In this article we distill some of the timeless wisdom and quotes from Jim Rohn’s classic book: “Building Your Network Marketing Business.” In this book he explains his own career challenges and eventual success and some of the magic behind the industry.

Jim grew up learning to milk cows. He was fortunate to find a good network marketing company and learned early that “profits are better than wages.” Something that seems to be “lost” in our society and rarely taught in our “education” system.

During his career he gradually learned how to sell, how to recruit, how to communicate, and how to train in his business. How did he do that? Each step of the way in learning a new skill he would try it, fail, and then do it again. 35 or 40 years later he had reached a level of success in his career most of us would gladly settle for.

Jim Rohn learned basic philosophies that changed his life. One key phrase: “If you do something often enough, a ratio will appear.” If you talk to 10 and get 1 to join you, it is likely that talking to 20 will produce 2. That way it’s not so important that any particular person join you, but you do want to be sure they get your message. There is nothing worse several years down the road, hearing someone ask after seeing your success why you didn’t tell them about your opportunity earlier.

Another great philosophy he learned was from the story of the sower from the Bible. Some seed falls by the wayside where birds get it. Some on rocky ground where it starts to grow but later withers and dies. Some falls on thorny ground and starts to grow but gets choked out and dies. Finally, some seed falls on good ground (and you finally have recruited someone who can be successful in your business). The main thing to understand about this story, is that your business will be like this and there isn’t anything you can do about it. You can’t chase away the birds or remove all the rocks and thorns. That isn’t your job and you’ll get frustrated trying to take that on. Just keep sowing until some falls on fertile ground.

According to Jim, “Everything magic is challenging.” How magic? According the the Bible: “If two or three agree on a common purpose, nothing is impossible.” How would that look in your network marketing, affiliate, franchise business or relationships?

How challenging? According to Jim getting people to work together is like “herding cats.” But there are ways to work this magic if you rely on your ingenuity. Just figure out a way to get it done and your business will earn you a fortune.

He also learned how to teach …how life works. What we need for the 21st century are not only business skills, but life skills. Life skills are leadership skills and learning how to set goals. The ultimate life skill is the ability to inspire, which is helping people believe they can be successful and helping them to get there.

Honesty is involved. When mistakes are made, be honest with people, but then help them get out of the mess they’ve made. Help people then to see their potential and believe in themselves. Although Jim didn’t believe it, his mentor told him someday he’d walk in to a room and people would say “That’s him. That’s the famous man.”

Jim learned to build an organization by responding to people who deserve it and not those who need it. Be like “life itself,” responding to deserve and not to need. Rather than “need and you shall reap,” Scripture says “sow and you shall reap.” He also leaned the lesson of a sponsor and working with groups. “You can help 1,000, but you can’t carry 3 on your back.”

Jim Rohn’s wisdom is timeless and “Building your Network Marketing Business” should be on the reading list of every network marketing professional. For further information and inspirational training please visit our MLM Lead System Pro resource page and new Conquer the Internet DVD training offer.