What is Network Marketing?Network Marketing is a relationship-based business; it is about people helping people to build a business or focusing on your customers for your products and services. Network Marketing really is an unseen business and it is all about sales.
It is a business vehicle in which anyone can invest a small amount of money, and through sheer tenacity and determination, achieve staggering levels of financial reward and personal freedom. But, for it to work successfully, it requires you to become educated on the principles and practices of the industry, and use a
proven business marketing system.
Network Marketing is Direct Selling does not have giant signs or large offices, yet according to the Direct Selling Association (
DSA) over 30 million people across the world are working in the Network Marketing/Direct Selling Industry.
The
Network Marketing/MLM Industry has a very shady reputation. Many of the people you will talk to feel it is a scam. But nobody have emphasis any valid justification in this opinion. In many ways they are justified, but you can make a difference with the way you market your business. I am sure in today's world every traditional businessman also following virtually
Network Marketing Model.
In the 1950's when Franchise’s first emerged, they where labeled a scam, illegal etc. Fortunately, a franchise is not labeled as such anymore or quite possibly you would not be enjoying your favorite hamburger today if that concept hadn't changed. Have a look at the two different, yet similar, business types that you could be involved in or approached with to earn Residual Income:
Network marketing is all about sales and distribution, but a different kind of sales. It’s more of a soft sale or recommendation then the hard closing type that you’re accustomed to with the typical salesman or saleswoman in the direct sales. The best approach by far in Network Marketing is a consultative sales approach. This is used very successfully today and makes customers feel at ease.
Direct Sales Companies
These companies are known as seller-based, they market higher priced, usually one time sales items. The benefits of these programs are you make higher commissions but they have very little if any residual income. Essentially, if you stop working, so does your income.
You are paid directly on what you personally sell, so you have to sell lots and lots of merchandise. This also limits you to the type of people you can bring into your business as the “salesperson” type. Direct sales cost more to get involved with usually in the thousands of dollar range, again limiting you on the number of people that have or are willing to invest in a new venture!
If you are looking to get started in a Network Marketing Company, educate yourself and choose a responsible sponsor, before you take any action. Since this is a relationship based business, you need to feel comfortable with the person you choose to coach and mentor you.
It is vitally important to understand the different aspects of a Network Marketing company, compensation plans, training, products, services, before you actually pick a company that is right for you.
When you first get start looking at a network marketing business, you really need to have the mindset that you are starting your own Business. You need to tap into training from day one. There is so much you will have to learn that at times, you may feel completely overwhelmed.
If you stop to think of it as a giant puzzle with so many pieces that have to fit together properly, you will be on the road to success. Through out our life, business systems have taught each of us to be a good employee. College systems teach us to be a good manager.
We have never really been taught how to successfully run our own business. What you really need to do at this point, is unlearn everything that we’ve been taught. The typical employee mindset is to do as little work as possible, but to get richly compensated.
As a small business owner, if you’re not willing to go the extra mile in both time and money, then it is time you start thinking about doing something else in life. Not everyone is cut out to own and run a small business, let alone a Network Marketing/MLM Venture.
Network Marketing, should be about gathering customers and business partners. Yet, most of the companies today only teach you to recruit and get everyone on the product. You can build a very successful business with only a handful of representatives in your organization if they are taught to gather customers and other Opportunity Seekers who show a genuine interest in building a business.
How does Network Marketing work?
Today there are millions of people around the world building this unseen industry called network marketing.
The
DSA reports that there are over 30 million people across the world involved in direct selling. You do not see them but they are everywhere, some probably right in your own neighborhood. It is a business in which common people can invest a small sum of money, and rise to staggering levels of financial reward and personal freedom.
Each day millions of people report to work, where your employer leverages your time to build his or her business and financial future. In Network Marketing, we help and assist others in building their business. We are also leveraging their time, while each of us is gathering customers along the way.
Hence, the name Network.
We are paid for this because we are assisting, coaching, and helping others to establish their business. We help them to reach their goals for their financial future. So, it’s only right that we also get paid for our time?
Just like your employer leverages your time, through network marketing, you can leverage the time of others. What does this mean?
Let’s take a look at a typical employer in a service industry with 100 or more employees that has a labor rate of 60 dollars per hour. The goal of our employer is to keep each employee active and busy for each hour paid.
Out of this, once all the costs of doing business are factored, such as wages, health insurance, unemployment insurance, federal taxes, state taxes, permits, maintenance, housekeeping, the list just goes on and on, the employer may get to keep 5 to 10 dollars per hour of that labor rate.
In Network Marketing, we have our initial start up costs, which are anywhere from just a few dollars to several hundred dollars. Where most Network Marketers fail is that they feel that they don't need a marketing budget for advertising and they don't seek out the education required to succeed.
One of the important most things to remember is, you are in a real business. You no longer have a boss holding you accountable. Your success or failure is dependent upon you and your actions.
Your primary task will be to gather customers for your products or services, to help and assist others to get started in their own business while being partnered with you. You are looking at a business model that will take 3 to 5 years to produce the kind of results you’re looking for.
So, don’t give up your day job just yet. It will require 10 to 20 hours of consistent time and effort each week to build a successful Network Marketing Business. It will require a marketing budget, most people do not even consider this. Once again, this is a real business! This is your business! It is not a get rich quick overnight program, although, it has been hyped by a great many naive Marketers and web sites.
Network Marketing is based on word of mouth advertising, which is the most effective form of advertising. Think about it. When you go out, watch a great movie, you will tell other people about it. When Sam’s Club or Costco moved to your area, you joined their buying club and started telling everyone how much you saved. This is the power of word of mouth advertising.
Major advertising agencies and companies count on this. This is one of the key things that we do as Network Marketers. The major difference is that we are paid for our word of mouth advertising.
One of the most often asked questions is, will I have to sell products and services? The answer is yes, of course. Think about it, no one likes to have a salesperson come to the door and sell them products, right? We hate to go to the automobile dealers, where we are swarmed with 5 different sales people all trying to get you to buy from them right! How are we, as a Network Marketer, different? We recommend
products or
services that we like and personally use. If we know it’s good, and personally use it, we recommend it to our friends and family is very easy.
