Direct Sales, Network Marketing & Home Party Plan Blog

Joining the top network marketing companies is no guarantee of success for a number of reasons.

If you are currently exploring the MLM business and trying to decide which of the thousands of network marketing companies to join, then pull up for a minute and listen to what I’ve got to say.

Let me say I thought long and hard about writing this article because the idea of someone spending a lot of time researching which MLM company they should join made me chuckle.

Why?

Well, with the reputation the industry has developed regarding aggressive recruiting practices anyone looking for a company to join would seem like a fish looking for a net to jump in. Be realistic, how many people have actually found you and begged you to show them the plan?

There are several aspects of the network marketing business which you need to understand before parting with your joining fees. There may be several reasons why a network marketing company is at the top of the tree and it’s more than likely they have been around for a long time.

Is this a good recipe to join a company? Should the fact they have been in business for 10, 15 or 20 years be your sole consideration for jumping on board? Not on your life!

You see, network marketing companies are starting up all the time. While many go out of business for various reasons just as many will appear on the horizon. Why do they go out of business? Poor product choice, bad marketing but most of all, lack of capital and a good business plan.

Here’s a simple process for deciding which of the top network marketing companies you should consider joining.

1. Look for a company which is showing steady growth in the first five years of operation. Most don’t survive this heady period.

2. Look at the companies management team. Are they experienced network marketers with a solid track record in the industry.

3. If possible, try to get a handle on the company’s financial situation. Do they have solid financial backing to survive the first few years in business while they are getting established.

4. In my opinion, probably the main consideration and that is what does the company have to offer in the way of products? If they are offering what everyone else is then move on.

Top network marketing companies have the ability to take a product that’s already successful and then improve on it, whether it’s by adding a new twist to it or making it more effective.

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Hint: It’s Probably Not The Guy Next To You In The Supermarket Checkout.

Like most, my first few attempts at network marketing failed miserably. Looking back, I now realize this is because of how I was taught. The most poisonous of the information your upline tells has got to be that everybody is a prospect. This idea alone is probably responsible for more failures in this business than anything else. You want to lower your self-esteem a couple notches? Try using the 3 foot rule more than a few minutes.

So if everybody is not your prospect, then who is? Many these days are focusing on people looking for home based businesses, but is this really going far enough? My own experience with this has shown me that many people looking for legitimate home businesses consider network marketing taboo. I’ve seriously had people ask me, “Is this MLM?” When I say it is, more often than not, the line goes dead. They have their reasons, many of them valid, but that’s a whole nother subject.

I’ve also encountered people who were looking for business opportunities who wanted nothing to do with selling. What? Show me one business that stays afloat without selling. Too many of these people believe the hype that’s out there. You know, like “No selling involved?” This alone makes them less than ideal candidates to be considered a target market for network marketers.

Who then? Who understands network marketing requires work and discipline? Who has made their names list, done business presentations for their families and friends and, because they were taught to find a way to snake their business opportunity into every conversation, now find themselves not being invited to family gatherings and such? Well, considering more than 95% of network marketers fail within three to four months, the answer should be somewhat obvious. The target market for network marketers is fellow network marketers.

I’m not saying to persuade those in other companies to join your opportunity. More than likely, that would also end in frustration. However, with a 95% failure rate, there are a whole lot of people out there who believe in network marketing but haven’t been given the proper support or training. This is where you come in.

If you target these disillusioned, but motivated souls, you’ll find a gold mine. By teaching them solid, no nonsense marketing techniques, many are likely to succeed, which translates into more success for you.

One of the biggest complaints people have about choosing a home business is that they don’t have the money to spend on one. Their budget is stretched tight – that’s why they want to start a business anyhow. They need the money but want to stay at home.

Many home businesses don’t cost all that much to get started, however. Pick the right business and you won’t have to spend much at all to have a chance to bring in some income.

You can rarely start a home business without any investment at all. Business cards, for example. They don’t cost much, but they can be quite helpful in appearing professional to the people you meet. Hosting a website can be done for free, but if you want a domain name and a good host, you’re going to have to spend at least a little. But it can be had for under $100/year.

Perhaps you have a skill you could offer as a service. Running errands for people, website design, tutoring, being a virtual assistant… you may have just about everything you need to run one of these businesses already. All you need are clients.

Affiliate marketing is also quite popular, if quite challenging. Many people start this on free hosts such as Blogger.com, then move on to paid hosting as they earn enough money. Affiliate programs are generally free to join, and you figure out how to get people to buy through your links.

This is not as simple as throwing up some links and hoping. That’s one of the most common mistakes. You have to give people a reason to click through and make a purchase. Reviews are a popular way to do this. Keep it honest, mention the negatives as well as the positives, and gain people’s trust by providing quality information.

Whatever kind of home business you start, you need to love what you’re doing and know that there are other people who love the results of what you do. If no one wants to buy from you, there’s no point to being in business.

One of the best things you can do for your home business is to reinvest in it. If you don’t need the earnings urgently for something else, find a way to use it to make your home business better. Over time this can help you to earn still more money.

It’s not easy starting a home business on a tight budget. But there are many options that cost very little money to get started, yet it is entirely possible to earn money from them. There are no guarantees of success in business; only your own efforts will determine your success in the long run.

If your market is cold, you need to warm it up. It is easy to see that people do not react to advertising campaigns like they used to. They tend to turn their nose up at things because they are tired of having things pushed on them in a mediocre or cliché way. Believe it or not, people tend to get very suspicious. Then there is also the fact that there are certain circumstances that exist in the world that have made quite the impact on people. In other words, the world is one big circus and you, as a network marketer, have to find a way to tame three rings at once.

Taming the circus

The main thing you have to do is build rapport. When you build rapport with someone, they are comfortable with you. When they are comfortable with you, you can reel them in. But you have to know the right strategies to reel them in and get them to stay. You can’t just shake hands with them, say “hey how are you doing,” and hope that they think you’re a network marketing genius. It just doesn’t work that way.

So how does it work?

Well, the first thing you need to do is get together a circle of people that you can influence. This usually starts with people you know. This is a great strategy toward getting the ball rolling. You have to keep in mind that those who are very successful in Network marketing are those individuals with a large influence. However, it is always good to start small and build yourself up. You can start by getting referrals from your family and your friends. Make sure you do such things as participate in community events. This means that you should go to City Council and Chamber of Commerce meetings. You should then hold local meetings of individuals in your network to keep them involved.

Your next step is then the Internet so that you can bring in individuals from the Internet. You do this through Internet marketing so that they will sign up for your mailing list by filling out a form on your website. You can do such things as start an Internet community. From there, you will continue to build your Internet presence by blogging about your business, shooting tips out through email newsletters, creating social networking pages on the many social networking sites that are out there, and creating or joining email groups. These are ways that you build an online relationship with people.

Some tips

There are many strategies that you can use to build your business. The above are great ways to do that. They may seem easy, but they do take some work. Here are some tips that you need to use to get things rolling smoothly for you:

• When you can, make sure you use offline marketing methods. These methods include postcards, newspaper ads, radio ads, and even television commercials.

• Always use an email autoresponder with your emails. When an individual signs up for your mailing list, your autoresponder will shoot an email their way that says, “Thank you for signing up” and gives them the option to opt out if they need to. They are at least made aware of what they’ve signed up for.

• Never rush the relationship building process. This is dangerous because rushing can make a person feel very uncomfortable and that is something you don’t want to do.

• Always follow up with your leads because you’re not their top priority. You have to remind them that you are there and that you are ready to make their life better.

• Always offer something valuable, such as a free report so that they can have something free in their hands. People love special offers.

So take every bit of this and run with it. You can’t expect your network marketing to work on its own. You have to give it a bit of a push in the right direction so that it will make the money for you that you need.