Inter-Network Marketing – The New Revolution Turning Failure On It’s Head
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Guest Post from Dean Caporella (Network Marketing Lead Generator)
There is a revolution going on right now in the network marketing world and the good news is, if you’ve tried it in the past and failed, then chances are you’ll make a better fist of it this time around.
Why?
Two words…internet marketing.
In fact, Renegade network marketer Ann Sieg and Site Build It’s Ken Evoy recently dubbed the new craze inter-network marketing. People who used to struggle to recruit even one prospect a month are now recruiting in the double figures simply by using the power of internet marketing to market themselves.
So why was network marketing such a tough business for most to make an impression on? Quite simply, the answer lies in the recruiting techniques taught to new recruits and the unconscious lies they were told before they joined and once they were in the business.
More than 90% of network marketers will dump their businesses within the first three months. When one analyzes how they were recruited and what they’re taught, it’s easy to see why. If you’re currently network marketing or have tried it in the past then see if any of these “lies” resonate with you:
- everyone is your prospect
- anyone can do this
- we’ll build your business for you
- it’s not really sales – we just share products
- well, you don’t have enough belief
That’s just a handful but the truth is, the short answer to each of the above is a resounding NO!
The first lie for example, is what has given network marketing the bad rap. Treating everyone as a prospect is unprofessional, untargeted and will will get you blacklisted by friends and family.
There is many a network marketer who has adopted this approach bearing the scars of rejection and banished to the MLM scrap heap.
The truth is, everyone is not a prospect simply because everyone is not looking for a business opportunity. And by using haphazard prospecting methods like this, rejection becomes a huge issue because people hate hearing no and if they hear it often enough within a short period, they’ll do the natural thing and bail out.
So what’s the answer?
Simple…putting your offer in front of a market hungry to hear it. And this is where the internet comes in.
Targeting your audience means you will have genuine home business seekers responding, people who actually want to hear what you have to say.
And the benefits…they will actively seek you out which means a huge reduction in rejection and best of all, with the drawing power of the internet, you won’t have to go chasing people down and harassing them anymore about a home business opportunity.
It’s part of the new attraction marketing model which frustrated network marketers are embracing in droves. Remember, before Ann Sieg released The Renegade Network Marketer, the majority of MLMers were flailing around struggling with old school offline methods.
Now, the playing field has been well and truly leveled.
Learn more at http://www.squidoo.com/networkmarketinglead
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In fact, Renegade network marketer Ann Sieg and Site Build Its Ken Evoy recently dubbed the new craze inter-network marketing. People who used to struggle to recruit even one prospect a month are now recruiting in the double figures..>>. They said: (more…)
John Cow dot ComInter-Network Marketing – The New Revolution Turning Failure On It’s HeadPosted: 01 Aug 2008 09:30 AM CDT
I see that this can be tough, I guess not something to go for on a regular basis. Btw, good guest post Dean, I think I will look at more of your stuff.
This is SOOO true! But there are new-aged companies that are fixing these problems by applying team approaches and “everybody wins” strategies, thus marrying the best of both worlds. One of these companies is Occupy The City, which I have foundto be great, becuase not only do they apply Internet Marketing to the mix, but also work with multiple MLMs so you are left holding the bag when the company goes out of business or changes the payment plan.
the only problem i see with these types of programs is the there are too many people in the game. I don’t care how good a program is, if a lot of people use it, it won’t work for most. i really believe that the only way to make money is by doing your own thing. even if you use a certain program, you have to find your own twist or it won’t work. and i usually stay away from multi level anything. don’t like pyramid schemes. i don’t even like affiliate networks that give a percentage of your referral’s income. never liked middlemen.
nice writeup tho.
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There are some really good points in your post. Targeted marketing has always been a major issue i.e one of my sites brings a lot of hits based on the keywords returned by the search engines. The problem is that many people are just browsing rather than actively seeking a specific product/piece of info. I’ve read your ebook on building a blogging business and started to target some seriously long tail keywords – result = lower but growing traffic figures but with many more click throughs…Happy days
Your site is now bookmarked.
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And there was me thinking that MLM had died in the 90’s…
Surely most would agree that affiliate marketing is a better business model overall, as it’s primarily based around the product, whereas MLM has always been about “the opportunity”. Too many MLMers thinking that all those further down the line are ready and willing to bust a gut making their recruiters money by actually going out and offloading product. Been there, done that and absolutely no intention of going back.
I wish network marketing would just go away. I’ve been down that road and don’t enjoy the feeling of it. Often, it becomes more about extorting people than selling a product and even in cases where the product is decent, it is usually overpriced.
I agree with Chris, affiliate marketing is much easier and more helpful to the person helping you make money.
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Interesting, I still think Affiliate Marketing is the best online business of all, it is the easiest to manage and almost NO start-up costs! It rocks!
Thanks John,
JR
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When I started I was elated when I sponsored a member into
one of my “opps” but now I am happy when they stay beyond
that 2 to 3 month threshold and don’t get lured away to
some quick rich program. They soon learn, like I did, to develop
a “method” that works and stick with a program and “work” it or
they are just constantly starting over. Great article!
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I just couldn’t resist replying to this…
For the past few years, I’ve been quietly making hundreds of thousands of dollars in Network Marketing using nothing but the Internet. No meetings. No traveling. Never having to talk to friends, family, or people standing in the business section at a bookstore (I get prospected often when I go to Borders or Barnes and Noble and see people sitting with others doing a one-on-one presentation – so glad I never had to do that).
I’ve been living a lifestyle that would never have been possible if it wasn’t for Network Marketing and using methods and techniques I’ve created over the years. I feel very fortunate.
There’s a lot of things I’ve done over the years using different pen names so my steps could never be traced which allowed me to earn hundreds of thousands (should hit one million this year or at least be very close to it) in Network Marketing.
And I have a MAJOR bone to pick with several “trainers” out there.
Recently, a “trainer” who teaches people how to build their MLM business on the Internet sent out an email to his entire list to recruit everyone into a new company he’s jumped into.
Seeing someone do that is what I call, “The Instant Reputation Killer”.
Think about it – he provides training. If you buy his training materials and get something out of it, you’ll share it with your downline, who will in turn share it with theirs. And why not, there’s an affiliate program attached to it, so you’re compensated.
However, I’ve been watching a few of the so called, “trainers” out there for quite some time. I wondered how much they actually valued their reputation. I wondered if greed would get the best of them. And right now, they are all falling like a pile of bricks into the world of greed.
I feel so bad for those who purchased his training because I’m sure they shared his sites with most, if not everyone in their downline.
Then one day, he sends an email about a new company he’s decided to join and that he’s looking for a few people to work with… and of course provides some compelling offers.
Before you know it, the downline you worked so hard to build in the company you’re in have all jumped ship and are now with him and the company he’s associated with.
Overnight your business is gone.
I’ve seen this happen time and time again. And it happened to me ONCE many years ago (lost a few thousand people in my organization), and I’ve been very careful ever since.
There is SO much to this.
There’s so much about building a Network Marketing business on the Internet that is not being taught out there – mostly because the methods I’ve created and used are unknown. And there’s so much when it comes down to the training – and who you can trust… because if you choose the wrong trainer and refer your downline to them or their products, you could lose everything you’ve worked so hard for.
I’ve felt a strong calling.
I’ve fought the calling for the past two years. It’s telling me NOT to be associated with a Network Marketing company ever again and launch a professional company teaching people the methods I’ve used over the last several years to become financially free. It’s something that I think about each and every day. I talk to my wife about it at least one a day. And although I know I need to make a decision soon, it’ll be one of the toughest decisions of my life.
Leave a six-figure income that comes in working an hour a week (or less) and start a business that would require 80+ hours of work a week (or more) to get up and running.
However, seeing people get burned…. seeing people run around in circles… seeing people only stay in other companies for 3 months because they just don’t get it… is really starting to get to me.
I haven’t made any final decisions yet… but over the last few months I’ve begun to start the preparations, just in case I decide to pull the trigger. Bottom line, be careful who you not only learn from, but be careful who you refer people in your downline to learn from. It’s best for many, many reasons for the person or company who’s hosting the training not to be involved in another company – and promises never to be involved in a Network Marketing company as a distributor.
So time will tell. I’ll be making my decision by the end of this month whether or not to pull the trigger on launching something that would put the entire MLM industry on it’s head. Or, I can continue to enjoy the quiet and comfortable lifestyle I’ve created for myself. We shall see…
Who do you suggest as a teacher? I’ve been working my heart out and have made $1.37. Help
I find it funny you call InterNetwork Marketing a new craze. I’ve been doing it since 1993 and by 1996 I had 74,000 in my downline as Builders and over 25,000 customers. The “old” way of doing MLM “belly to belly” just didn’t fit for me and so I was an early pioneer and felt like a kid in a candy shop it was so easy.
We didn’t just stick people in an autoresponder and vomit all over them…we actually built some very solid relationships and friendships even though we were just a voice to each other.
All those lies you indicate above were exposed in the 80’s by Kim Klaver of mlm911.com and anyone perpetuating them today is just ignorant.
I believe that “network marketing such a tough business for most” is because they take on a new persona that is unfamiliar to those they know based on an upline teaching, that many come from a 9 to 5 and aren’t business-minded plus many are not taught what it takes. Recruiters are out there trying to recruit with greed about the money when MLM is SO much more than that.
I laugh at some of the comments above…”Pyramid Scheme” is said when someone has no clue what they’re talking about. For those who have “bad feelings” about it…I have news for you…YOU were recruited…not sponsored and there’s a difference!
In the recent issue of Success Magazine, Both Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki gave major kudos to MLM as an educational tool and money maker. In fact, even the US President of the Chamber of Commerce has said that MLM is the purest form of ALL Free Enterprise…and coming from a guy who knows business and businesses…that’s pretty remarkable.
MLM is NOT going to go away…In 2006…MLM did 32.18B in Sales with over 15M people in the US and over 58M worldwide. As you can see those 15M people are doing really well! You want to take it away?
My biggest problem with MLMs is the majority of them have to have overpriced products in order for there to be enough of a bonus to make the pay plan “attractive”. $145 for 4 bottles of juice. $20 for a container of detergent. $15 for a bottle of shampoo. Just some examples. Most MLMs target people that are already strapped for cash. They play havoc with your budget. Then they tell you, you need to get a monthly tape, book, and/or CD. You need to go to each and every meeting, etc. ,etc.
I personally like the idea of MLMs, just not how the ones I’ve seen work out. Adding the internet is a good approach as far as not throwing tapes at everyone you meet at a gas station, but still, if the underlying product is overpriced, most people won’t make it.
So true and really good points raised and discussed. I totally agree about the excesses done in selling products and memberships to our own family members and friends has ended up costing us a lot… Time to wake up and begin targetting the right audience.
This post is so true.
You really have to be careful with family and friends, I agree with you all, the keyword is the right audience.
I’m in the car rental business but I still have to focus on a niche market, just because “everybody is renting a car”, I can focus on everybody.
I need my own niche market, the right audience.
The “you don’t have enough belief” myth was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me when I was struggling with MLM the old way. I’ll take practical online marketing methods over belief and positive thinking any day.
The bottom line is; if ants got together they could rule the world. They would need to be highly organized with good leadership, and a solid plan. Network marketing is no different. There is great power in numbers and network marketing provides a fantastic platform for people to work together.
Unfortunately you don’t often find people working “together” when it comes to MLM. Imagine a group of networkers organized like the individual departments of a large corporation.
Internet Marketing
Sales
Customer service
Training
Community facilitation
and so on… Of course that is what is what we do at OTC!
… and what about a sales based coop?
great info, John Cow. What does MLM stand for? As a beginner just trying to learn everything without paying for it, I am about crazy with all the different gurus and systems. I’m sticking with you.
Hey Bet,
MLM stands for multi level marketing.