Confession of A Network Marketing FAILURE!
Confession of A Network Marketing FAILURE!
Copyright 2005 by Willie Crawford
When I first noticed network marketing, or multi-level
marketing (MLM), I ignored it. That's because I considered
myself an "Internet marketer" and Internet marketers
seemed to view network marketing as beneath them. They
seemed to view Internet marketing as more honorable.
So, I spent many years as an Internet marketer, not
taking a serious look at network marketing. When a close
friend, whose judgement I trusted, got me to take a serious
look at a network marketing business he was in, I was
shocked. It was a very powerful business model, offered
a great product, and I was sold. Things really took off
for me!
Within 3 months of getting involved in network marketing
with this company... with a very good product, an excellent
compensation plan, and great training, I was the number
ONE recruiter in the entire company.
How did I do so well so fast? I used the skills I had
learned as an Internet marketer to become a recruiting
machine. You see, I'm a pretty good copywriter, an
excellent salesperson, and understand marketing. So I
just broke out my Internet marketing big guns. I did
the things I'd learned over a 7-year period in Internet
marketing, and that made me unstoppable.
Despite all that, I FAILED miserably. I say that because
my downline members weren't doing nearly as well as I
was. Yes, they had access to the same tools and training
that I did. I even gave them permission to use the tools
I created (articles, funnel websites, etc.). However,
they weren't as effective as I was and it's because my
unique experiences in Internet marketing was something I
couldn't transfer to them.
Two mentors had to "whack me up side the head" to get me
to see what I was doing wrong. One mentor had built a
downline of 274,000. He said, "You can't be a big success
in this industry, unless what you do is duplicable by
everyone in your downline." Another mentor, earning over
$80,000 per month in residual income, pointed out that
my personal statistics don't matter. What matters is
the statistics of those I recruit. How fast are they
building their organizations.
Mentors like these, and my upline, taught me that the secret
to network marketing success is building an organization
of people who are building their organizations. You have
to use leverage and duplication!
Once this sank in, and I began doing that, I was back on
the road to becoming one of the top network marketers in
the entire country. It's only a matter of time :-)
A few other lessons that I learned the hard way...
1) You need a product that it's easy for people to
understand and see the need for. Products that people
are already consuming are ideal.
2) You need a well-written website that immediately
explains both the product and the income opportunity.
Websites that explain things in a roundabout way will
lose most of your visitors. They simply won't stick
around trying to figure out what the site is all about.
3) You need a product that isn't readily available in
the local stores for a comparable price.
4) You need to actually interview potential downline
members. Treat it like you're hiring someone in a
regular job, and don't act out of desperation... Don't
"hire" everyone that expresses an interest. Find
out why the person wants to be in the business and
only recruit those with strong motivation. Discover
their "reason why" and use that to assess whether or
not you should spend time working with this person as
a part of your organization.
5) You don't really need a huge downline. You just need
a handful of producers who then go out and find other
producers. If you are a recruiting machine, as I first
was, you'll sign up too many people who just aren't willing
to do the work.
6) Don't tell people that it's "easy." Instead, let
them know that if they want real success, they will have
to put in the work. Show them that others are very
successful doing exactly what they'll be taught to do
but don't mislead them into thinking everything will
magically be done for them.
As a network marketer, it's critical that you not only
learn from your company and upline, but that you also
learn from other network marketers. Read the books,
listen to the tapes, and subscribe to the newsletters.
Learn as much as you can about the industry. This will
save you from making many costly mistakes. It will
keep you from having to fail before getting on the path
to success. Others, like me, are doing very well in
this industry, and are all too happy to teach you.
--------------------------------------------------
Willie Crawford has been involved in some form of sales
for nearly 40 years. Highly regarded as a top network
marketing trainer, Willie shares resources and tips that
dramatically shorten your learning curve. Willie's favorite
recruiting tool is at http://SendOutCards.com/willie
Copyright 2005 by Willie Crawford
When I first noticed network marketing, or multi-level
marketing (MLM), I ignored it. That's because I considered
myself an "Internet marketer" and Internet marketers
seemed to view network marketing as beneath them. They
seemed to view Internet marketing as more honorable.
So, I spent many years as an Internet marketer, not
taking a serious look at network marketing. When a close
friend, whose judgement I trusted, got me to take a serious
look at a network marketing business he was in, I was
shocked. It was a very powerful business model, offered
a great product, and I was sold. Things really took off
for me!
Within 3 months of getting involved in network marketing
with this company... with a very good product, an excellent
compensation plan, and great training, I was the number
ONE recruiter in the entire company.
How did I do so well so fast? I used the skills I had
learned as an Internet marketer to become a recruiting
machine. You see, I'm a pretty good copywriter, an
excellent salesperson, and understand marketing. So I
just broke out my Internet marketing big guns. I did
the things I'd learned over a 7-year period in Internet
marketing, and that made me unstoppable.
Despite all that, I FAILED miserably. I say that because
my downline members weren't doing nearly as well as I
was. Yes, they had access to the same tools and training
that I did. I even gave them permission to use the tools
I created (articles, funnel websites, etc.). However,
they weren't as effective as I was and it's because my
unique experiences in Internet marketing was something I
couldn't transfer to them.
Two mentors had to "whack me up side the head" to get me
to see what I was doing wrong. One mentor had built a
downline of 274,000. He said, "You can't be a big success
in this industry, unless what you do is duplicable by
everyone in your downline." Another mentor, earning over
$80,000 per month in residual income, pointed out that
my personal statistics don't matter. What matters is
the statistics of those I recruit. How fast are they
building their organizations.
Mentors like these, and my upline, taught me that the secret
to network marketing success is building an organization
of people who are building their organizations. You have
to use leverage and duplication!
Once this sank in, and I began doing that, I was back on
the road to becoming one of the top network marketers in
the entire country. It's only a matter of time :-)
A few other lessons that I learned the hard way...
1) You need a product that it's easy for people to
understand and see the need for. Products that people
are already consuming are ideal.
2) You need a well-written website that immediately
explains both the product and the income opportunity.
Websites that explain things in a roundabout way will
lose most of your visitors. They simply won't stick
around trying to figure out what the site is all about.
3) You need a product that isn't readily available in
the local stores for a comparable price.
4) You need to actually interview potential downline
members. Treat it like you're hiring someone in a
regular job, and don't act out of desperation... Don't
"hire" everyone that expresses an interest. Find
out why the person wants to be in the business and
only recruit those with strong motivation. Discover
their "reason why" and use that to assess whether or
not you should spend time working with this person as
a part of your organization.
5) You don't really need a huge downline. You just need
a handful of producers who then go out and find other
producers. If you are a recruiting machine, as I first
was, you'll sign up too many people who just aren't willing
to do the work.
6) Don't tell people that it's "easy." Instead, let
them know that if they want real success, they will have
to put in the work. Show them that others are very
successful doing exactly what they'll be taught to do
but don't mislead them into thinking everything will
magically be done for them.
As a network marketer, it's critical that you not only
learn from your company and upline, but that you also
learn from other network marketers. Read the books,
listen to the tapes, and subscribe to the newsletters.
Learn as much as you can about the industry. This will
save you from making many costly mistakes. It will
keep you from having to fail before getting on the path
to success. Others, like me, are doing very well in
this industry, and are all too happy to teach you.
--------------------------------------------------
Willie Crawford has been involved in some form of sales
for nearly 40 years. Highly regarded as a top network
marketing trainer, Willie shares resources and tips that
dramatically shorten your learning curve. Willie's favorite
recruiting tool is at http://SendOutCards.com/willie
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