Do You Make These Mistakes In Your MLM Business?
“The first problem for all of us, men and women, is not to learn, but to unlearn.“
- Gloria Steinem
We’ve mentored many home business builders over the past few years, spent many hours working closely with many and have helped thousands across the world through our courses and content online.
Often, before we can teach them proven online marketing strategies to help take their business to the next level, we have to first untrain and help them unlearn a few common things which is robs most home business entrepreneurs from enjoying the success they dream of.
We want to share with you what these common mistakes are so you can reflect on yourself and see if YOU are guilty of these as well.
Common Mistake #1: Fooling Yourself into Thinking that Your MLM Distributorship is an Actual Business…
Folks are in for a shock when we flat out tell them that their MLM “business” is NOT a REAL business! The reactions we get are often that of shock and disbelief, followed by angry rejection and denial, followed by some sobbing and grief as the reality of what we tell them finally sinks in.
Once that’s done is when the REAL work can begin – when we coach them on what they need to do to start their REAL business.
Now, don’t get us wrong, we love the MLM concept and owe our freedom to this industry. But that still doesn’t mean you’re a REAL business.
Don’t believe us? Try to do any of things on this list, which would be reasonable for any REAL business to do:
- Advertise on Google AdWords, Banners Ads or Other Forms of Advertising
- Put Together a Website Telling People About Your MLM Opportunity/Products
- Create a Video Explaining Your Company’s Comp Plan and Post it Online
- Go Write a Sales Letter or Sales Video Selling People on Your Opportunity
- Break Any of the 100’s of Company Rules, Which May Restrict Your Ability to Spread the Word About Your MLM Business and/or Products.
Now, if this was truly a business that you own and operate, would someone else (outside of the government, which only happens if you do something against the law) be able to shut you down? The answer is a big fat NO.
When you own a real business, YOU control all aspects of that business – from how you market, what your website looks like, to whom you hire and fire, the system you use to run it, what products you want to sell, anything and everything.
The fact of the matter is that your company has the power and right to terminate your MLM “business” at any time, without giving you a reason or excuse. (Read your contract!)
Your MLM Company Holds You Hostage
In MLM, your company gets the final say in everything… including how you market, what your website looks like, the price points of your product, and ultimately, whether you may continue to benefit from the years of hard work you’ve put into growing a productive organization.
So what do you do?
Again, don’t get us wrong. We love MLM. But we want to make sure you understand that you are nothing more than a sales rep for your company, (this is the case for everyone in direct sales). You are NOT a business owner just because you are a MLMer, you are a business owner when you are 100% in control of how you run, market, and promote your MLM business.
You need to own a system that you have absolute control over, that YOU have the final say.
Sure in this process, you choose to promote an MLM product/business, but should your relationship with that company ever disappear (go out of business, termination, you move to another company, etc), you are NOT financially affected and your clients/followes will happily go wherever you go.
It is a business that can stand on its own, where folks become loyal to YOUR brand/name (instead of that of your MLM company). In essence, it’s about branding and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is one of the most POWERFUL ways to brand yourself as a leader and be someone people want to join.
If everywhere someone looks on Google, they keep running into you, they WILL conclude that you are probably doing something right and want to know what you are involved with.
Common Mistake #2: Trying to Market to EVERYONE
Here’s another shocking statement, most people really don’t give a damn about what you have to say and what you are offering… no matter how convinced YOU are that THEY need it.
No... he really couldn't care less what you have to offer, so stop prospecting him!
I know, kind of damages the ego a bit doesn’t it?
So having said that, then why in the world are you trying to sell to everybody and anybody? Worse yet, why are you spending precious resources (time, money, and effort) marketing to folks who are not open to what you have to say and sell?
- This is why your friends and family don’t talk to you anymore.
- This is why your capture pages don’t convert even after you’ve spent hundreds/thousands of dollars in advertising your MLM product/business opportunity.
- This is why people leave your blog within 2 seconds of arriving.
- This is why you spend hours and hours doing “social media marketing” with ZERO results!
We can go on and on, but here’s the point…
Stop marketing to folks who are not interested and start marketing to only those folks who are interested.
We’ve seen too many poor souls waste what little marketing funds they have chasing after the impossible. It’s sort of like watching a poodle chase after a truck, you might be excited at first but it’s never going to happen, it’ll just leave you feeling burnt, exhausted, and frustrated.
What you need to do is fine-tune your audience… your market. It’s a cinch when you are able to focus your marketing efforts only on those who have an active interest in your offers. You gotta find where they hang out, what they are looking for, and give it to them!
In fact, Google will find these people for you and drive tons of free traffic to your website, provided you setup an SEO’d website, designed to rank for the exact keywords people ready to join your business are searching for – seriously, THE EXACT KEYWORDS!
Common Mistake #3: Bleeding Yourself Dry – Spending More Marketing Dollars than You can Afford
This problem of course ties into common mistake #2, but that’s only half the story.
The absolute truth is that most folks have absolutely no idea how to market online. They think that just by throwing money (that they really can’t afford) into blind advertising that, that’ll make it magically work in their favor.
A little while later reality sinks in as they deplete their entire marketing budget with nothing to show for it.
Like you, we’ve had our moments of heartaches at the beginning when we first started online. We had no idea what we were doing. We watched literally hundreds and thousands of our marketing dollars wasted as we struggled to grasp this “online marketing” thing…
Listen, it’s a cruel cruel world out there… Google and other companies are more than happy to charge you a **Stupid Tax** as the result of your ignorance and naivety. If you are able and willing to spend big dollars on marketing, you darn-well better know what you are doing and do everything you can to stack the odds in your favor and to mitigate your risks.
Fortunately, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is unique in that it results in very targeted traffic, cost you absolutely ZERO dollars in advertising, gives you the power to brand yourself as a leader (even if you haven’t sponsored a single person) and can provide you with an unlimited source of traffic.
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This article was provided courtesy of Raymond Fong and Ferny Ceballos of SEO Networker. With their catch phrase "(TRUE) free leads is indeed a reality." they are on a mission to bring SEO (Search Engine Optimization) to the MLM / Network Marketing industry.
For more information on how Raymond and Ferny's SEO training can help you build your MLM downline with free traffic from Google, click here NOW and find out how you too can incorporate SEO in your MLM business: www.SEONetworker.com