply hard to say no to because of the passion involved.

It's hard to put into words but for the first time, I just locked onto something and had a very clear reason and idea of what was going on. That took me through the first few months.

Here's the process; I didn't start to view myself as leader until I was in the business at least a year.

You know, how people see themselves is what they tend to become and over time in this business, you start seeing yourself differently.

The first six months was life-changing. We had made some money and were starting to pay off creditors and I had reached some low levels in the company. Then someone from Team National had called me and wanted me to speak at an event. I remember hanging up the phone and saying, "What could they want me to talk about? What in the world could I say to anybody?" I just assumed everyone was doing what I was doing and I certainly didn't think my story was that dramatic. But they told me they just wanted me to tell my story for about 10-15 minutes. It was my first experience of talking to a group of about 1000 people and I was scared to death. But after that, people started calling me, and asking me what I was doing, how I was building the business.

After about a year I finally figured it out. People were just looking for something to model. Although I was only 26, I was actually going out and doing it. They just wanted to follow something that was working.

It dawned on me that while I was looking around for the leader, they were looking at me! We had done it fast and they wanted to know how we did that.

So, what happened was that I started sharing the story and started to develop some skills in speaking, and I had turned my annual income into my monthly income, working Team National part time. I continued working the mortgage business for a year after I started with Team National so I was like any part timer.

I sold the mortgage business to a partner in the fall of 2000 and it was about two years after that, that I was asked to develop a corporate video to teach everybody how I had worked the system. I try to teach people very simple ways because I visualize very simply, I think part of my style is relatable and my story is relatable.

Can you describe for us at least part of that system, Ryan? How did you build your business? Sure, there are mainly three parts:

• You have to learn how to put people in the business • You have to learn how to keep them in the business • You have to move people along and add value and grow an organization

There are three distinct areas in that system that must to be focused on to become a leader building a growing organization.

The first area, recruiting people, is the area that most people think defines network marketing. They think that's what the business is about, recruiting people. Consequently, that's where you have the separation between the mega organizations and just the mediocre organizations, because there are several different areas of our system.

Now, the recruiting section, which is what I focused on the first year, helped me in my teaching and developing my style. We call it 'playing baseball'.

It's a four-step system that has to do with building belief before you sell the opportunity.

In this four-step system the first step is to pre-qualify your prospect properly. Of course we provide comprehensive training in that but in a nutshell, there's very little you have to say to pre-qualify someone, yet it's during the pre-qualification period where most people in this industry mess up.

It's at this step that people will evaluate whether or not they want to be in business with you. Believe it or not, before you ever show them the program people decide whether or not they are going to do. At least that's the case for the top-producers in this industry.

It's hard to convey, it has to do with posture, attitude and a few other elements, but it can be taught to some degree. The best rule of thumb is, consider saying less to more people. It's a numbers game, and depending on your pay plan, higher numbers will produce, but no matter what, it's still a numbers game.

If someone has low attraction skills, in terms of business, it doesn't matter how good the program is, people aren't going to partner in business with you.

Those skills can grow if you are open and committed to personal growth, learning from books like, How to Win Friends and Influence People. I really feel that anyone willing to do that can earn a six-figure income working our system.

So that first step is to pre-qualify your prospect properly so you're not wasting their time and they're not wasting yours. You want it to be clear that this is serious business.

The second step is to connect them to a third party so that they can hear another person's success story. It's true that facts tell and stories sell. Third party credibility works really well in terms of belief. Whether or not the prospect wants to talk with a third party is irrelevant, it's really important to use your posture to move them through this system.

So we introduce them to a third party, whether it's through conference calls, live testimonials or whatever, because it's invaluable for bringing up their belief level.

Once you've talked to enough people, it's impossible to deny that this is for real.

The third step is showing them the mechanics of the system. And we can do this by showing them a video, doing an in-home presentation, holding a meeting, etc. But the important thing here is that it's the third step, not the first step.

Handing out videos, blasting it out, trying to explain it over the phone, that's where most people in this business make their mistakes. They don't take the time to build belief first! So it's important to know that trying to explain the mechanics of the business should not be the first step, there is a process for building belief that needs to come first if you want success.

The fourth step is following through and getting them started. Getting people signed up. But it's a cycle that needs to be followed through. Here's the philosophy— you can't just sign someone up and go on to the next. That's just not the way it works. Signing them up is the beginning, not the ending.

It's not like if you were selling somebody a car and once the sale is complete your done. When they buy the car you may never see them again.

Well, in this business, when they sign up, you're hoping you're going to have years of relationship with them.

That's why you need the other parts of this system, keeping them in and moving them along.

And that is what I believe top producers in our industry focus on!

Recruiting is important, you've got to keep doing that because new blood is the life blood, but keeping them in and moving them along is what will keep people in this game even while they are not yet making money.

It sounds like this four step process can be applied in any great company in our industry. I certainly believe so. There could be creative differences but these four basic steps are fundamental. And the reason it can be used by any company is, first of all, it's simple and can be duplicated. Secondly, I'm certain that if you explore the top producers from any company, you'll find that these four steps, pre-qualifying, third party credibility, explaining the mechanics, and follow up and getting them started, are the things they are doing to create their success.

Our magazine's theme this month is 'Spring into action'. It sounds like your four steps fit very well into that. If you were advising someone who was just starting today, what would you suggest as the first way they should spring into action.

If I were advising someone I would suggest they build it F.A.S.T.

That's an acronym I use and the F stands for focus. We've got to get focused. We have to be clear about why this person is doing this. We want something concrete.

If someone is working two part time jobs and two full time jobs and is involved in bowling on Fridays, etc., there are decisions that need to be made about what they are going to focus on over the next year to get the results they want. Whether it's Team National or any kind of financial vehicle that you want to use to deliver some residual, long term wealth, it's going to require some time and focused attention.

There has to be a focused game plan.

The A stands for action. I like to refer to a m.a.p., which is a massive action plan. This is something simple. I like to chart out with someone their first thirty days of activity; or at least sell them on the idea of thirty day massive action plans, in ninety day increments; because anybody can do something for ninety days.

What I believe takes care of all the problems in any company, especially Team National, is action.

So if you take the S, which stands for systems, and you run into any kind of a problem, you just go back to the action chart and see what actions are, or are not, taking place.

It's about consistency. Consider this, if you set a goal of entering one person a day into the system, doesn't matter if it's my person or someone else's, then over thirty days it's inevitable that you will begin to see results. There is no way that they won't get better, there's no way their belief won't go up, just out of pure action they will learn.

I know for me, six years ago, it was the action that became the teacher.

It was through the action that I did the three-way calls and heard what my upline was going to say, it was through the action that I made mistakes and people reacted to me in ways I didn't want them to react and so I adjusted what I was doing until I got a different, more desirable reaction. It's through the action that the growth curve has shrunk from a year to a month… or from five years to one year because I did more action than the average. For instance, it might take someone a month to make ten calls, well, I did that the first day!

That means my business is probably going to grow thirty times faster than the other guy. It also means that if that other persons business is going to grow that slowly, they may not be here ninety days from now and I definitely will!

So F.A.S.T. stands for focus, action, systems and teachability. Learning from mistakes is invaluable. It always amazes me, when I go out and counsel somebody, I find they keep making the same mistake over and over again, whereas when I found something not working, I would ask myself, "What do I need to do differently to make it work?" Instead of blaming the system, I put the responsibility on me as the one operating the system. That's when I began to ask the right questions. Most people are asking the wrong questions.

You know, if you ask the right questions you get the right answers.

But most people are asking, "Why isn't it working?" That's the wrong question because there is no answer to that. The better question is "What am I doing wrong within the system? What can I do differently to use the system more effectively?" When you ask yourself those questions, then you can find the answer and start making adjustments.

So being teachable is really about being aware of the results of your actions.

And really, just pulling the trigger, taking action consistently, committing to a massive action plan is the way to learn to do it. I don't want to overwhelm people but if I was counseling a new person I would definitely sit them down and discuss these four aspects, focus, action, systems and teachability with them.

I'm getting a glimpse of where you get your success. I love the concept that action becomes the teacher. Let me change gears a bit here, Ryan— it's an inspiration that you, in your twenties, developed this kind of focus that resulted in your becoming one of the top income producers in your company. Here's what I want to know… you made it before you were thirty, was that a fluke? Or is there hope for people in their 20's in network marketing? There is, there's a lot of hope! There are a couple of things that people in their 20's need to snap out of. One of the things, and this is an issue whether we like it or not, is how parents are raising their children.

It's not my intention to offend anybody, but parents are raising their kids with the mentality to go to college and get a good job. There's nothing wrong with college, I went to college, but when parents and society have fed you the line that you have to go to college in order to get a good job in order to make some real money, and that's all you've heard, for say, 23 years, then it's pretty challenging when their parents, at 45 or 50, finally snap out of the trance and get excited about network marketing as a wealth building vehicle.

The problem is that these parents, all excited about network marketing, are trying to sell their kids on the idea and they are going about it in the wrong way. It creates a resistance in the young people because it doesn't jive with what this parent has been telling them all along. This is something I clearly see and it needs to be talked about.

People come up to me all the time, because they hear my story, and they say, "Ryan, I need you to talk to my son (or grandson), I can't get him to see it. Why do you think I can't get him to see it?" I hear this all the time.

The real answer is, and I don't often share this because I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings, but the real answer is "They can't see it because you raised them not to see it!"

That's really valuable, Ryan! So what would be a better way to approach a young person to increase the likelihood that they'll see it?

Well, seeing something in writing is probably going to be a bit less abrasive. And I think taking them to a meeting would be even better. And of course, there are other issues that need to be addressed, like work ethic issues.

People in their 20's are just getting started in their careers and so they are going to have a completely different perspective than someone who has been working in a career for a number of years. They haven't experienced a career burnout that sometimes triggers us out of our trance.

Here's something I try to live by:

If someone is not asking, they're not ready to listen.

So if a 24 year old is not asking, "What do I need to do to beat the system?" then they're probably not ready to listen.

Now, there are some things that can help people in their 20's start to become aware of some of this quicker. Again, we go back to third party credibility. It wasn't until I ready Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad Poor Dad and the Cash Flow Quadrant, which I read at age 23, that I began to buy into the idea that I may not be thinking correctly about my financial vehicle.

So introducing this type of material could make a difference. I believe that one day I could put together some material that would help young people see the difference and make better choices. But I believe the best thing parents can do right now is get their kids to go to one of these kinds of seminars, to read these kinds of books, assuring them that they could make millions.

So are you saying, as baby boomer parents, we would be better off inviting our sons and daughters to a company event? Earlier you said, say less to more people, in this case are you saying 'say less to your children and let the event give the message'? Absolutely! You see, it was the Amway events that planted the seeds for more in me. In this industry, let's just face it, if people join in their 20's and they work hard, they attend the meetings, they follow the systems, and they stayed with it for five years, let's say from age 20 – 25, and for some fluky reason they didn't make money at it… the skills they will have developed will allow them to become millionaires in any industry they venture into afterwards. This industry provides valuable skills whether you make money here or not.

There are a couple of things that provide this value. Here's another one of those rules, you become like those you associate with, so if you associate with the right kinds of people, positive, upbeat, successful people, you are going to become that. And this industry is full of those kinds of people.

Another thing is, what other industry provides the level and abundance of personal growth material along with the expectation that you apply it, that you find in network marketing? It's an incredible industry, and when I mention 'industry' I'm referring to the top, most credible companies, the ones that are value based and are obviously here to stay. All of those good, solid companies are there because they believe in some kind of personal development. So the value is there.

The ethics, the systems, the skills and training in over coming your fears, and again, action takes care of all of this, these things are simply invaluable.

So, if someone jumps into this, the value is that they can prove to themselves that they can do things they never thought they could do.

They also can discover there are things that they might have thought were fears, but really weren't fears, they were just unfamiliar things that soon became familiar.

These are the things that provide value of life. My opinion is that if people feel they are getting value out of partnering with you, then whether they're making money or not, they are not going to go anywhere. Money is simply not the primary motivator here.

Money is not the primary factor that holds a network marketing group together. It's the value and the leadership and what the leadership is able to do in terms of helping people reach their potential.

If the leadership in your company can help people reach their full potential in more areas than just financial, then you have a winning company!

That is why Amway, for instance, still does $8 Billion per year. It's not a bad company but the financial vehicle it offers is not the driving factor of that $8 Billion, I can promise you that. They have mastered the art of moving people into personal development.

Did they make mistakes? Well, yeah… and they pioneered a lot of things, paving the way for us to learn from and so now I find myself in a company that has addressed some of those issues and made improvements..

We've learned that it's not about how much money you can make off of certain individuals, it's about building some long term teams here that produce residual income.

It takes some focused energy and I think young people need to understand that it's a process. It's going to take some time and energy and there are probably going to be some frustrations, but you might as well enjoy it because you're not going to get around it!

Ryan, would you suggest that baby boomer parents recommend things like our magazine as a form of third party credibility for their children? Oh absolutely, I would recommend especially your magazine for that age group and for a number of reasons. For one thing, it's digital, and that's the digital age, we're the digital generation, that's the way we like to read things.

Also, they can download some of the material and put it on their mp3 players, save things to their email and share it that way, from and to anywhere in the world. You know, there are a lot of things you don't have to teach this group, this is just a normal way they do things so it's already designed to appeal to them.

Another thing is that you here at TheNetworkMarketingMagazine.com make an effort to appeal to all age groups. Let's face it, there is not much out here in the market that caters to the 20 something age group, things like focusing on taking a 22 year old and coaching him to be a top producer in a network marketing company.

Most of the material out there is written by people in their 40's, 50's and 60's, that are sharing their experiences, and of course it's all good. The information is wonderful and it's all out there, so that if a 22 year old follows what Jim Rohn, Denis Waitley, and all the others, have to say, there is no doubt that they will be successful. I know that from my own experience, but relatability is a factor that can not be overlooked.

What you have done, by opening the door to a 20 something, is provided a voice that young people can relate to.

It opens them up to possibility thinking.

This is the bottom line, and this is what young people need to think and know, that if another 25 year old can do it, then it's possible that they can do it. You know, that if a 22 year old can do it, then it's possible that any 22 year old can do it.

That possibility thinking has to be at the foundation of the thinking for young people. From there they can start asking, "What do I have to do to get there?" They can start asking the right questions.

I'm curious, Ryan, looking at your own organization, do you see that being younger you've actually attracted more young people with your story or do you, maybe, intimidate your peers? That's an interesting question. The people that I've personally sponsored have been in their 30's, 40's and 50's. As a matter of fact, up until this last year I hadn't hosted anyone in their 20's, which seems kind of odd. But I think that comes down to the simple reality that the people I knew when I was 25, the people I went to school with, were busy playing basketball three times a week and far more interested in that.

And I had learned that real quickly. When I started my mortgage business my friends were still spending their time goofing off, but I was ready to move forward. And of course,

you become who you hang out with, you become who you associate with, so for a young person to move forward they would be better off adding some new friends, finding role models, that they could spend some real time with.

What has happened, overall with Team National, is that it's attracted many more young people. When I first started with the company the average age was 56, and some of that had to do with the price factor, but now the average age has dropped fairly dramatically, perhaps ten years. So yes, my story has attracted a lot of people. I haven't personally recruited them but when you can point to someone and say, "Hey, if they can do it, it's possible for you." then you have that third party credibility, and in this case, I've become the third party credibility for the other team members.

You see, I faced the same frustrations as anybody else, when I first started my friends didn't want to listen to me, either. One of the biggest mistakes for anybody, but especially young people since we're focusing on them here, is that they will go out and talk to their friends who really don't want to focus on anything and then they'll base the possibility of success in network marketing on the results from their 7 friends who are preoccupied with playing basketball every week.

Well that's not the way to judge a business.

They need to be introduced to a system and work the system, get out and meet some new people, take the four ear rings out of the ear and maybe cut their hair because you attract who you are, not who you want.

Whether we like it or not, there are some appearance issues involved. To make it to the top you really do have to 'look' like someone who is at the top. This is probably a bigger issue for people in their 20's because they haven't had the number of 'reality checks' that naturally occur as you get older.

You can't operate in your life unsuccessfully and then go attract people who are going to be successful in your organization.

So Ryan, now the burning question in my mind is, back in '99 when you were just getting started in your 20's, where did you go to find these people to put into the system in the first place? Well, of course, I had developed other relationships besides the friends I had gone to school with. And here's what I found out, once you make the decision to build, and you really know why you are going to build, then you really do start meeting the people that you are going to build your organization with. You are going to be meeting enough people, the question is, how do you turn those acquaintances into quality, potential team members?

The question is, what do we need to be doing to attract more of the right people? Do we need to learn people skills, posture, belief levels or what? And my answer to your question is I met people the same way anybody ever meets new people. I just did something with the people I met.

The question is, what do you do to develop a relationship with the people you do meet?

Some of my largest teams are the result of cold contacts but through passion and focus I learned to ask for referrals and I learned not to be afraid and I learned how and what to say to people.

Unfortunately we need to wrap this up, but before we let you go, Ryan, please share with us what you feel is the best thing about network marketing.

The best thing for me about network marketing is that at the end of the day, not only financially can you do well, but you can feel like you've made a difference, like your life means something.

If you sink everything you have into it, there are going to be people whose lives have dramatically changed for the better as a result of your support.

Then of course there's the financial aspect of it. I feel I'm creating a wealth system for my family. We're able to do some things, including travel, that have contributed a lot of value to our lives. My children have had the opportunity to see things many adults haven't experienced.

The best part about networking is really the impact it has in all areas of a person's life!

Thank you, Ryan. We really appreciate the insights you've shared, especially in approaching young people. Your thoughts are so valuable and working with the younger adult is an untapped area that all people in network marketing would benefit from learning about since the young are the future of our industry.

Ryan Chamberlin and his wife, Jennifer, have been married for 12 years and celebrate their success with their four young sons, Alexander 8, Andrew 5, Anthony 4, and Avery 1, playing and traveling around the world from their home base in