Wednesday, September 22, 2010

JERKS for Network Marketing

I remember attending a church service a few years ago and my pastor made the remark, "Jerks for Jesus". You know those people who constantly bombard you with the bible before they even say hello. They tell you that your going to hell and have no idea who you are, or in many cases they don't even know your name. Sounds familiar, when we think of network marketing doesn't it?

Most people in network marketing are trained to go after everyone they know and to approach everyone no matter what, about their products and opportunity. It's no wonder that when you tell people you're in network marketing, many people want to run. It's usually protection from the other person that your only interest in that person is to either sell them some juice, or bring them into your business. After all, we get paid to prospect and to train others to prospect. If no products are sold throughout our organization, no one makes any money.

However, you can do the above without being a JERK for Network Marketing. If you really feel the need to have to talk to everyone, not my style, but if it's yours - ask FOR permission before you give your sales presentation. Find out if your prospect is employed, do they like their job, what their favorite color is. Know at least 2 or 3 critical things about your potential prospect before you even tell them about your business opportunity. You may find by listening, that in many cases you will have no reason to even mention your business. After all, if someone tells you they are very happy where they are and could care less about their health, telephone service, or travel - what's the need.

The same applies for Social Media. If you don't know someone and you want to approach someone about your opportunity, always ask their permission first. If you can't become professional with the way you approach people you not only won't make money in Network Marketing, but at the end of the day you won't have very many friends. Last but not least, if you know of someone who is in network marketing and they tell you they are happy where they are, don't try and get them to look at your opportunity - that SUCKS!

Monday, September 20, 2010

How to work with your new distributors?

I was sitting in my office this morning (Starbucks) after a 1 hour work out and as I was bringing in a new distributor, it hit me like a ton of bricks. Why do we always tell people to do it our way? What if this guy only has 1 or 2 hours per day to build his business? You see not everyone is going to build the same. What if the person hates the telephone, but loves face to face interaction? What if the person feels more comfortable leading with the product vs. the business? These are just things to think about when you bring a new person into your organization. If the guy has no budget to work with, obviously you can't have him go set up a pay per click account immediately.

So where do you begin? Personally, I would never ever have anyone doing any cold market marketing until they have at least hit their warm market (Yes Social Media, Pay Per Click, Classified Ads are cold)? Why? 2 examples: At store the other day with my son selling popcorn for Cub Scouts, we sold 2 bags of popcorn to people we knew effortlessly, but the rest of the people weren't as easy. Unless you have lots of sales experience you will fall flat on your face hitting a cold market early on. So regardless of how you come into an organization, you must hit your warm market first.

This is why I really really really like people who have some skill-set (sales, marketing, real estate, etc.), but have never done network marketing before. Their warm market is ripe. And once we go through that we can transition into cold and they will not have much of a problem with it. If your new person has been in multiple programs, they have more than likely exhausted their warm market, and will be forced into the cold. Which regardless of what you hear from all the so called guru's is tougher to build quickly and takes way more skill-set.

So where am I going? Nobody you bring on your team learns how to market to the cold world until they first go through their warm market. Secondly, treat each new distributor differently in terms of their time. Find out whether they are more comfortable face to face or on the phone. Find out what their schedule is. If your prospect works in a factory from 6AM - 6PM, you may need to have them just do marketing for you and your leaders. Again, find out and create a team. This isn't you against them, but a team. You build it, and you need to know your teams strength and weaknesses. But never let anyone off the hook from going after their warm market first. If they refuse to go after their warm market, I hope they have lots of sales and marketing experience.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Network Marketing & Blackjack

I'm going to take a few minutes to compare MLM to Blackjack so you can understand it. If you are familiar with the game Blackjack you are aware that the name of the game is to get closest to 21 and to try and beat the dealer without going over 21. If you play that strategy you will always lose in a casino. If you learn basic strategy, you will sometimes win and sometimes lose, but still have a small disadvantage to the casino. So how can you win at Blackjack? Actually, you can win a lot more through a simple strategy known as counting cards. I actually learned this skill about 20 years ago and have tested it more than a few times and it does really work if you know what you are doing.

So what does blackjack have to do with MLM? Everything. You see I had to develop a skill-set to spend a week in a Casino and not lose my shorts. Many hours of hard work, studying, and practicing to even become an above average player and still not be able to make a living at it. It's the same with network marketing, most don't make it because they don't develop the skill-set necessary to do so.

What's the biggest skill-set in network marketing? It's pretty simple, talk to people. If you don't talk to people about your opportunity nothing is going to happen. Now that is just part of it, because by talking to people you are just sitting at The Blackjack Table. How about placing bets? That is called spear heading or marketing? Knowing who to talk to and what types of people will do well in our business model - eliminate your risk and time. How about counting cards? That is called closing. But that is the toughest skill to develop, because it requires being patient, understanding what your prospect wants, and most importantly believing in yourself and company/product.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Not everyone can do network marketing

You know what drives me crazy about network marketing? I know I can prospect and recruit. But getting others to do the same is not an easy task. This is why it's important to only recruit people who already have some skill-set. Why? Because if you don't, your newest recruits will wear you down. They will take up all your valuable time and more than likely they won't do anything. I know that sounds harsh, but this is a business. The nice thing about network marketing is you can choose who you want to work with. Unfortunately, I had to learn the hard way by recruiting well over a 100 and watching most fail, because they lacked the skills necessary to be successful in this biz. It was my fault they failed, because had I known what i know now, I would have kicked many out after just a few minutes of conversation. I now know why this is not a lottery ticket, but a 2 to 4 year plan for the right person. Again, the right person, because I can promise you that not everyone can do network marketing. Just like, not everyone can play pro football, or sell real estate.

So what's the secret? First and foremost your newest recruit must be hungry. They must have drive and have performed at a high level in another profession. I know this may piss a few of you off, but your born with drive and if you never found success anywhere else and you think you will be successful in network marketing - the odds are stacked against you. You either have drive, or you don't, it's just that simple.

So rather than trying to convince people why they should join your business, spin it on them and have them sell you on why you should invest your valuable time in supporting and training them. I can promise you that 1 good soldier is better than 25 bad ones. If you don't believe me, just ask anyone who has been in this business for more than 5 years if there is any truth to that.