Is Anyone Listening to Mike Dillard?

I cruised over to BetterNetworker.com this morning eager to see what magneticsponsoring.com has become.  The site is beautiful and I’m looking forward to exploring more in the coming days and weeks.

I wanted to post here, though, because I was floored by what I found at BetterNetworker.com.  Mike made premium ad space available for only ten advertisers for this launch.  The ads are well placed and visually appealing.  Knowing what each of these businesses had invested in the opportunity to be part of the launch, I was curious to see what marketing tools they were using.

And here’s the really weird part.  It looks like only one person (Ann MacLaren) of the featured advertisers is actually using Mike’s attraction marketing strategy.  Only one person is offering anything of value to interested readers in exchange for an opt-in.  Only one person is branding herself instead of her business opportunity.  On Mike’s site!!!

I had the privilege of getting acquainted with Ann at a recent conference and I know that her business is steadily growing.  I don’t know how the other advertisers on BetterNetworker.com are doing, but from my own experience, I’d guess they are missing the mark and wasting tons of money because they aren’t using basic strategies that are available to them for less than $40 in Mike Dillard’s Magnetic Sponsoring.

If you think you’re competing with “deep pockets” for leads or prospects, I hope this post has raised your awareness .  People are dishing out thousands of dollars, then not using effective attraction marketing – so they may as well have bought air.  Believe it when you read that people are interested in following leaders.  They are interested (if they are interested) in YOU not your opportunity.  They don’t want a biz op, they want solutions to their problems.

Give them what they want instead of parading your opportunity.  It’s more effective.  It costs less.  And you really can be of service to people.

 

An Effective Marketing System – The BetterNetworker’s Antidote to Wasting Time Talking With Unqualified Leads

If you’re talking with people who are not ready to buy what you have, you have a marketing problem.

I’m obviously not talking about Holiday gatherings – that’s your social time.  I’ll talk about putting your friends and family on notice in another post.  I’m talking about the time and effort that many people spend “pitching” their opportunity to people who are neither interested not qualified when they employ such methods as “the three foot rule,”"the who-do-you-know game,” and “sizzle cards.”  These are methods of “marketing” that are still being recommended by sponsors in large portions of the industry.  The problem with them is that they depend the the salesmanship of the “marketer” and they are extremely un-leveraged activities.

Effective marketing systems are how we leverage our efforts and create a consistant flow of qualified individuals interested in our opportunity.  The more effective the system, the more leverage.  The more leverage, the more qualified individuals we are talking with.

And a BetterNetworker always uses leverage.  Imagine that you talk with 50 people each week, who have all been through an effective marketing system.  They have met specific criteria in order to progress through the system, so you know they are qualified.  The marketing system (salesmanship in print) has told them all about your business and your compensation plan.  The benefits have been laid out for them in black and white (or more commonly in video).

Now you call to introduce yourself and welcome their interest in your opportunity.  You don’t have a hidden agenda.  You can just be friendly and get to know them in an environment of “lead abundance” because you know that their decision is their own.  They can join your business or not and it really doesn’t matter to you – it’s all a numbers game.  You know that there is another qualified person for you to talk with as soon as you hang up.

Your prospect hears, senses, knows that you are simply making an opportunity available to them AND that you don’t need them as much as they need you.  This is a quality of leadership that is very attractive, so your rate of sponsorship goes up, your team grows faster and you can spend your most precious asset – your time – where it really counts.

As a BetterNetworker, you obviously have some options when it comes to the marketing system you decide to use.  Here are some questions for you to consider as you make your choice:  Does the system do all the “sifting and sorting” for me?  Does the system do all the “selling and telling” for me?  If the answer is “Yes” to both, your growing team will have a much easier time using the system and your rate of duplication will increase.

If you want to create it from scratch, we suggest starting with Mike Dillard’s MLM Traffic Formula 2.  It’s the most comprehensive resource we have found on the topic and it’s very well priced.  If you have the opportunity to purchase his MLM System Formula (currently off the market), do it, it will save you tons of work.  Go check out  Success Sponsor.

To Your Success

 

Quitting doesn’t make you a Quitter.

Do you hate your job? QUIT! No, I’m not giving you career advice. I am saying either quit your job or quit hating it. One or the other.

Look, there is a perfect person for every job, business or enterprise worth doing. I believe that the perfect person will love doing that job. Their strengths will be exactly what are needed to do the job well. Their weaknesses will be minimized and they will know it is their perfect job because they will be happy doing it. If you’re not in your perfect job, you are standing in the way of the person whose perfect job it is.

I have observed this over and over again, most recently first hand. You see, I officially quit my job a few months ago. That’s when I told my boss that I was planning on leaving. When I met my successor I absolutely knew that He is perfect for the job I hate.

Let me be clear. The job is not a bad one. Seen objectively, most people would look at it and call it cushy. It was a good match for my skills and I performed well. I was compensated fairly – as jobs go. My boss did not often intrude upon my work. My co-workers defered to me and my subordinates performed their duties without much effort on my part. It even involved a worthy objective.

In fact, from an external perspective, it looked like a perfect job for me. The only problem with it is that I hated it. For the almost a year and a half I dragged myself out of bed to go do a job that my body, my soul rejected. Every day as I drove to work, I felt my energy dropping and my happiness receding. When interacting with coworkers that little voice inside was screaming “You don’t belong here!!!” It was like the life was being sucked out of me one day at a time. Slowly. If I hadn’t been looking for it, I may never have noticed. My culture, my family had taught me to look at the externals and ignore that little voice. But I choose instead to listen.

See, I also believe that we are supposed to be happy. That happiness is an essential part of a life well lived. That personal sacrifice is sacrifice and that it is never required.

When I took that job it suited me. But at some point (I can actually tell you almost exactly when that was) the job’s direction and my internal compass began diverging. And instead of moving on then, I allowed myself to stay, like the comfortable frog in the pot of water heading toward boiling. I told myself that I was a stabilizing influence. That during a period of transition, I could lend my encouragement and support to the people I worked with.

Once I announced my resignation several coworkers took the time to tell me that I would be missed, that I was a “ray of sunshine” in the office, that I could always be counted on for a smile and encouragement. Things like that. And I am grateful that they don’t know how much I hated my job.

You may be thinking to yourself. Oh, I guess she’s independently wealthy. And in a way you are right. I don’t have a lot of money, but it’s coming. That is as inevitable as the sun rising tomorrow. Because there are two critical ways I am different from the people who stay in jobs they hate.

First, I have self respect. I value myself, my contributions and my own happiness. Second, I am willing to ask “How can I create the life that I want?” instead of passively accepting the situation as it unfolds around me.

I’m not telling you to walk out of your job tomorrow. But I can say from personal experience that the result of that action could be far more positive that you think. You don’t have to be unhappy. You have more options than you are currently considering. You just have to start asking the right questions.

Your solution may not be the same as mine.  After started a direct sales business last year I have given myself the freedom to make this choice. The energy I have freed up to build that business since I quit my job has fueled its success. It was the right choice for me.

Explore your options. But start now. Commit to being in a “job” you love by this time next year. With the right opportunity, twelve months is more than enough time to build a successful business. In fact depending on your current skills you may need only six months or three. The key is to start taking action today. Right now. You are worth it.

 

Be Passionate, but Maintain Some Objectivity

I admit it. I fell in love with my first network marketing opportunity. I won’t name it here (see, I still have a little crush), but it was marvelous. The product was beautiful, good for me and tasted great. It didn’t really lead me on. It didn’t have to.

I brought a sample home to share with my husband. We consumed it together, gazing lovingly into each other’s eyes as we toasted our health and growing a home business together.

But before you get too misty-eyed, I have to break some news. The relationship was doomed from the start. It wasn’t that the product itself wasn’t great (it is), or that the compensation plan wasn’t generous (it is), or that our upline was unsupportive (they weren’t). It wasn’t that our family couldn’t accept it. They loved it, too.

The problem was bigger than me or my wonderful, flavorful, healthful product.

The problem with this opportunity was that it did not have the characteristics to be a vehicle for me to reach my goals by building on my strengths while minimizing my weaknesses.

What do I mean? First of all, my goal was to be financially free. That meant creating one or more passive income streams that were larger than my expenses. I’m not in the “save and minimize your spending” camp. I want to live large. That means big streams. Could this business produce the “big streams” I wanted in a vehicle?

In MLM, which is what this opportunity was, big streams mean big down lines. Big down lines mean big duplication.

It wasn’t that I didn’t understand the concept: Put one on your left and one on your right. Help each of them do the same. Repeat. Simple. It was that I couldn’t see it. That wasn’t how my upline had built their business. It wasn’t how anyone in our little group who was being even modestly successful was building their business. It wasn’t how my business was growing. What I saw instead was a few people working to grow their business, but almost no duplication.

No duplication, no leverage. No leverage, no big streams… I started to get concerned. I don’t blame the company or my upline. The truth is I wasn’t even doing what they were telling me to do. I wasn’t “sharing” the product with “my list.” I wasn’t hosting “parties.” I wasn’t giving out “free” samples.

I had tried all of those in the beginning. But I had a hard time having honest conversations with friends while the little voice in my head was asking me “Do I share it now?” When I planned a party, no one came. I shared a ton of free product with acquaintances, but I didn’t know how to qualify them, so I couldn’t keep that up without going broke.

You see the problem with this marketing plan (if you can call it a plan) is that it didn’t play to my strengths while minimizing my weakness, so it couldn’t effectively move me toward my goals.

I’m not a quitter. When it became clear to me that the current plan wasn’t working, I began to look for answers. I really wanted to make the relationship work. Then I did what I always do when I have a question: I googled it. What I discovered when I went online was a complete surprise. Instead of finding a way to strengthen my relationship with my “first love,” I learned how ill-suited we really were.

What I learned made me a BetterNetworker.  I learned that though my first love had shown initial promise, there were other opportunities out there that really did play to my strengths.  I discovered direct sales – a part of the industry that I hadn’t even known existed.  I learned that there were vehicles that were a better match for my path, where I could make a few sales each month, slowly grow my team and still meet my financial goals because I was getting paid now for what I did rather than for what my “massive duplicated team” did at some point in the future.

Most people in network marketing move through several opportunities before they find one that is a great match.  If you haven’t found it yet – keep looking.  This is an amazing industry with room for anyone who is willing to learn and to persist.

The process of discovery gave me the opportunity to meet and work with some of the most outstanding leaders in the industry.  I moved from the outer fringes of a large MLM organization to sharing meals with Jay Kubassek and Mike Dillard.  And through them, I discovered that a well-suited match will outperform first love any day.

 

Respect Your Prospects

I recently read an article critical of the number of ads on the internet claiming “250K First year Income Potential” for a network marketing business opportunity on the grounds that these ads only appeal to a person’s greed and desire to make a quick buck. Huh? Wait a minute!

Income potential is an important aspect of making a business decision. A BetterNetworker knows that when we are presenting a business opportunity, we’re not asking people to join a social club. We’re offering them the opportunity to become our business partners. Income potential is specifically the kind of objective, unemotional sort of data that I have often used when deciding where to invest my time. Can we accurately represent the possibilities of network marketing without discussing income potential? What do other industries do?

Here’s my experience. About twenty years ago (yikes) I sat down with Dr. Ed Ashley, then the chairman of the department of physical therapy at Loma Linda University. It was during the summer between my sophomore and junior years of college. I was 19 years old. I was thinking about changing my college major from history & economics to physical therapy. The decision was pretty pragmatic. I had recently realized that I didn’t want to try to live on a history teacher’s salary.

So I was investigating my options. I was also considering taking a year off to work and earn some money rather than just powering through school. Dr. Ashley said, “Melissa, PT school will cost you about $40,000. PT’s are making about $40,000/year right now. How many businesses can you buy that will return 100% of your investment in the first year?” So he shared the income potential of this alternative with me and provided me with the valuable information I needed to make an informed decision.

Notice, he didn’t say “PT school is highly competitive. We expect about 12,000 applicants next year. Each applicant will have to pay a fee ($100) just for us to review their application. We’ll only be accepting 65 new students. And only 59 of the students accepted will likely finish.” He didn’t have to. We both knew that my success or failure depended on me.

But why would I spend a year earning chump change now when I could earn three or four times as much my first year out of school? I invested four years of my life and about $40,000 in that education and made $42,000 my first year out of school. I was far from the top earner in my graduating class. I have never once accepted any business proposition without considering the income potential. It is a key aspect of my decision-making process.

A BetterNetworker know that we must honestly discuss our entire business, including income potential, with our prospective business partners so that they can make informed decisions. Most people considering a network marketing business have less “free” time and more at stake than I did at 19.

A BetterNetworker knows that network marketing has many colors and flavors… I have a friend who markets jewelry using home parties. She makes $100-$200 per party and she loves it. She was looking for part time income and it’s perfect for her. It is not designed to make her $250K this year. Her business would drive me crazy! I wanted a business that would support my family and grow into a real asset, so I chose a business that’s designed to do that.

Bottom line, a BetterNetworker understands that different opportunities offer different benefits. They offer social benefits, education, personal development, and income. We need to respect our prospects enough to encourage them to consider return on investment and risk, to complete their due diligence, then to commit to our opportunity only if it’s in line with their path, purpose, dreams, aspirations and goals. A BetterNetworker keeps his or her ego out of it and is a true advocate for their prospect.

The result is that a BetterNetworker will naturally build a bigger business because people are drawn to that kind of integrity. They are attracted to someone who will honestly present the essentials of the business – including income potential.

And don’t expect those “250K First year Income Potential” ads to disappear any time soon. In fact they’re likely to increase in number. Why? It’s simple. The people placing them are BetterNetworkers and they have growing businesses that support growing marketing budgets. How else could they make $250K a year?