Business Tips Guides

MLM, multi-level marketing, network marketing, etc, has gotten a bad wrap over the years. Originally designed to give the advertising budget of a product’s price to independent distributors instead of media corporations, many so called “companies” have sprung up over the years trying to imitate this success with a thinly veiled scam.

You see, there is such a thing in this world as a legitimate network marketing company. And there is also such a thing as an illegitimate pyramid scheme.

In a legitimate multi level marketing company, a product is being sold that is of value. It is usually, though not always, of a better quality than one could find in a typical store. This makes it sought after.

The product is typically a little higher in price than its retail counterparts, but is also typically worth the higher price. Distributors sell this product, as well as the distributorship opportunity, to earn income.

With a pyramid scheme, one of two things is wrong. Either there is no product whatsoever, or the product is worthless and completely overpriced. Instead of selling a product, distributors only sell an opportunity, with a product on the side.

To find out if the company you are thinking of getting involved with is a legitimate MLM or a scam, ask the following questions. If you have trouble coming up with the answers, ask someone close to you not already in the opportunity for a non-biased opinion.

Does the product have value?
The product or products that your company sells must have value. Though they are often slightly overpriced, they cannot be priced completely out of the market, and must be of better quality.

For instance, would you pay $20 for a box of paperclips? No. That would not have any value to you. The product that the marketing sells must be worth it.

Can you envision this product selling at a fair or convention?
Picture a booth at a flea market, farmer’s market, roadside stand or upscale convention. Will your product fit into some sort of festival?

Whether you are selling food items, candles, or some sort of service, your product needs to have a marketable venue. Those that do not will be very difficult to sell.

Would a distributor be able to make a living on product sales alone?
Is there a good enough commission on your products to be able to make a living strictly selling products? Is there a market for the products?

Or is the company’s commission plan based solely on recruiting, with sales as an afterthought. If you can’t sell the product, you can’t sell the opportunity.

If your product passes all these tests, then the company you are investigating is a sound one, and should warrant further consideration. If it does not, and you are basically selling an empty opportunity, run now, before you waste both your time and your money.

There are dozens if not hundreds of legitimate companies out there that will pass these tests. And for those that do, the opportunity can be a very worthwhile one.

Rayven Perkins is a stay at home mom and network marketing professional. Visit her site for valuable information that will help you in any multilevel marketing business http://www.stay-a-stay-at-home-mom.com/mlm.html

Part of the hype that you often hear from MLM companies is “It’s not sales; we’re providing a service”. You may have been told that you don’t need any background sales experience or that you are simply providing people with the information they are seeking already. You may have been told that this is “sharing” or “providing a service” and that it’s not really sales at all.

None of this is really true. Networking marketing and MLM is about sales. You will be required to sell your service or product to the public just like any other type of business. It is not only important, but essential that you know how to do this and how to do it correctly. To have MLM success, you need to be knowledgeable in sales.

One common untruth that spreads its way through the network marketing industry is the belief that this isn’t really sales and that instead you are just “sharing” useful products or information with people. While it’s certainly a pleasant way to look at things, it’s not a realistic way. Remember that anytime you are asking someone to give you money in exchange for a product or service, this is sales.

While it’s nice to think you are doing some great good for the community around you and that you have a product that people will be clamoring over one another to buy from you, it’s going to be a disappointing reality when this doesn’t happen. The only time your personal recommendation really means anything is when you have nothing to gain from the transaction. When the transaction will earn you financial gain, your well-intentioned recommendations to friends and family to purchase the product suddenly have a different meaning.

No matter how great your product is, or you think it is, there will still be sales involved in network marketing. In fact, the better your sales techniques, the more successful you will be. It’s important that you learn an appropriate and effective sales technique for selling your product. It’s not enough to simply suggest it to the people that you know. Once you realize that network marketing really is about sales, you will improve your business.

If you are sitting back with the attitude that this isn’t really sales or that your product is so great, it will sell itself without you really needing to do anything, than you might be wondering why you are not making sales or making any money. If you ever hope to be successful, you have to recognize first that it is sales and second, that you need a proper sales strategy and marketing technique. Once you have achieved this, you will be well on your way to success.

In fact, your product doesn’t even matter all that much, provided, of course, that it is a useful product which is being sold at a fair price. What many people overlook is that marketing is king, and a great marketing approach will sell most anything to anyone.

That’s why the secret to success is not primarily in the product, but in the marketing strategy. And this is where many network marketing and MLM companies fall down, because they don’t have an effective marketing system in place for new distributors to simply plug into.

That’s the single biggest reason why so many network marketers fail. And that’s why the first question you should always ask when considering a home business is, “How am I going to market these products or services?”.

If your potential sponsor doesn’t have a satisfactory answer to that question: Run a mile!

Ann McLaren is a former network marketing failure who now earns a multiple six-figure income after learning how to market. Visit her at http://www.annmclaren.biz

One of the first things many small business people do when considering the beginning of a company is to find a name. This process, all too often, relies on cuteness, happenstance, or other irrelevant modes of decision making.

Naming your business should not be left to fate or the whims of your favorite uncle. It takes as much procedure and research as any other aspect of your business.

Those that fail to realize this often make terrible mistakes when naming their business, putting
themselves at a disadvantage right out of the gate. If you want to give your business a name that will last, avoid some of these common mistakes and you will be much more likely to succeed.

One of the first and most common mistakes to avoid is letting others make the decision for you, particularly by committee. Nothing creative or good has ever come out of a group situation.

Now, obviously that is not true, but it’s true enough to avoid this pitfall. Perhaps worse than the creative stunt that this type of group analysis will cause, there is sure to be hurt feelings and damaged relationships if you choose to go with one person’s idea over that of another. When naming your company, it is best to go it alone. You will get better results, and no one has to have their feeling hurt in the process. Save the committees for less creative solutions.

One of the worst trends in naming is when a business owner takes two unrelated words and tries to combine them to make a new word. This is overplayed and should be avoided at all costs.

There is a rising sentiment against such names, perhaps brought on by the media and their insistence on using the same technique with celebrity couples. Your business deserves better than to blindly follow this nonsensical trend. Come up with a name that is unique and different and does not leave people scratching their heads or rolling their eyes.

The single worst mistake you can make when naming your business is to choose a common word as your name. For one, you are guaranteeing the fact that there are probably at least a hundred other companies across the country with the same name. Secondly, you have made your company impossible to find through use of an internet search engine. With so much business today being done on the internet, you cannot afford to intentionally lose yourself in the shuffle. Even if you do not have a website and will not be making sales over the internet, it is still important for people to be able to find your business with a simple search. If your name is too common, that will be next to impossible.

Is a name everything? Not at all! But by following these hints, you can at least come up with a name that does not kill your business before you even get started. Avoid the same mistakes others have made. If you have to, make your own mistakes.

Forge new territory in business naming faux pas. But to fail to learn from history is to doom yourself to repeating it.

Debora Kinsler is the owner of Network Marketing
Home Business Income Opportunities.
Get your home business income information.

If you own a network marketing business and your only method of promotion is word of mouth, you are likely one of the last of your kind. With the proliferation of advertising in modern culture, the days of relying exclusively on referral business are dwindling fast.

Word of mouth used to be a great way to build a client base. If you did a great job servicing a client in years past, you’d likely see more work from your clients’ friends, family, neighbors or colleagues. This indeed still happens, and by no means should you abandon your past clients. But without a prominent presence online today, when the friends and family of your satisfied client attempt to look for your website and don’t find one, your referral business is likely lost forever to a competitor with a strong web presence.

For instance, if you are in the roofing business and a client recommends your services to his neighbors, they will likely go into their home office and attempt to look up the name of your business on the Internet. If they don’t find your page, they will most certainly find another roofer who likely has customer testimonials and online incentives that will be equally as enticing as the praise they heard from their neighbor. They will have contact information for your competitor at their fingertips, and if the website is persuasive enough, they will obtain a quote from your competition as quickly as they can pick up the phone or send an e-mail.

Online advertising isn’t the only form of marketing that is replacing word of mouth. Branding in today’s marketplace is essential. When a catchy slogan from a print ad, television spot or radio jingle is at the top of your potential clients’ minds, they will likely contact that company. The more impressions you make on passive consumers who may not even be in the market for your particular product or service, the more likely they will be to call you when the need for your goods or service arises in their lives.

This isn’t to say that you must have a multi-million dollar advertising budget to survive. In fact, a savvy business owner should be very pragmatic with advertising funds. Return on investment is crucial. The amount of money you spend on advertising needs to be justified by its long-term returns. Simply avoiding advertising because you don’t know how to measure your return on investment, however, is no longer an option.

The most advisable way to market your business is with a strong media mix. Learn about your targeted customer base’s demographics. Are they mostly well-educated, high-income people? Consider print advertising in the leading newspaper in your area. If your target audience is more technologically oriented and younger, online ads with the leading website in your area are probably a better choice than the paper.

If you only rely on one method of advertising, be it word of mouth or a website or any other media, you are missing out on potential business. No business in today’s tricky economic climate can afford to miss out on prospective clients. Referral business is great, and customer service should strive to make your word of mouth reputation as strong as possible, but a solid media mix is best to leave no marketing stone unturned.

Network marketers should not only rely on word of mouth advertising but should employ a broader range of media mix for promoting their businesses.Erik Gifford,a network marketing internet attraction marketing coach has posted a free article at network marketing guidance.

I got high a couple days ago.

No, it didn’t involve Colombian herbs, bongs, or the munchies. I didn’t sit and stare at my hand for 20 minutes. But I felt like I could do anything. Let me explain.

My wife and I took one of our cars to a local dealership to sell it. When we stepped onto the lot, I immediately felt defensive. I’ve seen places like this before, and if you’re not careful, these shifty-eyed piranhas will eat you alive. But I was shocked . . .

My demeanor changed completely when a young man named Roger walked up and introduced himself. He asked us questions . . . What were we looking for? Where did we live? Do we have any kids?

It wasn’t so much what he asked, but that you could tell he was genuinely interested in us. Well, that, or he was playing his role extremely well.

I found his optimism contagious. He was sure something good was going to happen for us today, and he was going to do all he could to make sure of it. At least that’s how he made me feel.

At that point, I think I would have bought almost anything from him, and at any price. He was that good. I felt empowered and important. But that’s not all.

We sold the car that day, and we were happy about it. But that wasn’t the best part. My hands tingled slightly, and I felt a smile on my face. Selling the car became an afterthought. I wanted to know Roger’s magic. How did he make customers feel so comfortable?

According to Brian Tracy, “Ambitious people dream big dreams and the only behavior they accept from themselves is to make those dreams come true.” Call it tunnel vision, one-track mind, or whatever. They become experts at burning bridges.

Burning bridges leaves you with no other option but to succeed, Like Alexander the Great when he burned all of his army’s ships, to ensure there would be no retreat. His men would either be victorious or they would die. They won. It’s called commitment.

Being committed doesn’t mean you won’t fail. It does mean that when you fall on your face, you’ll pick your bloodied self back up, guns a-blazin’. It means you’re optimistic enough to see failure as an opportunity to learn how not to achieve your goals. It means that regardless of what happens to you, you’ll continue to look for ways to get what you want.

Committed people don’t look back, second guess themselves, or look for shortcuts. They know they’ve got to pay a price to get where they want to go. They continually educate themselves.

They understand that applied knowledge and consistent action are the keys to realizing their dreams. They won’t veer from their chosen path.

Commitment does not mean wishing or hoping. Pipedreams and idle talk are for losers. The truly successful know that dreams are important, but planning and doing make these dreams reality.

As for Roger the car salesman, it came as no surprise to me to find out that he was the top salesman on the lot. I’ve no doubt this young man will go far in life.

You will too if you decide to act, then take action. Burning bridges pushes you onward, away from your toxic comfort zone.

Limit your options. Accept nothing short of greatness.

Gregory McGuire is a successful network marketer and hypnotherapist living in Smyrna, Tennessee.

Discover why our team is the fastest growing team in Success University.”

Visit http://www.calling-my-own-shots.com

Sir Edmund Hillary did something huge. He climbed Mt. Everest. In fact, he was the first person in history to do so.

Imagine for a moment, a reporter waiting at the bottom of Everest when Hillary finished. The interview might go something like this . . .

“Sir Hillary! How did you do such a thing? Many people tried to do what you’ve just done and most have died. Why did you succeed when nobody else could?”

Hillary scratches his head. “Well, I was just walking along and saw this hill. I figured I might try to climb it, just to see what happened . . .”

As ridiculous as the above sounds, this is the exact way many marketers approach their business. I’m amazed at how many people have no idea what they want. And those that do, usually think small.

I’m going to let you in on a little secret I learned while becoming a clinical hypnotherapist. OK, 2 secrets . . . alright, you got me. Three secrets.

The first is that the subconscious mind creates your entire reality. All of it. Look around you. Your job, your car, your spouse, your health–all of this originated in your subconscious mind. Scary, isn’t it?

The second secret is that the subconscious mind doesn’t know the difference between what’s real and what’s imagined. This means that as far as the subconscious mind knows, your fantasies, dreams, and even your nightmares have all happened.

Another secret is that the subconscious mind tends to keep bringing you more of the same. For instance, if you’re always broke, the natural flow of things tends to keep you that way.

So, if you’re not satisfied with your life, how do you disrupt that natural flow and change course? It’s been proven that if you keep an image in your mind that, over a period of time, the subconscious mind picks up on that image and acts on it.

There have been documented cases of people making themselves wealthy this way. So how do we use this to our advantage?

As marketers, we can start by imagining huge things for ourselves. Why settle for a measly $10,000 a month when you could have millions? Why be satisfied with Everest, when you could have the stars?

Practically, this should take between 2 and 3 sessions a day. Each session should take about 5 to 10 minutes.

Now, I can hear all you busy marketers out there moaning, “Great, another thing to squeeze into my 20-hour day!” But it’s not like that.

In fact, if this imagining thing feels like work, then you’re doing it all wrong. This is play. Funtime. You should be smiling, or even laughing while you envision your wants.

If you do this enough on a consistent basis, your subconscious will pick up on it. You are essentially activating your mind to do the job for you.

How did Hillary do it? He became obsessed. He planned and thought about what he wanted. His first attempt at climbing Everest failed, but did he focus on that?

Nope. He saw what he wanted, and I’m sure he imagined many times how his victory would taste. Likewise, if you plant the seed in your subconscious, nothing short of greatness awaits.

Gregory McGuire is a successful network marketer and hypnotherapist living in Smyrna, Tennessee.

Discover why our team is the fastest growing team in Success University.”

Visit http://www.calling-my-own-shots.com