One of the most important aspects I have discovered to network marketing is the importance of building successful MLM relationships. To understand your prospects (i.e., their motivations, strengths and weaknesses) is to have a strong foothold on the MLM ladder to success with them.

Since ancient times, humans have sought to explain behavior by categorizing personalities into distinct types. Over the years, numerous naming schemes have been proposed for what have now be universally accepted as the four temperaments.

Equivalents for the 4 Personality Types

• Hippocrates (370 BC): Choleric, Sanguine, Phlegmatic,Melancholy
  
• Plato (340 BC): Guardian, Artisan, Philosopher, Scientist
  
• Kretschner (1920): Melancholic, Hypomanic, Anesthetic, Hyperasthetic
  
• Sprangler (1930): Religious, Aesthetic, Theoretic, Economic
  
• Fromm (1947): Hoarding, Exploiting, Receptive, Marketing
  
• Psycho-Geometrics (1978): Triangle, Squiggle, Circle, Square
  
• D.E.S.A.: Dominant, Expressive, Solid, Analytical
  
• LEAD Test: Leader, Expressor, Dependable, Analyst
  
• ARRAY (Knaupp): Production, Connection, Status Quo, Harmony
  
• PSI: Controller, Promoter, Supporter, Analyst
  
• Gary Smalley: Lion, Otter, Golden Retriever, Beaver
  
• Biblical Characters: Paul, Peter, Abraham, Moses
  
• Children's Literature: Rabbit, Tigger, Pooh, Eeyore
  
• Charlie Brown Characters: Lucy, Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Linus
  

These are just a few examples…the list goes on. Some of these terms are complex and to fully grasp their meaning requires further investigation via dictionary. Although, I must admit the "Winnie the Pooh" references are rather charming. But there is a simpler, more comprehensive method of understanding how to relate to MLM prospects and successfully learn to mentor them in your network marketing business. It’s a method of practicing personality profiling without running the risk of being viewed as politically incorrect.

Paint by numbers--Yellow, Blue, Green and Red

Colors intrigue me. They are visual and easy to understand. Having always been artistically inclined and visually stimulated, this was the first and most important resource I stumbled across when I began building my own home based business and searching for ways to develop successful MLM relationships--a simpler way to determine who I was dealing with. It is without a doubt one of the most useful tools I have found in my quest for success with my network marketing business.

A visual exercise in personality profiles

Draw a line through the middle of a piece of paper vertically from top to bottom. Now draw a line horizontally through the middle from left to right. At the top of the vertical line write the word "open" and at the bottom write "self-contained." Now at the left center of the paper write "indirect" and at the right put "direct." In the upper left square write "Yellow--35%" and in the right upper space put "Blue--15%." In the bottom left square write "Green--35%" and in the bottom right put "Red--15%." There you have it...a spherically challenged color wheel!

The Yellow Personality (Pooh)

Yellow personalities are open yet indirect with their feelings and make up 35 percent of the population. They are dependable, great listeners, exceptional team players, and are and supportive and nurturing. They are the best at using both sides of their brain. Key words to use when communicating with a Yellow are "team", "together", "relationship" and "family." They are very open with their feelings, but when you ask them a question they don’t volunteer any more information than is required. They enjoy life and hate pushy people or any kind of confrontation.

Their weaknesses are that they are overly sensitive, take things personally, tend to be followers and are not goal-oriented. However, if you take your time and build a strong relationship with them, teach them, and help them, you’ll have a remarkable and very loyal team member that "plays well with others."

The Blue Personality (Tigger)

Blues personalities are open and direct with their feelings and make up 15 percent of the population. Although they make up a smaller percentage of the population, there are many Blues are drawn to network marketing because they are very fun-loving, high energy, extremely creative individuals. When you ask them a question, they will go on and on, giving you more information than you needed, and in the process probably forgetting what the question was to begin with.

Their weaknesses are that they tend to talk too much, are unorganized and are poor with follow-up (one of the best things you can do for a Blue is to teach them to use an auto-responder). But if you can train them to focus and to follow a system for success you will have one of the hardest working and resourceful team members you could ask for.

The Green Personality (Eyore)

Green personalities make up 35 percent of the population. They are indirect, self-contained, and very pragmatic and logical. They rely on the confirmation of facts and figures before any decision can be made or any action can be taken. They are extremely organized, very good planners and are always accurate, persistent and great on follow-through.

They might, however, sometimes be perceived as being depressed and lonely. They tend to be over-analytical and hard to please, making them slow to begin any project until they have all the information required and it has been graphed, analyzed, dissected and scrutinized to their satisfaction. They hate pushy sales people and need to be allowed to sell themselves on your MLM business opportunity. After they do, their expertise and attention to detail will make them invaluable members of your network marketing team.

The Red Personality (Rabbit)

The Red color personalities make up 15 percent of the population and are very direct, totally self-contained and will not let you see their weaknesses. They are extremely focused, are very intense and like to get straight to the point. They must be in charge at all times and are totally motivated by money and success.

They dislike indecision and have no time for chit chat about family or relationships. When talking to a Red, it is important to stroke their ego, show them respect and let them believe they are in total control of the conversation at all times. Although they are very goal-oriented, they are short tempered, domineering, impatient and un-teachable.

How does all this color-coding relate to life in general?

If your psychologist is Yellow, your publicist is Blue, your accountant is Green and your lawyer is Red you have acquired a perfectly balanced color spectrum and should be able to find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Unfortunately, life is not that simple.

How does all this color-coding relate to you and your MLM business?

For example: Being primarily "Blue", my business opportunity from home had to be fun, while my "Yellow" tendencies were resolved that my efforts must be helpful to others. The pragmatic "Green" in me demanded knowledge of the skills and tools I needed to succeed, and my lingering bits of "Red" demanded that the whole enterprise had to be enormously profitable and that failure was not an option.

Most of us are a curious rainbow mixture of all of these basic personality hues. Personally, I am 40% Blue, 30% Yellow, 20% Green and 10% Red. But the most important thing here is that my primary color is "Blue."

I've learned to understand my own personality and why I relate to people as I do. But most importantly, I have discovered that successfully running my MLM business isn’t about me--it’s about them! I have learned to listen, and I can now successfully relate to my prospects by really hearing and understanding what they are saying.

All a prospect really wants to know is "can they do this" and "how can I help them." Now, I have the intellectual and psychological "tools" to attract hard working self-motivated, ambitious people to every level of my business. Since this business is about people and building successful network marketing relationships, what knowledge could possibly be more valuable?