In this Fearless Networker Spotlight, we're featuring Jared and Heather Burnett a dynamic couple that have built a success Network Marketing organization of over 100,000 individuals by one simple focus, “help people get their first two.” Read on to learn how this action and unbridled commitment has allowed Jared and Heather to design the life of their dreams.
The Fearless Networker: What were you doing before you got involved in Network Marketing?
Jared & Heather Burnett: Jared got involved in Network Marketing when he was 20 years old and a full-time college student.
Jared: I was waiting tables at a steakhouse and working construction on the weekends for a company a buddy of mine owned. That’s when I originally got involved in Network Marketing. I built it up and made some money over years. But, 10 years ago before joining our current company I had gotten out of the profession and was in the wireless business, a “traditional” business model. We had retail stores in shopping malls in Texas for wireless carriers.
The Fearless Networker: How did you first get introduced to the Network Marketing profession and what was that experience like?
Jared Burnett: The very first time I got introduced, someone had invited me to a conference call to listen to some success stories. I dialed in, listened, heard the stories and got pretty excited.
Heather Burnett: We were first introduced to Network Marketing by Jared's former high school superintendent. We worked in that company and built it for 10 years. We earned some money but, we were never at the top leadership level. During that time we learned what we wanted in a company and what we didn’t want in a company; and we learned a lot of principles that got us to where we are today.
The Fearless Networker: How long have you been involved in the Network Marketing profession?
Jared & Heather Burnett: We have been involved in the industry since 1997 and been with our current company for 10 years.
The Fearless Networker: How long did it take for you to go from being a part-time to a full-time Network Marketer?
Jared Burnett: When we first got involved in the industry, it took almost three years of working the business part-time while I was going to school before we built it up enough to go full-time. In our current company, Heather and I went full-time in about four to six months.
The Fearless Networker: How many people have you personally sponsored into your company?
Jared & Heather Burnett: 79
The Fearless Networker: What is the current size of your organization?
Jared & Heather Burnett: Over 100,000 people.
The Fearless Networker: What, if anything, was your biggest struggle on your way to achieving success in this profession, and how did you overcome it?
Jared Burnett: My biggest struggle, and I think it is the biggest struggle for a lot of people, is figuring out how to get the people on my team into action; like I was in action. What I realized was that I can’t get other people to get into that type of action, massive action, because not everybody is going to do that. So I focused on what I COULD do and figured out that I COULD help people get their first two people which would then propel them into action.
Heather Burnett: Learning the difference between an obstacle and a distraction would be one of them. Learning to keeping the main thing, the main thing. Not getting distracted and only listen to people that are going our way.
The Fearless Networker: What, if anything, was your biggest fear as you started your Network Marketing career?
Jared Burnett: I really didn’t have any fear of starting. I was more afraid of NOT doing this and just going into the marketplace with only my college career, which I knew wasn’t going to pay me much.
Heather Burnett: When I first started in 1997 I had no fear. After that, I found out that other people thought what I was doing was not cool. So when Jared wanted to build a Network Marketing company, I didn’t want us to get in because of the typical thing that holds people back…I feared what other people thought about us.
The Fearless Networker: When it comes to building your team, what have been some of the most effective actions you’ve taken?
Jared Burnett: It goes back to my other answer which is helping people get started. We help people “LAUNCH” in our business, which is helping them get their first two people. The hardest thing someone will ever do is go out and get their first one, two, or three people. So if I can help them do that right away, the ball is in their court after that. I’ve launched them and helped them to set something in motion and they’re either going to keep it in motion by inviting people or they’re not.
Heather Burnett: To sustain the growth that people have gotten from getting their first two, the next most effect thing we have done, on a larger scale, is to create a system from which anyone can plug-in and build their business.
The Fearless Networker: What does your typical day look like in terms of what you do in your business?
Jared Burnett: That’s a good question! First I get up and take the kids to school. I like to workout after that, then get in some personal growth time, quiet time, meditation, visualizing my goals and then I hit the day. I try to not take any calls while I’m doing those things. When I hit the day I start checking messages, identify who the people are that I need to reach out to, who are on my list that I need to invite to take a look, who are the people on my team that I’m helping launch and I need to reach out to. I’ll go over some reports of who are the new people and then the revenue producing activities which is CONTACTING, INVITING, PRESENTING, ENROLLING and LAUNCHING people. I would say that 80 to 90% of what we’re doing today is online; virtual with webinars and Zooms.
Heather Burnett: I believe in being a product of the product so I get up at 5 a.m., take care of my body, take care of my mind and take care of my spirit; then I'm available on the phone. Daily activities include building system tools, working through the website, participating in Zooms and making presentations.
The Fearless Networker: What have you found to be the most effective means of recruiting new distributors into your business, and how do you go about doing it?
Jared & Heather Burnett: What we’ve learned is most people in the industry never invite. They just call people up and tell them about it the opportunity or send them information; we talk about inviting people to take a look. An effective invitation sets a professional appointment for someone to actually sit down and take a look and review basic information about the company. At the appointment we present the company, sample our product and connect them to a leader to hear their story. We actually call this SHOW, SHARE, CONNECT: Show the plan, share the product and connect to a leader. We think it’s critical to do all three. They see a presentation, they taste and try and feel the product (because we’re in the nutritional business) and then they connect to a leader. They actually get to talk to a top leader and hear their story.
The Fearless Networker: Are their any specific strategies or actions that you’ve implemented into growing your business that you’ve found to be exceptionally productive? If so…can you share a bit about them?
Jared & Heather Burnett: One of the things is what we call “Out of the Gate in 48” which is helping someone get their first two people in their first 48 hours. I know I sound like a broken record by saying “helping people get two,” but that’s really the secret to our success. In fact, when they ran a report of when Heather and I became the top income earners in the company, they found out that we weren’t the number one recruiters, we weren’t sponsoring the most people on big packages or anything like that, it was that when we sponsored someone, we were really good at helping them get two people very quickly. So to me, the most important thing you can do when you sponsor someone is help them get two people as fast as possible.
The Fearless Networker: What’s one solid piece of advice that you’d give someone entering this profession for the very first time?
Jared & Heather Burnett: We like to set up people’s perspective and expectations for success. The fact is that if you build the man, you can change the world. When entering this profession, you have to do it with a long-term mindset. Commit to a minimum of four years. In today’s world, in business, that sounds like an eternity, but it’s going to take two to four years (most of the time four years) to truly build a solid residual business. The first year is going to be more about following and learning, but that learning is going to pay you big time in year three and four.
The Fearless Networker: How has being involved in Network Marketing changed your life?
Jared & Heather Burnett: Till this day, we still cannot find the words to accurately describe what this industry has really done for us. We were broke 10 years ago and today we’ve made millions of dollars; we can travel anywhere we want to travel. We’re leaving in a couple of weeks, taking our kids to literally five countries where we’ll be doing business on a world tour; we get to take our kids, we get to live where we want to live, we bought our dream home…we live life on our terms. We design our life. More importantly, this industry has inspired us to become students of success and believers in personal growth. As leaders, we are not the same people we were 10 years ago.
The Fearless Networker: What is your favorite business book or books of all time, and WHY?
Jared Burnett: I’m going to recommend two and what’s interesting is that if you lay these two books side by side, they’re very similar, even chapter by chapter. The first one is Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. It has got to be my financial success bible and then Commanding Your Morning by Cindy Trimm because I’m all about affirmations and declarations; what you speak is what you get and we are the results of what we’ve been saying for the last four years.
Heather Burnett: The Bible. It has the answers to everything you need to know.
The Fearless Networker: What suggestions do you have for people to ensure that they make Network Marketing a successful and lasting business to pursue for a lifetime?
Jared Burnett: I’m going to say this, “slow down to speed up”. You know, people want to go fast in this business so they think that sponsoring a whole bunch of people real fast or going real fast with their activities will get them where they want to go, but the reality is that to move fast in this business you have to slow down and focus on one person at a time, one brick at a time. If you do that, you’ll find others who will do the same and it starts to move fast.
Heather Burnett: Be careful who you listen to, never quit and be the best person in following a leader.
The Fearless Networker: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received that’s served you well in business?
Jared & Heather Burnett: There are two pieces of advice that were powerful for us. 1. Never burn a bridge. 2. A long time ago when we were first starting in the industry, a pinnacle goal of ours was to make $10,000 a month and we were nowhere close! At the same time one of the top leaders of the company we were in made this statement, “If you want to make $10,000 a month you have to talk to people like you’re already making $10,000 a month.” That changed our thinking!
The Fearless Networker: If you could share anything that would massively impact the people reading this, what would you say?
Jared Burnett: To be successful in this business, you truly have to walk by faith. Some people like to figure it out…draw out plans, look at volume, striving for a certain rank, etc., but the reality is you have to believe and have real faith that it is going to work; that if you keep doing the work, then it’ll happen. But, there are no shortcuts. You can cheat, steal other people’s people…you can do all those things, but there’s always a price to pay for your actions and so you reap what you sow in this business, in the truest form.
Heather Burnett: Schedule everything…your work, your play; they’re both important.
The Fearless Networker: Slow down and help people get their first two! An excellent strategy that has, obviously, served you well. Thank you both for your time, guidance and commitment to the profession.
