I've used the story before, but this time I'm going to take it a little further along. In his book, "Super Prospecting: Special Offers & Quick-Start Systems", Tom "Big Al" Schreiter tells the story of a young lumberjack who was too busy trying to cut down a tree with a dull axe to take it to the hardware store to get it sharpened. His point was, of course, that you need to acquire and prepare your tools in order to be effective in your network marketing business, and that it is worth the time and effort to prepare for success.

He also talks about a fact of life that anybody in marketing knows to be true...almost all of us HATE to sell! You want people to BUY from you, but you HATE to sell things. This is particularly true when you first start out. You are nervous, afraid that you will make a mistake, worried about what people will think of you, and so on. So what happens? Most of you will miss quite a few opportunities to get your businesses off the ground. Most of you will do little or nothing in the way of sales or recruiting. Most of you will fade away and leave network marketing with a bitter taste in your mouths. All because most of us are afraid of selling, or making fools of ourselves.

This brings us back to Big Al's young lumberjack. Big Al left him in the woods in his book, but, you see, I followed him to the hardware store, and here's what REALLY happened.

My old buddy, Bob (I blame everything on Bob) was working behind the counter early that morning when the young lumberjack came in to get his axe sharpened. Bob had just gotten in some new items and had one in his hands when the lumberjack walked in. The lumberjack walked up to the counter, dropped his dull, rusty axe in front of Bob and said that he wanted it sharpened. His eyes got a little wide as he stared at the contraption on the counter.

An older lumberjack standing beside him said, "Young fellow, you need one of those if you are serious about making money in this business."

The young lumberjack looked at him a little uncertainly.

"Oh, I'm serious, all right. I used to use an axe just like you, and I was going broke. But once I got my hands on one of those....", the older man pointed to the chainsaw on the counter, and nodded his head significantly.

That's when Bob chimed in, "Yessir. They don't make 'em any better than these. Why, you'll be able to do ten times the work in half the time than with that." He gestured at the rusty old axe.

"I'll take it," cried the young man, and throwing a wad of bills on the counter he ran out the door holding his new prize.

Now, this should have been a happy ending, just as new network marketers taking their bright and shining faces and glossy new brochures into the wide wonderful world should live happily ever after.

That's in fairy tales.

Just before closing that evening, as Bob was waiting on a few final customers, in stormed the young lumberjack. He was dirty. He was disheveled. He had tree bark in his hair and though the day was cold, his clothes were soaked with sweat. Almost running across the room, he threw the chainsaw on the counter, grabbed Bob by the front of his shirt, and roared, "Give me back my money, you lying cheat! I've worked all day with that piece of junk you conned me into buying, and I haven't cut down a single tree!"

Well, Bob has always been one to see both sides of any situation, especially when life and limb were in danger, so he very rapidly produced the young man's refund. Several people who had been standing around looking at the new shipment of chainsaws looked at each other, shook their heads knowingly, and headed for the door right behind the young man. As he reached the street, he began telling everyone he passed how the guy in the hardware store had tried to cheat him out of his money. They all nodded. Everybody knew you couldn't trust those guys! This just proved it.

Back in the hardware store, Bob was confused, though happy to be in one piece. Thet sort of thing could ruin his business! Why, he had tested that chainsaw not five minutes before the young man had come in that morning! It had worked like a charm! What could have gone wrong? He picked it up, gave the cord a yank...and it sprang to life with a strong, healthy roar. It worked just fine!

Out in the street, the young man was surrounded by a crowd which was almost on the verge of pulling Bob out of his establishment and lynching him as he raved on about how terrible his day had been and how that evil businessman had tried to take his money...and then!

As he heard the sound of the chainsaw coming from the hardware store, he stopped ranting for a second and said, "What the heck is that racket?"

The best network marketer is the one who truly believes what he or she has to say, and has the personal experience and belief to state it as fact. The best network marketer knows about his or her product and business. The best network marketer is the one who conveys facts, not just beliefs or hearsay. The best network marketer often doesn't even "market" anything. A lot of times they just, well, you know, network!

If every network marketer could present the case for his or her product or service, and/or business opportunity, with the fervor and steadfast belief commonly shown by those who feel themselves wronged in some way, such as our young lumberjack friend, almost every network marketer would be successful.

Two morals to this story, by the way. Learn what you're doing before leaving the safety of the city gates behind to face the wolves, and always remember, many of the people you deal with will advertise your business very effectively for you. Make sure they've got the right information and a reason to be happy to talk about you.

And for God's sake, read the instruction manual! Your shiny new business will NOT start itself.