Who Owns Your Network Marketing Business?

Who “owns” your team of independent contractors, your army of volunteers?
Your downline belongs TO YOU first, not the company you rep for. Some would consider these comments heresy. It’s a complicated idea fraught with all sorts of potential landmines. I'm bound to get emails from nervous uplines. What if my downline decides it doesn’t “belong” to me ? Does this kind of thinking lead to chaos in the organization?

At some point in one’s career in MLM, one realizes that one has taken on full-responsibility for one’s future. Business ownership is more than just a way to get tax-breaks. Leadership is more than encouraging higher volumes or giving out awards and holding rah-rah meetings. Leadership becomes setting a direction for your organization that matches your business vision and philosophy. It may mean acting independently of your vendor, (but within the framework and contractual obligations you have with your vendor when you enrolled). Your decisions and your direction are geared for the overall health and longevity of the team, not your personal convenience.

Early in my network marketing career, my leadership style was more like a “boss” than a mentor. It was immature and short sighted. I saw myself only as a rep for the company “in charge” of other reps. I allowed the company to set my agenda and depended on the company for motivation. When the company started making poor business decisions, and the uniqueness of the product was lost and became a commodity, I realized that I needed to make a change. However, I had tied my organization's loyalty to the company more than me. So when I came to my current company only 3 wanted to follow. Lesson learned.

I'm keenly aware that in MLM our incomes are intertwined with each other. What I have noticed about those who have built huge (10,000+ organizations) is that they perceive themselves, rightly I believe, as independent marketing organizations that are in a joint venture with a given vendor until such time as it is no longer a mutually beneficial to them or their organization. The best of them treat their top leaders as a “Board of Directors” who participates in choosing the direction and policies of the organization at large.

Do not take my comments as advocating company-jumping. I think “company-jumping” and frequent system changes is unethical and irresponsible. But there are times when it is a sound business decision. If the market share and product mix in my company was not keeping up with trends, or they were showing poor management, or bad ethical choices, I'd read the writing on the wall and take my business and downline else where!

If you are a downline, you need to respect your upline. You model this because your downline needs to respect your leadership. If you don’t like your immediate upline, or they are a poor leader, then go around them to your upline’s upline. Provide solid leadership for your team. Work with your vendor and your upline to create a successful system and joint venture.

Do I ever intend to leave my company? No. But before it was purchased by Roger Barnett, I started reading between the management lines and knew that something wasn’t right, and I started investigating other options for myself and my team. I will not allow myself, nor by extension my team, to be left hanging because some corporation decides to close its MLM doors. (Fortunately Roger's purchase of Shaklee turned out to be a tremendous advantage to all of us).

When you join a network marketing company, you don’t join the corporation itself; you join a marketing team affiliated with the corporation. It’s a partnership, not a marriage. Responsible senior leadership in network marketing must be able to see beyond the company/vendor. You must be able to set a successful direction for your team. To me, that's part of leadership and leverage.



About the Author:
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Karen Miner Hurd has owned a home business since 1988 when she
retired from her Public Relations career to stay home with her
children. Her secret passion is Foxtrot books. To learn more about
her current business venture, so you can work at home visit:
The Freedom Project
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Network Marketing is Not for Normal People

Copyright 2008, Karen Hurd Enterprises, Inc.

Network Marketing has been called "The People's Franchise". A home business model that has been designed for the person with little or no training in business. People are promised that they will earn millions and the average distributor earns maybe $300-500 per month.

Is the multi-level marketing promise a lie?

I don't think so. MLM or Network Marketing is a simple business model that
works. It's just not a business model for normal people. It's a business, not a work-at-home job program. After 20 years in network marketing, building my business a $200 distributor at a time, I've come to the conclusion that if you don't seize everything that MLM promises, you are missing the point of this great business model.

Network Marketing is vast and unlimited. It's not hindered by buildings, huge oerhead,employees, and unions. It excels at distributing goods and services to everyday people. As more network marketers harness the internet, the possibility of "making money while you sleep" absolutely becomes real.

When you join a network marketing company, bring your big dreams with you. Bring possibilities for you and your family that are impossible now. You are at a giant smorgasbord loaded with all sorts of delights. Just don't make the mistake that most people make when staring at the feast of income and freedom that MLM offers; most distributors come to the banquet and only want a tomato.

MLM takes too much heart and energy to only ask for a little. The same effort to create $300 can create $3,000 or $30,000 a month. People tell me all the time, "Well, I don't want to be greedy" or "I'll give it 90 days and see what happens". NO! This is the wrong place for that! Network Marketing is the one place where you can have what you really want. You do have to work for it. You do need to choose a good system. But this is not the place to seek to earn $100 week!

"Normal" people speak in terms of what is "reasonable". MLMers speak in terms of possibilities. "Normal" people speak in terms of costs and expenses. MLMers speak in terms of return, freedom, and multiplication. Normal people speak in terms of reality. Network marketers speak in terms of making dreams real.

It has been said that by the age of 70, 95% of the people (normal) are dead or dead broke. When you choose to join the ranks of network marketers, you are choosing to leave the normal world behind.

About the Author:
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Karen Miner Hurd has been making money from home since 1988.
She is passionate about helping women and families to create
secure financial futures. Her favorite business vehical can be found at:
The Freedom Project
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Avoidant Marketing: Network Marketing's Answer?

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:
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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
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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./
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The Myth of the Free Business Opportunity

Copyright 2007 Karen Hurd Enterprises, Inc.

"It's Free! It's Free! It doesn't cost anything to join!You can make money! You can sponsor lots of people because it doesn't cost any money and the products are cheap! It's the easiest sale in the world"!

If I can paraphrase Forrest Gump, "Free is as Free does".

People who promote free or what I call "low-ball business opportunities" feel that the path to wealth is the path of least resistance. They truly believe that the reason most people don't make it in MLM, or any home business opportunity, is because of the the start up cost or because what is marketed needs to be cheaper than traditional retail outlets.

I believe that they are missing the point entirely.

Sales objections are universal. That a free or low-cost business opportunity will make money because it's easier for people to join is a myth. You will work just as hard to earn $.25 on everyone in your fifth level,
as I do to earn infinity bonuses.

Free business opportunities are poorly paying because their profit margins are so narrow, they CAN'T pay more. You still have to advertise a low cost business opportunity. You have the same expenses I do at a lower profit margin. You will learn less money for the same amount of work. That's why I personally feel that low-ball, or free, opportunities are a myth.

Free business opportunities attract people who believe that cost, not return on investment, is how one should evaluate a business. They often believe that frugality is the number one value. They believe that products with higher price tags are bloated solely for the sake of profit. They often have low financial resources. They often have a poverty mentality that prevents them from creating any significant wealth.

Some people will make money on a free or low-ball business opportunity. The same 10% that would make it big in anyhome business, MLM, or affiliate program.

Why? Because that 10% are business people at heart. They understand marketing. They understand that their target market in a low-ball business opportunity, are peoplewho have low financial resources. The top acheivers know how to market to them.

The people who drop out of a free, low-ball business opportunity are the same ones who would drop out of any business opportunity. Why? They thought it would be an easy sale. They believed that start-up costs and product price is why they failed before. When prospects say to them, "it's too expensive" , the free biz owner thought they were hearing God's truth, not one of the 5 most common objections. They thought that free, cheap, "easy", is what would make them successful. When the realities of building a business hit them, they were unprepared. It was deja vu all over again.

Any business has a market segment. The Dollar Store has a market segment. Rolex watches have a market segment. The objections one gets from prospects are universal. The reasons for success or failure are universal. The 80-20 Rule is a law as strong as the lawof gravity.

The free business opportunity as a path to riches is a myth because business is business. What is required to be successful in a high-end busness are the exact same things that are required to be successful in a low-end buisness. If you market to the wrong people in the wrong way you will fail. Period. Evaluate any business not on its start up cost alone, but on its return, its marketing system, and on how well they reach their target market. Evaluate a business on its track record. Evaluate a business on its profit margins and how much of the sales dollar they can pay you.

Ultimately, whether a not a business is free or low cost is not the chief criteria for success.
It never was.

About the Author:
___________________________________________________________________________________
Karen Hurd has been a full time network marketer for 19 years. She is a marketing professional who gave up her career to stay home with her 5 children. She built her business during their naptimes, and now she makes money while she sleeps.For more marketing tips, subscribe to her ezine at: http://www.lifestylcreatr.blogspot.com/. Her passion is at http://www.coolbiz4u.net/

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Buying and Working with Leads

So you've used up your "warm market" of friends and family. Or you really don't have one that you want to contact about your business opportunity or product. And you don't want to get out a phone book and start cold calling. Then it's time to buy some leads! When I first purchased leads about 3 years ago, my expectations were way too high. I thought it would be like picking ripe fruit. Well, sometimes! Sometimes not. Here's what I've learned:

The best leads are those you generate yourself.  The leads you generate yourself are the most responsive. They will answer the phone when you call. And they are the most likely to join your business or buy your product.

However, it can take quite a long time to generate traffic to your website or capture page. Purchasing leads is a good part of your strategy to start building your database. Some companies will sell you biz-opp leads, female only leads, and product oriented leads. Purchased leads means that you know EXACTLY how many prospects that you will get for your advertising dollar. And you can get your leads in as little as an hour.

Personally, I don't recommend that you do any less than 100 leads/month. Work up to 100 leads/week or more. Some trainers say do 1,000/month. It will depend on your business and how you work your leads.

When you purchase leads, you need to have the following in place:

1) An autoresponder for follow up and to keep your name in front of your prospects. Some lead vendors or marketing systems have generic autoresponders already done for you. Some systems require that you write your own. Whatever autoresponder system you choose, find out how many leads you can upload per day. The CAN-Spam act limits some things and everyone is cautious now, so that they don't get inadvertantly blasted as spam. Some of these autoresponder companies, have agreements with lead vendors and then you can download as many as you want automatically into your account.

2) Don't buy leads unless you have an online marketing system. You need a way to process them. Don't put yourself in a situation of mailing DVDs and information packets. Too expensive.

3) Leads come in all forms. If I am using phone verified or phone-interviewed leads, I buy from companies who have scrubbed those leads against the Do Not Call list. If I am buying surveyed leads, only those that are double opt-in. I prefer companies that have an affiliate program or the pay me back for lead referrals so that my lead costs can be reimbursed or offset.

4) I prefer exclusive or semi-exclusive fresh leads. Real time-leads means you get them as soon as they are generated - within minutes. Exclusive, real-time, are the most expensive, sometimes costing as much as $5 - $10 or more a piece. The more exclusive, real-time and prequalified, the more responsive the lead is.

In the beginning, get double opt-in leads. Expect to blow some in practicing and building your skills. It's OK. I don't prefer aged leads, some of those have been sold 10 or more times. However, they are dirt cheap, and I have sponsored distributors from them. Just know that aged leads have the highest negativity because they have been sold so much.

5) Every lead company provides scripts. Some provide extra training as well. Dani Johnson has good scripts. Those of us who've been working leads have developed scripts that work for us. There are lots out there. The goal of the first call is just to introduce yourself and find out what they want. DO NOT try to get them to join/buy on the first call. I've found that if I pre-qualify people, it's a waste of time and the tone of the interview changes. Build a relationship first. Let your propsect's actions qualify them.

6) Don't buy leads that have been incentivized - e.g. "Enter to win an IPOD". They're junk.

7) Know the "territory". When someone looks for a home business online, they often respond to several websites. They have no idea that their name could be sold up to 20 times. Even if 50% of distributors never call their purchased leads, your lead could have received several calls. Even an exclusive lead probably answered several ads. So "exclusive" means that the company you bought from hasn't sold it to anyone other than you. That's OK. It's just part of the environment.

8) Some of your leads will tell you that they never filled out any form. I've had phone verified leads tell me that! 90% of the time, that's bogus, they just aren't interested anymore.

While you are generating your own opt-in list, build your database with purchased leads. I've met some great people through leads. I've met business owners, attorneys, and people that I never would have met otherwise. Be consistent in how you work your leads and patient for the results. Purchased leads can be a great way to grow your business,especially in the short term.

About the Author:
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To find the best online marketing for home based businesses and
opportunities visit: http://womanwizehealth.com
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Question Me An Answer

End of the Day questions for Network Marketers.
Copyright 2006 Karen Hurd Enterprises, Inc.

If everyone in my downline did what I did today, would I make money?


You know, success in your home business can be surprisingly simple.
Making money is not a mystery in network marketing. Read on.

I was surfing the ‘net back in the days when AOL was cutting edge, and came across this list of questions and it stopped me in my tracks. See, my little ADD brain is always on “scan”. I need it simple. There’s a whole bunch of questions, and this one is enough to change my business forever.

If everyone in my downline did what I did today, would I make money?

I started to fill in the blanks.
If everybody in my downline “surfed the net” today, would I make money?
If everybody in my downline “sorted their papers” today, would I make money?
If my downline had spent their time like I did “sharing ideas” on the phone with biz buddies, would I make any money?

It gave me personal accountability. It showed me exactly why my business wasn’t growing as fast as I wanted it to. Did my actions increase my income? I can offer lots of reason why I “needed” t o get activity “X” done. This little question cuts right through the excuses. If my downlines had acted in their business like I did that day, would I have made any money? Would they? And I saw, really saw, for the first time, how much my activity or my avoidance, filtered through to my organization.

Duplication comes through the leader. It does. I’ve seen good leaders make it in bad companies. It’s harder, but they can do it. How? Because they ask themselves this:

If everyone in my downline did what I did today, would I make money?

Now here’s the fun part. This can also let you off the hook. Wait, wait, wait.
We just spent a couple of minutes putting ourselves ON the hook – now we get off?

Here’s how: let’s say you spent all day doing prospecting calls, or
online networking or whatever. And you didn’t get the results you
were hoping for today. But you GOT OUT THERE.
Let’s ask that question again:

If everyone in my downline did what I did today, would I make money?

Now, let’s fill in the blanks, differently: “If everyone in my downline
made 50 prospecting calls, published their blog, or got their Ezine out,
would I make money?”

YES!!!

End of the Day Questions for Network Marketers

If everyone in my downline did what I did today, would I make money?

Did I start today with a map, game plan and goals?

Did I ask at least 5 new people today if they would like to earn money from home?

Did I remind myself of my purpose & mission today?

Was I alert to all opportunities to prosper today?

Did I search for good in every situation?

What are 10 reasons that I should be grateful today?

Did my words and actions allow others to see how much I value them?

Did I talk to at least 1 excited person in each leg?

Did I work on my personal development?

Spend time with my loved ones
Read /study for 30 minutes
Exercise for 30 minutes
Repeat my affirmations at least twice
Eat moderately and healthfully

What 10 successes can I list that I accomplished today?

How can I grow from what I learned today?

What can I do better tomorrow or in the future?



a>About the Author:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Karen Hurd has been making money from home for 18 years.
She built her business while the kids took their naps.
For personal mentoring contact Karen through:
http://www.coolbiz4u.net.com
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