There seems to be quite a bit of stigma about Network Marketing or Multi-Level Marketing. We’ve seen websites and social media ‘influencers’ paint the channel in a bleak light. We’d like to offer a bit of a counterpoint to those opinions and hope you can walk away with a more objective perspective.
While there may be some bad actors in this space, however, there are many more solid companies that provide their products via this channel, and have done this for decades such as:
- Avon
- Amway
- Tupperware
- Herbalife
- doTerra
- Forever Living
We suspect you recognize at least a couple of these powerhouses in the Network Marketing space. So, while many don’t like the sales methodology, clearly with decades of longevity, there must be something to this madness.
When I was a child in the 60’s, my mother was a top salesperson with Tupperware and won a Ford Galaxy 500! That was amazing!
Anyway… Here are the three myths as promised. We hope it helps to add a little clarity to this marketing space.
Myth 1: You Own Your MLM Business
While network marketing, aka Multi-Level Marketing, is a great source of income, it is an illusion that you own a business. More accurately, you are a commissioned sales and marketing professional with a team, dependent on the company’s products or services you are promoting. They dictate the terms of the commission and pay out your team, you do not.
Some programs allow you to will your book of business and team, so look closely at the contract or Terms & Cto see if this is an option. In reality, if you are successful in this endeavor, much of your team will leave when you leave, as you are likely the heart and soul of the organization.
Myth 2: Network Marketing is a Leveraged Business Model
It absolutely CAN be, but many practitioners do not implement the systems and process rigor required to make it truly leveraged. There is a certain critical mass required to apply leverage to the recruitment, onboarding, and ongoing training processes. If you are attracting one or two new prospects a week, then investing the time, effort, and expense to set these up may not seem worthwhile. However, from a peace-of-mind perspective, ensuring that you are hitting all the steps, in a consistent manner, has a lot of value. Likewise, when you start to ramp up your recruiting, it will be gold!
Myth 3: Everyone is a Prospect
Let’s face it, in a best-case scenario about ten percent (10%) of applicants to be on your team can be effective in network marketing. I would argue 6% is probably a reasonable assertion. The reason is they lack the understanding of what it takes to attract quality candidates that are willing to learn and take the time to get good at both selling the product or service and recruiting team members to build their own business. They get frustrated with the process as it can be time-consuming. To be clear, it is ok to recruit people who only want to sell the product, but you won’t build a deeper downline in this manner and that is where the leverage manifests itself.
By automating a good portion of the application, screening, and onboarding process, the recruiting process becomes less burdensome and more rewarding.
The strategy that we have learned from the Attraction Marketing team (as well as these three myths) is to work to establish yourself as an authority in the space and over time recruits will come to you. You don’t need years of experience, but you do need to be viewed as someone who adds value and can help them with their problem.
Conclusion
Network Marketing gets a lot of negative press. We often hear the phrase ‘pyramid scheme’ in conjunction with the program and while there is a hierarchy involved, isn’t there in every sales organization? I think people conflate ponzi scheme with pyramid scheme and hence the negative perception.
The truth is: that there are highly successful companies from Amway to Zrii that have sold good products for decades with a direct market channel program. Yes, the people at the top of the hierarchy make out great. But make no mistake, they earned that privilege by being bold, resilient, and effective leaders. They had to be to build and mentor the teams under them to create that success. In that process, they developed more leaders and they in turn did the same. With the right team, you too can become the next leader of your own team and build something great!
So knowing all of this we hope you have a good sense of what Network Marketing is and more importantly isn’t.
Check out 6 Essential Factors for Achieving Success in Network Marketing to learn more about network marketing.
