[nabentre] some thoughts on network marketing

[David Andrews]

Maryellen, the other problem is that many of us have been coerced, by 
friends or acquaintances into listening to a presentation about 
buying this or that, that we weren't able to say no to.
That is listening, not necessarily the buying, although that can 
happen too.  My Father did Amway for a while, and I had to sit 
through numerous presentations, and buy toothpaste and shampoo 
etc.  There are some good products, and some good salespersons etc., 
but some of the tactics used by some leave a bad taste.

Dave


At 12:04 AM 7/3/2009, you wrote:
>I'm with you, Loren. I also believe very strongly in network marketing. I
>think it's public relations difficulties come from those who expect it to be
>a quick bonanza. There are certainly those who make a lot of money very
>quickly in MLM, but it is net *work* marketing, not net *wish* marketing.
>Imagine you started a shop at your local mall. On any given day, a thousand
>shoppers might come into the mall; ninety per cent of them will walk right
>past your shop without stopping. They are simply not in the market for what
>your store has to offer. Of the ten per cent who do walk in, more than half
>of them will look around for a few minutes and walk out again without buying
>anything. The other half will spend more time, but probably half of them
>will make a token purchase and the other half will buy something
>substantial. This means that two and a half per cent of your potential
>customers will make a significant purchase, two and a half per cent will buy
>something. Ninety-five per cent won't do a thing, at least not today. That's
>an acceptable level of traffic for a traditional business.
>
>Now imagine that you have a network marketing business. You let one thousand
>people know that it exists. Ninety per cent turn you down flat; they don't
>even want to hear what you have to say. Of the remaining ten per cent, you
>spend time with them and half of them still don't want anything. Of the
>final five per cent, you get two and a half per cent who make token
>purchases and two and a half per cent who buy into the vision of your
>company and opportunity. What do most people say about that? "I talked to
>one thousand people and only got twenty-five customers and twenty-five
>distributors. This MLM is garbage; I'm going to quit." (Most network
>marketing companies will tell you that the odds are usually that one third
>of the people who sincerely take a look at a company will do something,
>either become a customer or distributor.
>
>I think the difference is that, when we approach people to let them know
>about our MLM business, we're putting ourselves out there in a way that we
>don't if we have a traditional business. It's easy to feel that we're being
>personally rejected when the truth is that people we talk to just may not be
>on the same wavelength today. That doesn't mean that they won't be five
>months, five years, or ten years from now. Successful network marketers get
>their egos out of the way and concentrate on finding people who want what
>they want. They don't try convincing people; they just look for the right
>ones. Network marketing actually has a better return rate than traditional
>business; it just seems less because the "no" of someone you talk to in
>person or on the phone is much more memorable than the "no" of the person
>who just walks by your mall store without stopping.
>
>As for the complaint that the people "at the top" get the money and the
>people "at the bottom" do all the work, there is a lot that could be said. I
>won't begin to say all of it, since everybody on this list has better things
>to do than read a small book. In reputable companies, money changes hands
>for products. You buy something and pay for it. (You may need to pay a fee
>for registering with the company, but that is never a commission for the
>person doing the recruiting. In Nikken, the company with which my husband
>and I work, commissions are paid based on the sales volume of the person
>doing the selling. The person who does the work of training new people gets
>paid for it in the form of bonuses based on the recruit's volume, but never
>to the detriment of the recruit. The people "at the top" earn a lot because
>they've helped train a lot of people. If you're good at prospecting (and I
>don't mean nagging everyone you know) recruiting, and training people, and
>if you do it consistently for long enough to develop a staff, you'll make
>money. If you don't do the work, you won't. It doesn't really matter whether
>you get in early or late; our company's products have less than one per cent
>market penetration, so it's still early after twenty years of doing business
>in the United States. I suppose that even a company which is known to most
>people still has opportunity for an ambitious representative.
>
>This isn't intended as a commercial for our company; obviously I think it's
>reputable and has phenominal products or I wouldn't associate myself with
>it. It is intended as a brief explanation of the principles of reputable
>network marketing. If anyone on the list would be interested in
>understanding the concept behind network marketing more thoroughly, I would
>be happy to find links to resources on the topic.
>
>
>
>Mary Ellen Gabias
>
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