Sharing Is Caring
One of the leading doubts that arise during one’s decision to enter a network marketing or multi level marketing (MLM) opportunity is a perceived lack of sales experience. Yes, the sale of a product or service does transpire. However, you’re not selling, you’re sharing. And anyone who was ever four years old knows that sharing is caring. Once you change your perception to offering something that can better other people’s lives, then that will create a paradigm shift. Some of us are natural saints. Others, well, we like the idea of doing good, but tend to act through the motivation of making money. To each his own. Either way, if you put an honest effort into providing true value to others and bettering their lives in some way, then the money will follow.
“You can have everything in life that you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.” -Zig Ziglar
Just Talk about Your Income Opportunity
A lot of people think they need to spend a bundle on marketing bucks and get in over their head with their overhead. Pull back on the budget reins and start pumping out word-of-mouth marketing (WOM). WOM is free and stimulates viral marketing, creating referrals through referrals. Never ever assume someone’s not interested, because even if they aren’t, they probably know someone who is.
Plan on Failure
And you will succeed. Network marketing can be extremely fun, and many marketers even claim to forge amazing friendships with people in their uplines and downlines. However, it can be very challenging as well. Otherwise, everyone would do it, right? That’s one of the reasons sales and network marketing pay so well, less people are willing to step up and stick with it. Consistency and the expectation of short-term failure are absolutely essential to becoming a master network marketer. Hit the street, present the opportunity, expect people to say no, and celebrate like hell when you get the yes. In fact, hardcore salespeople are told to get five no’s in the same conversation while searching for their yes.
Be an Expert
Don’t just familiarize yourself with your product or service, become an expert. The more you know about your product or service, the better you’ll be able to answer your prospect’s questions. If people perceive that you are an expert about your product or service and truly care, then they will buy from you every time. Plus, the more you know about your product or service, the more confident you’ll be in your presentations. With each additional unit of confidence, you’ll not only enjoy what you’re doing more, but you’ll be more convincing in your delivery. People don’t buy from drips; they buy from people they perceive as having a backbone.
Get Involved to Generate Leads
Answers.com defines network as “a complex, interconnected group or system; an extended group of people with similar interests or concerns who interact and remain in informal contact for mutual assistance or support.” You can’t become part of a network without getting involved. Network marketers do find success through the traditional method of telling a handful of people here and there about the opportunity, and the message spreading from there. However, to get the word spreading with exponential power, submersing yourself in various groups within your community is the best way. Whether it’s an actual networking group, the local chamber of commerce or volunteer coaching, get involved. Once involved, try to keep references to your MLM opportunity casual, well-timed and highly applicable, or people will perceive your involvement as strictly self-serving. Like the definition of network points out, “for mutual assistance,” you’ve got to be ready and willing to actually contribute and help others.
Always Be Prepared
The interesting part about network marketing is you never know where you’ll meet your next customer- so be prepared. Begin your preparation by having a few essential materials with you at all times, such as business cards, brochures and sample products. Another extremely important measure in preparation is creating a solid elevator pitch. An elevator pitch is exactly as it sounds; an explanation of what you offer, which takes no longer than the average ride in an elevator. For example, “I’m a network marketer for the domain name registry of all dot WS websites. I provide fully functional web sites and am also building a team of network marketers underneath me. It’s pretty exciting.”
Other situations will obviously warrant a longer response. You’ll want to develop your 90-second story for those. For example, when someone asks you what you do, you could say “Let me tell you what I used to do, trading hours for dollars, drained on the weekend, and the older I got, the more rest I needed. Then a friend of mine introduced me to a whole-food supplement, which has changed my life-I’ve got a lot of energy and have not been sick in over two years. I referred this product to my friends and the referral checks started pouring in. Today, I am retired from Corporate America with a great lifestyle and great health. I don’t know if you or someone you know would be interested in retiring early or enjoying better health like I have experienced, but if you do…”
Make a Commitment to Success
You’ll never succeed at network marketing if you don’t make a steadfast decision to completely commit to your business- there’s no half-assin’ it when it comes to the MLM industry.
“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” -Thomas Edison
This is not to say you should hold your next prospect at gunpoint. However, making a true commitment to work a business causes your subconscious to kick in and actually expect success. And when your subconscious kicks in, then you’ve got autopilot-behavior working for you, and you’ll be unstoppable.
Andrew Rossillo - As co-owner of The Writer's Rep, I'm proud to provide copywriting and website design that has the power to launch businesses to new ...
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