Two Common, Outdated Perceptions of What Network Marketing is All About

If you’re considering a network marketing opportunity, you have probably read a lot of opinions about the pros and cons of this type of business.

I found a column with some interesting comments over in the USA TODAY Money  section.

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In this column, the author is answering a question from a reader about multi-level marketing. Apparently the author had a negative experience with MLM and network marketing, and was struggling to provide a balanced and fair opinion for the reader.

Here are a couple of short excerpts, with my comments.

while everyone gets excited about the idea of recruiting people to join below them and the geometric growth that can occur…eventually…somebody will actually have to sell the company’s product to someone…

A better way to put this, I think, is to say that product will actually have to be purchased and consumed by someone. In a good network marketing opportunity, with quality and fairly priced products that people actually use, there will be quite a lot of consumption and product usage by the distributors themselves. Retail sales to customers outside the marketing plan will normally happen simply by spreading the word (not everyone will want to be a distributor), so you should see product consumption two ways.

That said, if someone believes you can start a business and just recruit people and nobody uses or sells the product, certainly you’ll have the scenario that the columnist is referring to. This can happen when there is incentive to recruit based on bonuses paid on start up package purchases, along with heavy emphasis on recruiting only.

If it’s all about recruiting, getting bonuses on start up packages, but no ongoing product sales or usage, there is a big problem. But, in a good situation with a reputable network marketing business, this is not going to be the case.

Here is another comment from the column…

all of us have a limited amount of people we know…to whom we can pitch a business opportunity…be prepared to try and sell people you love a business they may not want…after you barrel through your friends, your acquaintances and co-workers will become your next target…After that, who…

I think this happened a lot in years past, and even today when an upline group teaches only the “belly to belly warm market” approach. In theory, you can contact and try to sell everyone you know. Then, hopefully, some of them will join and start doing the same thing with their warm market. Sooner or later, you should have a nice group going and a solid income.

In reality, it usually doesn’t work that way. Eventually, for most network marketers, it will become necessary to go outside that warm market if you want to expand your business to a full-time income level and beyond. This is where the Internet and modern technology has changed things so much.

Success in network marketing and MLM is no longer confined to who you know and how well you can work that local “warm market” of friends, relatives, and acquaintances. Anyone now has the opportunity, with the proper coaching and support, to tap into a virtually unlimited pool of prospects who are actively seeking ways to work from home or start home based businesses.

With all respect to the columnist in USA TODAY, network marketing has changed. It’s no longer all about chasing friends and family and becoming an unwelcome pest. It’s about presenting your opportunity in such a way that opportunity seekers will find you and come to you hungry for information. It’s a different world out there now.