WHAT IS NETWORK MARKETING AND WHY SHOULD I MAKE IT MY NEXT JOB?

Multilevel Marketing among other things has become one of the most maligned industries and has gained a horrible reputation. Disreputable companies and misguided people have damaged the concept to the point that almost everyone is afraid of it. At the mere mention of MLM people immediately think, “Scam, rip-off, pyramid scheme or worse.”

But Multi-level marketing has been around for a long time (over 50 years) and more and more companies are starting to use this business plan every year. So why would anyone or any company want to use such a “horrible” method for selling a product or making money?

Why? Well simply put, because this method works and WORKS IN A BIG WAY!

Multi-Level Marketing allows anyone to start their own business and do it for very little money and little risk. You can become the CEO of your own home business.

But what is MLM really, and why should I make it my next job?

Like many of you, I once had a negative attitude towards MLM or Network Marketing. My initial introduction to the plan was my Mom. She had just joined up with a company and she was completely in love with it. She could talk of nothing else but how wonderful the company was and how it's products were the best thing since sliced bread. No matter the subject she could spin it so we ended up talking about her company, its products or the "amazing" opportunity the company provided .

It got to the point where you tried not to mention anything that might bring up her new found MLM business and if she mentioned the products you eventually gave in and used them just to avoid the talk.

Well I am here to tell you that I now understand why she was so excited so many years ago. I finally took the time to learn what MLM truly is and how it really works. I discovered that it was not the business plan that turned people away from MLM but the way it was being taught. People were being shown poor marketing techniques and this was giving MLM a bad name.

The introduction of the internet and the ability that modern technology gives us to reach out to millions has truly opened the doors to the true power of MLM and allows anyone to use good marketing to create an honest business from home that can provide value to you, the business builder, your team (called a downline) and to anyone who is looking for your product or opportunity.

And the best part, it does all this without you having to alienate your friends and family.

By reading this article you will understand what is needed for a business to be successful. You will learn what MLM is and how it compares to traditional business plans. See how the structure of MLM is not a pyramid scheme but a legitimate plan empowering everyone, no matter their position, the same amount of leverage and potential to advance. And while sales is the name of the game you don't have to be a traditional salesman. Instead, provide value and education and empower others to achieve. In turn, you will be empowering yourself. Multi-Level Marketing lets you leverage time and multiply your efforts without multiplying your workload.

Before deciding if Network Marketing is the right plan for you and your situation, you need to understand you different options. First, you have several different ways in which you can earn money.

•1. You can work for someone else and be an employee. This usually limits your income potential and you really lack any sort of stability or security

•2. You can step up from the employee stage and become a professional. At this level you have become an expert and you exchange expertise for dollars. While this increases your earning potential you still a basically an employee.

•3. Finally, you can own your own business. This plan gives you unlimited earning potential but it comes with its own risks. You are only one person and you will eventually run out of time or talent. By employing others, you can overcome these limitations by leveraging the efforts of others.

Of the 3 choices, owning a business is the best choice if you are looking to create real wealth and personal freedom.

Starting a business of your own requires a plan. When researching a business plan it is important to understand what is needed in order for a business to be successful.

•1. A huge expanding market. For example, music is always popular, but you can’t expect to sell a lot of transistor radios in this day of iPods. Make sure there is demand for what you have to offer.

•2. Unique consumable products – If you can find your product at every corner store or if it lasts for a lifetime, it will be hard to create any profit

•3. Timing (trends)

• Look for businesses that are expanding. The baby boomer generation is a huge bubble in our population and providing products that appeal to them gives you a huge market. Some of these expanding markets include

• Health and anti aging products.

• Retirement issues (every minute around 5 more people in the U.S. are turning 60.)

• Making life easier (technology) – Baby boomers have always been quick to embrace technological advances.

•4. Employ others so you get more done – No matter how skilled you are, there are only so many hours in a day. Multiplying yourself can multiply your productivity.

Both traditional and MLM businesses look at these 4 principals when getting started, but how they use them is different. With a traditional business you have a hierarchy, a chain of command. Starting at the top with the president or CEO and working its way down to the general staff or employees. With this structure the pay and power increase as you get closer to the top. The whole structure would fall apart if someone at a lower level made more money or had more power than those above them. Why would you ever take orders from someone who made less money than you. The only person in this structure that can really leverage any power is the person at the top.

The structure of Network Marketing looks similar but the way it works is much different. When you join an MLM company you aren’t just an employee but you can become the CEO or President of your own team. Anyone can earn more money than the person above them, next to them or below them. It all depends on the production of you and your team. You are not relying on those above you to determine your value, you are in charge of that. It is the fairest system around. You get paid according to the value you provide. Let me repeat that. You get the credit, power and earnings based on your efforts not on your position on the ladder.

You can be the leader and CEO of your own organization within the larger organization.

Now I know after looking at both plans, you might be asking yourself isn’t this just a pyramid scheme. After all that’s one of the myths that seems to follow MLM around and just look at the structure – proof that it’s a pyramid. The problem is not the shape. Look at the traditional business. It is also a pyramid shape. Look at our government, it follows the same shape. So it’s not the shape that is bad it is how it is used. The way to tell if something is a pyramid scheme or a legitimate MLM business is to look at how the money is made. If you make money through the sales of products by you or someone on your team then all is good. If there is no product but only a membership cost and an “opportunity” to sell it could be a scheme.

Look back at the plans again, it is worth repeating, the main difference between the two is that with a corporate structure the people at the top make most of the money and they make the decisions. They are the only ones with leverage. The MLM structure gives everyone the same leverage the CEO of a company has. That way no matter what level you are on you can earn money that is equal to the production you create.

Production and wealth are tied to selling product. Becoming a salesman is part of the job and for many of us that is a scary proposition. I know I am not a true salesman and probably never will be but with the power of the internet and attraction marketing you can “sell” without becoming a true salesman. But if you think about it, you spend your life selling things to others, your sell your friends and spouse on you, you sell your kids the rules and you are selling whenever you are trying to convince your opinion is the right one. But these kinds of selling never really seem like selling. They are more like educating those around you on what you want, what you like and what you know.

Education is the key to empowering others and through that empowerment you are rewarded. Each time you share what you know and help someone you are providing them a skill they didn’t have before. The Network Marketing structure rewards you every time you help someone else along. You help them become better at their business of selling themselves, their opportunity and their products. It boosts their power and their income and in turn in boosts yours too. When they pay that knowledge forward to their downline the process repeats and everyone benefits. Even if the person above you, your upline, isn’t productive you can still create a powerful organization and wealth equal to the production you create.

By giving value you are giving people power. In return you get the ability to leverage time. Imagine you could work every day for 24 hours without sleep for all 365 days of the year. That would give you 8760 hours of production hours. But let’s be honest, no one can work 24 hours a day every day. On a good day you might get in 12, but on average let’s just say you only get the typical 8 hour work day. You also would probably take at least one day off a week and a week or two off per year. When added up that only gives us 2400 hours per year. But what if you found 10 other people who wanted what you want and became part of your team. If each of them just worked one day per week they would total 4000 production hours. More than you could do working 6 days a week. This is the true power of a team and the MLM structure. Leveraging time allows you to create so much more than you could by yourself.

A Network Marketing team or downline also allows you to leverage everyone’s talents. Like I said before, sales are part of the job but maybe they aren’t your best skill but sales might be one of your team’s life calling. Maybe you are a better communicator or writer or you know how to use the power of the internet. Just like any sports team, it is the talents of all involved and the willingness to share and be part of a team that makes everyone successful.

Leveraging time and skill all through the simple process of education gives us all the power to be the CEO of our own company. We are not regulated to the position of employee where there is a lack of power and ability for advancement. No matter where you are in life or what your financial or social status you have the ability to learn and grow and then pass if forward.

Don’t be scared by what you thought you knew about MLM or what you might have experience in the past. I was once an MLM outsider who didn’t understand its true power. I saw what some of the old marketing strategies turned people into and how it set many people up for failure. I have joined the ranks of the new MLM plan. Now known more as Network Marketing, Social Marketing and Internet Attraction Marketing this new way of doing things lets you share and provide value to people who are truly interested in what you have to say. Gone are the days of cold calling and prospecting everyone who comes within arm’s length of you. Here’s to the days of people contacting you wanting the knowledge you have developed. It is no longer sales, it is education.

Take it from a long time educator; this is the future and the true power of Multi-Level Marketing.

Think about it!

Comments

[Donna Wilson]

Loved your article, Michael! Informative, with real ideas, strategies & tips. I'm going to pass this on to my associates & friends!
All the Best,
Donna

[Michael Tomberlin]

Thanks Donna, I am glad it was helpful. Network Marketing can be a great way to fulfill the dream of being your own boss and the internet has opened the door even wider for more of us to join in that dream. <p>

I have also created a video.about this topic</p>