Untold Secrets-The Dark Side Of Network Marketing
All you need to do is just find 5 people and you’re done…they say.
It’s super easy…they say.
Just get in and we’ll build the business for you…they say.
You’ll get tons of spillover…they say
The products sell themselves…they say.
Just make a list of your friends and family and invite them over to your home or office for a presentation…they say.
Get your up-line to do a 3 way call and you’re on your way…they say.
And before you know it you’ll be walking on the beach, basking in the Caribbean sun, swimming in the crystal blue waters, your toes sifting through soft white sand, drinking Pina Coladas.
Wow, sounds pretty easy to me....Right?
And...Who do not want that exotic lifestyle.....Right?
Selling The Dream But Living The Nightmare.
So many people that are selling you on “the dream” are actually living a nightmare.
Not only that, but in many cases they are telling you complete lies.
Fake stories of success.
Fake stories of lifestyle.
Rented cars.
Fake pictures with lear jets.
Pictures with cash on their table or floor spread out all over their computer.
(which in many cases is their rent money or their entire savings account).
Get in now. Lock your spot.
All strategies used to try and entice you to join.
But how much of it is real?
It’s no wonder that people are so skeptical when it comes to the home based business industry.
They’ve been lied to so many times.
What Most Leaders Don’t Telling You.
Now you find out that your sponsor is flat broke, everything they told you about the business
and their success was a complete lie.
They can’t even pay rent with the menial commissions they are making.
You’re 2 months in now and your sponsor out right quits the business. (once again, always ask to see the back office of the person you are being sponsored by for verification of their success and get references from their students if they claim to be a coach or mentor).
Remember that not everyone is even qualified to be a sponsor, coach or mentor.
How can a person teach you what to do, when they can’t even rub two nickels together themselves?
Don’t be in a situation where it’s the blind leading the blind.
When you’re looking for a sponsor, you are looking for a business partner and someone that provides value and leadership to your business and your success.
If the person that introduces you to a company is flat broke, has never had one bit of success in any area of their life, chances are they will be out of the business in 6 to 8 weeks.
The result?
You end up being in your company as an orphan, trying to figure out this business model all on your own.
So pick your sponsor very wisely.
It’s important for you to know that it’s
YOUR BUSINESS – and it’s only going to happen, when you decide that you are going to make it happen.
You are the Boss. It’s YOUR business right?
WRONG
- They have 15 or 20 years of network marketing and leadership experience under their beltwith a Rolodex of Network Marketing contacts, before they even started the business they are promoting now. Yet they portray that you, as a brand new newbie, can get the same results as them and make a $30,000 income your very first month.
- Corporate guarantees, salaries or cash bonuses that they are getting that you don’t.
- Fly-ins and buy-ins exclusive to them and not you.
- Inserting of people above you in the marketing plan AFTER you join. What? Above you? YES!
- 3 way calls from dawn til midnight. Oh great. So as a leader you can now work from 7 am til midnight 7 days a week too? That’s NOT LIFESTYLE.
- Flying around the world from city to city, living out of a suitcase.
- Spending the money they are making trying to create forward momentum or sustain the income they are making.
- People quitting faster than they are coming in, yet the leader is still selling you on the dream. Then one day they just up and vanish to a new company with no notice, taking another signing bonus
It’s important to note that IF DONE CORRECTLY under the right mentorship, with the right company, that the home based business industry can provide you with an amazing lifestyle and the freedom you are looking for. IF you learn how to become a professional marketer.
If you aren’t having fun working in your business you’re doing something wrong and you won’t last long.
Like any industry, there is the good, the bad and the ugly.
But Why this industry is still the best industry on this planet
Is is called: TRANSFORMATION
Watching people have personal breakthroughs. Seeing people step into their personal power and become leaders. Real life rags to riches stories that you are part of as a leader. Nothing can come close to this.
It’s one of the most incredible industries that you can ever be involved with.And when you compare it to the alternative of being stuck in traffic an hour each way to and from work, reporting to a boss that you can’t even stand and not getting paid what you’re worth, I will take the home based business industry over Corporate America any day of the week.
Network Marketing LIE #1 – You Only Need 5 People.
You were told in the beginning that you only will need
FIVE PEOPLE.
“Just get 5 people and you’re done.”
Some people will even tell you that you only need 2 people.
That’s even a bigger lie.
“Between you and your team
you need to be bringing people in faster than the people that are quitting. And at some point in time, (when the company hits a stage of momentum) the people coming in far outweigh the ones going out. Then and only then will you have any type of a lifestyle income. Until then, it’s hard work.”
But wait a second. I thought you only needed 5 people?
The truth is you need 5 LEADERS.
And you may go through hundreds, sometimes even THOUSANDS of people to find those 5 leaders.
They need to be people that are tapped into personal development.
People with influence in their community or their church.
People that have marketing skills, leadership skills, that can inspire, motivate and lead a team to victory.
So truthfully, it will all depend on YOU!
Your level of personal development.
Your level of leadership.
Your level of influence.
Your marketing skills.
AND YOUR MINDSET (which is 95% of your success or failure in the industry).
And if you want to make a million dollars in Network Marketing, you basically need a small country of people to do it. Typically about 80,000 people.
But anyone can do the business right?
NO.
If you are not a highly motivated individual that is on the path of personal growth, then it probably isn’t the industry for you.
The 5 people can be ANY 5 people right?
WRONG.
Only the people that have a dream and have no excuses ever make it.
Keep in mind that
broke people typically attract more broke people.
Successful people typically attract more successful people.
So you better be
REALLY CLEAR on who you are looking to attract into your business.
You are what you attract.
In order to attract the one. You need to
BE THE ONE.
So you better be on the path of personal development and have some leadership qualities if you want to make big money.
The lower the people are on the totem pole of success, the more problems and drama you will have in your organization.
this industry really is all about personal development disguised as a business and if you want to make it big, you really need to be feeding your mind with personal development books, cd’s, dvd’s, videos and attending
LIVE EVENTS.
Network Marketing Lie #2 – Your Company Will Last Forever.
The truth is most start up companies don’t even make it past their first year.
And many more don’t make it past 3 years.
Companies go through 4 phases.
Formulation.
Concentration.Momentum.
Stability.
The Formulation Phase is the first phase. This is where a company is just getting started.
Typically this is the riskiest phase to get involved with. Many companies are not properly funded in this start-up phase and never make it. If the company ever runs out of money, mismanages the money, or has credit card issues, they are done in this phase.
During this phase, mostly leaders and people that are financially stable come on board because this is the riskiest phase of them all.
This is also where some people create huge incomes for having first mover’s advantage. Honestly, it’s a little like playing Craps in Vegas and rolling the dice.
This phase usually lasts 1 to 3 years depending on the growth within that first year. The one drawback to this phase most of the companies never leave this stage. I’ve seen many companies go 5 to 8 years. Some as long as 10 years and never hit any type of significant concentration or momentum phase.
The Concentration Phase happens when a company hits between $30-$50 million in a year. This is when the company is starting to gain some traction and you start hearing the buzz in the industry and people start talking about it. Once this Concentration Phase kicks in, the Company is typically 1-3 years away from going into momentum.
The Momentum Phase typically happens 1-2 years after a company hits between $75- $100 million a year in sales. This is an exciting time, because if you have enough leaders in place when this phase happens, there is nothing like it. Incomes start going completely vertical.
What’s exciting about this phase is that it’s like riding an ocean wave. Everyone getting in at this phase seems to be making money fast. They say the sweet spot for people to join a company and really explode their business is right around the $100 million mark.
The Stability Phase is the last phase of an MLM company. At this point the company is usually doing around $1 billion a year (or at least close to it) and they are stable. Everyone knows that the company is not go anywhere and they will be around for the long haul. They are here to stay.
This is where most companies want to be but very few have ever reached that billion dollar mark. This is where once a company is there, you will have people joining you who are just frustrated with all of the failed start ups and false promises out there.
Network Marketing Lie #3 – Everyone is a Candidate For Your Business.
This is the furthest thing from the truth.
You wouldn’t go to a Dentist to get an oil change on your car would you? NO.
You wouldn’t go to a Chiropractor for your kitchen renovations would you? NO.
So why would you go to people that are not even qualified to be entrepreneurs in the first place?
Why would you go to every person within a 3 foot radius of you?
Or to anyone that will fog a mirror?
Or to the broke people that are stuck in victimhood that can’t even afford to pay rent?
There are literally tens of millions of people around the world that are already sold on the business model of direct sales, home based business and network marketing.
They don’t need to be sold.
They don’t need convincing.
You don’t need to put them in a head lock or tie them up to get them to join.
They will never ask you if you are marketing a Pyramid Scheme.
They will never question your integrity.
If a person has not reached a point in their life where they have drawn a line in the sand and will no longer accept their reality the way that it is,, they usually quit at the first sign of any pushback from prospects, rejection, or bumps in the road from the growing pains that all companies go through.
Focus on BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS and getting to know people.
Get good at asking questions and LISTENING and STOP pouncing on people like a black panther.
Stop trying to hard close people into your business the very first time you meet them.
It’s a total turn-off.
And trying to convince people that your MLM is the best thing since sliced bread.
STOP IT!
It’s not necessary.
And it makes you look desperate.
Focus on the person’s needs goals, wants, desires, their passion and THEIR VISION.
Once you come to terms with the fact that not everyone is an entrepreneur and that some people actually like working jobs.
Everything will shift for you.
You will no longer be emotionally attached to a person’s success or failure.
Or whether or not they join you.
And you will start
QUALIFYING PEOPLE to see if they are even a fit to work with you.
Some people are just not self motivated and are not cut out to be entrepreneurs.
They need to have the fear of losing their income in order to actually take any action in life whatsoever.
Thats a BOSS-WORKER BEE model.
Always remember that the world needs waiters and waitresses and people to dry clean your clothes and wash your car.
Entrepreneurial success just isn’t for everyone.
It takes a certain type of person.
A certain type of leader.
Be ok with that.
The moment that you are ok with that, you will no longer attract the lower vibration people into your reality that are stuck in victimhood.
You will start to attract people that are already in the industry and are in-between companies and people that are business professionals that have real marketing budgets.
People that have leadership qualities. People that are self
motivated.
People that are coachable.
Get clear on your definition of your perfect business partners.
If a person is the right fit for you, they are typically sold on joining your business BEFORE they even come to your meeting, or watch your video.
The ones that are the right fit enrol immediately and typically have half a dozen or more people enrolled their very first week. There is zero resistance or convincing the right person to join you.
Network Marketing LIE #4 – Any Sponsor Will Do.
Now you find out that your sponsor is flat broke, everything they told you about the business and their success was a complete lie.
They can’t even pay rent with the menial commissions they are making.
You’re 2 months in now and your sponsor out right quits the business. (once again, always ask to see the back office of the person you are being sponsored by for verification of their success and get references from their students if they claim to be a coach or mentor).
Remember that not everyone is even qualified to be a sponsor, coach or mentor.
How can a person teach you what to do, when they can’t even rub two nickels together themselves?
Don’t be in a situation where it’s the blind leading the blind.
When you’re looking for a sponsor, you are looking for a business partner and someone that provides value and leadership to your business and your success.
If the person that introduces you to a company is flat broke, has never had one bit of success in any area of their life, chances are they will be out of the business in 6 to 8 weeks.
The result
You end up being in your company as an orphan, trying to figure out this business model all on your own.
So pick your sponsor very wisely.
It’s important for you to know that it’s YOUR BUSINESS – and it’s only going to happen, when you decide that you are going to make it happen.
You are the Boss. It’s YOUR business right?
WRONG.
Network Marketing LIE #5 – You Are The Boss. It’s Your Business.
The truth is that you are a “distributor” or an “affiliate”.
Sure you work your own hours. But what you really are is a glorified sales person for a company that is in control of your pay check and in control of your destiny.
You are marketing someone else’s products.
Their policies and procedures are written in favour of the company –
NOT YOU.
The policies and procedures of the Company are always written in a way so that the Company can pull your check, terminate your distributorship, take all of your people and your hard earned efforts and residual income.
Often times they will leave you with your pants down without warning, under a whole myriad of scenarios.
It can happen at anytime and without notice.
It can even be something as innocent as having lunch with a person that is a friend that just happens to be in another Network Marketing Company.
Whaaaaat?
YES!
You have a business. You’ve built for 3 or 4 years.
Someone sees you having lunch with an old friend and BOOM your back office is locked and your income is history.
Your business (that you thought was your business) and your income (that you thought was your income) is gone in one shot. BOOOM!
Find the right Company and the right mentor and you can make a fortune.
Find the wrong Company with the wrong sponsor or mentor and you can be living a nightmare.
And what’s worse is that Network Marketing Companies force you to have to agree to their terms and conditions when you are the most excited about your business. (Right when you are just signing up).
Most people never even read the policies and procedures of their company before they get started.
They don’t think it’s a big deal, so they hit the “I accept” button and blow right past it when they are enrolling.
It’s not until you start making half decent money, (typically $10,000 a month or more) before the Dark Side of Network Marketing rears it’s ugly head.
The bottom-line is that in Network Marketing, you are a glorified employee, led to believe that you are the CEO of your own business.
In many ways, it’s sort of like working for the Gambino Family if you know what I mean. You;’re not in control and you are completely expendable at anytime.
Do you get the tax deductions of running our own business? Sure.
Can you work your own hours from anywhere in the world? Sure.
But are you steering the ship of the company? No.
Do you make any corporate decisions as to the direction of the company? No.
Do you have any say in the marketing materials, or the products they launch? No.
Do you have any control over how the company spends their money? Mismanages their money? Who they hire or fire? Or who they terminate from the company whenever they want? No.
As long as you are considered to be “good” and “faithful” and “stay inline” with the head honchos, then you can expect to get paid.
But fall out of line in anyway, get under the skin of management, or piss off another distributor that gets their ego wounded because of your success, and your business is like a scene from the Godfather.
So what do you do to protect yourself?
Brand yourself as a leader on the front end with a
custom branded blog.
Recommend products, services and companies on the backend.
If anything happens to the company, your business is very easy to recover and be back into a full-time income within 30 to 60 days.
You just redirect your recommendations to another company, product or service of your choice.
Your
brand and image, as well as your marketing materials all remain in tact and totally untouched by the closure of that company. Using this strategy, regaining your income and your momentum happens very fast.
This is a much smarter way to build a business.
It’s a strategy where:
There is
ZERO rejection.
There is no alienation from your friends and family.
No one will ever ask you if you are marketing a pyramid scheme.
It doesn’t require you to do 3 way calls from dawn til dusk.
It doesn’t require you to do home parties to have success.
Your phone starts ringing with INCOMING CALLS
You have an endless supply of qualified leads.
So how does one make the shift?
Separate yourself in your branding from the Company. The first thing you will have to realize is that Network Marketing is a LEADERSHIP business model.
The REAL PRODUCT is YOU.
Not your potion.
Not your lotion.
Not your antioxidants and your vitamins or your coffee or your weight loss or your skincare.
The company wants you to believe that it is.
But the SMART MARKETERS know better.
It’s NOT about pitching products or hard closing prospects.
It’s NOT about features and benefits.
It’s NOT about GET IN NOW or LOCK YOUR SPOT.
And if you go down that path of pitching people I can tell you that it will be really painful and a path filled with massive rejection.
Plus, you will be on your phone doing 3 way phone calls from 7 am til midnight, 7 days a week.
And that really sucks. ESPECIALLY if you are a leader.
The more skills you have, the more everyone wants YOU to be their hero and save the day.
Like a ball and chain, 3 way phone calls literally take over your life. Your phone starts ringing at 7 am and many nights doesn’t stop ringing until midnight or as late as 2 am the following day.
Set yourself up as a leader and a marketer NOT a “Pitch” person.
- Create VALUE to the marketplace with your own custom branded blog, positioning you immediately as a leader in the marketplace. Most top leaders have their own blog. It becomes the central hub where they provide all of their training for their team and value to the whole industry.
- Identify the problems that people are having in the marketplace. People that are already sold on the business model. Focus on providing the solutions to the problems of your target market on your blog and watch your phone start ringing with INCOMING CALLS.
- This means zero rejection for you as a marketer.
- No more pyramid scheme comments.
- An endless supply of pre-qualified leads.
My hope for you is that you are reading this blog post LONG BEFORE you have totally alienated yourself from your friends and family, (like most people do) in addition to alienating yourself from everyone that they know as well.
There is nothing worse than wanting to go to see a movie with a friend on a Friday or Saturday night.
But no one will pick up the phone and answer your call because they all think you’re calling to pitch them on your business opportunity.
Are You In This as a Hobby OR as a Career?
This is probably the most important question to ask yourself when you first get started.
And it will be the determining factor for you as to which path you are going to take.
Are you in it to win it? Is this a LONG TERM career move?
Or are you in it short term to just to “see how it goes” and make a little fast cash with no real intention of going long term?
Also ask yourself why you are getting into the industry in the first place. Is it to have a job lifestyle?
Or did you get into the industry to really create REAL FREEDOM for you and your family?
Working HARD vs. Working SMART.
In business you can work HARD or you can work SMART.
I don’t know about you, but life itself is hard enough.
When it comes to business and making money, I prefer to work SMART.
The reason I started my business in the first place was to create more TIME FREEDOM so I could spend more time with my son and travel the world.
Most companies will tell you to make a list of your friends and family.
They tell you to invite them over to your home or office.
Do your presentation and then do a 3 way call with your up-line.
“Let your up line do all of the work to close your people” They say.
Sounds pretty simple right?
Imagine this….
Let’s say that in your first meeting, you bring on 5 new people.
Who is doing their 3 way phone calls?
You? NO.
Heck you just started. You can’t recite all of the stuff your up-line did?
You can’t answer all of the questions your up-line did?
So who do YOU want to do all of the calls and presentations?
Your up-line of course. They are the power closer. Right?
So now the 5 people get 5 people and now you have 25 people all wanting their presentations and closing done by the up-line.
Now what happens?
25 people get 5 people each and now you have 125 calling from 7 am til 2 am the following morning for 3 way phone calls and presentations.
Just imagine what happens when there are 625 people.
The industry that you got into with the goal of creating “time freedom” has now become an all consuming full-time job from dawn til dusk doing 3 way phone calls, closing presentations flying from city to city and living out of a suitcase.
Many days you end up exhausted, stressed out with a sore throat unable to even talk.
It’s the farthest thing from time freedom.
And the better you get at closing. The more people want you. And their people. And their people’s people.
You basically just bought yourself another job.
And most MLM companies pay you pennies on the dollar.
The whole 54% payout is an illusion due to the qualifiers they put in place with the number of legs and amount of volume per leg.
If you plan on making a million dollars in Network Marketing, you literally need a small country of people (about 80,000 or more on your personal team).
Hey wait second.
What happened to the “time freedom” and living on the beaches of the world that you were promised.
Focus on ATTRACTION MARKETING and PERSONAL BRANDING to create true time freedom.
In Summary
The real product is YOU not your potion or lotion.
It’s a LEADERSHIP business model, not pitching features and benefits.
Set yourself up for success with personal branding
using a blog as your central hub.
Get a mentor to fast track you to the top.
Understand target marketing and demographics. There are literally tens of millions of people around the world that are already sold on the business model of direct sales, home based business and network marketing.
The people that typically get into the industry are either in a state of transition or have reached a breaking point.
Look for quality people over quantity.
If you are spending money on advertising focus on your personal brand as a leader instead of investing your money into the brand of the company.
Focus on providing value and helping people solve their problems.
PROVIDE VALUE and they will come.
CREATE CONTENT and they will come.
SOLVE PEOPLE’S PROBLEMS and they will come.
SHARE YOUR INCOME STORY and they will come.
SHARE YOUR PERSONAL BREAKTHROUGH STORY and they will come.
Start sharing your story and
building your personal brand now.
Watch the video that has created 14 verified millionaires.
