One of the advantages of writing your own blog is when life gets in the way and you miss a couple of days, the world doesn't end!  As many of you know, we have had massive flooding in the state of Iowa (with about 2/3rds of the state being delared a disaster area).  While my office and our home are not directly under water (thank God), it has had an effect.  I have not been able to go to my office because much of the University of Iowa has water issues including the physical plant.  Access to the University is also difficult because so many roads are closed.  The result is that "non-essential" personnel (i.e., you don't have anything to do with what needs to be done to address the flood) have been asked to stay away from the downtown area.  The bottom line is that the routine was disrupted and it took me a little bit to get back on track.  ANYWAY, now that things have settled into at least a temporary normalcy, I thought I better get my blog out.  I've had this fantasy of getting two or three weeks ahead with my writing, but I haven't managed to accomplish that yet.  Guess I better write a goal for that....it would help if Robin would do more things I could write about!

If your husband (or wife) is in network marketing, and you are not (or you have only peripheral involvement--i.e., your spouse signed you up because they needed to fill a spot in their downline), don't think you can't contribute to the business.  You have lots to offer. 

Network marketers often get very involved in their company and the whole process to the point that sometimes they can't see the forest for the trees.  For example, they may be working on some kind of copy.  It looks great to them, but you can provide valuable feedback.  You can look at what they are writing with fresh eyes and eyes that may not know a lot about what they are trying to say or about networking marketing in general.  What makes perfect sense to them, may not make any sense to you.

Early in our relationship Robin would bring me copy.  Sometimes the conversation went like this:

Robin:  Can you look at this for me?
Me:  Sure. 

A few minutes later.

Robin: What do you think?
Me (trying to be positive):  well, I like the colors.  What does this mean?
Robin:  What?
Me:  This part--what does it mean?
Robin: Networkers understand what that means.
Me (pondering): Okay--who are you trying to reach?
Robin (looking a little annoyed now): Well, new prospects

I keep silent, waiting because I know he is going to figure it out.

Robin (looking more than a little annoyed):  What don't you understand?

And the conversation goes on from there.  Sometimes Robin says things like "most people don't question things as much as you do" or something similar.  I tend to disagree.  I actually don't question things all that much and I'm pretty trusting.  If you tell me something, I will believe you until you give me a reason not to.  I am, however, pretty direct.  If you want to tell me somthing, then just tell me.  Don't beat around the bush or give me double talk.  I think most people, at least the kind of people you might want in your business, are like me.  So if you want your communications to attract those kind of people, try it out on someone who is not in your business and see what they think.

I also act as an abstracter.  I love to read and I read a lot of different things.  Robin also reads a lot, but he doesn't read some of the things I read.  This is a great advantage for a couple of reasons. First, if I hear about something I think he might find interesting, I tell him.  I may not understand all the nuances of the business,but I know enough that when I hear something that might be applicable I let him know.  Sometimes he already knows about it, sometimes he doesn't.  I think he would say that I have given him some leads that have paid off.

Because we have not been a couple all that long, we also know different people.  Again, this can be used as an advantage. In particular, I know a lot of women in business. Since I know these people pretty well, I also know if he has an opportunity to offer that they might be interested in.  Now, I'm pretty particular about who he contacts and with what, but again, I would say that my contacts have given him some pretty good leads.

You can be helpful by simply keeping your ears and eyes open.  You should know at least the skeleton of any particular business so that you will know when information that comes your way might be useful.  After all, even if you are not directly the business, you are still in a partnership. Being helpful and supportive goes a long way towards the potential success of your network marketer which translates into success for you! 

Thanks for reading!