Copyright 2007 Karen Hurd Enterprises, Inc.
No Closing
No Selling
No Chasing people
No Recruiting
No rejection, ever!
Everywhere you look in the network marketing/home business arena, systems are advertising themselves as "Don't do anything, and you'll get rich". It's a very compelling message. These systems seem to address the very core issue of why many people don't succeed in network marketing. New marketing systems that "build your downline for you" come online everyday. Put "network marketing" in a Google search and you get 366,000,000 sites. Online network marketing systems: 99,000,000 hits. A little bit of competition, eh?
I call these no-recruiting systems "avoidant marketing". Rather than empower people to learn how to work well with today's consumer or business opportunity seeker, people are taught that marketing systems, websites, etc., are so very effective that people will literally fall into their laps. And again, as I said in "Are You Marketing Your MLM to the Right People?", network marketers usually approach the wrong market to begin with. That's why the failure rate in MLM is NO DIFFERENT than any other business model. (It's a shame, too).
In theory, it makes our business incredible simple: drive as many people through the system and only interact with them after they join your company. It makes a great deal of sense on the surface. Easy - just do 1 activity. Rejection proof- don't call them until they pony up some cash.
Many of us have a ready ear for that kind of pitch. We've either been with a pushy sales type, and hated it, or we have seen our distributors struggle and lose prospects because they didn't know how to handle the curve ball the prospect through at them. So the solution of having a system do it all without any interaction on the network marketers part is very appealing. It seems to be the ultimate in MLM duplication. In fact, I got caught in it too. I too thought it was the answer to MLM's failure rate.
The flaw in this line of thinking is that very few people (the same 10% who succeeed at anything) can drive the necessary amount of traffic to the marketing system to create decent sign up rates. Newbies become extremely confused because many of these systems advertise multiple affiliates. I've seen downlines stall out, even with experienced marketers. It's just too much for the average person to track. Downlines can become contaminated with lots of cross selling and cross recruiting.
In fact, since many of these systems use the same marketing tools: traffic exchanges, forums, safelists, etc. Newbies are thrown into an extremely competitive environment with little or no preparation on how to navigate that environment.
And guess what? People jump ship just as fast as they join. They leave your system for the next system that promises success. These systems still don't eliminate the the 50 +% drop rate or the problem of retention. They mask it. Downline builders are not a panacea for network marketing success.
The reason for this is very simple: human nature. People are gonna do what they do. You will have tire kickers no matter what. You will have people who sign up with big packages and then disappear. You will still have distributors that fail, because of the same reasons they failed before: developing the proper skill set and the proper mind set, and quitting too soon.
Certainly there need to be systems in network marketing that do level the playing field more. "Auto-pilot" systems can certainly play a role in the 21st Century home business. They can free up a distributor from some of the mundane aspects of their business, to focus on developing relationships with key people. They are extremely important in developing international downlines. These systems can be quite helpful in sorting true prospects from the casual biz-opp seeker.
Network Marketing will always be a people business because people are the power of network marketing. Good relationships equal fabulous residual income. Teach people how to build relationships in the 21st Century. Use the internet as a tool to build relationships, not to avoid them.
About the Author:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Karen Miner Hurd is a former marketing professional. She lives in Virginia Beach, VA with her husband and 5 children. She is a writer, health coach, and armchair movie critic. Karen has been in Network Marketing since before cell phones. Her passion can be found at: The Freedom Project
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Indispensable Guide to Network Marketing -
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Friday, November 02, 2007
5 Ways to Improve Your Network Marketing Results - NOW
Copyright 2007 Karen Hurd Enterprises, Inc.
Most network marketers don't understand their own business.
Network Marketing is the only business promoted to non-business people on a mass scale. That's it's attraction and why it succeeds. It's also why MLM fails. Most new MLMers
do not take the time, to learn their new profession. MLM is promoted as fast money, and get into action NOW. Talk to enough people fast enough and you'll make it to the top. In just 90 days.
Those are good things, certainly. Enough people have done just that to give it some truth. The distribution model of MLM was designed to be viral before viral marketing was even a concept. There are thousands of audios and books that teach it. We think that a single Saturday morning training and weekly conference call is enough to build a powerful marketing machine .
What is required instead is constant reinforcement of a professional standard and a new way of doing business.
The times are changing. Consumers are savvy and sales weary. The old "enthusiasm sells, so show them that you 'Are Sold Myself' " has limited effect these days. Competition is more intense than ever. And everyone is the best, right? What network marketer says, "my company doesn't pay as good as the others, but I like it". No. Everyone has the best sales plan ever. Every product and service sells itself.
Oy.
Time to get with the trends and change your style. NOW. Get professional. Watch your credibility soar as you lay down the old pitches and hard sell strategies and lead with truth
and authenticity.
1) Get your personal story into a 30 second format.
NO buzzwords, MLM jargon, promises or product ingredients. Just what happened to you, from your heart, consumer to consumer. And when you end your 30-second commercial, don't ask for the appointment, or offer your website. Go negative and ask for the referral . "I don't suppose you know anyone who might have that issue, do you? It's unexpected and much more effective.
2) Don't corner your prospects. Don't push them. No more assumptive closes. None of this "You want to save money, don't you? I'll get you a packet of info". Allow your prospects some distance so they can come toward you.
3) What you have to offer is NOT as important as your prospect's problem. If you genuinely cannot solve your prospect's problem admit it. How refreshing. You will find that they will come back when they want your help next time. They will refer more people to you, because you have shown yourself to be interested in others more than your override.
4) Give your prospect the room to say no. No more "tie-down closes". No more questions that are geared to get you a "yes". Everyone hates that, including you when you are someone else's prospect. Ask permission to proceed, and always give your prospect permission to end the call or appointment.
5) Network Marketing will always be a relationship business.Always. Learn good people skills. Learn good communication skills. Act as a trusted advisor and people will treat you like one.
Understand that all consumers have been trained to resist anyone in any sales capacity. There is a whole industry (e.g. consumer's advocates) that dedicates themselves to resisting
YOU. It is easier for your upline to teach you to memorize answers to objections, then to teach you how to understand what your prospect is really saying. Learning how to market yourself
authentically will not be easy. Yet, you must do it. Your personal long term success, and your team's success depends on it.
About the Author:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Karen Miner Hurd is a former Public Relations professional. She left her
career to stay home with her children and has been dedicated to
network marketing for 19 years. To find the best home based
business ideas and opportunities so you can work at home visit:
http://www.womanwizehealth.com
--------------------------------------------------------
Most network marketers don't understand their own business.
Network Marketing is the only business promoted to non-business people on a mass scale. That's it's attraction and why it succeeds. It's also why MLM fails. Most new MLMers
do not take the time, to learn their new profession. MLM is promoted as fast money, and get into action NOW. Talk to enough people fast enough and you'll make it to the top. In just 90 days.
Those are good things, certainly. Enough people have done just that to give it some truth. The distribution model of MLM was designed to be viral before viral marketing was even a concept. There are thousands of audios and books that teach it. We think that a single Saturday morning training and weekly conference call is enough to build a powerful marketing machine .
What is required instead is constant reinforcement of a professional standard and a new way of doing business.
The times are changing. Consumers are savvy and sales weary. The old "enthusiasm sells, so show them that you 'Are Sold Myself' " has limited effect these days. Competition is more intense than ever. And everyone is the best, right? What network marketer says, "my company doesn't pay as good as the others, but I like it". No. Everyone has the best sales plan ever. Every product and service sells itself.
Oy.
Time to get with the trends and change your style. NOW. Get professional. Watch your credibility soar as you lay down the old pitches and hard sell strategies and lead with truth
and authenticity.
1) Get your personal story into a 30 second format.
NO buzzwords, MLM jargon, promises or product ingredients. Just what happened to you, from your heart, consumer to consumer. And when you end your 30-second commercial, don't ask for the appointment, or offer your website. Go negative and ask for the referral . "I don't suppose you know anyone who might have that issue, do you? It's unexpected and much more effective.
2) Don't corner your prospects. Don't push them. No more assumptive closes. None of this "You want to save money, don't you? I'll get you a packet of info". Allow your prospects some distance so they can come toward you.
3) What you have to offer is NOT as important as your prospect's problem. If you genuinely cannot solve your prospect's problem admit it. How refreshing. You will find that they will come back when they want your help next time. They will refer more people to you, because you have shown yourself to be interested in others more than your override.
4) Give your prospect the room to say no. No more "tie-down closes". No more questions that are geared to get you a "yes". Everyone hates that, including you when you are someone else's prospect. Ask permission to proceed, and always give your prospect permission to end the call or appointment.
5) Network Marketing will always be a relationship business.Always. Learn good people skills. Learn good communication skills. Act as a trusted advisor and people will treat you like one.
Understand that all consumers have been trained to resist anyone in any sales capacity. There is a whole industry (e.g. consumer's advocates) that dedicates themselves to resisting
YOU. It is easier for your upline to teach you to memorize answers to objections, then to teach you how to understand what your prospect is really saying. Learning how to market yourself
authentically will not be easy. Yet, you must do it. Your personal long term success, and your team's success depends on it.
About the Author:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Karen Miner Hurd is a former Public Relations professional. She left her
career to stay home with her children and has been dedicated to
network marketing for 19 years. To find the best home based
business ideas and opportunities so you can work at home visit:
http://www.womanwizehealth.com
--------------------------------------------------------
Lie, Cheat, Steal and Spam: The Amateurs Guide to MLM
Copyright 2007 Karen Hurd Enterprises, Inc.
You can spot a new MLMer a mile away. They are
practicing the "3 Foot Rule", and clubbing everyone
within reach who can fog a mirror because "everyone
wants what we have". The really serious ones use
the 7 foot rule. These brave souls are hailed by
the network marketing uplines as "proof you can do
it"! I'll admit it's very brave.
You can spot a new MLMer when you send them an
email and you get an autoreply telling you how wonderful
their new enterprise is. Did they even read the email
about the PTA meeting? You'll never know. And now
you're hesitant to ask, because you might be subjected
to a sales presentation when you call about the bake sale.
You can spot a new MLMer because they will tell you they
are making lots of money (especially if they are communicating
with you online), and they've only been in the biz 3 weeks.
They tell you that because they think telling you about their
fabulous results (even if they don't exsist) is what it takes
to attract you.
New network marketers are some of the least coachable
people around. Tell them to wait 48 hours until they are
trained before they launch their business, and they've
literally burned their entire warm list by Saturday.
Amateur network marketers whip out their business card
and offer an information pack before you can say, "Hi. I'm
Karen. What do you do for a living?". They almost always
make you sorry you asked.
Amateur MLMers answer every question you ask with a
presentation.
Confession: I have done every single one of these. Sometimes
they worked and resulted in a new customer or distributor.
But more often they alienated people and contributed to
the stereotype of network marketers as pushy sales people.
And you know what? We earned that stereotype fair and square.
When attorneys do what we do, we call them "ambulance chasers".
I love this industry, I love this profession, and I think network marketers
are some of the best people around. I'm impressed by the determination,
and the genuine desire MLMers have to run an ethical business that
benefits others and changes lives. I believe that MLM is unique
in that regard.
Let's remember that we are a PROFESSION not a side show. Let's
act like humans who respect the boundaries and decision of others,
not like aliens from the Galaxy Binary Matrix. If we as an industry
act like professionals not rank amateurs, we can change the
stereotype, and showcase our industry for what it is: the only business
model available for the non-business person to create wealth.
About the Author:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Karen Miner Hurd has been a Maniac all her life.
To find the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you can work at home visit:
http://www.coolbiz4u.net./
--------------------------------------------------------
You can spot a new MLMer a mile away. They are
practicing the "3 Foot Rule", and clubbing everyone
within reach who can fog a mirror because "everyone
wants what we have". The really serious ones use
the 7 foot rule. These brave souls are hailed by
the network marketing uplines as "proof you can do
it"! I'll admit it's very brave.
You can spot a new MLMer when you send them an
email and you get an autoreply telling you how wonderful
their new enterprise is. Did they even read the email
about the PTA meeting? You'll never know. And now
you're hesitant to ask, because you might be subjected
to a sales presentation when you call about the bake sale.
You can spot a new MLMer because they will tell you they
are making lots of money (especially if they are communicating
with you online), and they've only been in the biz 3 weeks.
They tell you that because they think telling you about their
fabulous results (even if they don't exsist) is what it takes
to attract you.
New network marketers are some of the least coachable
people around. Tell them to wait 48 hours until they are
trained before they launch their business, and they've
literally burned their entire warm list by Saturday.
Amateur network marketers whip out their business card
and offer an information pack before you can say, "Hi. I'm
Karen. What do you do for a living?". They almost always
make you sorry you asked.
Amateur MLMers answer every question you ask with a
presentation.
Confession: I have done every single one of these. Sometimes
they worked and resulted in a new customer or distributor.
But more often they alienated people and contributed to
the stereotype of network marketers as pushy sales people.
And you know what? We earned that stereotype fair and square.
When attorneys do what we do, we call them "ambulance chasers".
I love this industry, I love this profession, and I think network marketers
are some of the best people around. I'm impressed by the determination,
and the genuine desire MLMers have to run an ethical business that
benefits others and changes lives. I believe that MLM is unique
in that regard.
Let's remember that we are a PROFESSION not a side show. Let's
act like humans who respect the boundaries and decision of others,
not like aliens from the Galaxy Binary Matrix. If we as an industry
act like professionals not rank amateurs, we can change the
stereotype, and showcase our industry for what it is: the only business
model available for the non-business person to create wealth.
About the Author:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Karen Miner Hurd has been a Maniac all her life.
To find the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you can work at home visit:
http://www.coolbiz4u.net./
--------------------------------------------------------
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