Archive for the ‘MLM’ Category

I have met lots of network marketer in my local Chamber of Commerce. I am not sure how much success they have had, but I know that one in particular confessed to not having much success. The comment made was that “people looked at them as if they had the plague.” Truth be told, network marketers don’t always have the most welcomed reception, and it’s often their own fault.

The Chamber of Commerce is a great place to network with business owners and others in the community, so it’s a great place for any business owner to network. The key here is to realize that most business owners won’t be interested in what they see as another money making scheme. What they might be interested in is your products or services and this is where you will find success if you play your cards right. I cringe when I hear amateur network marketers throw up their own shield by blurting out these catch phrases:

• It’s an MLM (people don’t like MLM’s)
• It’s network marketing (people don’t like network marketers)
• We are in pre-launch (what does that mean? You can’t really do business with me right now?)
• There is a great business opportunity also (Are you trying to recruit me, or do you really have a product to sell?)
• If you are looking to make some extra money (I don’t know you and I want you to think my business is successful… why would I tell you that?)
• If you want to be a millionaire (that’s why I started my business, are you saying I should join yours instead?)
• If you are sick of what they are doing (We just met, why would I discredit my company by admitting that to a stranger?)

I hope you enjoyed the side commentary, but that’s not far off from what many will think when they hear those kind of things. If they are sincere, they may even say them out loud.

The Key to Success
Sell your product or service and nothing more. Keep in mind, money is made when you sell something, not when you recruit someone.  Treat it like a business and it will pay you like a business (have you heard that one… it’s true!). Make the sale, ask for referrals, and then when you have a referral about ready to purchase, you can go back to the referrer and thank them for the referral. At that time, you can also introduce your referral program by simply saying “Thanks for referring Mary. She, too, is ready to become a customer, so I wanted to let you know about our referral program where we pay people a commission for their referrals. Is that something you are interested in?” If they are, then set up a time to discuss it, if they aren’t close the sale and move on.

You will earn money and you will also earn respect for being a straight shooter.

Recently, I saw an ad for a great product on a Social Networking site.  I clicked the link in the ad and noticed that the product was offered through a network marketing company.  I replied to the person telling them that I would check out their product and that it looked great. I also offered to add this person as a connection on the site.

Her reply was something to the tune of:

Yes, it’s a great product… if you want to learn more we have a meeting on Tuesday night at 7… it is a great product and a great opportunity.

I replied and thanked her but also asked if I could offer her some business  advice related to network marketing.

Problem #1 – If someone shows interest in your product or service, they most likely want to buy it, but I am sure they don’t want to go to a meeting to learn more about it.  Can you imagine if Amazon invited you to a book signing every time you showed interest in a book?

Problem #2 – Opportunity?  I will use Amazon again as an example.  If you were going to buy a book from Amazon and they had a popup that stopped you from buying but let you know that they had an affiliate program where you can make money by referring people to the site, do you think that would annoy most people? (the answer is YES!)

 Most people that show interest in your product will not be intersted in your opportunity, but MANY will be turned off by an offer of a business opportunity and people will miss out on the quality products and services.

Most network marketers fail by never knowing what message they are sending to their prospects or sending a mixed message. 

Here is a strategy that I recommend, that will make you lots of money:

1. Close your sale first (which puts money in your pocket). If someone asks about your product, sell it to them. End of story.

2. Follow up with your prospects and ask them for customer referrals. Again, resist the temptation of sharing the business opportunity with them (no matter what you have been taught). Your customers WILL refer you customers if they are happy with your products.  Keep in mind that making sales is how you make money.

3. After you close at least one of the referrals, go back to the referrer and thank them again for the referrals.  THEN, drop this line “by the way, I get paid for all of the business that my customers refer me… I am curious to know if you are interested in getting paid for the referrals you’ve been sending me?”  Some will want to know more, but most will not. You should be happy with this referral source, and I would personally give them a gift certificate or something depending on how much I made off of their referrals.

4. Find out how you can help them. Ask them if they have any needs that you might be able to help them with. If they have a business, ask them who their ideal client is and sincerely try to send them referrals (and do not ask for a referral fee).

The key here is finding customers because happy customers make the best referrals.  This is how traditional business works, and how most network marketers fail.  If you are prospecting for reps, then do just that.  Sell the opportunity and focus on the money making, but in the end, know that your reps will have to have passion about your products or services or they will rarely succeed.

I hope this helps you build a solid business.  I’d love to hear how this helps you or if you have any questions.

Have a great day!

Imagine you are shopping at the local department store and the sales assocaite walks up to you and asks you “if you are making all the money you want to”.  You hold your purse a little closer and reply something about “ahh, I’m ok… I am happy with my job”.  They proceed to tell you why you should want to own your own department store (and that your J.O.B. is keeping you Just Over Broke) and start selling you on all of the benefits of  “business ownership”.  You kindly thank them and ask where you can find a shirt.  Rather than telling  you directly they ask  a series of questions… “how many of your friends buy shirts?” and “wouldn’t you like to get paid every time one of your friends buys a shirt?”  “what if you could get a cut on every shirt sold in your local community?”  Let’s not stop there… “I am sure you and your friends know people all across the country, and eventually you could be getting paid for shirt sales all across the country from people you don’t even know!!!” “Can you imagine how much money you would be making?” (provided you personally bought enough shirts every month to qualify).

You nod, and excuse yourself for interrupting and ask where the restrooms are.  They not only tell you, but proceed to walk you over there and continue to talk to you about how many shirts they sell through their network of “friends”.  Finally, you make it to the restroom. While inside, you look for an emergency fire escape becuase you know that “a certain someone” is waiting outside… and very likely with a department store franchise appliction in hand.

You concede and decide to re-emerge from the restroom, only to find “Mr. Happy” sitting on the couch outside of the restroom.  You decide to take a rest and just sit down (and not so close to him). Suddenly, you sense that someone is rubbing your back…. you are curious… then… you wake up.   Thank God it was just another dream sparked by the deluge of people trying to get you into MLM lately.

So what is the moral of this story? If you are in the network marketing business, keep in mind that you need to actually make a sale to earn money.  If someone wants to buy your product or service, make the sale and do not sidetrack a customer by trying to turn them into a rep for your company.  I would much rather have a customer advocate who refers me customers, than try to convince someone (who has not tried my product or service) that being a rep is a good thing for them.  If you pursue customers than become customer advocates you will make for more money because they will “sell” without ever selling as a rep. Their testimonials will pre-sell the customers they send you and you will be paid well for what you do.

I hope you enjoyed that little story.

For more insight on network marketing and how to effectively run a profitable network marketing business, visit www.NakedCEO.com and download your free copy of “Why People Fail in Network Marketing” (scroll to the bottom of the page and you will see the book offer).

Network marketing has a bad name for many reasons.  One of them is that peolpe often try to “sell” someone on a network marketing opportunity promising them that they will somehow get rich.  The real clue should be that the person “sharing” this information is rarely rich. In fact, many times they are in fact, quite the opposite; poor, and destined to be poor until they learn that the only way you get rich quick in life is through the lottery.   Next they need to learn that stastistically they could survive two plane crashes before winning $1,000,000 in the lottery.

Sure, there are those companies out there that will tell you that they have “high profit margins”, but the problem is that they want you to buy one first, then give up your first few commissions to your “sponsor” (who rarely does anything to deserve it), then go out and find more uneducated dreamers (suckers) to drop 4 or 5 figures on your product. Let me also say, this is not true network marketing, it is high pressure sales and it continues to discredit network marketing.

If you want to build a business from the comfort of your home, and over time generate a solid residual income that you can leave as a legacy to your family, then let’s chat.  I promise I won’t try to sell you becuase if I have to “sell you” to join, I will have to “sell you” to work, and you wouldn’t work and you would just become another disillusioned dreamer who thinks that network marketing doesnt work. Learn how to join our team.