If you’re a network marketer, one of the things your upline has probably hammered into your brain is that you must immediately tell everybody you know or meet about your opportunity. Conventional wisdom has always said, “Talk to family and friends. Invite everyone you know to the next opportunity meeting or webinar. Use the three-foot rule.” Also, most upline types who are successful will not even acknowledge that there are other perfectly good opportunities out there beside the one you are in. Well, that’s just not so. I could rattle off at least 10-20 companies that have good products and pay plans, excellent leadership, etc. (I could also give a list of real stinkers, but that’s another story.) My point is, doing this is a good way to get other people to avoid you like the plague. You’ll be looked upon just like those religious groups who go around and knock on every door in the neighborhood trying to push their beliefs on everyone they meet. Look, I realize that a certain amount of “evangelism” and “ignorance on fire” will always accompany a good network marketing opportunity that you just joined. However, there is a very important difference between being seen as a marketer or as a peddler – between Attraction Marketing and used car salesmanship.

Back to basics: what is your target market for your opportunity? Everybody, right? No! Unless you have an inhuman tolerance for rejection (and plan to only sponsor other people who have it too), approaching “everybody” is not smart. Your target market is other network marketers. The good news is, you don’t have to convince this group that network marketing is not a “pyramid scam”, illegal, immoral, or fattening. The bad news is, 9 out of every 10 members of this group are currently in another network marketing program and they are happy with it… for now. And no, you are not going to convince them that “yours is better.” (If you can, somebody else will do the same to them and pull them out of your program.) Most of them will be looking for a new company in 90 days, because that’s the average lifetime of a distributor in a network marketing opportunity. Right now, the only thing they want is for somebody to tell them how to succeed in network marketing. That’s why your best approach is to use a funded proposal and some kind of lead generation system.

Your funded proposal pays you a small amount for providing them with valuable tools and training they need and want. Lead generation gives them what they lack: quality leads for their current opportunity. You’d think everybody would understand the “Attraction Marketing” concept by now. When you lead with your primary opportunity, you are practicing “Revulsion Marketing” — the kind that makes people feel uncomfortable around you. So first of all, give people what they need now. That establishes you as a leader.

A few months from now, they may be in the market for a new primary opportunity. Why? Even if they take your tools and start succeeding (unlike 97% of network marketers who fail), their company may go bankrupt (two thirds of network marketing companies fail in their first three years). Or the pay plan may get changed, costing them money right out of their pocket. (It happens when companies get greedy.) Or the company may fall prey to some scandal – a product causes a serious health problem or even death, company leadership gets involved in legal troubles or gets successfully sued, etc. When one of those things happens, the network marketer you helped in his/her hour of need will turn to someone they trust. That person could (and should) be YOU. That’s when you can approach them with your opportunity.

Having said all this, I continue to be astounded at the number of people who use social media to blast (some would say “spam”) their followers and friends with direct sales pitches about their primary opportunity. Facebook is a prime example. I see many people there posting message after message about their network marketing company, its products, the company convention they just went to, etc. When I accept a new friend request, I send a short message to people inviting them to follow me on Twitter and join my fan page. Many of them come right back and pitch their network marketing opportunity to me when they’ve barely met me. It’s like asking for sex on a first date. Big turn-off! (Apparently only rich professional athletes can get away with that…)

So here’s my advice, and it probably runs counter to much of what you are hearing from your company, your upline, etc. Begin by promoting a good lead generation or training program. Your primary program should only appear on your blog, and even then it shouldn’t be the main focus of the blog. You are in the business of branding YOU, not any company or set or products, no matter how great they are. When you make a new friend or receive a new follower, direct them to your blog (more on blogs in a future post). Your blog is the place where you reveal what you know and add value to the market community you are trying to serve. If you are seen as a leader and a provider of value, people will actually ask you what program you’re working. And they are much more likely to join you if you have proven to them that you have a clue.

Dr. Dick

P.S. Do you find our posts to be of value? Then go to our “subscribe” section on the right hand side of the page and enter your name and email. You’ll be guaranteed not to miss a single one.