The Approach I Take When Building My Network Marketing Business

This could turn out to be one of the best posts on this topic that you’ve ever read, so it’s important to keep an open mind through everything that I say.

A lot of you may think of me as a network marketer that only grows his business and markets himself through use of the internet.

It’s true that I use the internet to market myself as a knowledgeable person in the profession and to promote the fact that my opportunity has a ton of benefits over that of working a “JOB” or even operating a conventional business.

Marketing through the internet has produced some results over the years but learning how to do it sure came at a price. The fact is that even though I did most of what it took to utilize the internet..   most people will not do it and therefore not duplicate my efforts. Honestly, it’s a lot easier, faster and cheaper to build the business through more conventional means. The internet should still be used by most people, but not to the extent by which the top internet marketers use it. Just stick to the basics and learn a little at a time whenever you can. The most important things to create & use online are your blog, the social networking sites and YouTube.

Now I want to break away from the internet at this point in the post so I can discuss where the real powerful concepts lie in building a MLM business.

With that being said..  where will you come up with people that will join your business team?

Notice how I just worded that question. I could have said “how will you GET people into your business?”

The reason why we shouldn’t say things like that is simple..  the psychological response in most peoples minds would be that they are being hunted down as if it was a contest to see how many people network marketers can get. This gives them the feeling that they are merely just a number and that their life and situation don’t truly count.

We’re all really the same..  we’re just in different situations going through different stages of life. The bottom line is that we all deserve respect and some need more help than others depending on their current situation.

This is where I exploit the difference between a professional network marketing human being and the wolves in sheep’s clothing. Now don’t get me wrong, I like making money just as much as the next person and I like doing it on my own time & terms (unlike a job without security) but I prefer to do it in an honest, ethical way that benefits more people than just myself.

And yes, I know some of you are still skeptical because deep down inside you’re saying things like “but if I joined, the person above me is making money on me!”

Here’s what I say about that..  “So what!” because that person above you is passing commissions to their upline because they are below them..  in the end it’s all relative in fashion and we ALL have to start out the same way. Your upline will have always gone through what you go through during your personal journey in this profession. Does anyone ever think to ask their upline how long it took them before things started coming together for them..   or at what amount of monetary expense their success finally came to them?

Let’s see if I can simplify this matter and make it right for the majority..

OK, so how can I build my MLM business online or offline with faster results and less heartache?

The object is to have a mindset based upon what I’ve mentioned above. In addition to that we absolutely have to create belief in our potential new business teammates that we are truly going to help them get the ball rolling by supporting them in their efforts to add people to their part of your business.

That’s right..  the people in your downline have a business within your own so why not help them rather than forget about them to pursue other people. If you help them directly, you are showing them that they’re worthy of your time because they are important human beings just like yourself and at the same time you’re establishing exactly how we build our business. This will come in handy for them down the road when they begin coming into their own leadership role. Always instill confidence in your people so they too can become just like you and your upline. The more leaders your team has, the faster and better it becomes for everyone on it.

This is how this business model and profession was meant to be in the first place but some how along the way the internet marketers skewed the basic concept. It’s a “people teaching & sharing with other-people” kind of business..  not a “let’s see how difficult we can make it for average people to have success when they have fierce competitors that have learned internet marketing over the past 4 years” kind of business! If you’ve spent the last 1-2 years trying to use the internet to market a business, then I’m sure you know exactly what I’m talking about.

Internet marketing is awesome for those that have gotten it and are willing to make a name for themselves. I can’t really take anything away from those people because they’ve actually earned it. My point is that there’s so many people that are getting left in the cold when it doesn’t have to be this way.

One of the biggest proprietary secrets in business and life in general comes down to WHO you associate with.

Now I know your probably thinking “but I don’t have a sponsor that takes care of me and my people like you had mentioned up above”

Well that’s OK because if that’s what you truly want and can’t find it elsewhere..  that’s where I come in !

Seriously..  if you are willing to become a team player..  I’d love to have you & anyone else you’d like to bring over. Let’s build some real “friendships” and become part of this already powerful team..   a team that includes the fact that my sponsors, sponsor is a Master Distributor in our company and we also have other global, well known distributors within my upline. That alone puts you within just 2 people of a Master Distributor. Think about this: Approx 97% of  distributors will never be able to say that they’ve been that close to 7 figure earners in their company. It’s a very powerful statement my friend.

In case you’re wondering who some of my upline are:

My sponsors, sponsor is Don Storms, who reached Crown Rank on a global scale in Amway many years ago and more recently before coming over to my current company, he was a 7 figure earner with Mannatech. If that’s not enough..   I also have Brig Hart, the #1 Network Marketing Earner in the world, that’s part of my upline as well. I can name more top earning distributors within my upline, but the bottom line is that you would be getting some of the best upline support that you could ever get !

Now, I originally was going to leave this paragraph and the next paragraph out of my post but decided they would have great impact. What you have to realize is that there’s a major difference between how top income earners grow their business and how the majority attempt to build theirs..  you see they do everything in a BIG way and unlike many of the mediocre earners, they never stop enrolling people no matter how much income they’re already making. So if you happen to be fortunate enough to have many top income earners in your immediate upline or you are only 1-2 contacts away from them, it makes a huge difference in your personal business outcome. After 18 months in this profession, I was fortunate enough to realize that it was in my best interest to position myself under such a multitude of top earners within a great company with a great product line, structure & compensation plan, so I’d be building my business smarter instead of harder. Besides catching some awesome momentum, there’s a great deal in which can be learned from all of them in the process.

Now as you can imagine, one of the keys for organizational growth and continual momentum is to add lots of new team members throughout the course of a month. These top earners usually try to generously sprinkle their new people throughout the lower levels to help lower our overall attrition factor. One of the ways that they are able to do this is to consistently attend entrepreneurial events & open business seminars (many times on the local levels if possible). They are often times, keynote speakers at these venues and that’s something that goes a long way in their persuasion with the attendees. It comes as no surprise that they are able to bring people in all of the time.

And as for me..  I actually help my direct sign-ups bring in their 2 people and then I go on to helping their people bring in their 2 as well. I’ll go through this same process for as many team members as I have to until some of them become capable of doing the same.With the system and approach that we use, we are able to build fairly quickly so that our new members break even on their autoship within their initial month. This is very important for the purpose of retention.

Great organizations are build through consistent momentum and strong leadership. It’s our task to build our members up so they too can be self sufficient so they can help others.

Anyway..  we have a great deal of momentum and we communicate as an open team. My people actually receive help from my upline as well as just myself. I’ve been with other companies in the past where this was just the opposite and I hated it. It was basically every man for themselves and that made it difficult to build anything that was permanent.

I could go on for hours but I think you get the picture of what I’m all about.

SO..  if you are not making decent money in your current situation, maybe it’s about time for a positive change in the right direction instead of letting more money & time pass you by. If you have an interest in learning more about my team, upline and how we go about working the business together check out this accompanying team video first and then by all means email me at:  bill@bill-strauss.com (please don’t send spam..  thank you)

If you’re with me on this, go ahead and leave me a comment down below

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Author: Bill Strauss

What Do Multilevel Marketing Opportunities and Franchising Have in Common?

Well I can tell you this much for starters..  most people looking in from the outside of MLM opportunities usually have no clue what Multilevel Marketing really is and that’s without even mentioning the ones that still think it’s not legal or don’t believe anyone makes money in this profession.

Even most people, when first starting out and possibly up to their first 12 months in this line of business just don’t truly get it..

The easiest way to explain what MLM is to others, is to tell them that we offer other individuals business franchises..   because guess what? That’s exactly what we are doing !

We are giving people an opportunity to call the shots in their very own business that they can work from wherever they want to, whenever they want to and however they see fit. Of course it would be their responsibility to get the proper training necessary and continually build on their skill sets in order to make the kind of money that they see fit. There will always be a learning curve in all professions and this profession is no different.

One of the biggest issues that I’ve seen is that so many people think these types of business opportunities are like playing the lottery..  I personally don’t accept anyone onto my business team that has a lottery mentality !

I can also tell you that your chances of success in MLM are many times higher than your chances of winning a large lottery windfall. It’s night & day here folks. Hands down, if you learn from the right kind of people and then apply yourself to this type of business, realizing that success never happens overnight for anyone (in any business for that matter) you will have a great chance of making a living right from the comforts of home within your first 2 years.

A business like this can be started part time while you have your current job. Most people do start out this way and I’ve seen many make it to top income earning levels.

Just remember no matter what.. the phrase “work at home” has never successfully translated to “get rich by just sitting around doing nothing at home”.

It’s no different than any other business situation. People that own & operate other businesses have to work for what they obtain. They all had to at least work hard in the beginning to get the ball rolling. The great thing about this business model is that it essentially builds itself more and more through the business owners below you that have also come in to do the exact same thing you do.

So by using the leverage of those business owners below you, you can easily see that you will not be building your income all alone. They are striving to build an income for the same reasons that you are and this mentality & driving force continues all the way down the line on each and every level. Your mission as a sponsor is to make sure they have everything they need in order to accomplish the goal of knowing how to make others aware of your shared business opportunity and all of the associated benefits.

MLM is not about pulling the wool over other peoples eyes, creating loads of hype or trying to scam others out of money (like so many may think)..  they should only be in MLM because they want to be a business owner, have additional freedoms or even just happen to see great value in the companies product or service.

Now let’s get back to the original topic of FRANCHISING..

OK it’s real simple.. most people in the world understand the basics of franchising..  who hasn’t been to a few McDonald’s in their lifetime ? not too many that I know of.

So by explaining what we do as promoting franchise opportunities to others, we basically save ourselves a lot of time and trouble. We almost eliminate all of the absolute “tire-kickers” from the equation because it’s obvious that only individuals that are willing to do the continual networking & educational “leg-work” will be the ones that will have any success in this profession.

The way I’ve always seen it as, is that we share an opportunity for others to be in a business for themselves and along with it comes a monthly auto-ship of product or service. So the auto-shipped product is like a bonus for being a part of the business opportunity.

You could also look at it from a different aspect and figure in what the actual value of the auto-ship would be if purchased retail and then subtract it from your total cost of the auto-ship amount, then say that the difference is the cost to be included in the opportunity to make an income from home. Either way it really doesn’t matter because everywhere you go there’s always a price to be in business and I’m here to tell you that MLM provides the least expensive route to be in business..   period !

Anyways, in the past I have brought up the comparison of start-up cost between a MLM business and conventional small business opportunities but right now let’s make a comparison to MLM and a typical franchise start-up..  it’s obvious that with MLM you only pay a small expense every month to be in business compared to the initial capital needed to open up a Subway Sandwich Shop.

My basis for bringing this point up once again is to make the general public realize that successful MLM business owners will never feel sorry for you if you were to “try your hand” at this business or any other business opportunity and then have sub-par results. In the end it’s all relative..   many people start businesses and fail..   to be honest the percentage of MLM failures is not much different than failures of all other business start-ups (that’s a fact !)

When people QUIT or FAIL at anything they may have regrets and animosity towards the people that are trying and the people that are doing well or the industry/profession in general, but in the end it’s the same old story..  these people failed for a reason and it was THEM that failed because of things they were doing wrong or maybe things they were not doing enough of..  it was NOT the business model that failed them. If it was the business model, then it wouldn’t have been in existence for the last 60 some years.  No company would continue using a failed business model all these years !

Maybe this will decide it for you..  if I hand over my freshly started pizzeria business to you after you purchase it from me for thousands of dollars and after 4 – 6 months you’re barely turning much of a profit..  who’s fault would it be ?

On that note you’ll now realize that multilevel marketing business franchises are a great way for people to get their feet wet in business for many reasons. Again, we don’t always succeed the first time around with anything and if we don’t do well in the type of opportunity chances are we’ve only risked a few hundred dollars or maybe a little more but that still doesn’t compare to a potential loss in a normal business start-up.

In closing remember this..  Most of the more successful people have failed many times before actually succeeding..

Winners just don’t quit !  (that’s one of the biggest differences)

Now let’s go out and tell the world about our franchising opportunity (without spamming people of course..  please market creatively & intelligently).

If you’re with me on this, go ahead and leave me a comment down below

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Author: Bill Strauss

Caution When Building Your Network Marketing Business Using Social Sites

As network marketers, whether it be ourselves or people within our own organization, we need to be aware of the fact that there are so many other people on the social networking sites that are constantly bombarding individuals with their products and opportunities. Now I know you’re thinking “no crap that’s obvious” but just realize that it can often be all too easy for many to get caught up in all of this and then lose focus on what they are suppose to be accomplishing.

Now this issue may not apply to you in particular but if you have team members under you that are on these social sites, it’s imperative that you stress the importance of being aware of the level of distraction that these situations can bring. These distractions are often time consuming and sometimes lead to team members leaving your company to go elsewhere because someone convinces them that the grass is so much greener where they are.  And we wouldn’t want them to slip out the backdoor because of something as simple as that..  right?

Of course anyone that follows my teachings and posts already knows that success falls in the hands of the individuals with having barely anything to do with the actual products and opportunities. If the opposite of what I’ve been saying were true, then only certain companies would still be in business and the rest would have departed within their first year. There’s plenty of good products and opportunities out there but only thousands making extraordinary incomes. The difference in that is what those people have done in comparison to the rest.

Attrition within MLM companies is high enough as it is so just make a conscience effort to make sure your people stay as focused as possible working on building their portion of the business with you instead of getting lost in the shuffle of what constantly takes place in these social networking sites. I know from the experience of watching people within my circle of Facebook and MySpace contacts, that company-jumping takes place on a regular basis (averaging what seems to be about 2-3 times within a 18 month time span). In rare cases one may jump ship in order to align themselves with a different sponsor, but that doesn’t usually happen until a person has been involved in network marketing for awhile and hasn’t created much success for themselves.

Even though I like building my business online through social media, I have to mention a few of the pluses of building a network marketing business offline..   when doing it offline you will always have the advantage of you and your people not being distracted by tons of other people promoting their stuff to you.  Offline building and presence is virtually competition-free across the board. Another perk to offline building can be that, if you stay somewhat local in your selection you would be able to train your team members on-site instead of trying to do it through the internet or by phone. These three items alone make a huge difference in everyone’s success. During the past 3 months I have began to incorporate the use of building offline in addition to everything else I’ve already established online throughout the past. In essence having an online presence rounds everything out as a whole and serves as a reference to the world stage.

So I’ll end this post on the thought to which both options serve unique purposes and if used together and properly over time, almost anyone can be productive enough to make a great income in this profession.

Again, just be careful of those distracting and costly pitfalls of doing business online and make sure your team members know about them as well.

If you’re with me on this, go ahead and leave me a comment down below

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Author: Bill Strauss

The Biggest Psychological Hitch In All Of MLM !

Just about everyone has heard the network marketing saying of “Three get Three and Those Three Get Three”  ..all the way down the line!

What should seem so easy on paper, rarely is..  so WHY is that?

Well realistically there’s so many reasons why a distributors organizational downline doesn’t build nearly as fast as it could or should for that matter..

Let’s run through a real quick list of the possibilities from both sides of the MLM coin before getting to the master issue at hand:

• marketers lack of communication skills, internet skills and overall marketing skills
• marketers lack of perceived value to a potential prospect
• prospects perceived negativity of MLM / Network Marketing
• prospects lack of openness towards an income producing vehicle that doesn’t pay hourly
• prospects lack of overall motivation towards truly building a business of their own
• prospects unwillingness to learn new skill sets needed to create success in a new profession
• prospects unwillingness to invest money into a business venture
• prospects unwillingness to invest time in learning or building a business
• prospects claim of being happy with the way their current income or life is
• prospects claim of not liking your MLM companies product or service
• prospects just outright lazy
• prospects fear of failure
• prospects don’t like the feeling or notion that you’re making money off of them, even though they’d have the same opportunity through building their own business

OK now after reading that incomplete list above..  step back for a few moments and ask yourself what the ultimate underlying common issue is that stands between distributors being able to constantly and almost effortlessly enroll new distributors into their business (put all of the excuses mentioned above, aside while trying to come up with the answer).

Just pretend that you can hear a drum-roll here 

The whole concept is quite simple but would take a whole world of cooperation. EVERYONE not currently involved MLM needs to flip the switch right now (all within the next few weeks & months) and rid themselves of all the possible excuses they’ve made or would make about joining an MLM business opportunity and then find the best person that they know of that’s already in a company and join them as long as they liked the product(s) or service from that company.

If every adult in the world that currently holds a job or has funding to get started would clear their minds and take the plunge with everyone else over the next few weeks & months, there’s absolutely no reason why recruiting & building a MLM business would be a major issue any longer!

Everyone knows at least a few other people and those people all know people and so on..

If everyone was open to this concept, almost everyone that enrolled would have success instead of what we normally see happening in this profession and across the whole industry!

Through all the time of MLM’s existence (60+  years) I personally still don’t get why majority of the worlds population doesn’t see all the potential & benefits of building this type of business, practically from home in their spare time with it’s profound residual income model.

Let’s face it..  if so many more people in this world opened up and began embracing network marketing like I’ve stated, we wouldn’t have to even spend that much time enrolling and teaching others how to do this business. Most of the confusion and frustration would greatly diminish and just about anyone would be able to do this and make at least job-replacing income within a few short years and possibly months for that matter, under the scenario mentioned!

And even though it’s always been touted as the way of our future..   there’s absolutely NO reason why everyone should be holding off until a later date (especially when so many are struggling to hold onto jobs, have minimal or temporary incomes) !

The next question is:

When will someone or something much larger come along and finally once and for all put an end to this long drawn madness by clearing the air and telling everyone that it’s more than OK to do this?

As one of my favorite mentors, Eric Worre always says:

“Ladies & gentlemen..  it’s a stone-cold fact, we have a better way..  now let’s go tell the world!”

Guys all it would take is massive action starting today..

If you’re with me on this, go ahead and leave me a comment down below

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Author: Bill Strauss

Magic Prospecting Question To Use When Leading With Your MLM Business Opportunity

If there was one simple question network marketers could ask potential prospects when attempting to build their MLM business, what would it be?

It has to be easy for everyone to remember and it has to get right to the point without turning people away..  it needs to be a real eye-opening without hype.

Another important aspect is that it must be answerable with a YES or NO !

The reason for that is to not allow for excuses..  it’s simple..  yes or no and not much more.

If they do try to answer with anything that sounds negative or uncertain, don’t bother to spend much time entertaining the fact..  they’re likely not business material anyway. You’ll just have to take my word for it and if you don’t at this time, you find it out on your own as time goes on. It’s easier to just move on from such people as far as business is concerned. If they change their mind at a later point, they’ll likely come back to you.

Time to reveal the big prospecting mystery..

The real simple version of the question is: “Do You Always Keep Your Financial Options Open?”

A variation to this could be: “Are you married to your JOB or Do You Keep Your Options Open?”

They’ve been time tested through many network marketing professionals over many years and even though society has changed a bit, they still work today. These opening, ice-breaking questions were originally designed for offline, face to face use but they will absolutely work online as well.

When using online through social networking, make sure to get to know the people before approaching them with anything concerning business opportunities or you’re just going to be shooting yourself in the foot 4 times out of 5.

Look at peoples profiles in detail and have general conversations with them for awhile..  actually try to be their friend instead of worrying about the thought of doing business and you’ll find out things work out so much better in the long-run.

If there’s one thing that I truly hate.. it’s when someone sends me a friend request online and after accepting, they send me some generic message about their product or opportunity without ever looking over my profile to see that I appear to be more educated & experienced than they are as a network marketer.

Seriously..  why pitch me when it’s obvious that I’m not going to join under you in your business and besides don’t you think that I’m already involved elsewhere? how many opportunities does it take for someone to make money?? in a successful persons mind, it should only take ONE!

Anymore than that and you may want to start asking yourself some serious questions about your ability to build your primary business. Now this doesn’t count adding a few affiliate programs to your portfolio income streams (but the affiliate ventures should be somewhat related to network marketing, internet marketing or personal development.

OK before I go off on another tangent, let me end this one right here..  LOL

I should have named my blog: Bill’s Network Marketing Rant Blog

Maybe I’ll eventually create another page within this site and name it that and then move all of my best ranting posts onto it 

It’s nice to know what other people think, so be sure to leave a comment below.. thanks!

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Author: Bill Strauss

Are You Developing Needed Skill Sets That Will Propel Your MLM Business?

The main reason I ask this question is that so many network marketers seem to jump right into trying to promote their product or opportunity that they either forget or don’t even realize that if they study & practice techniques that can increase their skill levels, they’ll ultimately end up increasing their net-worth dramatically over a short period of time compared to just going out and winging it over and over again.

What you want to do is sit down for a few minutes and focus on a few key areas that you feel you need improvement in and write them down. Then make time to discuss them with your sponsor if they have experience & success in any of those areas so you can form a game plan or training regime that will cause improvement.

If your sponsor isn’t of any help then you should seek the advice of a mentor instead.

In either case you should also take it upon yourself to find resources that specialize in the topics that you need help in.

If you happen to find that you’re not absolutely sure what areas need improvement..  just ask your sponsor what their opinion is about the way you’re doing things and just start from there.

Personal development, adding new skill sets and improving existing ones is essentially the big difference between distributors, average network marketers and professional network marketers!

I always say it and I’ll say it once again: The professionals always make the big money and the hobbyists don’t..

It’s a fact..  the people that quit too soon, don’t do anything constructive or perhaps not enough are the ones that go on to create the appearance that this industry & profession aren’t all that good. It’s a shame because it offers so many benefits and perks over just about everything else out there!

Hopefully you’ll soon realize that all great things take time & effort (just like paying and going to college for those 4 years to get that degree just to go on to make that $30 – 70K per year). Of course spending your initial 4 years as a professional network marketer in training wont cost nearly as much, but hey..  who’s counting?  lol

Seriously though..  don’t go on to be one of those amateurs that says things like:

• “I don’t know that many people”   -  Professionals develop the skill set of meeting people.
• “I don’t know how to talk to people”  -  Professionals develop their inviting skill sets.
• “I’m afraid to talk to groups”  -  Professionals develop their presenting skills.

Professionals don’t complain about what they can’t do.

They learn how to do it and move on to the next thing that needs improvement..

And with that said..  it’s time for me to search engine optimize this post and then move on to my next writing assignment 

It’s nice to know what other people think, so be sure to leave a comment below.. thanks!

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Author: Bill Strauss

So When Is It A Great Time To Start A Network Marketing Business?

My initial response to that would be: How about right now? OR When is it NOT a great time?

Those sound great but for the average person, not every time period is optimal because of certain aspects that could be taken into consideration.

Going by what I know at this point in my Network Marketing career..  if I had to do things all over again or if I was consulting an individual that knew they had a special need for more income or a need to replace the income from their current job with income that they could produce from a network marketing business, I think I would tell them to get involved with network marketing at least 18 months before expecting to see anything truly great happen.

Now that may not make sense assuming the individual is coming to me expecting to start at that given moment when it appears that they actually need to be making money, but what I’ve stated is the shear truth because there’s many things that need to happen before the income grows to the level in which people can live off of. It takes time to learn, build momentum and teach others.

There’s actually an answer to the question that’s probably more important than any other..

I truly believe that people should not wait until times are bad or their backs are against the wall before they finally decide that they must do something to improve their situations!

I’ve watched so many people over the last few years make this mistake and as the economy got worse instead of better, they seemingly squandered their chances by sitting on the sidelines while few others actually took a stand to better themselves in wake of the troubled times. The masses basically took the easy way out but we know that choice will be nothing more than a way of final destruction as global fate looms in the balance. Normally I wouldn’t have needed to go that far with my observation but with a major paradigm shift taking place as we speak, it’s only fitting that everyone hears the story for what it is.

After reading my words, you will not be able to convey the fact that you weren’t warned..

By no means is it a scare tactic to induce you into joining a MLM company to start building a network marketing business that can produce residual income for you over time, but I can tell you this much..  I will not personally be left behind like so many others that chose to be lazy or had their blinders on!

The idea or secret behind going into any type of business or making any type of investments is to always do it when times are good not when times are bad. Bad, meaning that you don’t have the funding to do it. When people are already well off they often capitalize on situations that occur when the economy begins to crumble because they were able to align themselves properly when times were good.

The moral of the story: Never sit back and relax too much when times are going well because when you need resources the most, you’ll be the one getting caught with your pants down with nowhere to turn!

It’s nice to know what other people think, so be sure to leave a comment below.. thanks!

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Author: Bill Strauss

MLM: Product Vs. Opportunity

Well here we are again..  lol !

Seems like I just talked about this topic not that long ago..

The reason why it’s back again is because two people emailed me within the last week or so to put in their complaints over my original post on this.

They actually went as far as to un-friend me on Facebook over it..   lol

Unfortunately many people are so narrow-minded it drives me crazy. They just seem to latch onto what one leader in this industry thinks and that’s all they’ll want to hear or believe in.

Let’s wake up a little..  let’s cross-train through multiple successful industry leaders..  let’s use more common sense!

I may seem controversial at times and because of that, it helps create more traffic to my blog which I’m all for, but it’s not like I’m not breathing truth or bringing value into this industry & profession..

OK let’s talk about MLM Products & MLM Opportunities and get straight to the point!

Generally when I think about products, I’m also thinking about consumers. With that said..  the fact is that we can all purchase similar products out in the open market that are not being promoted by MLM companies. This usually means that chances are that if people purchase products through MLM companies, they are likely to become distributors.

Why would they want to do a thing like that? Gee could it be because most people want to make additional income or someday replace their jobs??  (Hmmm..  I smell the word OPPORTUNITY here..  don’t you?)

I mean if I just needed a specific type of product, wouldn’t it be so much easier to purchase it at a store or online merchant at my own will when I wanted to..  without any hassles or strings attached (like autoship & a pesky distributor) ?

Oh one more important thing because, “I know you’re product(s) are the greatest!”

Did it ever occur to you that just because YOU like your company’s product(s) and feel that they work well for you, that they may not seem as great to many other people in this world?

Guess what? Since you think your product(s) are so great..  when’s the last time you tried similar products from a competitor on a medium term basis to see how your highly touted product(s) truly stack up to all the rest?

This is why MLM & Network Marketing are more about the opportunity than the products the companies produce!

The products are such a slight variable for everyone involved. It’s common sense that if I’m paying for an auto-ship of product each month, that I would want it to be something I like and find value in..  that goes the same with anything.

Great overall products can be found everywhere but it doesn’t mean everyone on an individual basis finds them all to be the best.

So next time you hype up your product(s) or company because you think they’re so great..  think again because there will always be people that think just the opposite and will claim that theirs is better or the best.

The differences and preferences can go on forever but the one common denominator in this is the fact that most people that go on a MLM auto-ship usually “try their hand” at making money through distributorship by their own will or the prodding of the distributor that they started the auto-ship through. It’s the same old story and if you’ve been around for awhile you know it’s all true.

In the end the products really aren’t all that special when good products are everywhere..   it’s the opportunity to make that money in conjunction with MLM based products that just about always seems jingle some bells in the motivated, the optimistic and the dreamers minds.

One more aspect of partial relativity to add before I end this post:

There’s quite a bit of psychology behind the idea of people approaching people in reference to purchasing product through them (no matter what both parties may think of the product). When promoting or recommending products of MLM nature, you will usually come across as a salesperson no matter what you think or been told by your upline.

People can sense this  and the fact remains that most people do not like knowing that you’d be making a buck off of them. Our only defense to that is to tell them that once they’re buying the product themselves, they would be able to do the same thing. Sometimes that seems to now make it more acceptable and sometimes it just wont matter..

I guess this is why I chose to market MYSELF as someone that can show others how to do the same, rather than promoting products for money. People that already have an interest in making money using alternative methods are often inclined to come my way (attraction marketing).

In this way, people already expect there to be a product & opportunity involved..  which relieves me as being thought of as a product peddler. If they join my opportunity as part of fulfilling their business opportunity obligation and they don’t end up liking the product, they can opt out and find another sponsor involved with a different product that they may like better. Doesn’t mean that my company’s product is crap..  it just means not everyone likes it, that’s all. All products will go through the same dilemma.

So was I finally able to put this topic to rest or do you need more counseling?  LOL

It’s nice to know what other people think, so be sure to leave a comment below.. thanks!

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Author: Bill Strauss

Network Marketers Should Be More Educated and Upfront With Their New Team Members

How does that catch ya?  LOL

Maybe there should be a rule in place that states that network marketers can’t begin sponsoring until they’ve become worthy and valuable of such status. Instead of getting a little lucky and enrolling a few people through a likely semi-spammy, over-hyped pitch or something remotely close in nature!

It happens so much in this industry because it’s the way that MLM companies go about marketing themselves and their product. It just seems convenient for new, ignorant distributors to go about their business.

When this is the case, anyone that these particular distributors brings on, likely goes on to do the same. The end result usually leads to people coming & going through their respective businesses because no one has a clue how to market effectively.

It’s easy to learn about your company & product(s) but seriously..  there’s so much more to be learned that will never come from your MLM company training. They just don’t teach the right stuff and that’s all there is to it. They don’t even point people in the right direction and unless you join the right kind of sponsor, this same occurrence happens over & over in most cases.

This is why most people make very little or no money and then get frustrated after 2-3 short months.

MLM is all about residual income and if you can’t keep people then you get nowhere fast and unless you change the direction of how this needs to work, you never will see that dreamy residual “walk-away” income that you always hear the top 4% talk about.

Don’t kid yourself..  if it wasn’t the truth, I wouldn’t be talking about it!

Preparation for building this type of business is paramount because it includes not only your ability to enroll people but also your ability to guide and teach those same individuals that you bring in. Remember that your business grows through the leverage of the team members below you. You can’t do it all alone and if they have no success they will drop out anyway.

Why let majority of your hard work in enrolling people go right down the drain..  it’s like shooting yourself in the foot over & over again!

It’s always going to work out better when you take the time to work on yourself and only sponsor the few serious people that appear to deserve your attention, than it would be to become a sponsoring machine to the masses who will almost certainly drop like flies when they don’t seem to win the MLM lottery after a few months.

The main point I’m trying to make in this post is that by doing what we’re suppose to be doing to get ourselves positioned for greatness in this profession, we need to be upfront with prospects from the very beginning by interviewing them to see if we feel that they may even have what it takes to make it to a respectable level of value and also to let them know that real money can be earned but only at a professional level.

They have to have a strong desire and a willingness to learn new skill-sets and fundamentals so they can help others to do the same. These actions will ultimately determine their success. Anything less than that could result in wasted time & money on their part.

It’s like going to college for 4 years and doing more partying than learning. You get out of there just barely graduating and expect that everything on your career outlook is going to come together nicely without major struggles. Some people do get lucky but I wouldn’t bet my life on depending on the odds of that being the case for yourself and most of the people that you  do happen to enroll.  You’ll just be spinning your wheels like I see most distributors doing.

It’s nice to know what other people think, so be sure to leave a comment below.. thanks!

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Author: Bill Strauss

Too Much Marketing HYPE For Me !

The idea for this blog post actually came from a conversation that I recently had with a fellow network marketer that I’ve known for the past 9 months. I made a few changes to it in order to align it with the fact that I’m sharing the information with you on my blog. And of course the other marketers name will not be mentioned for privacy reasons.

OK let me just make it clear that I’m obviously ALL for network marketing so no one gets the wrong idea, but at the same time I wish that the industry itself and not just the profession, would set their potential distributors up correctly from the beginning instead of keeping all the correct concepts a mystery (not that I’m pointing the finger at any company in particular because it’s all of them).

OK below are some of the points I tried to convey to my fellow network marketing friend after he told me I should consider checking out the new MLM company he had recently joined. He sent me a link to a video presentation from that company. The presentation was done by the companies marketing executive.

Quick Note about MLM companies marketing teams:

They come from the aspect of marketing products and services to consumers, which is exactly how all other companies base their marketing. Their general approach to marketing does NOT really help distributors become better network marketers because most people with more than half a brain will not just join under anyone promoting a product or opportunity. People should want to join under a sponsor that knows how to market themselves as a knowledgeable leader in the profession. Products and opportunities are a dime per dozen..  we can get them anywhere..  it’s NOT about products and opportunities, it’s about people directing and teaching their people towards their own success. The products are just a vehicle by which we can all make money..  that’s it !

OK onto the actual point that I tried to convey in my reply to him:

(keep in mind that he was already with at least one other MLM company when he joined this new company, so the initial paragraph below pertains only to this fact and the remainder is on topic)

If some new MLM company comes along and you or someone else was to join it, they will still need to watch out for the fact that many companies state within their “Policies & Procedures” that they don’t want their distributors to be marketing for other MLM companies, while with them. They can terminate your position for doing so. Now if you were going to leave your other business opportunities to join that new company, then I guess it wouldn’t matter.

Now I’ve watched many company’s video presentations and when they get to mentioning numbers and statistics..  the whole marketing concept that they are using within their presentation is still hype even if the numbers are true and here’s why:  The distributors still have to know how to market THEMSELVES properly in order to attract other potential business builders onto their business team.

So in other words, if the same exact person that was with another company last week goes over to this new company today..  they will likely have the same type of results that they did with their last company because they will be doing their marketing basically the same way as before.

It’s not how many people that could be interested in that new companies product or service that matters..  it’s how that person does their marketing that will determine THEIR outcome. That company will make their money but what I’m talking about comes down to an individual basis..  the story will still read the same way as it always has. It’s like saying, you can take aspirin for that headache but the physical aspect of the headache will still be there until the underlying issues are solved.

Many people will likely fall for the information in such a video or presentation because they are new to this profession and don’t know any better or they have been around for awhile and haven’t had much success and think a different product alone will propel them, but as always most will fall by the waist side after their first 2-3 months as they are probably uneducated in the reality of network marketing or refuse to acknowledge why they aren’t going to have success if they continue to market in the same failing ways as before.

I personally wish people would have enough sense to educate themselves and gain some experience first just like a person that goes to college does before they expect to make any money in their chosen profession.

Oh well..  I made the same mistake during my first 6 months (but at least I didn’t quit, which is the worst thing anyone can do) and I had to learn from it as I stuck things out to get to where I am now. I’ve spent more time & money on my education than I have spent on my auto-ship purchases during the same time frame. Education is everything if you expect to succeed in almost anything you’ll ever do that’s truly worth while.

The bottom line here is that people need to not quit before the miracle happens..  stay in the game long enough to learn how to play the game in such a way that they can win at it and please stop listening to all the BS from your company!

Learn from the Professional Marketers, not the Product Pushers that only know how to tell you how great their product is (anyone can do that..  so therefore what’s your advantage over all the other distributors out there that are attempting to promote similar products?  you basically have none!)

YOU need to become that advantage through the knowledge to obtain and the leadership you bring to the table.

It’s nice to know what other people think, so be sure to leave a comment below.. thanks!

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Author: Bill Strauss