REFLECTIONS ON NETWORK MARKETING

A REVOLUTIONARY NEW APPROACH TO NETWORK MARKETING

2010-06-18T01:08:00.000-07:00

.

About a year ago, two friends of mine, Adrian Harvey and Rod Goodman, came up with a remarkable idea to take Network Marketing to a whole new level. They call it 'Velocity Marketing'. It's a system which completely eliminates the difficulties, delays and huge workloads usually involved in building a large team of network marketers. And it removes all the embarrassment created by having to personally 'sell' to our friends and family members.

It's taken them nearly a year to turn their dream into reality. It took a gigantic effort. First they had to develop the system itself, complete with its top quality video presentation, back office functions, etc. Then they had to get legal and corporate clearances to make sure that everything was proper and correct. Now at last they've got the OK to begin!

By its very nature, this system is going to generate explosive growth. So it's essential that it be developed around a solid company with the strength and financial resources to handle the product demand that will result. Adrian and Rod have solved this by allying with a company which has that strength, yet is new and dynamic enough to respond to such an opportunity.

The company they've chosen has an outstanding product range. It's already turned over well in excess of $1 billion in sales, and has created over 50 network marketing millionaires in the 5 years since it began. Without doubt this number will more than double in the next 12 months as a result of Adrian and Rod's innovative new approach.

I'm one of very few who are in at the beginning of this groundbreaking new business opportunity. If you decide to take it up, you too will be in at the beginning!

I have no doubt that Velocity Marketing is going to be a massive success. If you already have previous experience in Network Marketing or are seriously considering taking it up as a business, I strongly recommend that you have a look at this! Click on http://bit.ly/9KfHuF, have a look at the presentation there, and then decide for yourself.

I'm personally totally committed. If you decide to give it a shot, I'd like to work closely with you, to help us both get the very best from it. Within 24 hours of you signing up, I'll call you by phone to make personal contact and get the ball rolling with you. Together we can be truly effective! And if at any time you have a query and want to contact me, please feel free to drop me an email at arnoldmlm@gmail.com.

One final point: for legal compliance reasons, this opportunity is currently only available to United States residents. However it will soon be made available in other countries too, so please contact me if you live outside the USA and you'd like to be kept informed. If you do, I'll make sure that you also get in at the beginning locally when the time comes. Again, my email is arnoldmlm@gmail.com.

Once again, click on http://bit.ly/9KfHuF to learn about something truly revolutionary. I hope to be talking to you soon.

The No. 1 Network Marketing Skill Which My Father Taught Me

2010-05-28T21:15:00.000-07:00

My father was a top level sales person. He represented a sizeable company in the UK, and his job was to win orders on their behalf from some of the UK's top organisations. Dad was recognised for his ability to get the really big orders, orders which others didn't seem to be able to win.

I was reflecting the other day on what it was which made Dad so successful, because it seemed to me that the key to his success was also likely to be the key to our success as Network Marketers. Our work, after all, is very much the same.

Dad had a very good, outgoing personality. He seemed instinctively to be able to find out what made the person he was talking to 'tick'. And since we all like to talk about ourselves, people enjoyed talking to him. In effect, although he was a good talker, he was also a great listener. And having listened to people's desires, hopes, needs and concerns, he was really adept at showing them how his products would meet those desires, hopes, needs or concerns. All great skills for a Network Marketer.

These are important qualities. But many good sales people have these skills. There was one extra skill which my father had which I believe set him apart as a super sales person. He simply never, ever gave up on a prospect. Persistence.

I've seen him work hard for 12 months to win a million dollar contract, only to find that, despite all his hard work, the contract was given to another company. And he knew that it would perhaps be another 2 years before that contract would come round again. Most people would walk away in disappointment at that point, and try selling to someone else instead. Not Dad. He would keep on faithfully visiting that company and continue to build up his relationship with them.

And guess what? Nine times out of ten he'd win the contract next time round! Persistence. It made all the difference.

I believe the very same skills are needed to be successful in any kind of marketing. And persistence is probably the most critical skill of all. Just because someone says 'no' today doesn't mean that they'll say 'no' tomorrow. If we stay close to them and don't give up, it's more than likely that they may well say 'yes' one day.

And there's another point which fits together with this. It's a well known fact that people seldom accept a new product or idea the first time they hear about it. In fact, I've heard it said that we need to hear about something at least seven times before we feel comfortable with it. That's one of the key reasons why companies advertise their products regularly. So if we're expecting people to accept our invitation to buy our product or join our organisation, we shouldn't be disappointed if they say 'no' the first time we ask them. Again, persistence is needed.

Yes, my Dad had great skills and taught me a great lesson. If only he'd got into Network Marketing himself - he'd have been worth a fortune!

SUCCESS IN NETWORK MARKETING: HARD WORK COMES BEFORE THE REWARDS!

2010-05-09T00:57:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I was talking to a young lady called Gwen, who had recently signed up with one of the international cosmetics companies which operate through network marketing. She was very excited.

Gwen told me about her new web site, about her likely future income, and about the car she was going to have very soon and the exotic holiday she and her husband were planning. All courtesy of this cosmetics company.

What Gwen didn't mention was how many people she expected to have in her team, or how she planned to build her team to a level which would give her the income level she was seeking. She didn't talk about all the hard work she expected to have to put in to build up her business, nor the time she'd need to spend away from her family.

I don't want to strike an overly negative note here, but it does concern me that companies, while naturally wanting to encourage their distributors, oversell the potential rewards while underselling completely the work required to earn those rewards. Many network marketing companies offer an excellent opportunity, but they do no one a great service if they over-emphasise the rewards and under-emphasise the effort involved in earning them.

In my last blog I mentioned two specific qualities which, it had been argued, were needed to be a successful network marketer. They were optimism and persistence. To those I should probably add sound business acumen, because to be successful, every network marketer must also be able to run a successful business.

Unfortunately, in their haste to recruit distributors, the companies always try to whip up the optimism but seldom emphasise the need for persistence or sound business sense. And optimism serves little purpose without the determination to take it beyond the first few days!

Sadly, because of the wrong emphasis, most network marketers fall by the wayside before they experience any real success.

I sincerely hope that Gwen does really well. But if she does, I fancy it will be in spite of, rather than because of, the company to which she has hitched her star.

TWO KEY QUALITIES WE NEED TO BE A SUCCESSFUL NETWORK MARKETER

2010-04-26T06:30:00.000-07:00

In my last post I described my friend Ben's remarkable feat of perseverance in winning the Darwin walking marathon. It was a truly amazing feat on his part, and a great lesson.

Since writing that post, I've been talking with another good friend who is also a management theorist. He reckons that to be a successful entrepreneur we need two key qualities:

1. Determination. The willingness to stick with the goal we have no matter what obstacles are placed in our way.

2. Optimism. When everyone else is telling us that something can't be done, or that it is very difficult, we need to have the optimism to believe that it really CAN be done!

I've been thinking a great deal about this, and I think he's right.

There's no doubt that to succeeed in any business requires a lot of hard work, well beyond the normal. How else do you put in a full day (or evening) of regular work in your business and then go on to do all the extra work, such as the extra marketing, the accounting, the reporting to government, etc, which any business requires? To do that requires real determination and vision. It is after all time and attention which we'd probably much rather be giving to our friends, our spouse or our family.

And the world is full of people who, sometimes with the best of intentions, will tell us that we are wasting our time, that our ideas are flawed, or that we'll never succeed. To counter these negatives requires extreme optimism on our part. Without it we will inevitably be dragged down to failure.

Yes, I think he's right. And although the advice applies to all kinds of business, his particular interest is Network Marketing.

When I think of Ben's incredible effort in the walking race, I see a man a who was VERY determined and VERY optimistic. Nobody but Ben believed he could do it, and to our shame we very kindly told him so. But he had the vision, and more particularly the determination to train every day of the year and the optimism to ignore everyone who told him he couldn't possibly be successful.

It's almost certainly true that most network marketers fail because we lack the determination to get through the hard times, not just in the early days but throughout our business life. Or because we lack the optimism to really believe we can succeed when everyone else thinks we're going to fail....

Determination and optimism: two important and key qualities which we all need as network marketers. Let's make a decision now to build up these qualities and stick with them no matter what the problems which arise.

BEN'S EXAMPLE OF PERSEVERANCE HAS BEEN AN INSPIRATION TO ME

2010-03-31T04:13:00.000-07:00

Some years ago, a friend of mine announced that he was going to take part in a very popular, nationally recognised long-distance walking race in Darwin, Australia. He said that he intended to break the record for this race, and planned to raise a sizeable amount for charity. He said that he had nearly twelve months to train, and had already started a daily walk as part of his preparation.

Ben was in his late thirties, had never seriously walked or run in his life, was unfit, and was definitely NOT athletic by nature. Frankly, none of us took his announcement very seriously. We expected his enthusiasm to wane after a few days. And even if he kept on training for the whole year, we couldn't see him getting anywhere near the speed of the expert runners who we knew would be coming to Darwin for this big annual event. As for breaking the record, that was obviously a pipe dream.

However, as the days and weeks went by, it became obvious that Ben was very serious. He certainly hadn't given up, and was still doing his regular daily training. Later, when one of his friends checked his walk times, it became clear that Ben was walking very well and, if he could keep his speed up for the complete race, he had a good chance of being well placed. We began to take a greater interest....

When the day of the race dawned, Ben was fit, well, and ready to do the walk. And when the first walker came into view at the finishing line, we were delighted to see that it was Ben! Furthermore, when they checked his time, they found that Ben had indeed broken the race record, and by a significant margin.

I know this story sounds too good to be true, but these events did actually happen, and I have Ben's permission to recount them to you.

Ben's experience taught me an enormous lesson about life which I have never forgotten: if we make up our mind to do something, make plans to carry it out, and stick to those plans, we will almost certainly succeed. There is very little, if anything, that we can't do. The key is PERSEVERANCE.

The problem is of course that we usually have a great idea, work with it for a day or two, and then give up. Perhaps our friends and family discourage us (as, sadly, we did to Ben). Whatever the reason, we let "common sense" take over, and our great idea goes out of the window.

Never is this experience more common than when we set up our network marketing businesses. We are full of enthusiasm for a few days, then we get discouraged, and our friends and family, with the very best of intentions no doubt, advise us to give it up. So we do.

I've seen this happen so often with network marketing businesses, and indeed with many other businesses too. If the owners had only persevered, they very probably would have built successful businesses, just as Ben achieved success with his walking. But they gave up, and so never enjoyed the success they were entitled to expect. They simply didn't persevere for long enough.

So my message is that we should persevere with our businesses, and not give up just because things don't go well at some point. Of course, if things really don't go well, a point of time may finally come when we really should review our business, perhaps change our products, and in extreme circumstances close our business down. That's a possibility, but in most cases we stop because we don't persevere for long enough rather than for sensible reasons.

Like all of us, I have my times of discouragement in network marketing - it's guaranteed to happen to every network marketer. Sometimes I really feel like giving up and doing something else. Then I think of Ben... and I keep going.

Yes, if Ben could do it, so can I.... and so can you!

THE 3-PART APPROACH WHICH I USE TO TRAIN MY NETWORK MARKETING DOWNLINE

2010-03-11T17:49:00.000-08:00

In my last blog I emphasised the importance of effective training, and promised to describe my own method in a future article. So here goes.

After a heap of previous, costly failures, I finally came up with the following approach which works well for me. There are three distinct elements to it:

1. A Basic Training Presentation

We conduct a regular, usually weekly, basic training course. Whenever anyone in my downline shows an interest in taking up the business opportunity, no matter how far down the structure they might be, they are invited to take this one basic training course. (Obviously I can't prevent others in my downline from giving their own training, nor would I want to - but I hope and believe that everyone is being invited to my basic training course).

The material consists of a Powerpoint presentation which we have developed, supported by some in-depth videos about the product and how to present it to prospects. The Powerpoint presentation itself goes into issues such as how to set up a business, start-up and on-going costs to budget for, how to find and approach prospects, etc. Wherever possible we use material provided by our supplier, and in some cases we have developed material of our own built around some of the supplier's information.

In total the training takes about 2 hours. At the end, each trainee leaves with a considerable amount of both soft copy and printed material, which we ask them to study over the next 4 weeks. We ask them to come back for an 'examination' on the material about 4 weeks later, and in the meantime we advise them not to practice their new business.

In my experience the trainees leave this basic training enthusiastic and excited. They know that if they learn and follow the pattern presented to them they have a great chance of building a successful business. I think they also appreciate the fact that someone is really concerned to help them in this way.

To avoid variations and inconsistency, I always either give this basic training myself or arrange for a very trusted colleague to do it. Of course, not everyone lives close by, so we have recorded an on-line version which people can download as required.

2. The Examination

This is actually quite a simple written test which the trainees who have undertaken the basic training are encouraged to come and sit. Again, this can be done remotely if required.

Candidates who pass receive a Graduation Certificate and can feel confident that they are ready to begin building their own business.

3. Monthly Information Meetings

All our trainees and graduates are invited to a regular monthly Information Meeting. At this meeting we

* present new graduates with their Graduation Certificate;

* have a presentation on some aspect of our products or Network Marketing business.

* enjoy each others' company.

The objective behind these on-going Meetings is to maintain communication and enthusiasm within the team. It is all too easy for interest to fall, and when this happens one's business can disappear very rapidly. The Monthly Meeting is designed to minimize this, and does seem to help a great deal.

We have found this 3-part approach to work very well for us. It takes some work, but it's well worthwhile - and in fact I see training as probably my most important business responsibility today. Obviously, you may choose to follow a different approach, but I can certainly recommend the above to you.

FIVE IMPORTANT REASONS TO PROVIDE QUALITY TRAINING FOR YOUR DOWNLINE

2010-02-26T20:25:00.000-08:00

It's absolutely critical for all of us to provide quality training for our downline. Everyone says that, and I for one found it out the hard way during my early days in network marketing. So let me map out 5 important reasons why we need to do this.

1. Better results

Perhaps it's a selfish reason, but the simple reality is that we will get much better results from our team if we make sure they are all properly trained. If we simply sign people up, wish them well and leave them to their own devices, what are their chances of being successful? Pretty low. And, since our success is very much dependent on their success, we need to make sure that our people are as well trained as they can possibly be.

2. Consistency

We all have our own ideas about how to go about network marketing. So if we leave it to each individual team member to do their own thing, or even to train their own downline team, we're very probably going to get some very strange results coming through. And the larger our downline, the bigger the problem is likely to get. A consistent set of training for the whole team is therefore very desirable.

3. A Happier Downline

If people are well trained, they instinctively feel better, are happier, and enjoy their network marketing more. Again, if they perform better as a result, we all stand to benefit. Quality training therefore is extremely important.

4. Eliminate Folk Lore

By providing quality training we are creating a system for people to follow. Anyone who, like me, has been involved in implementing systems, knows how quickly 'folk lore' can come into being - that is, false advice from self-proclaimed experts as to how best to follow (or work around) the system. Folk lore can ruin a good system very quickly. on-going quality training is really the only way to eliminate it.

5. Helps Maintain Good Communication

Effective communication with our downline is critical if we want to be successful network marketers. No matter how many levels we have in our downline, we need to find ways to keep in touch with everyone and keep them fully motivated. Training won't meet this need on its own, but it is one very important way of maintain effective communication!

OK, hopefully I've convinced you that quality training is a critical element of our network marketing business - in fact, it's probably our most important business responsibility once we have a decent sized downline to work with and build on. But how do we go about doing this quality training?

For me it's not a one-off need but an on-going requirement. There are no doubt many approaches which can be successful. I'd be delighted to tell you about my own approach, but it's a big enough subject to need more time and space than is available to me now. So I promise to tell you all about the way I go about my training in a later blog.

HOW TO WIN MORE AND BETTER CUSTOMERS: DO IT LIKE BERNIE

2010-02-16T20:26:00.000-08:00

A few years ago there was a comedy movie called "Weekend With Bernie". Bernie has died, but his friends, for reasons of their own, have dressed him up to look as if he's alive. In one scene a very dead Bernie 'negotiates' with a car salesman. Bernie beats the saleman down by thousands of dollars, simply by saying nothing while the salesman keeps on talking. At the end, the salesman congratulates Bernie on being one of the toughest men he's ever had to negotiate with!

It's a comedy, of course, but there's a lot of truth in that scene. Good sales people know that there are times when they need to keep their mouths firmly closed. This can sometimes be an excellent tactic to use in negotiating prices, as per Bernie's experience. But there is another time too when listening is better than talking: when we are getting to know a prospect and building their trust.

Skilled sales people know that it's critical to get to understand their prospect and what makes them tick before trying to sell anything. By doing so they more readily win the trust of their prospect; but even more importantly, they know what is important to the prospect and what part of their sales offering is going to be of most value to them. As a result, 'selling' turns into 'helping', and the operation becomes a win-win for both parties.

Most of us in network marketing are not really skilled sales people, and we have in our minds the idea that selling means 'closing', which in turn means getting people to buy something they don't really want. Consequently we tend to do it all wrong, and often feel pretty uncomfortable in the process.

We tend to gush forth with masses of information about our product range, our company, our business opportunity or our compensation plan, without the slightest idea of whether all or any of this information is really of interest to the prospect If we do this, we are taking pot luck on the outcome. and nine times out of ten we'll get it wrong. Little wonder that we don't convert too many of our prospects into customers...

The professional way is to take as long as necessary to get to know the prospect, their background, their interests and their needs. Just about everyone enjoys talking about themselves, so by listening rather than talking we're actually likely to make genuine friends out of our prospects.

Once we understand the needs of our prospect, it becomes very easy to decide how best our offerings can address those needs and present accordingly. If we put ourselves in the shoes of our prospect, we can readily understand that the prospect now has two excellent reasons to buy from us. Firstly, we are offering something he or she needs. Secondly, they're buying from someone they trust as a friend. Suddenly the probability of conversion becomes VERY much greater and things are much more pleasant for everyone.

None of us wants to be like Bernie - dead, that is. However if we could all listen to our prospects like Bernie, and then THINK before talking, we'd be much more likely to be successful network marketers.

SIX REASONS WHY WE SHOULD ESTABLISH A NETWORK MARKETING BUSINESS

2010-02-05T21:08:00.000-08:00

My recent blogs have centered on questions to ask before deciding whether to set up a network marketing business, and because of this I might have given the impression that I was trying to discourage people from setting up this type of business. Far from it: rather I wanted to point out some of the key things that need to be done if a new business is to have a reasonable chance of success.

In truth I'm very excited about network marketing and the opportunities it offers. I've listed below six excellent reasons for starting up a network marketing business.

1. It offers everyone the opportunity to run their own business. So many of us have the dream of running our own business, and network marketing provides a great vehicle to allow us to do so. As my previous blogs have stressed, a network marketing business is much like any other business, and needs to be run carefully, just like any other business. But if successful your network marketing business can grow to the point where you can leave your job and make your business your career - that's a great thing to aim for!

2. Because of the way networking marketing operates, your business usually comes complete with a whole set of front- and back-office systems already in place for you to use. In his famous book, 'The E-Myth Revisited', Michael Gerber correctly pointed out that every successful business which works with other people needs to have a set of documented systems and procedures in place for those people to follow. Most of us lack the knowledge, experience or time to do this. Gerber, and Robert Kiyosaki, both point out that it is one of the great strengths of network marketing that the supplier company typically provides these systems for us ready to use. This is a very big plus.

3. Network marketing has the potential to be extremely profitable. Many millionaires have been created through network marketing, and there are many more yet to emerge. Many thousands more have made an excellent living out of network marketing. If you start your business right, as set out in my previous blogs, there is really no reason why you can't make a great deal of money.

4. It's fun. Running a successful business nearly always is fun, and network marketing is more fun than most. We get to meet and work with some really fine people, and in fact we ourselves get to choose who those people will be. Few other businesses offer this opportunity for enjoyment.

5. It's exciting and deeply satisfying. Provided you're successful, you'll find network marketing particularly exciting. It combines sales and marketing with a number of other skills (such as teaching others). Together they allow us to develop both our expertise and our personalities. With network marketing you're very unlikely to get stuck 'in a rut'.

6. The best is yet to come. Network marketing is continually developing, not only in terms of the product range which is available to market, but also in term of its use of technology. There is no doubt that the development of Web 2.0, for instance, will deliver enormous future opportunities to expand the horizons of network marketing. I have first-hand knowledge of this, because I am aware of one such massive and unique new opportunity which will almost certainly hit the market in the next two or three weeks. I promise to tweet and blog about it as soon as it comes through, so that my readers will have the first opportunity to take advantage of it. Please keep following me over the nest 2 to 3 weeks.

Yes, there are at least 6 good reasons to set up a network marketing business. and I'm sure there are many. many more. In fact we all probably have our own additional and very good personal reasons for doing so.

Make no mistake about it, network marketing is here to stay, and will get bigger and bigger over time. And all of us, no matter what our previous backgrounds, have the opportunity to participate in this enormous growth.

SIX KEY QUESTIONS TO ASK BEFORE YOU SET UP A NETWORK MARKETING BUSINESS

2010-01-21T15:45:00.000-08:00

"If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there" - old saying.

As we come to the end of this series of blogs, it's time to review all six of the key questions. They were:

1. Do you have products which you believe in?

2. Is there a market for your products?

3. Do you have a Marketing Plan?

4. Can you see a long term future?

5. Are you willing to invest adequate finance?

6. Are you willing to invest enough time?

Each of these questions is discussed in more detail in my earlier blogs, immediately below this one. Please carefully consider each one and answer them as honestly as you can. They are important questions, and they need to be addressed by anyone going into ANY kind of business - they certainly don't just apply to Network Marketing.

I hope, after careful consideration, you can answer "yes" to each of them. If so, you are ready to go into business, and you are well prepared. I believe you have a very good chance of success.

The overall statistics regarding the success rate of new businesses can be quite depressing; but remember that most people starting out in business have never considered questions such as the six listed above. Most haven't really figured out exactly where they want to go, and the old saying quoted earlier definitely applies to them:

"If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there."

If you have considered all six questions and can honestly answer "yes" to each, you know exactly where you're going and you're on the correct road to get you there. Those statistics are far less likely to apply to you.

I wish you all the very best and hope that you will really enjoy your involvement in this remarkably exciting Network Marketing industry.

SIX KEY QUESTIONS TO ASK BEFORE YOU SET UP A NETWORK MARKETING BUSINESS

2010-01-19T03:07:00.001-08:00

6. Are you willing to Invest Enough of Your Time?

It's a truism that you shouldn't treat your network marketing business as a hobby - very few hobbies make money. And if you're intending to operate any business it requires personal commitment, just as it requires financial commitment.

The personal commitment required in any business is twofold:

(a) willingness to put aside enough time to make the business successful; and

(b) determination to consistently put in that time.

Putting Aside Enough Time

Make no mistake about it, the most successful network marketers put in lots of time to keep their businesses growing. This doesn't imply that you should give up your day job in favor of your new business; far from it, but certainly you need to assess how many nights each week you're willing to put aside. Obviously, the more time you can put into it the better.

Later, if your business really does take off profitably, you may well decide to give up your day job and put all your time into your own business. When that happens, you know you're going in the right direction.

The important thing in the short term is to develop a plan of the work you want to carry out each week (eg meetings, training sessions, administrative work, etc). You should then assess the amount of time you need to spend in order to complete that work.

Are you prepared to commit that much time? It will almost certainly mean skipping other social activities, and will involve a signifiacnt sacrific for you and your family.

Consistent Use of Your Time

Probably the worst mistake you can make is to work at your new business with enormous enthusiasm for a few weeks and then find that, for whatever reason, you can no longer maintain that level of work. If you make that mistake you will almost certainly fail.

If you are sure you want to set up your new business, decide now to maintain your personal commitment. It will almost certainly take some years, so be prepared to apply your time consistently for some years!

So before you decide to go ahead with your network marketing business, ask your yourself: are you willing to put aside the necessary time to make it successful, and are you prepared to sacrifice that amount of time regularly and consistently, probably for some years to come?

If you are willing to do so, you have successfully steered your way through question number 6. You are obviously taking your new business seriously, and I wish you every success!

SIX KEY QUESTIONS TO ASK BEFORE YOU SET UP A NETWORK MARKETING BUSINESS

2010-01-16T02:05:00.000-08:00

5. Are You Willing to Invest Adequate Finances?

All businesses require financing, and your network marketing business will be no exception. Underfinanced businesses are generally unsuccessful, and again your network marketing business will be no exception.

The good news is that, compared with most businesses, network marketing businesses typically require a comparatively small amount of financial investment. Shops require expensive stock, equipment and staff, etc; a franchise business typically requires a sizeable (perhaps $100,000 plus) up-front payment, plus stock, equipment and staff, etc; a network marketing business on the other hand generally requires only a small up-front payment, a fairly small investment in stock and equipment, and no staffing costs.

Because the amount of investment required is so small, many would-be network marketers fail to take it seriously. This is a big mistake, since it leads to an underfinanced business and probable failure.

The costs involved in setting up your network marketing business will vary depending on the particular requirements of your supplier company - and will be larger again if you have more than one supplier company as discussed in question 4. Typically they will include costs such as:

- a start up fee
- stock
- web site(s)
- marketing equipment
- business cards and stationery

Before you make the final decision to go into business, make sure that you compile a thorough estimate of both the up-front costs and on-going costs which will be required in order to operate an effective business. Then confirm that you have access to the required funds AND are willing to use them.

If - and only if - you can give a positive answer to these questions, you are ready to proceed to the sixth and final question.

SIX KEY QUESTIONS TO ASK BEFORE YOU SET UP A NETWORK MARKETING BUSINESS

2010-01-13T20:44:00.000-08:00

4. Can You See a Long Term Future?

On the surface this may seem a 'nothing' question, but in reality it is an important one to ask - are you confident that your business has a long term future?

Although it has had some spectacular successes, the Network Marketing industry has also had a large number of spectacular failures. Realistically, of all the many NM-companies operating today, the vast majority probably won't be operating in 10 years' time.

It's important therefore to assess as carefully as possible the future of any company you intend to align with. That company will in effect become your supplier, and any business needs to have reliable suppliers if they want to stay in business.

Why do Network Marketing companies fail? There are a number of reasons, but the most likely causes are:

(a) Lack of market traction. Their products may be insufficiently attractive to the market. They may be too similar to other, already established products. Or they may even have been on the market too long and are losing their appeal (all products go through a cycle of growth, maturity and contraction - some just take longer than others). It is therefore unwise to depend too much on a new and unproven company, and in the case of longer-established companies a close look at the future of their products is in order.

(b) Lack of financial or organisational stability. I've actually seen network marketing companies which were so successful that they couldn't cope with the growth they generated, and went out of business! It's not always easy to get a good picture of the stability of a company, but a very close look at the management of the company is definitely in order and strongly recommended. Do the directors have a good track record? What is their past history?

(c) Lack of integrity. If your supplier ever decides to move away from the network marketing distribution model and transfer its allegiance to retail distribution, you clearly are not going to have a long-term relationship. This has been known to happen in the past, and it will doubtless happen in the future. It's hard to predict, of course, but again a good close look at the track record of the current directors is strongly recommended. Even then, if ownership of the company should ever change hands, problems could emerge over time.

These are just a few of the things you should consider. The future is always difficult to assess, but it's important to do the best you can. Very often as 'distributors' we tend to look upon our supplier company almost as a parent which can do no wrong. We soak up their marketing hype and we put our complete faith in them. This is very unwise. Remember again that your responsibility is to run your own business, not that of your supplier, and act and judge accordingly.

One possible way to ensure that your business stays in business is to work with more than one network marketing company. This may sound like heresy to some, but it makes good sense to hedge your business bets. Not too many shops sell only one product or product range. I would never recommend signing up with multiple companies offering similar products - to me that would be unethical - but offering two or more completely different types of products from different suppliers could be a very attractive option.

It's certainly an option worth considering. After all, you do want a long term future, don't you?

SIX KEY QUESTIONS TO ASK BEFORE YOU SET UP A NETWORK MARKETING BUSINESS

2010-01-10T22:15:00.000-08:00

3. Do You Have a Marketing Plan?

If you're happy that you have the right products and that there's a market for them, there is one more very important question to ask on the marketing side: do you have a Marketing Plan? Being satisfied that a market exists for your products is important, but then you need to work out how you're going to reach that market. It is not a good idea to go into a new business without seriously considering this.

Network Marketing companies will tell you that the way to do this is to make a list of your relatives and friends, who you will then proceed to sign up. There's nothing wrong with doing this of course, and it might even succeed - if you're lucky enough to have the right kind of relatives and friends.... But even if you do, you'll run out of friends and relatives before too long. You're also likely to experience some rejection from your friends and relatives, and in many cases this has prompted network marketers to give up their business in disillusionment.

So your Marketing Plan needs to go a little deeper if you want to be successful. After all, IBM and McDonalds didn't succeed just by selling to their relatives and friends, and I don't even know of any shops which have been successful simply by selling to friends and relatives. Why should our business be any different?

In developing a Marketing Plan you should address at least the following questions:

* What is my target market?

* How big is the market?

* What market share can I reasonably aim at? (ie my sales and marketing goals)

* How will I reach the market and achieve that level of market share?

There are many ways to reach your market, and approaching your friends and relatives may well be one of them. Different businesses use a number of sales and marketing techniques to reach their market, including such things as:

- media
- other advertising
- sales representatives
- web sites (but remember that they only work if you can get people to go to your site)
- emails
- other forms of internet marketing
- sales letters
- sponsorships
- business cards

Apart from not-for-profit organizations, every business exists for only one purpose: to make profits. Hence every business needs to make sales. And please be assured that Network Marketing businesses are no exception. Every business needs to have a Marketing Plan which the owners are reasonably confident in. Never forget the old saying: "if you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there".... Without a Marketing Plan your business will probably go nowhere - and almost certainly it will go in the wrong direction!

So before you decide to go ahead with your network marketing business, please make sure you have a Marketing Plan which sets out you marketing goals and how you'll get there. And please make sure that you are confident that the Plan will work...

Six Key Questions to ask Before You set up a Network Marketing Business - #2: Is There a Market for Your Products?

2010-01-08T15:57:00.000-08:00

If you're totally comfortable with the products you'll be offering, the next critical question to ask is whether there is a market for those products, and if so how strong that market really is.

If your products are new in the marketplace this does create a difficulty. My business experience has been that it is extremely dificult to gauge the marketability of a new product. Some offerings which I thought would be really successful and were price-competitive turned out to be total fizzers; while others which I'd have thought would never sell proved to be really successful. Obviously you will do the best you can to judge the likely success of an offering, but in the end the market consists of human beings and they can be quite unpredictable.

So if you are thinking of going into business with a brand new product range there is a significant risk involved. One way of minimising the risk is to survey people in your neighbourhood to get their assessment of the attractiveness of the products. This can help, but again beware: people sometimes tell you what they think you want to hear! On one occasion I set up a complete overseas operation on the basis of positive results from a very comprehensive survey, only to find the people who said 'yes' to the survey were not at all as enthusiastic when it came to actually buying and paying...

You may decide it's worth the risk and that you'll back your own judgment. That's fine of course, as long as you recognise the business risk involved.

Another, possibly better solution is to go with a product range which has been on the market for some time and has an established customer base, ideally elsewhere. This should enable you quite quickly to assess its general marketabilty.

Assuming the products are generally selling well, the next question of course is whether the market has already been well tapped in your area. Ideally you don't want too much competition, but if the market is big there may be no reason to fear a reasonable amount of competition. Unless your product is already a household name, most people you talk to will still probably not have heard of it!

These are just a few of the issues which you should consider before deciding to set up your new business. If you're not comfortable that there is a good market for you, do not go ahead. If you're happy that there is, it's time to consider the third critical question.......

SIX KEY QUESTIONS TO ASK BEFORE YOU SET UP A NETWORK MARKETING BUSINESS

2010-01-07T20:07:00.000-08:00

Network marketing can be exciting and great fun, and it can be highly profitable. However it is also a business in which many people lose heart and fail. No one wants that to happen to you, so I've developed a check list of 6 different questions which you should ask yourself before you make the big decision to start your own Network Marketing business.

Maybe you have just come from a really impressive meeting, at which the business opportunity inspired you to look seriously at becoming involved. That's great, and I wouldn't want to discourage you in any way.

However it is important to remember that a Network Marketing business is indeed a business, just like any other type of business. It doesn't matter whether you're setting up a grocery shop or starting a network marketing business, the same principles apply and need to be taken into account.

With this in mind, I have developed these 6 key questions for you to consider. There is too much material to blog in one go, so I'll discuss the first one below and cover the other 5 in additional entries over the next couple of weeks.

Question 1 - Do You Have Products Which You Believe In?

This might sound like an obvious question, but it's actually very important indeed. If you go ahead with your new business, you are going to be spending a lot of time working with your product range. So it's critical that they're products which you both like and believe in.

If you're not totally committed to your products, you'll find that your business will quickly cease to be enjoyable. And before long, your business will cease to be.....

Equally bad, if you don't totally believe in your products, you're going to feel uncomfortable when you start selling them. No one with principles can last long in a business of that type. And always remember that the sole purpose of every business is to sell its products. In the case of Network Marketing, you will probably also be selling a business opportunity, but this too is a product and will be centered around your product range.

So the first question is very important: do you really believe in the products you'll be selling?

If the answer is "NO", don't go any further. Start looking for a different business. If the answer is "YES", it's time to consider the second question, which I'll discuss here tomorrow.

Setting Up A Network Marketing Business

2009-10-19T05:01:00.000-07:00

How I Set Up My First ‘Conventional’ Business

Some years ago I was working full-time as a public servant, specialising in IT. It was a well paid job and I had a reasonable future ahead of me. However, I felt that I could do more with my life.
After some consideration I decided to set up my own business. In deciding this, I assessed:

· The product I was offering (consultancy and services in a specialised field which I knew pretty well). I concluded that the product would stand up in the marketplace.

· The market for my product. I established that there were some big potential customer in the neighbourhood, and I felt hat I had enough credibility to be able to sell to then.

· Profitability. I judged that we could charge enough, and have enough volume, to be profitable and hopefully pay a decent salary.

So I believed that I could do it, although I knew that the odds were against me. They told me that statistically the vast majority of companies fail in the first year, and that there was very little chance of success. But I believed that I had something which could do well, and I wasn’t deterred by other people’s scepticism.

I gave up my regular job when I got me first order – a very small order for two weeks’ fairly low-paid consulting work. Looking back it was a VERY risky thing to do. I had a wife and a young daughter, a sizeable mortgage and virtually no savings...... Giving up a secure job required real commitment, and not just on my part..

But somehow it worked. We had some pretty hairy times to begin with, but we gradually grew and developed our product range. At our peak we had about 70 staff, and we were exporting to the UK, Africa and New Zealand, as well as having some very big customers locally. We even won Export Awards as a result of our overseas work.

Network Marketing – Just Another Business

I am recounting this now, some years later, not to boast, but to compare my experience in setting up a ‘conventional’ business with setting up a Network Marketing business. In reality there is no real difference.

Setting up a Network Marketing business is exactly the same as setting up any other business. It is critical to assess the business’s true potential, and particularly to seriously consider matters such as:

· The product range. Is it of the right quality to allow it to be accepted by its potential users?

· The marketplace. Is there a market for the product and can you reach that market?

· Profitability. Will the business return enough profit to justify the effort involved in running the business?

In effect, you need to prepare a business plan. If the answer to each of these questions is “yes”, it may be time to set up your Network Marketing business. But there is one more critical question you need to ask: am I sufficiently committed to make this business work? Only if the answer to this question is “yes” should you go ahead.

Do You Have The Commitment?

The point I want to make is that there is no real difference between a Network Marketing business and any other business. The marketing and remuneration model may be different, but in every other respect they are all the same – they are all businesses with the same probability of success or failure, and the same need for total commitment on the part of the owner!

Let make it clear, I’m absolutely NOT saying that the owner of a Network Marketing business needs to give up their day job as I did with my business. One of the big advantages of Network Marketing is that you don’t need to take that kind of risk until your business is making enough money to allow you to do so comfortably. But it still needs your total commitment, at least part-time. And in many respects running a part-time business needs more commitment than a full-time one...

If you’re happy that you have the product, the market, the profitability and the personal commitment, it’s probably time to set up your new Network Marketing business. You’ve just improved the odds of success enormously – in fact it’s hard to believe that you won’t success.

Good luck in your new venture!

Network Marketing v Conventional Selling - Which Is Better?

2009-09-14T19:28:00.000-07:00

In my experience, conventional sales people often look down their noses at network marketing. They tend to see it as “the dark side”, something with which they as professionals would never want to get involved.

Having seen this attitude on a number of occasions, I thought it time to consider the differences between the two approaches to selling and make a personal – and admittedly subjective - attempt to assess whether one truly is better than the other – and if so, which one. Throughout I have made the assumption that both types of sales person have equally attractive products to sell, and that the financial returns in each case are equally fair.

The Similarities

Both types of selling are similar in that the sales person is rewarded on the basis of their success in carrying out the sales function.

In the case of conventional selling, commission-only sales people are rewarded entirely on the results achieved. Other sales people may be paid a retainer as well as a commission. It is unusual for conventional sales people to be paid on the basis of a retainer alone, although in some circumstances this can happen – however if results are not forthcoming, this type employment can be expected to be terminated rapidly. Ultimately, therefore, everyone ends up being rewarded on the basis of results.

In the case of typical network marketing, the participant is a type of sales person and is paid entirely on the basis of results achieved. In this respect he or she is very similar to a conventional commission-only sales person.

In order to be successful, both conventional sales people and network marketers must develop a rapport and relationship of trust with their target market. Whether the target market is an individual or a corporation, the same need for the development of solid relationships with the prospect exists.

The Differences

Conventional sales people are typically employed by an organisation to sell their products. Network marketers on the other hand are self-employed.

Conventional sales people face dismissal if their results are below their employer’s targets. Network marketers, being self-employed, do not face dismissal.

Conventional sales people are paid immediately and regularly for the results they achieve. Network marketers typically run their own businesses and do not receive a regular income in the first instance. Like all business owners, they must first invest time and effort in order to build up their business. The real rewards come later, when the business is successful.

Conventional sales people are generally (although not always) paid once only for each sale that they make. Network marketers expect to be paid over and over again for each sale that they make, as the residual income associated with repeat business reverts to them (after all, they are the business owners!).

Unless they are sales managers, conventional sales people have no management responsibility. They simply carry out the operative task of selling their employer’s goods and services. Network marketers are required to be sales managers as well as sales people from the outset. Their task is to train and motivate their ‘employees‘ (ie their downline) as well as selling to new customers and other potential new employees.

Conclusions

The actual selling work carried out by both types of sales person is very similar, but there are differences.

The work carried out by most conventional sales people is actually less responsible than that carried out by network marketers. Unless they have a sales management role, conventional sales people typically have no management responsibility. By contrast, all network marketers operate with management responsibilities.

Conventional sales people are rewarded more immediately for their work and do not need to invest personal effort without reward, but their positions are much riskier and do not offer long-term rewards for their efforts.

If you want a safe but rather limited job, with immediate returns but fewer long term prospects, conventional selling is for you. If you want to run your own business and enjoy greater long-term prosperity and job satisfaction, you would be better taking up a career in network marketing.

On balance, there is certainly no reason for the network marketer to feel inferior to the conventional sales person. On the contrary, the reverse is probably the case.
In time I believe that network marketing could even replace conventional sales work as the preferred option for sales professionals.

The Day I Nearly Died

2009-08-25T19:48:00.000-07:00

When I was about 5 years old I nearly died.

My parents had taken me and my sister for a 2-week holiday by the beach in Devon, England. There were two swimming pools dug into the sand there, one for little people like me, and the other, 6 ft deep, for adults. Since I couldn’t swim, I was assigned to the tinies’ pool, and made to promise that under no circumstances would I go near the adults’ pool.

One day I found myself alone in the children’s pool, and it quickly became boring. I’d seen people swimming many times, so I was absolutely sure that I could swim too. I even knew how to do a dive like I’d seen my father do. So off I trotted, on my own, to the almost empty 6ft deep pool and dived in! It was a pretty good dive too.

To this day I can see the light green water with the sun shining through, and my hands flailing as I tried hopelessly and helplessly to get to the surface. There’s no doubt at all that I was drowning, and no one except me knew it was happening.

Fortunately there was a man swimming in the pool at the time. He somehow realised that I was in trouble, swam across, and and pulled out by my head, just in time. Not only had I had a terrible fright, but I was in serious trouble for the rest of the holiday. I was extremely grateful to that gentleman, and I never went into a deep pool again until I’d learnt to swim properly!

So what on earth has this got to do with network marketing? Well, I think the little spirit of independence inside me all those years ago is very much like the spirit of independence inside us all throughout our lives. We get told very simply what to do, but we think we know better. And we get into trouble. Nowhere is this more true than when we take up network marketing.

Marketing is an art, which takes considerable experience to master. When we begin, we don’t have that experience, but of course we think we know everything. There’s a very simple way to do network marketing, but it sometimes gets a bit boring, just like the children’s pool. We start to look around for approaches which are different and perhaps more exciting...... and it’s then that we get into trouble.

I put together a blog item a few days ago about the absolute importance of training in network marketing. I still hold to the sentiments expressed there. I too thought I knew how to do things differently, and for yet another time in my life I learnt the hard way that I was wrong. The simple way, as presented in decent training, is the only proper way forward. We depart from that way at our peril.

So please, don’t drown in the sea of network marketing alternatives, follow the training and advice given by your upline. That way you’ll then live to enjoy a long and happy network marketing life.

Arnold Cummins

Business Cards - A Must For Network Marketers

2009-08-13T01:20:00.001-07:00

To begin with I didn’t expect to be using business cards for my network marketing business. Having been in the corporate world, I was used to carrying cards and giving them out at the slightest opportunity; but I thought that Network Marketing would be different.

I was wrong.

Once I bought my first batch I realised how much I’d been missing without them. Now I use them all the time. They’ve become my representative in a very real way. I give them out, leave them in public transport, in shops, or wherever I can reasonably leave them. I want people to know who I am and what I stand for.

Above all else they make me look – and feel - much more professional. People see that I’m not running a backroom hobby but a real, professional business. And in network marketing, as in just about anything else in life, a good image is truly critical.

Make them Memorable

The more our business card stands out from the normal, the more effective they will be. I’ve seen postcard sizes cards, cards in strange shapes, and cards of many colours. All designed to stand out of course. Above all else they need to be professional – the person you give them to may not even consciously realise it, but a shoddy, home-made card will at least subconsciously create a bad image in their mind. So always get them professionally printed.

Make Them Easy to Read

Legibility is critical. At the very least your name, phone number, email address and web site should all be large enough to read easily, even by older people whose eyesight may not be the best. If people have to struggle to read your personal details they probably won’t bother!

Always Carry Them

Any marketer worth their salt always carries business cards with them. Use them regularly. Murphy’s Law says that the very time you don’t have them with you will be the time you need them most!

Hand Them Out With Pride

If your cards are good, you WILL hand them out with pride, and you’ll represent your product with more pride too.

In short, whatever else you need to stint on. Don’t stint on business cards!

Passion – a Critical Ingredient in Network Marketing Success

2009-08-09T21:41:00.001-07:00

Is it possible to be successful in network marketing if we're marketing a product which we know to be substandard? My answer would be no, not for a typically decent, honest person.

Some people claim that the product doesn’t matter in Network Marketing; that no matter what you are selling you can be successful if you simply follow the right system. I strongly disagree, and I believe the principle holds good no matter whether we are talking about conventional marketing, face-to-face network marketing or web-based marketing.

Personally I couldn’t live with myself if I thought that I had made money by selling worthless rubbish to someone. I sincerely believe that an honest belief in the quality of the product you’re marketing is a critical basis for ANY kind of marketing and sales. Selling over the web really is no different – just because I don’t know and can’t see the person I’ve duped wouldn’t ease my conscience at all. I’m sure that most people would agree with me.

The inverse naturally follows on from this. In order to feel good about marketing ANYTHING to someone else, you need to start by having an honest belief in the product you’re selling. In order to be successful in our marketing, that belief in the product must be there.

If we take this reasoning a step further, it follows logically that the more convinced we are of the quality of our product, the more effective we are likely to be in marketing it.

Taking it just one small step further again, if we want to be really successful in our network marketing, we need to be PASSIONATE about the product we sell and truly excited to be offering it. That passion will be conveyed very quickly to our audience, no matter whether we are meeting them face to face or dealing with them through the web. And we will feel so much better about ourselves, which in turn will be conveyed back to the audience.

Clearly there are other factors which contribute to successful network marketing. Nevertheless, PASSION for the product we are selling is critical to our success. If we don’t have it, I believe that we should find another product which will give us that passion. Only then will we be truly successful in this wonderful field of Network Marketing.

Training - The Key to Network Marketing Success?

2009-08-07T07:42:00.000-07:00

When I first began my network marketing career, I didn’t get a lot of training – in fact, truth to tell, I didn’t get any at all. And equally true, I didn’t think I needed any...

You see, my upline lived in another State, and I only came across the opportunity because I happened to be travelling there on business. In one evening I looked at the product, checked out the company and the business model, could see that it was an amazing business proposition, and signed up.

A couple of days later I found myself back home in Canberra. I had a lot of enthusiasm, but nothing except a few emails and a manual downloaded from a web site to guide me in starting up my new business.

I was convinced I didn’t need any help. After all, I’d been a successful business owner for quite a few years. How could I not succeed with such a marvellous opportunity available?

Now, over a year down the track, I know better. From the outset my presentations were not too bad, and my own enthusiasm quickly found me a small but enthusiastic downline. It looked like everything was coming together pretty well.

The Problem Emerges

And then, after about 6 months, it all stopped.

Once my team of distributors grew a few levels the enthusiasm seemed to drop off. Indeed, while some signed up, most of them just didn’t do anything at all with their opportunity, which I knew to be so good.

Sales dropped right away, my immediate downline team started to lose interest, and the whole business looked like it was going to collapse.

The Enlightenment

Fortunately I then had a chance to make a fairly lengthy trip back to my upline’s location, and after a week or two it hit me what our problem had been: we simply hadn’t understood the importance of TRAINING!

And it worked both ways:

1. I attended a great training course over there, and realised just how important this was for me. I learned so much, when I thought I already knew it all!

2. Equally significantly, i realised the importance of training for my downline distributors. It dawned on me that if they didn’t get the sort of training I’d just had, they didn’t have a hope of being successful either.

So this time I came back to Canberra convinced of the need to train my team properly!

But perhaps my most important realisation was that, as our downline grew, not everyone would be able to provide training of the quality I now knew to be necessary.

The Solution

Our solution to this was to take the responsibility for training out of the hands of individual distributors. We now have a regular weekly training meeting, to which EVERY new distributor is invited, no matter who in our team has introduced them. Now, no matter how big our team gets, everyone will get the right training to allow them to operate as successfully as possible.

Now I’m a convert. It’s been said that Network Marketing is not so much a marketing business as a training business. I entirely concur. If we get the training right, we’ll have a good chance of getting our business right.....