TIME TO DROP NETWORK FROM NETWORK MARKETING?

I started to write this article after I had been involved in network marketing for 1 month. Thirty days. Or 22 days if you take out the weekends. So what made me think I had anything valuable to say to network marketers after just one month in the business? Because whilst I am new to network marketing, I have been in marketing for 30 years and the fundamentals of marketing apply whether you are selling tyres, accounting software or beauty products. And they apply whether you are selling on a street corner, a boutique, an online shop, a weekly market or via a network.

When I started investigating the network marketing business, I was shocked by how much emphasis is placed on networking - cold calling leads, buying leads, converting leads, pitching to family, friends and colleagues, doing demos to small gatherings of potential team members ... Sure, they all have a role to play, but they are not the way to build a large, passionate, team who will follow you everywhere you go.

To do that, you need to think about how McDonalds or Nike or Virgin would go about it. As Mike Dillard writes (and Mike is one person who DOES get it!), McDonalds is not in the business of selling hamburgers. To be honest, their hamburgers are disappointing. The average corner shop makes better burgers. But that is not the point. People do not spend thousands of dollars to buy a McDonalds franchise because they believe they will be selling a better hamburger. They buy a franchise because they trust McDonalds to attract customers that will generate a return on their investment. People come because McDonalds is a reliable, repeatable experience. A McDonalds store in Prague offers the same experience as one in Durban. People buy a franchise because there is a better than average chance that they will make money.

OK, how about Nike? Is their product better than the Adidas product? Reebok? Asics? Not necessarily. They work and work well. But Nike has placed its emphasis on attitude, not equipment - even though they are equipment manufacturers. What they want you to feel is that with Nikes on your feet, you can do anything. The product benefit message is subliminal. What they are saying is that you do not need to worry about how well your shoes perform, so you can concentrate on how well you perform. Nike manufacture sports equipment, but what they deliver is empowerment. They are sports psychologists - for those of us who can't afford sports psychologists.

Nike is helping you realise your dream. They concentrate on telling you that you can do it - whatever IT is. Their golf clubs, runners, singlets and so on aren't the end goal. Merely the tools that get you there.

When people choose to get into network marketing, they are often taught old models of business building. Talk to family and friends. Throw parties. Do product demos. The idea being that family and friends are less likely to slam the door in your face and that if people try the products, they'll want to join the business (and thereby build your team and your income).

Yes, you need people to buy your product. But your success as a network marketer will be decided by the number of people who join your team. And as far as attracting new members to your team, YOU are the product.

People will choose to join your team because they believe you can help THEM succeed. Because they see you are a passionate supporter of your team. Because they see that you add value.

People eat at McDonalds because McDonalds delivers a reliable result. People buy a McDonalds franchise because they feel success is virtually guaranteed. The two facts are unrelated.

People buy Nike because they feel Nike understands them and will help them achieve their goals. (Oh, and because their heroes use Nike products.)

If you are the product, then how do you go about marketing yourself? Well, one way is to tell people how brilliant you are. Try that on your family and friends and guess what? It's hard enough to convince those close to you that the products you are now selling are great, let alone try to convince them that you are!

However, the way to attract people to you and your business is by demonstrating you possess the skills that will help them succeed. Exactly as the big successful marketers do it.

The most trusted brands in the world do not say "trust us". They earn trust.

Network marketing handbooks tell you to make hundreds of phone calls to get people to come along to a product demo at which you can tell them about the products and then throw in the business opportunity. Imagine if McDonalds did this. They call you on the phone and deliver a one minute sales pitch to try to convince you to come to a store to try a hamburger and then after you've tasted the hamburger or tried on the runner they try to convince you to buy a franchise.

What big advertisers do is work out what message is most likely to resonate with people and then use mass media to communicate that message to as many people and as cost-effectively as possible.

Making phone calls takes time. Doing product demos for a handful of people takes time. Time is something most of us have too little of. This is a really inefficient way to build your network marketing business.

The smartest (and most successful) network marketers sell themselves the way the big brands do. They use media to reach people outside their circle of contacts. They use media to demonstrate their expertise, their passion, their helpfulness. They use social medial to attract people to themselves - often using free ebooks or podcasts as incentives (and these also help to build their reputations and respect).

What they are doing is creating an image for themselves that attracts others. If you are the CEO of your network marketing business, what you are doing is building an image that attracts the best, most enthusiastic, most industrious people to your brand - and to your team.

Nike wants the best athletes to be attracted to their brand. Nike wants people to perform their best when using Nike products.

That's marketing. And that's what network marketers need to do.