Marketing exposed.

What is Marketing?

Let’s break it down. Marketing simply means moving a product or service from the manufacturer or provider to the consumer. Multi-Level refers to the system of compensation provided to those persons who are causing the product to move or the service to be provided. There are really only three basic methods of moving products.

1) RETAILING-I’m sure everyone is familiar with retailing. The grocery store, the drug store, the department store . . . you go into a store and buy something.

2) DIRECT SALES-would usually, (but not always) include insurance, cookware, encyclopedias, etc. Fuller Brush, the Avon lady, 1ipperware home parties, etc. are some examples of Direct Sales efforts.

3) MULTI-LEVEL MARKETING-is the one we shall be discussing in this site. Put simply its word of mouth advertising.It should not be confused with the other two, especially with the Direct Sales method of which MLM commonly is confused.

A fourth type, often confused with MLM, I have already mentioned is PYRAMID SALES. The fact is, PYRAMIDS are ILLEGAL! One of the main reasons they may be illegal is their failure to move a product or to provide a valid service. If a product doesn’t move, how can you even call it “marketing,” let alone “Multi-Level Marketing” Multi-Level they may be-- but MARKETING THEY ARE NOT!!!

Most objections that people have about getting into Multi-Level Marketing are due to their not realizing the differences between MLM and the Direct Sales methods of marketing.

You have been conditioned, perhaps, to think of MLM as door-to-door  sales programs because your first encounter with them was when a distributor knocked on your door to sell you something.

MLM practices in Nigeria  makes the whole concept seem like one has to go and beg people to buy a product. FALSE!!!On the other hand, since we get the product at a wholesale, we can recommend it for health reasons to friends and family. They can’t get it off a Mall shelf, so we can help them get it. That is all the selling you might need to do. Otherwise, Enjoy your product and be in good health.      
     

The most common misunderstanding about MLM is the notion that you HAVE TO sell retail to be successful. There is a lot to be said for selling retail and it should not be ignored. Some programs even require a retail quota be met in order to qualify for a bonus. You may sell if you want to or have to due to your particular program’s requirements, but in regard to making the larger sums of income-the real success is in building the organization. Infact in the MLM vehicle I am involved in, most participants don’t sell. We just love the product, so we use it.

IMPORTANT POINT: IF you want to sell,Let your sales come as the natural result of building the organization. More people fail than succeed by trying to do it the other way around-they try to build the organization by emphasizing selling. As you read through this article, you will see this concept unfold before you.

 I would discuss the simple process of building an organization in the next post.

When you build an organization, you are actually building a network through which to channel your products. Retailing is the foundation of Network Marketing. Sales in MLM or Network Marketing come from distributors SHARING with their friends, neighbors, and relatives. THEY NEVER HAVE TO TALK TO STRANGERS.

With virtually all the MLM companies, the need to spend large sums of money on advertising is non-existent.

Advertising is done almost exclusively by word-of-mouth. For this reason the Company have more money to put into product development. As a result, they usually have a HIGHER QUALITY product than their counterpart found in retail stores. You can SHARE with a friend a high quality product of a type that they are already using. You’re simply replacing their old brand with something that you have discovered through your own experience to be better. So you see, it’s not going door-to-door-every day calling on strangers. All network or MLM programs that I know of teach that if you simply SHARE the quality of their products or services with friends, that is all the “selling”That is involved. (We prefer to call it “Sharing,” because that’s what it is!)

Another thing that differentiates MLM from Direct Sales is the SPONSORING of other distributors. In direct sales and even in some MLM companies it’s called RECRUITING. However, “sponsoring” and “recruiting” are definitely not the same thing. You SPONSOR someone then TEACH them how to do what you are doing-building a BUSINESS OF THEIR OWN. We emphasize: there is a big difference between sponsoring someone and just “signing them up.” When you SPONSOR someone, you are making a COMMITMENT to them. If you are not willing to make that commitment, then you are doing them a disservice by signing them up. At this point, all you need to be is WILLING to help them to build a business of their own.

It is a RESPONSIBILITY of a sponsor to teach the people they bring into a business  all they know about that business. Things such as ordering products, keeping records, how to get started, how to build and train their organization, etc.

SPONSORING is what makes a Multi-Level Marketing business grow. As your organization grows, you are building toward becoming an INDEPENDENT, SUCCESSFUL businessperson. You are your OWN BOSS!

 ‘To be sure, you can make a good living in some programs by just selling the product-but you can make a FORTUNE by building an organization as your primary function.

People will get started in a Multi-Level business with the idea of making $50, $100, or even $200 per month and suddenly they will realize that if they want to get serious about the business they could be making $1,000 or $2,000 per month-or more. Again, remember that a person doesn’t make that kind of money by just selling the products . . . they make that kind of money by building an organization.

MLM is not a PYRAMID scheme. No one is working for another person. Everyone is building their team. In a company, The hierarchy pyramid is built from the top down and only those in at the very beginning can ever be near the top. In the “MLM” triangle, everybody starts at the bottom and has the opportunity to build a large organization. He can build an organization many times larger than his sponsor’s organization if he wants. By 2020, MLM will be doing in excess of $10 TRILLION annually. That is BIG BUSINESS!

Most people don’t realize that MLM is that big! Multi- Level Marketing has been in our midst for about 35 years now. Some companies that have been around for 20 years or so are already doing a billion dollars per year by themselves.

We know of one company that did over $2,000,000 in its first year of operation. In its second year they went over $15 MILLION. For their third year they projected $75 MILLION. Their goal is to reach ONE BILLION per year by the end of their 5th year.

MULTI-LEVEL MARKETING is one of the viable ways for anyone to earn extra income working full time or part time.Truth is we all do network marketing when we recommend a product: we don't just get paid for it. Why not get paid for life by being in love with one product?