How To Make Money With Network Marketing In Today's Economy

How To Make Money With Network Marketing In Today's Economy - Part I

If you've been involved in network marketing or
MLM for any length of time, you know of many of
the difficulties encountered in trying to build
a downline that:

(1) Stays on autoship
(2) Actively markets the business or products
(3) Continues learning as part of the business
(4) Treats their MLM business as a business
(5) Keeps in regular contact with their upline
    and downline
(6) Is willing to spend money on their business
(7) Stays excited and motivated after a couple
    of months in the business
(8) Will get out of their comfort zone to really
    become a leader

From a very basic perspective, network marketing
is an ingenious business model.  All you have to
do is find a few people who will pay money for
products they like and will consume regularly, and
who will likewise replicate what you do, with the
motivation of earning more money than they've ever
seen made.

But from a practical perspective, there are so
many obstacles that make forming that network of
product users so difficult, that the vast majority
of people won't persist to overcome those obstacles.
The end result is millions of people who have put
forth minimal effort and eventually quit, never to
take an interest again, even though they once
believed network marketing was a godsend at the time.

There is, however, a small percentage of people I
will call Group 1.  They see network marketing as
the 8th wonder of the world.  Many of them have
never even made much money at it but still know
that it uses maximum leverage which is essential
in working smarter, not harder.  They also believe
there is no more likely way for an average person
to create residual income than in network marketing.
You want as many of these people in your network
marketing empire that you can find.  Group 1 is
the most prized group.

I'm sure you've heard of the Paredo Principal.  It
states that in any organization, 20% of the people
will do 80% of the work and conversely, 80% of the
people will do the remaining 20%.  It is especially
true in network marketing.  I call this Group 2 and
you are looking for some of these 20% to join your
network marketing team.

They may not be as big a believer in network marketing
as Group 1, but still will do what it takes to build
a big business.

There are many newbies who also are looking for
a way to generate an online income but don't really
understand how network marketing works and how hard
it can be.  A small percentage of these people will
turn out to be leaders on your team over time but
most will not survive even if they have a top notch
mentor.  They are just unprepared for what it takes
to make the big money.

Unfortunately, you can sprinkle your downline with
this group but we do not want a downline full of
inexperienced newbies.  It is a prescription for
failure.  I call this Group 3.

And finally, everyone would love to get one of those
so-called "heavy hitters" in their network who will
bring dozens of other heavy hitters into their network
and the upline can retire to a "life of Riley" on the
beaches of the world.

I'm sorry to throw cold water on your beach daydreams,
but these are not the kind of people you want on your
team.  I call these "heavy hitters" Group 4.  Heavy
hitters could also be called "drive by networkers".
They are usually hyped for the next big launch and
will cause you more problems than they are worth.
Not only will they leave your downline just when you
are ready to really start making some money, but they
will take many of their heavy hitter friends with them.
Stay away from these people if at all possible.  At
least don't court them for your business.  You will
regret it.

So, how do you market your network marketing business
so that you get mostly Group 1 and Group 2 individuals
while minimizing Group 3 and Group 4?
I
t is all about WHO you are marketing to.  If you are
marketing to your friends, neighbors, and relatives,
even if you are the best "salesperson", you are going
to have a bunch of Group 3 people.  Not a good thing.
If you advertise in regular media, like newspapers,
and the "thrifty nickel" type papers, you will not
be happy with the type of people you get there either.
Usually more Group 3 than anything.

Even cold calling leads doesn't work anymore since most
people won't answer the phone if they don't know who
it is, or they only have a cell phone and will get
ticked off if they receive your call while they are
busy doing something.

Safelists and traffic exchanges are very popular with
networkers but trying to send people to look at your
network marketing company's replicated site just won't
work either, no matter how eye catching.  It is because
you are preaching to the choir when you advertise your
opportunity there.  It gets down to: join my program
because it is better than what you are doing.

People don't just "surf" those lists and exchanges
because they are bored.  They are surfing for credits
because they want to advertise their opportunity or
products.  So they are not really interested in what
you are doing.  The veterans of safelists and exchanges
actually don't stop surfing to check out other opps.
They may mark something to get back to if it looks
interesting but they are on a mission of getting enough
credits to send their ad out and aren't usually looking
at other ads.

That is not the formula for getting people interested
in your program.  There is a better way.

Safelists and traffic exchanges have many Group 1 and
Group 2 people, so if you could get many of them
interested in what you are offering, you may have
good success.  But you must do it properly and offer
a "twist".

To continue, see: How To Actually Market To Safelists And Traffic Exchanges To Be Most Effective

How To Actually Market To Safelists And Traffic Exchanges To Be Most Effective

How To Actually Market To Safelists And Traffic Exchanges To Be Most Effective

As mentioned in my previous post, How To Make Money With Network Marketing In Today's Economy - Part I,  you can no longer just send people to your company website and expect people to sign up. There is too much competition for the number of people that are actually looking for a network marketing opportunity. Add to the fact that people are real skitish about believing that an opportunity is going to deliver what it promises, it makes getting even one good prospect from your company website a real challenge.

Safelists and traffic exchanges are overflowing with people who could really make a difference in your downline, really loaded with Group 1 and Group 2 individuals, but you can't just send an email or a splash page that says join my program because...yadah, yadah, yadah.

You need to offer them something that is going to improve their odds of making money. For instance, this report is loaded with content and doesn't try to sell anything, and consequently, is a great way to get interested people to view a link at the end of the report that isn't a flat out sales job.

Another way is to offer a unique concept that can improve their chances to make money but is also very believable. For instance, if I told you that 95% of networkers put the cart before the horse and that's why they quit before they make any money, you might want to know how you can apply that concept to your network marketing business.

I use the "cart before the horse" analogy frequently with good success because I happen to know that once people see the explanation of how a large, active downline can be built by avoiding putting the cart before the horse, it becomes much easier to get them to take a look at one of my links.

And finally, promoting a simple, cheap, and effective SYSTEM to market with is always of interest to safelist and traffic exchange surfers. Because marketing is the name of the game and if you can do something easier, cheaper, and more efficient, it is going to improve your chances of making money, which is why we are here in the first place. That is the third piece of the puzzle that I use.

So, lets recap:

My three pronged approach to marketing to safelists and traffic exchanges, which is where your target market resides, is:

(1) Great content in the way of a FREE report without any salesy promotion.

(2) A unique concept which creates enough curiosity, so that if people can relate to it in their own previous experience, they want to know how they can use the concept or avoid using it, whichever the case may be.

(3) Offer a real simple system that is real inexpensive, and really works that will help them build any network marketing business into a real dynasty. In a nutshell, offer a near-perfect marketing system.

What Is The True Cost Of Your Network Marketing Opportunity?

What Is The True Cost Of Your Network Marketing Opportunity?

OK, you've got great products, a red hot compensation plan, and you love your sponsor, who at this point, you believe would do anything to help you succeed.  And even though you are positive everyone and their brother would want to get involved because, in your mind, it's a "no brainer, nobody shows any interest.  Oh, you did have one guy that filled out the prospect information on your company sponsored website, but the phone number he give you is no longer in service, and your emails to him go unanswered.  What do you do?

Well, common sense tells you that you should go to your sponsor and ask her that same question.  Right?  And your sponsor says, "Just keep promoting, it's just a numbers game.  The more people that view your website, the more liklihood that you will start to find some good, interested people."  In a nutshell, is that what most people would hear from their sponsor with that type of question?

But you are not a quitter so you are going to contine to drive people to your website because if your sponsor can do it, then so can you.  But you are running out of people to talk to so you decide you are going to advertise.  You went to your company's convention a few weeks back and heard some guy talk about Pay Per Click advertising and how he used it to build a downline of several thousand people when he got started.  So you check into that.

You don't have a big budget for advertising, but you can afford some money each month.  So you get set up on a popular PPC advertising program, and set your daily limit at $10.00 for a few days to see how it goes.  You get some click throughs but no signups and you run hit your limit on a couple of days. 

So, you up your daily limit to $20 and you get more click throughs and low and behold, you get one signup!  Now, you believe you are on the right track so you continue to use PPC advertising but soon realize this is costing you several hundred dollars a month.  There is no way you can continue to spend this kind of money plus, in the back of your mind, you wonder if your downline will ever be able to do the same thing. 

Of course, one thing that guy didn't tell you at your convention was that he had a few network marketing friends who brought in some of their friends and gave him an instant downline.  So, he started making some decent money right away and before he knew it, he was spending $5,000 a month on PPC a little over 5 years ago.  That sponsored dozens more each month and he was off and running to earn trips, bonuses, and walk across the stage as a triple diamond distributor a year later and give a presentation on how he did it in such a short time frame.

It's What The Gurus Don't Tell You That Matters

Look, I probably don't have to tell you that everything you see, read, or hear is not what it appears to be.  But network marketing opportunities are doubly bad.  The  reason is because there are literally a million ways to build a team and most of them are dependent on your network of people BEFORE you ever signed on the dotted line.  So, if you are new to MLM, you probably didn't have a network of experienced networkers ready to pounce on the next pre-launch where they could make their millions and then move on.  So make a note of what I am going to tell you.  Write it down and don't forget it.  WHAT WORKED JUST A FEW SHORT YEARS AGO PROBABLY WON'T WORK TODAY!

It's true.  The internet is changing, Network marketing is changing.  Your target market is changing. And people are changing.  Until you realize that, and are able to adapt with the changes, you are going to flounder, always being a year late and several thousand dollars short.  Believe me, there is a better way.

Stop Putting The Cart Before The Horse

If you are trying to recruit people into your network marketing opportunity directly, chances are very good you will not succeed.  Again, people have changed and are skittish about any opportunity right now.  Too many of them have been burned so the internet, being as impersonal as it is, just makes it even harder because there is no relationship established.  That is why you will find program after program being sold on "How To Use Social Media To Build Your Business".  At least there is some relationship between you and your "friends" on social networks.  Unfortunately, the networks themselves frown on blatent advertising(unless you pay for it) so it makes it difficult to actually use the social networks to find more than a person or two.

So, here is the answer in this day and age.  Build a team of people from scratch by offering them a really inexpensive way to start making money in network marketing and not have to shell out hundreds of dollars for products a month.  Use less than that for advertising this paradigm shift and see how many takers you have.  I have grown a downline of over 850 in 8 weeks.  There definitely is much more interest in doing it my way than the outdated way.  And then when your team reaches a pre-determined number, you can start making very good money in any program you choose.  Even your current one if you wanted to.  But you would have a team comparable to the guy who spoke at your convention on PPC without spending thousands of dollars like he did, and without having alot of network marketing friends.

Here is the link to my team site.  Just email me from the site if you would like to see how we do what we do.  http://TeamBeaman.com

If you continue to do what you've always done, you'll continue to get what you've always got.

Marketing Today Requires A Different Mindset

Marketing-The Key To Your Success

It doesn't matter whether it is offline or online, if you can effectively market your network marketing opportunity, you will have success.  It is marketing, getting the word out to large numbers of people usually as soon as possible, that will make or break a new distributor.  Why ASAP?  Because when people are spending decent money every month, most people are not going to be able to survive even 6 months without having some money coming in to offset the cost of products and maybe even some advertising if that is part of the marketing plan.  So, how does your upline suggest you market your opportunity?  Let's take a look at some common marketing methods.

Some Common (And Not So Common) Marketing Methods Network Marketers Routinely Use

1. Make a list of everybody you know.  Use a "memory jogger" to really pad your list.
2. Home meetings to "show the plan" or if close by a successful upline, use hotel meetings.
3. 3 Way Calls, the old standby of using 3rd party expertise when face-to-face isn't feasible.
4. Hand out multi-color brochures, or better yet, CD's and then follow up, follow up, follow up.
5. Use drop cards with a catchy look and phrase and "drop" them everywhere you go.  You never know when an interested person may pick one up.
6. Put flyers on door knobs or cars in mall parking lots telling them to call a "sissle number" for more information.
7. Buy leads and then call them one by one, maybe even invest in automated software to make those calls rapidly.
8. Buy leads and then pay to have them "blasted" with emails.  With the best response rate, you would need millions to maybe get a few responses.
9. Steering conversations at parties or at the mall with complete strangers to "what do you do for a living" type conversations.
10. Asking friends if they might know of somebody who would be interested in an extra few thousand dollars a month.  And then suprisingly, your friend says, "Well, I am!"
11. Traffic exchanges and safelists.  Nothing like "preaching to the choir" since everyone on those lists has the same intention, find interested prospectsfor their own opportunity.  But there aren't any, at least that are truly serious.
12. Place ads in local papers or if you have alot of money lying around, in USA Today.
13. Place ads on internet advertising sites like Craigslist or Backpage.
14. Start a blog by writing posts daily and submit articles often to article directories and visit high authority sites to post backlinks to your blog and participate on forums to get your blog URL out there and...wheww!!
15. Spend some money on a one-on-one coach who can work directly with you to "ensure" your success.
16. Find a mentor who will take you under his/her wing and "show you the ropes" to make sure you don't have to "take the arrows" all yourself.
17. Buy leads and do a "Fax Blast".
18. Lead with the products.  If you have great products, surely you can "sell" people to try your $50 vitamins even though they've never taken vitamins before.
19. Give people your products so they get "hooked" and will become a repeat customer and buy them from you after their free supply runs out.  Of course, that can be very expensive.
20. Use social media the right way. (No advertising, just "subtly" mention that you have a business opportunity and maybe they will ask you about it).  Or get your own "company page" to drive traffic to but unfortunately only others in your business already join your group.
21. Buy mobile ads on smart phones.  After all, that is the current trend, right?  Well, I tried that and was told by the largest mobile ad company in the U.S. that "we don't have any demand for network marketing ads".  End of story.

I could go on, but you get the picture.  There are 21 different marketing methods there but still over 90% of people who sign up today using those methods will quit within one year.  Why is that?  I'll tell you why.

Network Marketing Today Requires A Different Mindset

If you are trying to "sell" your MLM opportunity today, you will die a slow death.  That is not hyperbole, that is fact.  You'll read some posts from "gurus" about the future of network marketing being very bright because of a bad economy getting worse.  And that may be correct. 

But you will not be getting many of those "down and out" people because most will already have lost their jobs and they can't afford to jump into a business that is going to cost them money on a monthly basis.  THEY DON'T HAVE ANY MONEY.  Most of them had been told for years by one or two of their friends (see above) that they needed to start looking at other ways to make money but they didn't heed the warnings.  Now, it is too late.

The change in mindset that is needed is to realize that you need to build a "team" before your network marketing company starts charging them for products.  And you can't have a monthly fee to build that team.  If you need to, you can charge a one-time, lifetime administrative fee of say, $25 and then take as long as needed to build the team.  Obviously, faster is better so if any money is in the budget, paid advertising will work because we have changed the mindset of "selling an opportunity" to "building a team first" and then choosing an opportunity after a good income is assured.  If no money is in the budget, then there should be free programs available so that anyone can take advantage by earning their $25 administrative fee.

It is nothing more than putting the horse before the cart, the way it should be than the other way around.  If you would like to take a look at how a specific mindset change could work, which by the way, has over 4 million members to date, click here.

 

Multi Level Marketing - Is There Anything Better?

Multi Level Marketing - Is There Anything Better?

Much has been written about the advantages of multi level marketing over other ways to make money long before the internet came along.  Advantages such as low start up costs, minimal operating costs, ability to create wealth far beyond what a single brick and morter business could produce, no employees, no bank loans, no franchise fees, and on and on.

But since the proliferation of the internet some 20 years ago, many other types of money making businesses have appeared.  And alot of money has been made in many of them over the years.  But the question remains, Is There Any Better Way To Make Money Than Multi Level Marketing?  Let's take a look.

Affiliate Marketing Versus Multi Level Marketing

Affiliate marketing is probably the largest non multi level marketing business model in terms of popularity and money made.  Affiliate marketers don't have to create, sell, use, or even know anything about the products they sell.  They just have to be able to market.  And as the internet has grown, so has the number of people willing to spend money on digital products which promise weight loss, pet training, muscle building, making money, and just about anything people are interested in.  In other words if you developed internet marketing skills, you could make a decent living and sometimes become very wealthy.

But the downsides of affiliate marketing are many. 

First, the money made is usually a one time deal.  Once you sell a product, you could go hungry until you sell another one.  With multi level marketing, a real draw has been the residual income.  Do the work once, get paid for life.  With affiliate marketing, you must work most every day or you don't get paid.  Now don't get me wrong.  With technology, you can automate much of your marketing so you don't have to be in front of your computer all day.  But the bottom line is if you don't make a sale, that day, you don't get paid.

Second, the internet and companies on the internet are constantly changing.  What Google will accept today in the way of pay per click advertising, they may completely change their direction tomorrow.  And that is exactly what happened not long ago when many affiliate marketers, who depended on PPC advertising were suddenly stopped in their tracks.  And their income stopped as well.  You certainly don't want to depend on any one person or organization for your likelihood.  It could spell disaster.

And third, affiliate marketers are usually paid online through various online payers.  When they have their problems or suddenly change how they handle your money, you could go a period of time without being able to access the money you have earned.  This, too, has happened when PayPal decided to withhold funds when their policy changed.

Sell Your Own Products

People can be very creative when there is a great monetary incentive or when they want to eat.  Instead of marketing other people's products, you could create your own products, digital or otherwise, and have affiliate marketers sell them for you.  Typically, you would make 50% of the sale when sold by affiliates, or you could market them all by your lonesome and make 100%.  Either way, it is an alternative to affiliate marketing and multi level marketing.

Sell On Ebay

An entirely new and different business model developed when people learned how to sell on eBay.  I'm not talking about selling things you have lying around your house.  I'm talking about creating agreements with companies who make hard and soft goods to drop ship them to customers that you, as an eBay seller have marketed to on eBay as well as your own eBay store.  This is the epitomy of being a marketer when you find the products to sell and then work with the companies to set up the distribution channels to get the products to them.  All of this while you are sitting in the comfort of your own home and working whatever hours you desire.  The advantage you have is the millions of customers who use eBay on a daily basis.  You don't have to go far to find customers for your products.

Membership Sites

Along the same lines as people that create originals to sell are the people who develop websites that offer information or services and charge a membership fee to access it.  This can be a form of residual income since monthly membership fees are the norm and as long as someone sees value in what they are receiving, they may stay as members for a very long time maintaining your income from those people indefinitely.  This can be an attractive option once you have the website and its intricasies set up for such a business.

Conclusion

There are other business models that have appeared online over the past couple of decades, some worthy of pursuing, others very short lived.  And the advantages of some of them may well prove the test of time.  However, multi level marketing HAS stood the test of time and, in fact, has grown to such a point that some would say it is a saturation of the market for people looking at ways to make money.  But as is the case in free market societies, the strong will survive and the weak will die but may surface in a new, similar type business or a completely different business model.  But the bottom line is: if you need to make money outside of a job, take a look at multi level marketing.  Pick a strong, knowledgeable upline in a company that has been around for at least 2 years.

If you are interested in building a network marketing business in a completely different way than what you find today, check out my blog post: A Different Way To Build A Network Marketing Business

Do MLM Blogs Increase Signups?

Do MLM Blogs Increase Signups?

An increasing number of network marketers have seemed to be getting into the blogging arena, specifically writing MLM blogs to increase traffic to the company website through links in the blog posts and consequently to increase signups in their MLM business opportunity.

But here are 10 rhetorical questions I would like to pose to individuals who have an MLM blog and those who are contemplating developing one:

1. Do MLM blogs increase visitors to individual MLM company websites?
2. What is the target market that MLM blogs cater to?
3. Is the time spent writing posts for the MLM blogs a worthy use of time or could it be better spent actually building the MLM business?
4. Are MLM blogs just "preaching to the choir" or do people who know nothing about MLM actually benefiting from all of the content being written?
5. Are MLM blogs being promoted properly by writing articles, getting backlinks, using proper keyword density, using metatags, and having proper permalink setup and all the other things search engines look for?
6. Would you consider the majority of MLM blogs of having good, solid content that actually can make a difference in someone's research, or are the majority of them just "cluttering up" the internet?
7. Are MLM blogs the primary way that MLM company websites are now being promoted instead of sending prospects there directly?
8. How many people with MLM blogs have a self-imposed title on their blog, such as "network marketing expert" or "home business coach"?
9. Do original articles submitted to popular article directories have a better chance of getting on the first page of search engines than individual MLM blog posts?
10. Are MLM businesses being built the traditional way any more with home or hotel meetings, or are they a thing of the past with MLM blogs taking their place?

These are just a few of the questions that have come to mind as I see the proliferation of blogs with MLM type content all over the internet.  At some point, blogs may be passe' and a new form of a public online communication will arise, but in the meantime, it looks like the MLM blog is here to stay.

Guarantee Your Network Marketing Success

Guarantee Your Network Marketing Success

Someone you just introduced to your network marketing business opportunity gives you this ultimatum.  "OK, I've got $150 to spend now, up to $100 a month and no more, not even for tax or shipping, just a crisp $100 bill every 30 days. What are my chances of building a large, vibrant, active network marketing business in one year so that I am making a consistant $10,000 a month 12 months from now?"

What would be your answer?  Zero %?  10%? or maybe even 20%?

What if I told you I would guarantee him/her that the chances of that happening were 97.4% if he/she followed my system to the letter?

And you say, that's crazy!  Nobody can guarantee anybody anything when it comes to network marketing. There are too many variables.  How many network marketing superstars do you know because if you don't know any who would join you, you could never make that happen.

And I say, "If you follow my system EXACTLY, you will be using a team building platform whereby EVERYBODY will be contributing to your success.  It is a demonstration of teamwork the likes of which you have never known.  When all is said and done, 15,000+ ACTIVE networkers will be on your team in one year."  Any takers?

I can explain to you my system in 5 minutes.  There are no websites required to be viewed (unless you want to), no sales pitches, no leads to cold call, no friends or family to see, no more money out of pocket will be spent, ever.  A total of $1350 over a year to make $10,000 a month RESIDUAL income.  Are you in?

Oh, and by the way.  Your time spent on this will be less than one hour per day, also guaranteed.

The sooner you contact me, the sooner you lock in your position and the sooner you will receive results you can pocket.

And, just in case you are wondering if you could lose your $1350, you will not be giving your money to me.  You will be using it to build a loyal, lifelong team using diversified advertising that works.  If at any time, you are not seeing rapid team growth, you can walk away.  Of course, there is a possibility that if you choose not to follow my system that you would lose money.  So, if you are not coachable, don't waste our team's time and your money.

Email me at mysystem@teambeaman.com with a phone number and a good time to call and we will go from there.