Obviously, there are several benefits of becoming a network marketer, full or part-time. Should you meet the above criterion and have great life skills, you can easily enroll for network marketing and get rich quickly. Remember, network marketing, by no means, is a cakewalk, as one could get deceived into imagining. Instead, it requires extra efforts. All your interpersonal skills and social contacts will undergo rigorous tests when you enter network marketing.
Firstly, find out which exclusive products can be useful in your community or neighborhood. This can indeed be very tricky. Remember, a majority of successful network marketing companies operate in rather avant-garde domains of healthcare and beauty. Meaning, the products will most likely be untested for results are based on traditional or shaman recipes. However, the biggest challenge is selling financial products or schemes that offer high returns for low investments. Here, network marketing is at severe disadvantage for several reasons. For one, investors prefer conventional offerings such as bank deposits, mutual funds and insurance. Especially since the network marketing industry as a whole continues to reel under various major scams involving investment schemes.
Secondly, selling financial schemes often involves excruciating efforts. Obviously, nobody wants to part with money to invest in dubious sounding schemes by nondescript companies. Meaning, you will waste precious time on convincing someone without prospect of a sale. Thirdly, you will require astute and excellent mathematical and financial skills to convince a buyer to take your investment product.
Step-2: Determine affordability
Regardless of whatever product or service you intend to promote through network marketing, affordability matters. Meaning, your target clientele should be able to buy your stuff easily. I started MLM business in 2001 and my first company was Japan Life. I attended their seminar in Mahim, Mumbai and was very much impressed with the overall presentation of the product & the earnings of MLM leader present there. The product offered was a magnetic bed. You won’t believe, but the price of this magnetic bed was around Rs 90,000. It was not affordable to me but still managed to buy it. I worked very hard for 6 months, tried to convince each of my friends & relatives but not able to sell even a single product.
The reason was “It was very expensive”.
Expensive or high-risk offerings have fewer takers. Affordable product means you attract more people. This directly translates into higher or lower income for you. Generally, reasonably priced products stand a better chance of success in network marketing. For example, nobody will buy a shampoo for Rs.500 or toothpaste worth Rs. 300 unless they have proven miraculous predications. However, a product that costs reasonable for its quality and ingredients will sell faster.
Step-3: Scout network marketing companies
Once again, this is a very essential element of entering the network marketing business. As mentioned earlier, several fraudulent companies continue to mar the market almost daily.
I joined Speak Asia Online in 2010 and recruited few of my relatives & friends in this MLM company but soon I begin to doubt about the authenticity of the company. Thank god I did not promote it heavily because the company proved to be a biggest fraud of that time.
Therefore, you need to be extra cautious in selecting the company you wish to represent in your social network. Associating with perfidious companies can tarnish your family and your social and financial standing. Further, you also need to ensure the company you wish to represent has limited presence in your target market. It is easier to build on a reputed, established brand but returns can be lower due to tenacious competition from existing network marketers of the same company.
Upon completion of the first three steps, you need to identify your target market. This involves compiling a list of your closest people who can afford the product or service. Additionally, you can also determine popularity of your target customers in the society. Remember, network marketing depends heavily upon the proverbial word-of-mouth publicity. Hence, the better connected your target customers, higher your chances of promoting the stuff to a wider clientele.
Frankly speaking, every network marketing based company brazenly brags about its popularity. This will be evident from their promos on the internet, mailers and other literature. Undoubtedly, there would be several rags-to-riches stories that a company highlights. However, you also need to determine whether there are any riches-to-rags stories among the company’s network marketers.
Usually, glamour of network marketing promos tempts a beginner to invest heavily. We recommend you assiduously resist such allurements. Remember, a reputed brand means intense competition, little known product means slower progress. Therefore, be cautious when investing in network marketing products and schemes. Further, never empty your coffers or bank balance to invest on network marketing.
Step-6: Approaching the MLM company
Like insurance, “Network marketing business is sold not bought”. Someone will knock your doors in the form of relatives, friends or colleagues offering you a great-sounding scheme..
But if you have already decided to join a particular company, then easiest way to join it through an existing network marketer working in that company. Just Google “Company Name” + leader or associate or distributor and you will find ads from network marketers in various classified sites. Now contact each of them and find the best network marketer who can provide you complete help for growing your network. Network marketers are desperate to join such people. You have good chances of negotiation. Now you decide what you want from them.
As soon as a network marketing company welcomes you onboard, get yourself the necessary credentials. This involves getting company brochures, flyers, promotional material, samples, testimonies of satisfied users and other similar stuff. You can also have a small signboard at your premises and posters/ banners on streets stating your network marketing business, products, services and contact numbers. Further, you will require business cards and some basic stationery including invoices, cash receipts, quotation books and letterheads. This can cost a small fortune. However, investing on these will impart a professional tinge to your network marketing business.
Step-8: Identify opportunities
Immediately upon establishing your network marketing venture, you need to look for clients. For starters, begin with the list of target customers you made and approach them with your offerings. Further, you can request them for referrals, regardless of whether these initial targets culminate into successful sales. Furthermore, you can promote your business during fairs and fests, at religious shrines, sports and community clubs and social events. Look for opportunities to set up a small stall or showcase your products and services wherever people will attend in large numbers but will have ample time to speak with you. But if you need quick results then I will highly recommend you to promote your network marketing business on internet. From 2001 to 2009, I promoted all my MLM companies offline only. I would start with all my contacts and then with pamphlets distribution and newspaper ads.
But when I started online promotion, I got more members in just 1 year than what I got in 8 years of offline marketing. Network marketers in Thailand and the Philippines serve as excellent examples about how Facebook can be effectively deployed for network marketing. They post excellent pictures and videos of their products, complete with testimonies and pricelist. These network marketers not only attract clients within their country, they frequently bag foreign customers too. So I will highly recommend you to start promoting this online through blog, social media and many other ways explained on Money Connexion.
Step-9: Help your downline for duplication
One of the biggest mistake most of the network marketers make is not helping their downlines to grow their team. You need to invest part of your earning to provide training & other help to your team members. Each and every member in their team will give you same earning as your direct members. You can take separate meetings of your team in a nice hotel and provide them all the support & training they needed to expand their MLM business. Remember, other network marketers are also active. You need to develop your own tactics to keep your contacts and network loyal. This can be done by hosting occasional parties to celebrate an achievement or family outings. Often, you may have to part with freebies to ensure your customer, contact or network remains loyal.
Insight into workings of network marketing
Understanding how network marketing works is rather simple. Once you enroll with a company, you become their associate. You do not represent this company. Simply put, you are selling stuff produced or offered by that firm as your business. Meaning, you buy from the company and sell to the end user. There are absolutely no intermediaries like distributors or agents who get commissions. Usually, you will have to place an order for the stuff you wish to sell. This can be done before or after getting orders from your customers. The company will send you its products through appropriate channels such as road, rail or airfreight. For smaller packages, the company can use the postal service or a good courier. Once you have received the ordered stuff, you sell it to the consumer.
The difference between your buying and selling price determines your profits. Often, companies give incentives such as freebies that can also be sold to consumers. This money is also your profit. Further, you can increase earnings by enrolling more network marketers for the company. Your new recruits have to submit completed forms to the company, clearly indicating interest in promoting its products and services. Sometimes, a small entry fee is charged for enrollment. A portion of this entry fee is paid to you as incentives.
