Posts Tagged ‘network marketing’
MLM Secret – Limitations of Traditional MLM Marketing Methods
Monday, January 4th, 2010When I first got started in network marketing, I was taught by my MLM Company’s leaders to make a list of my friends and family, get more names from those people, talk to anyone close to me (known as the 3-foot rule), and hand out business cards and flyers. The crazy thing is that I actually did it. Once, I made it to the bottom of my list (that only took about one or two weeks), I asked my sponsor what I should do next and he said to make another list or prospect the list I already had again. Using your warm market is a traditional MLM marketing method but it has it limitations.
The first limitation is that using warm market prospecting is untargeted. It’s untargeted because you are talking to people that didn’t request more information about your network marketing product or service. When it comes to marketing your business that is probably one of the biggest mistakes that you can make. Can you find customers and business builders using this method? Yes, you can and there are some that grow a large organization using just their warm market but that is the exception not the rule.
One fundamental rule of marketing is to target your marketing. The more your message relates to your prospect, the more likely you are to convert that prospect into a customer. The problem with using your warm market as your leads is that you are trying to create interest in your network marketing product (or if you do what your MLM Company preaches, in the business opportunity) instead of them already being interested to begin with. This traditional MLM marketing method requires a lot more time and energy to get sales.
Another problem with using the traditional marketing methods that are taught by MLM companies is the limitation of using your warm market. How many people do you really know? Even if you can write a list of 100 names and you got everyone on that list to give you 20 more names (which isn’t likely to happen) you only have 2000 leads to work with. And remember these are just names and numbers of people, they aren’t people that already have an interest in your network marketing product or service so you are going to have to try to create that interest.
It doesn’t matter what business you are in, leads are the life blood of that business. Without leads, your business is dead. In order to grow your business to where you are making a good living every month, you will have to make a substantial number of MLM sales. I can almost guarantee that you will NEVER close 100% of the time.
Let’s say that you can convert 5% of your list into customers. (I’m assuming that you are very good at sales when I use a number like 5% because the reality is that it would be closer to 1% when you are using untargeted prospects.) At a 5% conversion rate with your 2000 names, you will have 100 MLM sales. Sounds pretty good doesn’t it? But this is assuming that you actually get to talk to all 2000 people on your list, NOT likely to happen. You would actually be lucky to talk to half of those people. (Remember that the majority of those on your list are referrals.) Let’s go with it anyway. 50% of 2000 = 1000 and you can convert 5% of them. That gives you 50 MLM sales. Still sounds good doesn’t it?
It sounds good but the reality is that you will maybe get 3 sales from your warm market. Assuming that you can make a list of at least 100 names. 3 MLM sales does NOT a business make and what do you do when you run out of names on your list? Do you go selling door-to-door? I’ve done door-to-door sales before, I can tell you that you have to have a very thick skin to make sales that way.
MLM Secret – What Makes a Lead Qualified?
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009Before you can make your first MLM sale, you have to have people to talk to. Those people that we talk to are called either a “Lead” or a “Prospect”. For the most part, network marketers will use them interchangeably. Before we talk able what makes a qualified prospect, let’s first talk able what a lead actually is.
In sales (and network marketing is no different), a prospect or a lead is defined as someone that has expressed a need for your MLM product. The key word there is “expressed.”
When you first joined your MLM program, you were probably told that network marketing isn’t “sales” and that everyone has a need for your MLM product. If you have been in network marketing industry for any length of time, you know that that isn’t true. Not everyone will want your product. Even if they can benefit from using it.
So, instead of talking to everyone about your MLM product or your business opportunity and getting rejection after rejection, only talk to those prospects that have told you that they have a need for your product.
Now before you say “Amy, how will I know that someone has a need for my product if I don’t ask them?” let me tell you that there is a way. You will know exactly who to talk to once you have identified your target market.
For example: you belong to a MLM program whose main product is a energy drink. You may think that everyone could benefit from a little more energy but that wouldn’t be true. There are some people that are perfectly happy with the level of energy that they currently have.
So, in this case, you will want to narrow your focus to people that have done something to tell you they want more energy. If you aren’t sure what that something is, then you may want to make it a little broader by targeting mothers or business people that work a lot of hours. You may find that your target market is of a certain age and gender or you may find that they are in a certain income bracket. Once you know who your ideal customer is, you will know better where to find them.
When it comes to finding qualified prospects, you have a lot of options open to you. The first thing that most MLM companies teach is to take some time and make a list of everyone that you know and then go and share with them what it is you are doing. This network marketing method is okay for getting one or two customers but a business is will not build.
Once you have prospected your friends and family, you will have to look for other methods to getting qualified prospects. This can be done both online and offline. You will have to know where your strengths are before you go looking for your leads. If you aren’t too good at using technology (the Internet) then you may want to focus on using offline methods for getting qualified leads.
Your MLM Company Thrives Even Though You Struggle
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009Today I want to talk about how your MLM company makes money and grows while the company’s distributors are struggling to earn enough to even pay for their network marketing product that comes on auto-ship and what you can do to turn things around with your home business.
Every company on the planet makes money the same way. By selling their product or service to others. Your MLM company is no different. They make money each and every time someone purchases their network marketing product or service. That’s why some companies prefer using the multi level marketing business model.
Here’s how it works: Your MLM Company gets you to join a business opportunity giving you the idea that you can make money from home by simply getting others to join YOUR business.
You buy the network marketing product in order to get into a business opportunity and they make money every month because you are on auto-ship. Now, they urge you to get others to join your business. They don’t want to scare you and tell you that you now have to become a sales person so, they get you to make a list of everyone that you know. With your list of 100-200 names, you are once again urged to contact everyone on that list and SHARE (not sell but share) your opportunity. For every 100 names that you have, you will probably find 1 or 2 people that will join your business and for every person that you get to join, they buy the network marketing product and the company once again makes money.
Sounds great right? But now that you have used up your friends and family, what do you do? Your company is still making money because you are buying product and the 2 that you got in are buying product and those 2 MIGHT get 2 who will also buy product.
This cycle goes on and on and on. As you can see, your MLM company can make a killing using this method. But you only got 2 people and those 2 might get 2 more or they may not. How are you supposed to build a thriving business with only 2 people that don’t have any more skills at making sales than you do?
So how do successful network marketers make money?
When it comes to growing a home based business, we all have to start at the beginning. The key to growing any business lies in your knowledge. Knowing what to do, when to do it, and how to do it.
The first thing that you must have are Sales Skills. You have to be able to identify your target market (here is a hint, it’s not the person standing within 3 feet of you)
You have to know how to get their attention (here is another hint, it’s not beating them up with stories of how much money you are GOING to make)
And you have to know how to close a sale (last hint – it’s not by 3-waying them in with your upline)
So, what exactly do you have to do to grow a business. You have to have selling skills. Now, if you didn’t happen to be born a natural born salesperson, then you are going to have to get some training.
At the very minimum, you are going to need training in:
- Prospecting (the art of searching for customers who already want what you have)
- Presenting (the art of delivering a message to your prospects) and
- Closing the sale (the art of getting your prospects commitment to make a purchase)
That’s it. It doesn’t matter what business you are in or what network marketing product you have, you have to know who your audience is, where to find that audience, present your audience a message, and finally ask for the money.
How to Sell Your MLM Product to the Masses
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009In order to be profitable with your network marketing business, you have to sell your MLM product to people. The more you sell the more money you make. Here is how to sell your MLM product to the masses.
The more people you get your message to the more chances you have to sell your MLM product. The key to MLM selling is to get your message in front of as many people as possible. And to do that you have to know how you want to deliver that message. In order to make MLM sales, you first have to have people to talk to, that would be your target market. The second thing that you have to have is the right message to deliver to your target market. The more people you reach the more sales you make. The more methods you use, the more effective you will be. There are four main ways to deliver your message to your target market.
- Face to Face – this is the method that is typically taught by our MLM companies. Of course, they usually have you starting out one-on-one with your friends and family. That isn’t a bad method to use when you are first starting out in fact because you are talking with people you know, you will be more relaxed with your presentation. But it isn’t very effective at reaching the masses. You can reach more people using the face to face method by going to trade shows, giving seminars and so on, however, that can get expensive. All in all face to face isn’t a bad way to go but it can be expensive and it can be slow at making those MLM sales.
- Telephone – this method seems to scare off a lot of marketers. I’m not sure why something like picking up the telephone can be so scary but it is. I can relate because for the longest time, I didn’t want to pick up the phone. I think it may be because in my first network marketing venture, I called so many people and heard so many “no’s” that I got turned off from using the phone. However, the telephone is a great tool. It’s cheap, effective, easy to use, and you don’t find too many people that don’t have one. Win, Win, Win.
- Internet – the Internet has the potential to reach the most people in the shortest amount of time but it is the hardest to master. It takes technical skill to be able to build a website and then drive traffic to that site. Not to mention that you still have to be able to convert that traffic into MLM sales. Using the Internet can also get expensive depending on the methods that you are using. If you have the technical skills, I recommend using the Internet. Even if you don’t have the technical skills, you could always hire it out for someone else to do. But here is a word of caution: You do still have to have marketing skills in order for it to be effective. This whole thing about “if you build it they will come” just doesn’t work. This method is primarily about copywriting. Delivering the right message to the right audience.
- Direct Mail – this method is flat out expensive unless you have the right mailing list and the right message. Using this method is 90% about ad copy. If you aren’t good at advertising copy, you had better stay away from this method.
That’s it, you now know how to get your message to the most people. I can’t tell you which method is right for YOU. That is something that you will have to decide for yourself. If you are having trouble, please feel free to give me a call or send me an email. Until next time – I wish you great MLM Success.
