SEVEN DAYS TO PROFITABLE BLOGGING SCENEN 6

The social networking and bookmarking debate

So far, we've touched on the basics of commenting, blog marketing and mybloglog – now we're going to go into slightly more advanced techniques for garnering readers.

Social networking and bookmarking has grown in popularity alongside blogging and though not all of them are designed to be used with blogging, most of them are.

There are four main ones that I always suggest people focus on

http://digg.com
http://stumbledupon.com
http://del.ico.us.com
http://technorati.com

Being fair, the last one isn't actually bookmarking, but is still, nevertheless, one of the mother lodes when it comes to promoting your blog.

Technorati.com

Technorati is quite literally, an index of all the blogs in the entire world, that it can see.

It tracks every blog post, removes the splogs, and then spits out a result based on the tags that people are using.  The more people using the tag, the more traffic it gets from Technorati, because in addition to tracking what people are doing, they share what their users are doing.

Technorati is one of the best 'non community' communities out there – you can't really hang out there and talk blogs, not least, you can't talk YOUR blog, like you can on mybloglog, but you can see what other people are using similar tags to yours for, and work out how, if any way, you can use that to your advantage.  At the very least, its yet another way to find other people's blogs (see Day 5).

Technorati, though not a community where you can talk YOUR blog, is still also a valuable place to get blogging tips as a whole – and find out where the hot trends are – tie them into your niche, and you'll generate more traffic.

Del.icio.us.com

Del.ico.us was one of the first bookmarking systems I ever used, and its great.  It was designed for people, originally, to store the stuff that interested them, and share it with others, and access it 'on the go'.  People soon discovered that like most social networking sites, delicious had a huge traffic effect for the sites that were being bookmarked regularly
This effect, further exploited by Digg (designed specifically around sharing the 'best of the community) has meant that blog bookmarking sites are gaining in both popularity and spamming.  And though del.ico.us is a less effective means of bookmarking than Digg, it shouldn't be overlooked.

Another great use for delicious is to use it to categorise information and links that you want, either from a research perspective, and to offer your readers links that show you are actually involved in your community.  Its amazing what a little relevant linking will do – and there's even some commentary that it works in tandem with your Google rank, because though Google looks for the votes to your page, in the form of links, it also looks for the pages you're linking to – possibly as a measure of how much you are involved in the community or niche you've chosen.

With its clean, clutter free interface, Delicious is also a great site in general to use, and was one of the first 'web 2.0' true sites.

Digg.com

Digg is, quite honestly, the mother ship when it comes to generating traffic from social networking – you can be pretty much certain that if anyone makes it on Digg, they'll soon be complaining.

NO server is designed to stream the loads that people see, after becoming a top Digg – its quite likely that though most people hope and dream of seeing traffic like that, you'll experience it once and think twice about ever attempting it again!
Digg is a great place to gain readers from certain niches – its a 'geeky' site, a lot like Slashdot, and is designed to draw attention to the sites that are in those niches, with worthwhile things to say.  They do, however, have a business category, which means Internet Marketers, with the right slant, can use Digg for bookmarking.

Digging someone is sort of like saying 'I recommend this' – its a global word of mouth script, and is very, very good.  Every time someone 'recommends' or diggs you, you rise back up to the top of the front page, giving you a brief chance in the limelight.  If you attract more attention there, you'll be dugg again, and again, and again, or you'll sink until someone else diggs you.

There is no time limit on Diggs – no statute of expiry.  So its also a great way to get traffic to older posts – and probably most importantly, you can Digg yourself.  You shouldn't use your Digg account only for that, but its perfectly acceptable to submit your own site to Digg, occasionally.

The community can't – really – be gamed all that well, because its so vast, but there are ways to cheat at every social bookmarking site – Digg is SO huge though that many people find they just get...buried.

Like every community, it is, in part about friendships – the gaming effect would be really easy if everyone voted for everyone else, but, to be quite honest, most people vote for the stuff that really interests them.  So once you hook them as a reader they WILL vote.

There's also no harm (whatsoever) in encouraging your readership, as it grows, to digg you, to bookmark you on delicious, or to add you to other sites – there are plugins and widgets designed specifically for that purpose – just make sure your traffic is voting for the best of your material, and you'll garner even more readers.

The main thing about Digg is its like a snowball.  Gain enough momentum and people will continue to vote for you and you'll keep popping right back up to the top.

Stumbled upon.com

If by its nature, Digg is deliberate and chaotic, stumbledupon.com is just plain chaotic.  Its a site designed around the 'random' browsing of most traffic exchanges and the voting of Digg.  Stumbled upon though brings a surprisingly steady stream of traffic to most people – you place your site in categories and you are stumbled (randomly visited) from there.

Combine all four (and any others you personally enjoy) with MyBlogLog and there's no reason why you can't gain a couple of hundred readers a month within a few weeks.

Social bookmarking itself is one of the things that is still – pretty much – an unknown factor in traffic generation.  Its important to remember that NOTHING is guaranteed, so if you do undertake any work on social bookmarking sites, track your results carefully.  If you get a good result, then continue, but remember that if you've only got a finite amount of time to promote your blog, and you have to produce content first, and then drive traffic second, then you should consider cutting 'loose' anything that's hard work.

You CAN take short cuts.  Bookmarking demon is one of several pieces of software that allows you to bookmark your blog without logging in, and out of each site and can speed up your time with bookmarking considerably.  The only caveat to this is like every other 'auto' posting program, they can get you banned for spamming and should, generally, only be used in moderation.

SEVEN DAYS TO PROFITABLE BLOGGING SCENE 5

Promoting Your Blog

Just putting your blog online is not enough.  Once your content is off to that flying start (and its perfectly acceptable to found a blog and then backdate a couple (though, not too many!) posts to give your readers something to read.  So over days 1 to four, you should have decided what to blog about, created and installed your blog, made sure you've got enough content to last you at least a month and posted it.
Now what?

Well, the long and short of it is, NOW comes the hard work – NOW you have to promote your blog.

Promoting your blog will put it in front of people.  Fortunately, there's a myriad of ways to do it, but, unfortunately, they all take time.

Blog Marketing Ideas and concepts

You'll want to make sure that once your blog is developed and in place that its positioned perfectly to capture your market – in doing so you'll find that your blog markets itself.

To start with though, you've got to find your niche – the USP you want to target.

Defining your blog's USP is easy – what sort of reader do you want to attract, and what are they interested in?  Does your blog cover it?
That's IT!

Once you've worked out your blog's USP, you can then plan where you want to advertise and approach readers – you'll also be able to track down competitors and colleagues in the arena that your blog.  You'll need to know about them to know where best to comment!


Make Your Blog pull people in...

Your blog should, quite literally, mesmerise people and draw them in – interest them in reading about your opinions and information, and most of all, be completely on point for what they were expecting. Your blog should contain as much unique information as you can possibly manage, whether you've rewritten it from PLR or written your content from scratch – it should ALWAYS be unique.  You'll avoid Google’s duplicate content filter, and better than that, you'll get a reputation for not following the herd.

In the case of internet marketing, this does include ads about launches, but one of the biggest mistakes most bloggers (and mailing list owners!) are making is that they think that they HAVE to share the mailing information they've been given, as an affiliate.

This is a mistake because like seeing the same image over and over again, people will start to block out affiliate based ads – so instead of sharing what you've been given, verbatim, how about writing your own ads?
Its unique content and will interest people far more than flashy music or templates, but having said that, you do need to consider making your blog at least a little memorable.  Choose a template that speaks to you on a professional level, but is uncluttered, unfussy, and most of all, interesting and easy to use.  There's no point in using a flash template or a FLASHY template if you've got little to no clue how to make it work.

Making your customers aware your blog exists is a bit harder, but not impossible.

Most internet marketers have access to forums, mailing lists and more – so use them to tell people about your blog.  If you're lucky, a 'big dog' marketer will see what you're talking about, and link to you – hint, talk about them, though don't say anything untrue! -  and you'll probably get some spill over.  These 'big dogs' might also consider running a solo ad for you, but you may have to pay for it, and unless you're in exactly same niche as them, or at least one that overlaps considerably, this may not be all that worthwhile for you.

More ways to let people know you exist.

Blogging is an emergent technology – you have to keep this in mind, because if its an emergent technology, so are the ways you promote your blog.

You can promote blogs via link exchanges designed specifically for blogs.  There's several of them including:

http://blogcatalog.com
http://poweredbywp.com
(in this case it only accepts blogs on the Wordpress platform)

Blog catalogues are probably a very good way to get a very small, but very targeted amount of traffic – usually around a similar level to submitting to places like http://dmoz.org (a directory for everything online, edited by humans).

Blog link exchanges are less common, despite the fact that there's technology in place, on most every blog, to allow people to share important links, but so far, there's been very little in the way of 'automatic blogrolling' possibly because its so open to abuse.

There are sites though, that run link exchanges specifically for blogs.  One of the less typical and highly popular versions of this traffic exchange for blogs is a site called 'mybloglog'.

MyBlogLog as an internet marketing hotspot

Mybloglog isn't JUST a traffic exchange – it provides 'a return on attention' – it is, in essence the bloggers blog tool.  And for an internet marketer, its quite simply a community with leverage.

And as communities go, built around blogging, MyBlogLog is really quite cool.  Owned by Yahoo, it does a great job of providing traffic, and growth to blogs.

And therein lies the rub.

You have to be very careful when using traffic exchanges to promote your blogs.

Most PPC based networks (unless you're lucky enough to run your own) frown on it – and some people have reported that they've been banned from ppc using it.

Even Yahoo's oddly.

Having said that, if your primary interest is traffic, you don't need to worry.  MyBlogLog gives traffic until you're swamped.  And its fairly targeted, as long as you categorise yourself properly.

MyBloglog's community is also a rather interesting place to hang out – you can pick up tips, tricks and find other blogs that are in your niche – again, you need to know where these people are, if only to know what your competitors and colleagues are doing.

Blogging is, when it comes down to it, a community 'thing' – you need a community around your blog for it to be a success, and on the whole, MyBlogLog provides the community aspect that most people need – at least to begin with.

OPB – other people's blogs

I've mentioned, while explaining a lot of this, that you should also know where your competitors are in relation to your blog.

Other people's blogs are also a great way to attract traffic – after all, they’ve already got people from your niche coming into their blog – the leg work is done – and the really big ones in your niche also have a nice secondary effect.

MOST blogs, when you comment on them, or comment about them and trackback (see the advanced strategies for more information on this!) will provide a link back to your blog, with your comment.

Sometimes its 'no follow' (a protocol introduced by Google et al. to combat spam) which means you don't get 'credit' in the search engines for your link back, but people can still click through to your blog.  Its always of vital importance that if you're making a comment that you WANT associated with you that you include a link to your site.  Each link has the potential for traffic, either coming to your blog to blast you for your view point (this is still good traffic, believe it or not – if the person cares enough to come over and challenge you, they may stay to read more) or to agree with you, which most times is where you'll pick up new readers from other people's blogs.

The people that agree with you, especially on controversial topics are automatically more likely to comment on your blog – and once someone opens a dialogue, they usually continue it.

That's not to say you should troll blogs to disagree with others.  You shouldn't deliberately look for a reason to pick a fight on another blog – in fact, its usually good practice not to argue at all on blogs.  If you truly believe the person blogging is presenting a 'fake' point of view, by all means call them on it.  Lots of Big Dogs meet people doing that all the time, because its human nature to take a pop at something further up the food chain – but its important that you're doing it for all of the right reasons.

Though controversial conversations are the basis of strong blogging conversations, its also essential that you come away from them looking like a reasonable person, with understandable and approachable way.  And as with everything else in blogging the keys to this are reasonable and approachable.

Passion is important, but tempered passion, and reasoned argument are usually the best way to attract people from controversial topics – after all, would YOU feel comfortable talking to someone that screams everyone else down?

Responding to Other Blogs

Controversy aside, there are some important etiquette points to pay attention to when responding to any blog post – or to comments on your own blog:

Make sure you understand, fully, what the person is saying.  You shouldn't respond to a comment in anger- it’ll only lead to escalated tensions, and if something was said in a joking way, however unclear, you'll probably come off looking like the bad guy, even if that's not how YOU meant it.  People perceive comments the way they expect the tone to be – so if its out of character for you, it will, generally look far worse.

Once you're ready to respond, you should stay on topic – or at least, start on topic, if you're responding on your blog.  If you're responding in the comments area, remember that its a small area and doesn't allow anywhere near as many words as you can fit in a blog post, so if its a LONG response, you should consider taking it, instead to your blog.  You should then always link back – blogger ad Wordpress both track these – bloggers calls them 'backlinks' and Wordpress calls them trackbacks (more about effective use of them in the 'advanced' section at the end of the book)

Ultimately, the person that owns the blog gets to decide whether to run your comment.  You can't force someone to post your comment and harassing them, again and again, will only lead to you being banned, and possibly named and shamed.  Unless this blogger is an unreasonable person themselves, this will only lead to damage.

The bottom line to this is that the more readers you have, the more traffic you have – the more customers you should generate.

SEVEN DAYS TO PROFITABLE BLOGGING SCENE 4

Blog content

Putting the cart before the horse?

Writing for the web isn't a case of collecting your ideas and then putting them online – and blog posting especially is a hidden and deceptively simple looking 'art form' all of its own.

Before you actually write one word of content though you need to think about what you're going to say.  You should have your keywords organised into some sort of coherent list – and you should be weeding out the ones you're not interested in using.  Once you've done that, you need to sit down and plan down your blog.  You need to plan at least 20 posts and choose some sort of posting schedule.

Once you've planned your content, you can start writing your posts.  In the case of WordPress, you can queue your posts as you are writing them, giving you the additional advantage of being able to post series and have them ready to go, without losing your flow.  If you're using blogger, you should still write your posts as you can then simply copy and paste them into your blog on the day you want them to go live.

We always recommend that you stay at least three posts ahead of your posting schedule – that way, if you hit a dry spot, or find yourself too busy to post; you've still got 'emergency' content on tap, till you can re-evaluate.

What should a blog post BE?

Blog posts should follow one of a few formulae, but before you look at them – you should probably consider what they can and can't contain – there are a couple of 'no no’s' in blogging.

First and foremost – your blog should be advertising light, if it contains any advertising at all.  People don't want to talk about your latest and greatest advert – they want to read about your opinions and thoughts in your niche – they want to know that you DO actually know what you're talking about, and most importantly, they want to discuss, not be sold to.
This means that though your blog will do the job of promoting your product, you have to do it without being blatantly, obviously advertorial.
You CAN write about products – talk about why you're so passionate about them – their features, the things that make you want to use them – or the services, or problems they solve.

You also don't need to just WRITE – you can upload pictures, podcasts (audio), video, multimedia – in fact, the more interactive your blog is, without intruding on the experience of the average visitor, the more traffic and return visitors you'll get and the more comments your blog will garner.

Writing for the web

Writing for the web is an art form.

You need to use short sentences, with subheadings, usually one per paragraph – those sub headings should be bolded, to stand out, because studies have proven, without a shadow of a doubt that the majority of internet users, especially those with a lower technical savvy than usual, skim read. 

They skim read because we've been conditioned to believe two things about the internet: there's a lot of good information out there – but it can be incredibly hard to find, even on 'trusted' sites.  Google's quality, page rank and duplicate content algorithms go a long way to helping to sift the dross from the perfect, but we're still left with people gaming the system, or worse, not being able to clearly state what we, ourselves are looking for.

Back to Average Joe for a minute.  He doesn't know how to use boolean operators, in fact, it sounds too complex maths like to be of any interest to him, and many internet users don't search for things as much as ask Google questions.

Keyword searching is a really good technique to learn, but for most people typing in short phrases, or whole questions, is the way to go, complete with punctuation.

Depending on the sophistication of the software in question, they might get exactly what they are looking for, but the same studies that suggest people skim read, also tell us that people really don't understand how to get the most from the internet.

It was best summed up in the X-files – the truth is out there – but where?

Skim reading users do have their advantages – internet writing doesn't need to be tight – just on one (tiny) topic.  Blog posts can cover one tiny minutiae of a subject and then head back, stating it differently, another day.

There is one exception to this rule – when the situation or post doesn't warrant that style, don't use it.  It’s easy for someone to suggest that you blog using subheadings, but if you're blogging about yourself and your family, you might find it very hard.

Blogging is ultimately about YOUR BRAND and YOUR STYLE, so use it well, and you can't go wrong.

The most popular blog post formula

Blogging has fallen into several styles, like articles in newspapers and magazines.  You can write and choose to use several different formulae, but ultimately, you have to find a way, and a style of writing that is comfortable for you.

The most common and most responsive way of blogging is 'problem – solution'.  You take one common problem or current trend, or newsworthy topic and you 'solve' it. 

Solving it can be as simple as providing your opinion, showing where you stand on any given issue, or it could be offering an actual solution to a problem many of us encounter.

Problem – solution or 'action – reaction' blogs are very popular with a vast majority of readers, but aren't without their inherent problems.

For a start, if you're 'solving' a current newsworthy item, although you are giving people a view of the fact that you are, in fact human, you'll also find that unless you are being very careful about expressing your views, you're going to upset someone, somewhere along the lines.

This can be a good thing – being of conviction in what you're saying not only gives you the authenticity that most blogs lack, for fear of stirring up trouble, but will also promote conversation – but not all of the conversation you promote will be positive.

You have to take the good with the bad and accept that no matter what you do, you'll always ruffle some feathers – just like in real life.

Another type of highly popular blog post is the review.

It’s fairly straight forward to write a review post, but you've got to be careful.  If it doesn't fit with the theme of your blog, you'll find that it actually damages your overall traffic.  Your blog should always be laser focussed on the niche you want to talk about, and related areas to the niche.  You can't go off topic!

Another type of post is 'a list' – lists of the ten most popular (x)'s.
(x) reasons why (y) is the only option/ a very bad idea
(x) reasons why you should/should not do (y)
(x) life saving hacks.

The highly popular blog, http://lifehacker.com is full of these tips and tricks – an article centred on solving a problem.  The problem may not be implicitly stated, but instead touched on in general terms, but the solutions are always bang on the money, and that makes this blog a must read.

Its style is easy to emulate too.  What problems does your niche have – are there several solutions (that you know of?) and can you express them in simple terms?

The final type of post that is very popular and easy to write is the feature – features can be one article, or several long articles, with links to each other.  They should cover something important and be packed full of information.  Keyword rich, you want your readers to come away feeling like they've really learned something, and search engines to come away with a whole new platter of wonderful content to add to their indexes.

The art of writing itself

Ultimately, you have to remember that though some blogs are founded for personal gain, if you're working on it to make any sort of income at all; you need to consider that your blog is a marketing project.  You're either marketing the content, your company, or in some cases, yourself.

Once you've gotten your head round that, you'll also understand why you can't use slang, or make spelling or grammar mistakes, but more importantly, you'll realise that blogging might be the one 'voice' or face you present to people, so you'll need to offer a consistent, interesting brand.

There are specific, specialised types of post that work well with blogs from an internet marketer’s point of view – like information about your company.  Go beyond FAQ's and contact information – and share the nitty gritty about your operation.  Make your blog readers feel like they are getting in on a secret of some description – or share something that wouldn't ordinarily be online – such as your motivation for going into business.

You can also recommend other marketers that you like, without appearing too fawning, if you're honest.   Talking about experience is a sure fire way to improve on both your customer image, and your professional image.

You can also....

Use your blog to archive articles and other freebies for your company. 

More importantly than that though, always ensure that you've got somewhere in your blog for people to sign up to your mailing list.  Giving them the option to do that will also mean that you've got multiple traffic streaming to and from you blog, and though it seems odd to set up like this at first, people ARE more likely to sign up for your newsletter (with and without incentives!) if they like what you're saying on your blog.

As an extra bonus, you can 'tie' your blog feed to your auto responder, giving people the option of signing up to receive your posts by email – thus negating the need to come to your site until you post – we've covered that in the 'advanced' section of this e-book.

It has been suggested that there's a definite link between people that sign up for your newsletter, and people that comment on blogs attached to newsletters – and these people are the ones that are interested, interactive readers.  They have a vested interest in commenting on your blog.

Style AND substance

Blogging isn't just about providing search engine content, and though its a great way to make connections with your customer base, the most important thing to remember is that shallow content breeds shallow contacts.

What this means is that if you're posting trivial stuff, people that are interested in little more than the trivial stuff will read your blog, and no one else.

Post about the 'meaty' stuff – and you're more likely to not only getting responses, but to gain responses that will help you further shape your content to fit your readers.

Though you will start out with a strong plan, and should try to stick to that as much as possible for the first few months (so as not to confuse yourself or waste the research you did in founding the blog) you should also consider the needs, wants and interests of your readers.  Do THEY comment on more of one type of content?  Can you write to fit the things they are raising?

Purely from a stylistic point of view, blogging works far better when you're using the active tense (Our newest division opened – we're putting the finishing touches to a launch) rather than the passive (our new division was opened – we've been working on a launch) – passive tense is both flat and doesn't contain energy.  Its motionless, and doesn't give the impression of dynamism, which, when keeping a blog is very important.

Speaking of dynamic – ALWAYS be enthusiastic!

Blogging should never be a chore, and if it begins to feel that way, you really need to stop and question WHY. 

Blogging is about sharing your passion, your enthusiasm, and your experience with others, and to do that, you've got to believe in what you're writing.  If you don't, then how can you expect your readers to enjoy and comment?

If you love what you blog, you'll never work a day on your blog, in your life ;)

100 LIST BUILDING METHOD TO A SUCCESSFUL ONLINE MARKETING

This post will give you 100 list building methods. It contains ideas for freebies and copywriting strategies that will persuade people to subscribe to your opt-list or e-mail newsletter. Building a huge opt-in list can give you income anytime you want by just pushing the send button.

The entire point of this report is to give you 100 different inspirations and idea so that you know how to grow your list of subscribers quickly.

1. One can conclude you can endorse a free sample. This will add additional list customers. You could persuade prospects to opt-in after showing off your freebie product cover/graphic.

THE 7 GREAT LIES OF NETWORK MARKETING - LIE NUMBER SEVEN

In my last post of the 7 Great Lie Of Network Marketing we stopped at Lie No. 6 – You just don’t have enough belief.

 

On this post we shall continue with Lie number seven (7) which is the last in the 7 Great Lie Of Network Marketing.

 

Lie No. 7 - The proven system
Just follow the proven business plan! This is basically a culmination of all the other lies.
The so-called “proven” business plan is a broken-down, rusted system that’s composed of faulty techniques and out-dated methods. And the worst part about it is that not only doesn’t it work, it’s severely harmful to your business (and your social life).

 

The only thing that the proven system is proven to do, is cause massive failure. According to the annual reports of many mlm companies, along with research done by numerous tax preparation services, only 1-2% of network marketers earn substantial incomes.

 

Similar studies indicate that 97% of network marketers never reach a positive cash-flow in their business. These sobering numbers give solid proof to the fact that the strategies and techniques being taught only work for a very small percentage of people.

 

Please understand, when I refer to “the proven system,” I’m not talking about network marketing itself, but the way people build network marketing. The techniques being taught are SO bad that they make this business as difficult as it possibly could be and success becomes nearly impossible. Distributors literally have all the odds stacked against them.

 

Let’s just re-cap what we’ve already covered:

1. Many times people are lied to, about the fact that they’re in sales.

2. Distributors are either provided no sales training or the training that is provided is extremely poor and ineffective.

3. Most of the sales methods commonly used are annoying “used car salesman” tactics that involve tricking – even lying – to your prospect, cramming information down their throat and relentlessly hounding them for the close.

4. The idea that anyone can do this business leads to the “thrown-‘em-up-against-the wall- and-see-who-sticks” mentality that is largely responsible for the attrition rate in this industry.

5. Because of the lack of good sales background, most people resort to hype and over exaggerated claims to win over customers and prospects.

6. Way too much emphasis is placed on motivation and belief…while the real rock-solid fundamentals of sales and marketing are ignored.

7. Distributors are given the impression that because their company’s product is the greatest and their compensation plan the most lucrative, they’re guaranteed success. This is far from the case.

8. Distributors are told that everyone is their prospect…which leads to millions of network marketers pestering the living daylights out of every human being they cross paths with…creating enemies of this industry in their wake and all the while seeing no results for their efforts.

 

No one who knows anything about marketing would ever, in their wildest dreams, try to sell to people who have no interest whatsoever in their product – let alone people who are downright hostile to it! Yet that’s exactly what network marketers are taught to do! Sales can be challenging enough as it is, let alone trying to do it when you’ve got two strikes against you by using crummy techniques.

 

The whole model of coffee appointments, home parties and hotel meetings completely ignores the real key to success, which is this: getting the customer to come to you first.
You see… People Never Want What’s Forced On Them! All those motivational speakers just tell you to waste more time, energy and sweat chasing people. And when it doesn’t work – get this - you’re supposed to do even more of it. That’s like telling a drowning man to drink more water!

 

Here’s another lesson that the proven business plan fails to take into account: More important than the company…the person…the product…or even the message…is the market!
If you’re not selling your opportunity to people who genuinely crave what you have, you’re always going to be trying to force a square peg into a round hole!
You can be selling the tastiest burgers in the world but if no one’s hungry, no one’s going to buy.

 

Here’s a million dollar secret for you to chew on: A Mediocre Message To A Great Audience Will Always Do Better Than A Great Message To A Mediocre Audience!

 

Fully comprehending said principle will change your business career forever. No exaggeration.
Therefore, your biggest concern should always be to make sure you have the right/best/hungriest/most rabid audience possible.

 

This also explains why it’s so puzzling to people when they bring a friend to their hotel meeting and they witness a phenomenal presentation, yet seem to be totally indifferent afterwards. They weren’t the right person in the first place.

 

There are millions of people who are actively trying to figure out how to make money from home. What good marketing does is stand right smack dap in the middle of this flow and catches people when they’re hottest – while they’re seeking solutions to their problems. It enters the conversation that’s already going on inside their head and gets them to take action.

 

In order for a business owner to be successful, they have to have a system that consistently does this for them over and over again. You hold up your end of the bargain and a good system will produce for you. It has to be fool-proof.

 

One of the most important functions of your system is that it needs to make sure you’re only spending your valuable time with the highest quality people. Prospecting simply means sifting and sorting through people to find the ones who are interested (aka – a lead). The sheer volume of lead flow you need to have coming into your business is impossible to achieve if you try to do it all yourself on an individual basis.

 

Doing it the old manual-labor-make-a-names-lists-and-ask-for-referrals way is like using a typewriter to bang out 10,000 letters when you could have a printing press do it in a fraction of the time. A finely-tuned marketing system should do this sifting and sorting for you automatically. It's like a machine used in a manufacturing plant: You put raw materials in one end, it spits out qualified results - prospects - on the other end. Predictably and consistently, ‘round the clock. Every day when you wake up you know it will produce new potential business partnerships for you to cultivate.

 

The problem that most network marketers face is that they spend so much time prospecting, they don’t have time to actually sell. Once you implement an effective marketing system, you can spend twice as much time in front of interested people and literally double your results immediately.

 

Sound good? But wait – there’s also the immeasurable benefit of positioning. When the customer finds you, instead of you finding the customer, her perception of you is totally different. She naturally has more respect for you and perceives you as a consultant, not a peddler.

 

Customers don't respect peddlers as reliable information sources. Any mlmer who goes out and tries to recruit people is improperly positioned as a “peddler.” By applying the above concepts, my business changed almost overnight. Sponsoring people became almost…well…too easy.

 

I don’t want to give you the wrong impression that everything is all of a sudden a cakewalk. There are a few months here and there were I’ve still had to work at it to get my numbers…but once I discovered these marketing and sales “secrets,” sponsoring double digits every month became the norm.

 

And you know what else? That whole problem of not having duplication went away. Because for one, I now had enough serious prospect flow to get the really good people in my business; and two, of course I was now teaching everyone in my organization the same techniques and they were sponsoring 5-10 people a month as well. Network marketing starts to get real exciting when your organization is putting out those kind of numbers.

 

Wouldn't you like your business to run that way? Wouldn't you like your sales process to be a machine that runs on autopilot, constantly generating leads for you whether you're awake or asleep? When you have that kind of marketing machine working for you…you'll make more money…have less stress…avoid the social grief that comes from warm market prospecting… enjoy the kind of natural motivation that comes from real results…experience visible, consistent growth in your business … you won’t have to work nearly as hard to get results…and your distributors will be forever grateful they ended up doing business with you instead of someone else, because they won’t become victims of the insane practices that dominate our industry.

 

So there you have it. The 7 great lies of network marketing. I was a victim of every single one of them for quite a long time. I never knew any better because that’s all I’d ever been taught. If I hadn’t been willing to look around and keep an open mind, who knows how long I would have continued beating my head against a wall.

 

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post the 7 Great Lie Of Network Marketing but even more so, I hope it’s given you some fresh insight into this Network Marketing business and helped you realize that there is a better way to do it.


THE 7 GREAT LIES OF NETWORK MARKETING - LIE NUMBER SIX

In my last post of the 7 Great Lie Of Network Marketing we stopped at Lie No. 5 – We have the best product ever.

 

On this post we shall continue with Lie number six (6):

Lie No. 6 – You just don’t have enough belief!
Ughh!! Aren’t you sick of this one? Of all the lies in network marketing are there any that are more annoying than this one? The evil lie of motivation and belief has got to be one of the greatest shams in the history of sales (not just network marketing).

 

Millions of distributors everywhere are told that the reason they aren’t successful yet is because they just don’t have enough belief. Or they don’t have a big enough “why.” Don’t you just want to lose your lunch when some big shot in front of the room tells you that?

The heavy hitters in your company would have you believe that you just need to get to that “breaking point” where you’re sick and tired of being sick and tired and then…nothing will be able to get in your way!

 

So what do you do?
You listen to inspirational CDs.
You cut out pictures of the car you want to buy and the places you want to go.
You put those pictures everywhere – your fridge, your dashboard, your cupboard doors, your computer monitor – so you’re constantly reminded of what you’re working so hard for.
You think positive.
You go to every meeting you possibly can to energize your battery and “pump” yourself up for the week.
You go to the annual national rally because you know that just seeing all those massively-successful stars up on stage will be enough to kick you into overdrive.
You’ll be so overwhelmed and inspired that you’ll be unstoppable!
You’ll reach that magical turning point where everything starts working and your bank account is filled with cash!

 

Stop and think about it for a minute. Really think about it. Is that how it works? Is fanatical motivation really the missing ingredient to success? Last time I checked, you don’t need to have a huge “why” and a dream board just to make an average $30,000 income with a job.

 

So why do we need all that stuff in network marketing? I mean, wouldn’t it make sense that if you were doing what you’re supposed to be doing, you’d at least be able to make a comparable income with your business? Now I know what you’re going to say. Yes, of course owning your own business is different. It’s harder than working a job. You don’t make money immediately. It’s called delayed gratification. You have to lay the foundation first before you get paid. We all understand that concept.

 

However, network marketing doesn’t have to be as hard as it is for most people. The point is, if you’re truly building your business correctly, you’ll start seeing positive results, small as they may be at first. If you’ve been hard at it for over 3 years and you still aren’t cash flowing…something is seriously wrong! And I can guarantee you it’s not your motivation.

Think of it this way:
If You’re Using A Shovel To Dig The Foundation For A House – When You Could Be Using A Bulldozer – Then yes, You’re Going To Need A Lot Of Motivation To Get The Job Done.

 

Make sense? The more inefficient your system is and the more ineffective your tools are, the harder you’re going to have to work to get results. And because of that, you have to make up for it big time with motivation. When you’re using the right tools for the job…you’re seeing steady, consistent progress and things are trucking along smoothly…motivation becomes almost an afterthought.

 

Let me ask you: If you had highly-qualified prospects to talk to every day that understood what you do, expressed an interest in learning more and were eagerly awaiting your response, do you think that motivation would be a problem for you? No! But motivation becomes a major issue when you have to force yourself to pick up that 10,000 lb. phone to call your son’s soccer coach who you know doesn’t give a rip about your business! That’s when you need to whip out your handy-dandy goal statement and remind yourself exactly why it is you’re annoying the heck out of people.

 

That’s what I did. I willed myself to harass everyone on my names list 5 times over until eventually people just stopped talking with me. You know what though? I finally did reach that “magical” turning point in my business where all of a sudden everything started working. I went from barely signing up 1 person every 5 months…to sponsoring 10 people every month like clockwork.

 

What happened?
I stopped worrying about belief and started concerning myself with the real nuts and bolts of how to market a business. Which is this: Find the people who’re looking for what you have, use an effective marketing system to automatically sell to them for you, and then spend your time working with the best ones. That’s how I became so overwhelmed with interested prospects banging on my mail that I literally couldn’t handle them all myself.

 

But here’s the point I’m really trying to make: It Was Not My Motivation, Desire, Belief
Or Any Of That Intangible Stuff That Made The Difference In My Results. It was the system I was using.

 

You see, I was insanely motivated when I was getting poor results. I always was. That factor never changed. Neither did my belief, my desire, my discipline or my work ethic. I worked just as hard using a crummy marketing system as I did using an effective one (in fact, I worked harder with the crummy one). Motivation was not my problem and it’s not yours either.

 

You can be the most die-hard believer in the world…you can have the biggest “why” imaginable…you can have a desire so strong that there’s a literal physical burning inside you…you can be motivated till you’re blue in the face…but none of that matters if you’re using the wrong techniques.

 

If you listen to motivational tapes and you invest $50,000 into the stock market based on faulty, incomplete and outdated advice, are you going to make money? Of course not! It’s all about how you do something. Motivation Isn’t The Solution. It’s A Copout.

 

It’s what your upline tells you when you come to them broken and discouraged, looking for answers and they don’t know what else to say. It’s a very easy and convenient thing to tell someone who’s having a hard time in sales. You just don’t have enough belief! You aren’t motivated enough! You need to slap pictures up on your mirror of all the things you want in life! If you didn’t know how to help a frustrated mlmer, that’s probably what you’d say too.

 

Here’s what’s so great about the motivational lie: You can always get away with using it as a scapegoat because no matter how motivated someone is, you can always tell them they’re not motivated enough. And as long as they believe that hogwash, you never have to know what you’re talking about and you never have to give them any real, solid answers to their problems.

 

And that’s why people resort to using it. Because the truth is, they don’t know why most of their people aren’t successful.

 

Now I’m not saying any of this stuff is bad or that it’s not important. What I am saying is that when it comes down to it, you can do without the inspirational CDs. You cannot do without a good marketing system. Another crucial point to be made is that there’s a HUGE difference between internal drive...and…external motivation.

 

External motivation is almost like a drug. It feels great when we’re in the moment listening to a story of how someone defied all the odds and became the success we dream about being. We feel sure that this mental “boost” will be enough to carry us all the way to the finish line.

 

But then what happens? 3 days later the realities of life have kicked in and it’s already worn off. So we look for the next story to inspire us. And the next, and the next, and on it goes. It’s just a quick-fix, not a long term solution.

 

Do you know what the ultimate motivator is though? Real results!
In the last chapter I’ll explain how to get these by having people lining up to join your opportunity.

 

Continue enjoying your reading from our next post of the Number Seven Lie from the 7 Great Lie Of Network Marketing.


THE 7 GREAT LIES OF NETWORK MARKETING - LIE NUMBER FIVE

In my last post of the 7 Great Lie Of Network Marketing we stopped at Lie No. 4 – We’ll build your business for you.

 

On this post we shall continue with Lie number five (5):

Lie No. 5 – We have the best product ever!
Now it’s not that this statement isn’t necessarily true (although often it isn’t)…it’s that it doesn’t matter. Hang in there for a second, I’ll explain.

 

Like most of them, this lie takes on many different forms. Here’s just a few of the variations:
The product sells itself! Nothing else on the market can even compare to this! We have the most lucrative comp plan in the industry! Our leadership team is unbeatable!

 

Each one of these assertions could go off on their own little tangents, but really what they all boil down to is this: Network marketers place all the emphasis on all the wrong things. It’s not that all these things (product, comp plan, leadership, etc.) aren’t important. These are all critical elements.
The problem is that while everyone is hooting and hollering about this stuff, they forget about the most important factor of all.

 

To illustrate this problem, consider investment properties for a moment. There’s an important lesson to be gleaned from real estate that can help shed some light on the situation.

 

It’s often said that the three most important factors in choosing investment real estate are (1) location, (2) location, and (3) location. If you’re looking at a piece of property from an investment perspective, you shouldn’t be admiring the beautiful perennials out back…or concerning yourself with how many kids the neighbor has…or noticing how well the drapes go with the carpet. If you are, you’re looking at it through the eyes of a home owner, not an investor.

 

In order for your endeavor to turn out profitably, you have to keep the main thing the main thing. Well just like real estate, when it comes to running a highly-profitable business, a similar formula needs to be applied. Namely the most important factor of all is… (1) Marketing, (2) Marketing, and (3) Marketing!

 

This may seem obvious to you, but think about how many people go running around, diving headfirst into one company after another, following the latest and greatest product, only to end up scratching their heads when they don’t make any money. I know I used to.

 

Just as focusing on things like the landscape, the flowers and the neighbors is the way a home buyer looks at a property rather than an investor…putting all your focus on things like the product, the comp plan and the corporate leadership is the way a consumer looks at a company rather than a business owner.

 

Please allow this to sink in: You Can Have The Most Ground-Breaking Product In The World, But If You’re Not Using Effective Marketing, No One Will Know And No One Will Care.

 

Effective sales & marketing is bar-none the most important function of a business.
Think of it this way: A one-of-a-kind product that’s being shipped from one country to another is only as good as the truck that’s carrying it. If the truck breaks down and never reaches its destination, it doesn’t matter how great the product inside it is.

 

Well, your sales and marketing system is the truck that carries your product. No matter how good your product is, it doesn’t matter if your marketing can’t deliver it. Not only that, but sales is the only activity in a business that actually brings in the cash. Think about it. Every other activity uses up that cash.

 

The product, the compensation plan, the timing, the people, the leadership, the management…all crucial aspects of a business…but none of them are income producing activities. The revenue brought in from sales is what makes it all possible. It’s the driving force behind everything.

 

And that’s why you need to be more concerned about the sales strategies you’re using than anything else. This can’t be emphasized enough. It could be the most important thing you ever learn in your network marketing career.
And understand this: You Can Make A Lot Of Money With An Awesome Marketing Plan And A Mediocre Product. You Will Never Even Come Close To Making As Much With An Awesome
Product And A Mediocre Marketing Plan.

 

Like Seth Godin, former Vice President of Marketing for Yahoo!, says: “Marketing is all there is. You don’t win with better shipping or manufacturing or accounts payable. You win with better marketing…”

 

Why am I telling you this? What’s the lesson for network marketers? Simply this: Your product (or your opportunity), no matter how good, will not sell itself and will not make you rich.

 

Also, keep this in mind: You May Believe With All Your Heart That Your Company Is The Best, Hands Down… But So Does Everyone Else.

 

Therefore, the person who succeeds is not the one with the best company, but the one who can do the best job communicating the idea of their company. Now just so that no one gets the wrong impression, I want to stop and emphasize something. I am not saying that your product doesn’t need to be top-quality. It does. I am a firm believer that the only way to do business is to provide a product or service that far exceeds your customer’s expectations. Both for ethical reasons and for the obvious business reasons of getting repeat business from satisfied customers.

 

Anything that you sell to anyone should always be of enormous value in comparison to what they paid you for it. It should always over-deliver. An unbeatable combination therefore, is to have a killer marketing strategy and a killer product. You want the best of both worlds.

 

BUT_the reason I’m stressing marketing so much is because in our industry it is so sorely lacking. Many times people are given the impression that if they’ve got an awesome product, they’re as good as gold and the rest is all gravy. The product will do all the selling for them and they’ll be swimming in money.

 

At this point, you may be thinking something along the lines of: “Well, seeing as how I’m in network MARKETING…that means my sales and marketing system should be pretty much taken care of for me. I mean, we use one-to-one sales and word of mouth_which of course everyone knows is the most powerful form of marketing there is.” That’s what they’d like you to think. But unfortunately it’s not the case.

 

You see, one of the most important (and shocking) things I realized when I made my transition from a floundering distributor to a thriving one, is this: The Marketing In Network Marketing Is Missing!

I know that sounds crazy, but it all makes sense when you understand that…
(a) Network marketers do not truly use word of mouth advertising, as explained in Lie No. 2.

(b) Just because we use one-to-one sales does not in any way mean that it’s an effective form of one-to-one sales. That’s like saying - I play golf, so that makes me a good golfer.

(c) Most of the marketing materials (brochures, websites, etc.) used by mlm companies are awful and have very little value to you (the reason for this is too long to get into here but suffice it to say that most company’s marketing materials are little more than pretty showcases that fail to connect with what the prospect is really looking for).

(d) The “proven” system of names lists, referrals, warm markets, home parties and hotel meetings is not all it’s cracked up to be.

 

Continue enjoying your reading from our next post of the Number Six Lie from the 7 Great Lie Of Network Marketing.


THE 7 GREAT LIES OF NETWORK MARKETING - LIE NUMBER FOUR

In my last post of the 7 Great Lie Of Network Marketing we stopped at Lie No. 3 – Anyone can do this.

On this post we shall continue with Lie number four (4):

Lie No. 4 – We’ll build your business for you.
We’ve all seen the stuff on the net about fully automated online recruiting systems and how you can make outrageous money while they do all the work for you. Maybe you’ve tried a few. It certainly is an appealing idea. Who wouldn’t want a turnkey system that does everything for them?

Well, here’s the scoop on these type of deals: Why they appeal to people (not that that’s hard to figure out)…what they can’t do for you…and what a real automated system will do for you.

 

If you’re like most people, as I am, you’re probably a bit skeptical when you hear absurd claims like, “No selling or recruiting required - we build your downline for you!” As you should be. After all, if it was really that easy everyone would be driving a BMW right?

 

Really what these claims are is the lazy bum’s appeal.
“Just secure your position today and we’ll build and manage your downline for you. There are already hundreds of people waiting to be placed underneath you, all you have to do is secure your spot! With our amazing automated system, even a couch potato like you can get rich!” Just like every “get rich quick” scheme that’s ever come along, it’s an easy pitch to sell.

 

Because…People Always Want To Believe That The Road To Success, Fame And Fortune Is
Quick, Easy, Painless And Risk-Free.

 

An appeal to laziness is a very strong appeal indeed. The promise of something for nothing is as old as time itself. But let’s break this down a little further and reiterate a point I made at the beginning of this post. Network marketing is unique in that it’s a business venture that’s made available and offered to an extremely large amount of people. Never before has owning your own business had such widespread appeal.

 

With network marketing, the average person now has viable and realistic dreams of “making it big.” 50 years ago, the road to riches was not so accessible. You had to start your own brick and mortar business with employees and all the works. Here’s where the problem comes into play. You’re a salesperson. All business owners are.

 

There are two things that every network marketer sells. One is the products that the company provides, such as telecommunications services, nutritional products, etcetera, etcetera.

 

But what makes you unique is that what you’re also selling people is a business model. You’re selling them a vehicle to achieve whatever financial goals they may have. It’s really the first time that a business model has been sold to the public in this manner. Thing is, the average person, who’s known the employee model their whole life, doesn’t know a lot about business. They don’t understand basic business principles.

 

As a “customer,” the average Human is not business-savvy and does not know what to look for when selecting a home based business. So to our instant-gratification-society, the idea of a “hands-off” system that will generate a ridiculous income with no investment of time or effort and just a little bit of money, seems like an actual possibility.

 

Business 101 is that somewhere along the line, a product or service must be sold to an end consumer. If a company says that “no selling is required on your part,” this is a dead give-away they’re playing you for an idiot and you’re about to be taken to the cleaners.

 

Just ask yourself this one simple and obvious question: If No Selling Or Anything Else Is Required On Your Part, Then Why Would They Need You?
The answer is: They wouldn’t. If you’re not contributing anything to the business besides a measly sign up fee, there would be no reason to pay you obscene amounts of money.

 

You have to be contributing something in order to justify getting paid. That’s a fundamental economic truth. There’s no such thing as something for nothing. There’s no such thing as getting filthy rich with a $99 investment and no time or elbow grease.

 

Here’s what you are contributing in a real legitimate mlm business to make it work: The indispensable human interaction. This is why genuine network marketing companies do indeed need you and are willing to pay you big bucks for building a huge organization.

 

The key thing to understand is that…Automated Marketing Systems Are Crucial To A Successful Business – But They Can’t Do Everything For You.

 

The truth is, an automated system is only half the equation. You, a real live human being, are the other half. No matter what anyone says, network marketing is and always will be built on relationships. As any stable, long-term business is. Personal interaction and mentoring is the glue that holds an organization together.

 

When distributors hit those “rough spots” in their business, the coaching and advice that they receive from their sponsor…upline…downline…crossline…whoever…is what keeps their steam going. See what you’re really getting paid to do is manage an organization. Help your people succeed. Develop leaders. Something that no automated system can do.

 

No automated system will ever be able to replace human leadership and the ability to manage a group of people. Every person is different and is going to need individual guidance and direction in their path to success. It takes a human being to do this. And that is why you’ll never get paid for doing nothing.

 

Plus, all systems – no matter how automated they are – still require a human being to monitor and manage them. There is no perpetual machine that runs completely on its own steam. There still has to be someone who puts gasoline in the tank…starts the engine…operates the gas and the brake pedal…and turns the steering wheel.

 

HOWEVER…despite the trap that one can fall into when relying on systems, they are truly an indispensable piece to a successful network marketing business. It’s just important to know what they can and can’t do for you.

 

There are very distinct parts of your business that absolutely must be automated. (In Lie #7 I’ll talk more about these). Want to know one of the “dirtiest,” most best-kept secrets of the mlm industry?
Here it is: The heavy hitters don’t sell business opportunities. In fact, that’s the very last thing they sell to their prospects. This is not some tricky play on words either.

 

Continue enjoying your reading from our next post of the Number Five Lie from the 7 Great Lie Of Network Marketing.


THE 7 GREAT LIES OF NETWORK MARKETING - LIE NUMBER THREE

In my last post of the 7 Great Lie Of Network Marketing we stopped at Lie No. 2 - This really isn’t sales. We just share products with people.

 

On this post we shall continue with Lie number three (3):
Lie No. 3 – Anyone can do this!
This one is actually sort of a half-truth. A very dangerous half-truth. It can be very misleading because the simple fact of the matter is… Not All Network Marketers Are Created Equal.

 

Everyone comes into this game with different advantages and disadvantages. Some people have an enormous head start on others in terms of skills, time and money, and just because they were able to build an enormously profitable business in 24 months does not guarantee the next person will be able to.

 

The problem with statements like “Anyone can do this business!” is they imply that everyone - regardless of what their current situation is - can jump right in cold turkey and get the same results the heavy hitters got, just as fast. Here’s an example that’s not uncommon.
“Jane, who holds a high paying executive position in the corporate world, decides to enter network marketing. Say she was the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for XYZ. She’s obviously got quite a background in sales or she wouldn’t have that job. So right off the bat, she’s way ahead of the pack. She’s also already making a high six figure income as it is, which means two things……First, she isn’t dealing with the same kind of financial “crunch” and emotional stress that most people experience as they try to pay their monthly residual bills. And……Second, she has plenty of cash to fund her new business venture”.

 

Now…if you’re looking at it from a “warm” market approach (a big mistake for anyone to make, which I’ll explain later) she also has truckloads of professional contacts to work with and these people have a lot of respect for her. Safe to say that pretty much everyone Jane knows is going to take her at least somewhat seriously if she brings a new idea to them.

 

She also has lots of professional sales contacts like herself, who also have tons of other professional sales contacts.

 

Let me ask you: Do you think that someone who’s a stay at home mom, secretary, college student, electrician, school teacher or bank teller is going to be able to see the same kind of results that Jane will in the same period of time? Probably not.

 

That’s just one example – more of an old school one – but here’s something else that happens all the time in mlm: When an upline with a big organization moves from one company to another and takes their whole team with them.

 

People on the outside looking in only see the rapid growth and big bonuses, but what they don’t see is everything that’s gone on behind the scenes. They’re not getting the whole story. Yes, that upline brought in a huge team with them and began earning big money pretty much right away…but…it took years and years before they got to the point where they were actually in a position to do that.

 

They had to develop relationships and build a team that was loyal enough to them that they would even be willing to move with them wherever they went.

 

The point though is that…
Everyone’s On A Different Timeline And There Are Multiple Puzzle Pieces That Come Into Play That Determine How Quickly And How Easily A Person Will Make Money. A big one is skill level.

 

As we discussed in Lie No. 2, multi level marketing is a sales business and the amount of sales skills that someone brings to the table in the beginning will have a huge impact on their success.

 

Anyone who wants to can develop sales skills. Some will take longer than others. Obviously someone who has 14 years of sales experience has a bit of an edge on someone with zero sales background and rather poor communication skills in general.

 

I don’t qualify people on skills because anyone who has a true desire can develop them.
Instead, these are the three areas I do qualify on: Time, money and interest.
I put people through a multi-step prospecting process.
I interview them to make sure they have a serious interest in building a long-term business…rather than just looking to make a quick buck.
I can’t get into all the details of a good marketing system here, but know that the more steps a person takes to get information, the more qualified they are.
I tell prospects that they can build this business with 8-10 hours a week, BUT – if they’re serious – they’ll need at least 15. The 8-10 hours needs to be pure action time (i.e. – income producing activities). After that you still need time for training and other “support” activities.

 

As far as money goes, every company is different when it comes to the initial start up costs. But aside from that, you do need an ongoing monthly marketing budget. Your upline or corporate team won’t tell you this, but it’s absolutely mandatory for running your business at full potential.

 

Without a marketing budget, you won’t have the constant flow of fresh, qualified prospects you need.

 

There are two ways to get these leads for your business.
You can generate them through your own advertising or you can buy them from people who do that for you. You want to strive to generate your own because the advantages of doing so are enormous, but that’s not to say buying leads from other sources doesn’t have its place. Sometimes a combination of both approaches can be highly effective.

 

But either way…without leads, you don’t have a business. Yes, you can start a network marketing business with very little time, money and skills. But what you start off with in the beginning will have a direct impact on how easy/difficult it will be for you and how long it takes you.
That said …I Occasionally Turn People Down. You Should Too.

 

If someone has only 5 hours a week and $50 a month, I’ll tell them it’s honestly not worth it for them until they can free up more time and a little extra cash. Let me just say that if they like the product and want to get it at wholesale cost, of course you want to sign them up. The majority of your income is generated from people like this. In order for a business to be profitable, it needs to move lots and lots of product.

 

However – if they are not in it for the product, you’re doing a disservice to both of you by recruiting them with the idea of building the business. It will only lead to headaches and in the end it’ll be more trouble than it’s worth. It’s in their best interest to wait until they’re in a better position. Starting a business ill-prepared usually only leads to discouragement, failure and ultimately quitting.

 

Are there people who have surmounted all obstacles and succeeded despite incredible odds against them? Absolutely. Which is why I’ll never turn someone down if they’re dead set on it. But the percentage of people who make it happen under these circumstances is so small that you cannot realistically count on finding these underdogs.

 

Smart business owners never plan on long-shots. They build their organizations by working with those people and performing those activities that are guaranteed to bring them the most results.

Take note: There is a trick though to making this whole thing work. The process of qualifying and setting requirements for your prospects can actually backfire on you and in fact, that happens to quite a few distributors.

 

Continue enjoying your reading from our next post of the Number Four Lie from the 7 Great Lie Of Network Marketing.


THE 7 GREAT LIES OF NETWORK MARKETING - LIE NUMBER TWO

In my last post of the 7 Great Lie Of Network Marketing we stopped at Lie No. 1 - Everyone is your prospect!

 

On this post we shall continue with Lie number two (2):

Lie No. 2 – This really isn’t sales. We just share products with people.
“It’s not selling. It’s sharing!”
Doesn’t that just give you warm fuzzies inside? This untruth also has a distant cousin which often takes the form of gibberish like this:
“Your family and friends should buy from you just because you’re you. I mean, why would they give their business to some large corporation when they could give it to a close friend or relative. It’s called keeping your money in close circles. People a hundred years ago used to do it.”

 

More about this. First, let’s talk about the severe ramifications this whole idea of “sharing” has for people who are just getting started.

 

Here are two major side effects of this lie:
Side Effect No. 1. There’s a huge deficiency of proper sales training because if it’s not sales, then there’s no need for sales skills. As a result, people are thrown to the wolves totally unprepared to retail their products and their opportunity.

 

Side Effect No. 2. People are set up for failure because they’re given false expectations about how easy this is going to be. Labeling this whole business as “sharing” makes it sound like child’s play. New distributors are given the impression they’re doing one thing, when in fact it’s something else entirely. They think this is going to be a cakewalk and when they find out it’s not they aren’t too likely to stick around.

 

When people are fed the idea that it’s simply a matter of sharing, they’re in for a very harsh reality check. They go out and eagerly “share” their incredible product with all their family members, only to be sorely disappointed when they’re shot down. Then they’re baffled as to why it didn’t work for them.

 

One of the main reasons people tell this lie is because they don’t want to scare new prospects away. They want people to get this nice, cozy feeling that all we’re doing is telling the rest of the world about our wonderful product and people will be so swept away by our enthusiasm that they’ll automatically buy.

 

After all, it’s common knowledge that most people hate sales. So uplines and sponsors will beat around the bush and basically sugar-coat this inconvenient and uncomfortable fact:
If You Are In Network Marketing, You Are In Sales.

 

Understand this: Anytime you’re asking another person to give you money in exchange for something, you’re talking about sales. Selling is not sharing and sharing is not selling.

 

We’ve all heard it before. Word of mouth is the most powerful form of advertising there is, right? Right. What do you do when you see an incredible movie at the theatre? You tell your friends how awesome it was…how gripping the plot was…how engaging the actors were…blah, blah, blah, all that good stuff…and that they absolutely have to go see it. Same with eating out at a great restaurant or picking up your favorite artist’s new CD. People will be very likely to go spend money on these things after hearing a glowing report from you, their trusted friend. Here’s where the stick gets thrown into the spokes.

 

Your personal recommendation for all that stuff is so powerful because you have nothing to gain by “selling” them to your friends. As soon as you throw a financial interest into the mix, everything changes. Both for you and for them.

 

For starters, you’re not as comfortable. You don’t feel as natural as you did with something you don’t make money off of. Now you’re forcing it and as a result, it just doesn’t “flow” the same. It’s also different for them because they know you’re making money from the deal. It’s no longer an unbiased, “third party” opinion. People can smell an “incentivized” referral from a mile away. The whole dynamics of it has changed.

 

So the fact is, in network marketing you have now crossed over from the world of personal recommendation to the realm of direct sales. Don’t let anyone tell you they’re the same, because they’re not. Once you get this you’ll understand that you do indeed need to learn effective sales skills. It isn’t enough to just “recommend” your products to people you know.
Just Because Someone Is Your Friend Does Not Constitute A Good Enough Reason For Them To Buy From You.

 

It’s their hard earned money we’re talking about here. And now you need to give them real, solid and compelling reasons to buy your product instead of all the similar ones out there.

 

So therefore, just the same, all your family and friends should buy your products instead of going somewhere else. Well isn’t that nice.

What if your brother lives 40 minutes away from your McDonald’s and he’s got a Burger King that’s 3 minutes away. Is he still expected to drive all the way over to your business every time he wants a burger and fries? Or what if he doesn’t even like McDonald’s? What if he doesn’t like fast food at all? What if your brother doesn’t even like you? See where I’m getting with this?

 

Just because someone is your friend/relative does not mean they will or should spend their money with you. Yes, your warm market is an excellent way to go for retail customers…but…just as you would need to give a stranger strong enough reasons to buy your product, you need to do the same with your friends and family. You can’t expect them to buy from you.

 

You know, there are families who will give each other their business no matter what. No matter how inconvenient it may be, regardless of whether they even like the product or not, they support each other in all their endeavors. If your family is like that, great. But mine sure isn’t. And the reality is, a lot of people’s families aren’t like that.

 

So what it comes down to is this: Learning effective sales techniques is mandatory for success. You have to understand the sales process and what really motivates people.

 

For starters, know that…
When It Comes To Selling (And Therefore Network Marketing), Far Too Much Attention Is Paid To The Product And Far Too Little Attention Is Paid To The Person Doing The Buying!

 

Because there is one thing and one thing only that’s on your prospect’s mind…“What’s in it for me?” And the successful salesperson is not the one who knows their product inside and out and can talk the other person’s ear off…it’s the one who can best make the connection between their prospect’s true desires and how their product/service will fulfill those desires.

 

Simply getting excited and telling someone about your product is not enough to consistently bring in sales.

 

Continue enjoying your reading from our next post of the Number Three Lie from the 7 Great Lie Of Network Marketing.


THE 7 GREAT LIES OF NETWORK MARKETING - LIE NUMBER ONE

Note that we didn’t finished on this topic of the 7 Great Lie Of Network Marketing we stopped due to it lengthy notes, so we are beginning from Lie number one (1) which states that - Everyone is your prospect.

 

Lie No. 1 - Everyone is your prospect
As I was compiling this list, I was trying to think of which lie was the worst. Which one was the absolute most detrimental to a business? Which one topped ‘em all as the “whopper of all whoppers?” I tried to narrow it down, but I just couldn’t bring myself to select a definite winner.

 

They’re all so bad. I’ll tell you though, this one was a serious contender for the title:
“Everyone is your prospect!”

 

A similar version of this lie is:
“Everyone wants this, they just don’t know it yet!”

 

An article found in a popular network marketing publication declares that, “You just have to believe that everyone is you prospect!” This insane belief has led to such ridiculous practices as the “3 foot rule” and the “when in doubt, blurt it out” technique.

 

Because of this lie, people have the mistaken idea that talking to anyone and everyone they come within arms length of is an effective recruiting technique. Prospecting Red Lobster waitresses…employees at Marshall Field’s…gas station clerks…total strangers at malls…the postman…kiosk stands…the girl at Caribou…leaving flyers on car windshields… …These kind of antics have damaged this industry’s reputation almost beyond repair.

 

They’ve absolutely destroyed any image of professionalism and made it harder for everyone to sponsor people. These “street hustler” methods of recruiting have single-handedly placed network marketing on the same level as some low-life schmuck peddling fake Rolexes in the minds of most people. It’s absolute lunacy. Don’t buy into this fallacy. This isn’t evangelism for cryin’ out loud! Not everyone is your prospect.

 

One of the most important lessons I’ve ever learned in marketing is this:
People Who Try To Be Everything To Everybody, Wind Up Meaning Nothing Special To Anyone.

 

See, not everyone is looking to run their own business. Contrary to what we’ve been told, there are actually a substantial amount of people who are 100% content with being an employee and have no desire whatsoever to change that.

Some people love their job and wouldn’t give it up for a million bucks.
Some people despise network marketing and would rather be buried alive than be associated with it.
Some people despise business in general. Some people think making lots of money is a bad thing.
Some people don’t have the funds to properly run a business.
Some people are absolutely scared to death of anything that involves risk.
Some people have plenty of money and aren’t looking for anything else.
Some people just plain old don’t care.
Some people don’t have time.
Some people just aren’t cut out to be entrepreneurs and are better off working at McDonald’s.
Some people are perfectly content with where they are at in life and have no desire to change. That’s fine.

 

Whatever the case, you do not need to convince anyone to get into this business. It’s a waste of your time and energy to try and do so.

 

Please listen very carefully:
No One Is Worth Your Time Until They’ve Shown An Interest In What You’re Offering And Have Asked You For More Information.

 

I don’t care if someone fits the mold of what would normally be considered “the perfect mlm prospect”: mid ‘40s…absolutely despises their high-paying corporate j-o-b…wants out of their 9-5…loads of connections…great people skills…sure, they might be a potential prospect, but they’re not a prospect worth pursuing until they’re actively seeking a solution to their problem.

 

It doesn’t matter how qualified you think a person is or how good you think they’d be at this business. It’s not even enough if a person does want to start their own business. Until they go out of their way to get more information on how to do it, they’re just another bystander. Not a player in the game. They’re not worth going after.

 

Sure, someone could have great people skills (a waiter for example) but that doesn’t mean they’re a good prospect. They could be so violently opposed to mlm, business opportunities or any other way of making money besides being an employee that it would take a massive barrage of information to ever sway their opinion.

 

If someone has a strong belief about something it can take years to reverse that. It’s not a good use of your time to try and convince someone who disagrees with your way of thinking. As a business owner, your job is not to make a convert out of anyone. Your job is to get the maximum returns possible for your time and efforts. And that means talking with people who are, for the most part, already on the same page as you.

 

Well…why not at least prospect them and find out? For one, as stated before, it gives this industry a tacky, “second-rate” image. And secondly, it’s a horrible first impression for your prospect. Because you’ve just shown them exactly how you do business – soliciting total strangers. And no one wants to be a part of that.

 

You see, mlm uplines love to tote the fact that these marketing tactics (the 3 foot rule, etc.) don’t require any money and therefore are perfect for the average person who doesn’t have a whole lot of extra cash.

 

Here’s what they fail to tell you: Second rate advertising methods lead to second rate results. When you market this way, it shows your prospect that you’re the type of business person who isn’t professional (or successful) enough to invest in some respectable marketing methods. It immediately projects a “cheap,” rinky-dink image. Who wants to work with a person who advertises their business like that? Think about it.

 

Do dentists or doctors go around trying to prospect every single person they cross paths with? Hey there, got any built up plaque you want me to take a look at? Even if you do happen to hit on someone who has a “business mindset,” they’re not likely to take you seriously.

 

Why? Because…
…Who Finds Who First Is Very Important.

 

When you go head hunting and chase your prospect, the whole operation is doomed to failure because you’re viewed as a nuisance! When they find you and seek you out, you’re viewed as an expert. Positioning makes all the difference in the world.

 

For a very long time I believed that network marketing was the cure to financial cancer and it was my job to spread the good news throughout the land. Maybe you’ve thought that yourself. Maybe you still do.

 

But what finally hit me – after I began feverishly studying anything about marketing I could get my hands on – was this: Why make it harder on yourself than you have to? Why expend valuable time and energy trying to force-feed your opportunity down the throat of someone who’s entirely indifferent? Why do that when there are millions of people who actually do want to start their own business? The ones who warrant your attention are the ones who take the initiative and go out of their way to find out how to do it. These people are prospects.

 

Another problem with this mentality that really started to wear on me is, if everyone’s a prospect that means you have to constantly be “on the prowl.” Anytime you first meet somebody, you’re always looking for that “in.” The “in” that will allow you to bring up your opportunity. You know what I’m talking about don’t you? Wouldn’t it be nice to not have to worry about that? To hold a conversation without thinking of ways to recruit them in the back of your mind? Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to separate your personal life from your business life? If that idea sounds appealing to you, keep reading. A little later I’ll talk about how to do this by having people come to you instead.

 

What if instead of having to fork out money for your prospects or leads…people actually PAID YOU upfront to prospect them? Sound impossible? Not when you understand the simple methods behind “information marketing.”

 

Continue enjoying your reading from our next post of the Number Two Lie from the 7 Great Lie Of Network Marketing.