Skills for Marketing: Is network marketing selling?
One of the critical skills for marketing is how to handle objections and by far the most common objection I hear from someone looking at network marketing is not wanting to sell.
I get this. Most of us do not like to be sold on something so why would we ever want to do that to someone else. So is network marketing selling? Not according to the Webster’s Ninth New College Dictionary.
By strict definition, as network marketers, we do not exchange goods for money directly with our customers, the company does that. We market the company products which according to the dictionary means we expose them for sale. Our job is to educate not persuade. The ability to teach is one of the skills of marketing that leads to success.
But let me offer a definition of selling I have not found in the dictionary but fits what we actually do. As a network marketer our role as a salesman is to help other people recognize what they want and then help them decide how to get it. So doing this kind of selling well is another one of the skills of marketing that must be mastered.
Even though I believe strongly in Xango and the profession of network marketing my approach is never pushy or hype. I follow a 3 step plan that is used by my very successful partners and that is supported by the Xango training programs.
Step 1 Invite. For people I know I ask them if they are open to any additional sources of income or if it is more a potential customer, if they are open to natural supplements to support health.
For people I have not met yet, I market over the internet to attract those looking to make a financial change in their lives. For these people the health benefits are a secondary result.
Step 2 Present. To be time efficient, instead of presenting myself I invite people to look at some professionally prepared information, which might be a website, blog, webinar, CD or brochure.
Step 3 Help someone get started. This step can be quick or it can take quite some time. Some people can tell right away if they are a match and others need time to make a decision. Building trusting relationships and follow up are critical in this step.
The purpose of these steps is to let the person get enough information to make an informed decision about network marketing and Xango in particular. With this simple approach to learning important skills for marketing I am able to offer something life changing without offending.
I celebrate the people who are interested and I focus on sharing as much of my experience with them and encourage them to choose a style that is the best fit for them within Xango’s extensive training programs. To me it is all about educating and empowering.
Persuade on the other hand means to cause someone to do something, especially by reasoning, urging or inducement, prevail upon, to induce someone to believe something, to convince. It can be tempting, when you believe strongly in something, to revert to persuasion when education does not get a person’s attention. Another of the important skills of marketing is to resist this and trust the accurate statement that “a person convinced against his will is of the same opinion still”.
In network marketing to educate is to empower someone to make an informed decision. Their decision!
The 6 live, professional, presentation webinars offered each week are the best way to check out what Xango is all about. In the comfort of your own home you can watch the webinar and take down notes about things that interest you. When you are ready I invite you to work with me. Madalyn
Money smart tip: Cash flow monthly in your mailbox may beat your paycheck in a recession economy
I have been following the job report numbers in this recession economy and I can’t help but think people are missing the bigger picture. Here are a few things to ponder.
What if the increasing number of unemployed is an indicator that we are shifting into a new paradigm where people seek cash flow monthly in place or in addition to a paycheck?
What if we are moving out of the industrial age and into the age dominated by entrepreneurs?
The paradigm shift is away from manufacturing and big business and to individual entrepreneurism.
The shift is from the occasional individual entrepreneur like Bill Gates or Steve Jobs to a whole age of enlightened entrepreneurism where lots of regular people like you and me say we no longer accept the limitations of trading time for money. We may continue to have those sources of income but we can also have cash flow monthly from our own businesses we create on our own time and in our own way.
The enlightened part comes from the fact that as more entrepreneurs have money, that wealth will be willingly shared with others who are less fortunate and be a force for major good things in the world. I believe when you have developed your values and character you will be a good steward and a powerful motivator of positive change.
With all the uncertainty in this recession economy, why not supplement a salary with consistent cash flow monthly from a home business?
To be solely dependant on a salary during a recession economy is hard. Costs are going up practically every minute and when did you last get a big, fat raise? You are probably still paying the same amount or more to commute as you did a year ago and more than likely you are doing your job and the one of a least one coworker who was laid off.
Now don’t get me wrong, this situation is not the fault of your employer, the economy or the government. If any of the above statements ring true for you a shift in your thinking is what is needed. Start thinking like an entrepreneur. Start thinking in terms of cash flow monthly. You don’t have to quit your job but start thinking about what you want to build in your life.
What level of income do you want and what makes you happy?
So to become an entrepreneur and create cash flow monthly you can go out and invent something, like a renewable source of clean energy, but if that seems a bit daunting then consider network marketing. A good network marketing company already has the infrastructure and systems in place to develop yourself as an entrepreneur. Cash flow monthly of $500 a month can make a huge difference for most people. Contact me or check out my gocashflownow e book when you are ready know more. Madalyn
photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/joeshlabotnik/ / CC BY 2.0
Allergic to Prospecting Family and Friends for Your MLM Business? Online MLM to the Rescue
Guest post by Stephanie Valentine
Family and friends is a great plan … for a cell phone. It can also be a great plan for many people just starting an MLM business.
But what if you have already prospected all of your family and friends? Or what if your family and friends are more conventional thinkers than you, making you a leper among them when you talk MLM? Or what if you are just plain allergic to talking to them guys about your MLM business?
That’s where online MLM comes in: it expands your reach far beyond just family and friends.
Online MLM Helps You Create a New Circle of Friends
Don’t get the wrong idea here. I’m not bashing the idea of prospecting your warm market to build your MLM business. Your warm market is what is, in business circles, termed “low hanging fruit.” Your friends and family already know you, probably trust you, and may be easier for you to prospect. MLM businesses have thrived on warm market prospecting for decades. If that works for you, go for it.
But this article is dedicated to all the people who can’t, won’t, or don’t want to talk to their warm market about MLM. It may be you … or it may be someone who has just joined your MLM business. Either way, the person who won’t talk to their warm market has to have another way to build their MLM business. Online MLM can help them do that.
Lots of people who are afraid to directly speak to others, especially people they know, about their MLM products or business, are not afraid to type about it. Online MLM provides a way for these people to offer their expertise, knowledge, humor, and enjoyment of their business to an entire online audience, and attract interested parties.
The big benefit for these people is that rejection occurs mostly out of sight. That really helps the people who are uncomfortable talking about MLM because they fear face-to-face rejection.
An Online MLM Case Study
Joan, already employed but shaky about her job security, loved the idea of creating a passive stream of income, and immediately joined a prominent MLM company after watching a DVD about the business. The only problem was that the training her upline offered was all about three-way calls, webinars, and weekly training teleconferences. In short, all the training was about prospecting to a warm market.
Joan practically got hives when she thought about talking to her friends and family about MLM. She knew that most of them wouldn’t “get it,” and they already thought she was weird enough. No way, Jose. The warm market idea was out.
Being computer-literate, Joan created a very simple plan for reaching out to a completely new audience: a cold online market. She created a basic blog and began writing 3 posts a week about the benefits of MLM and creating a passive income streams. In these posts, she also included the fits and foibles of her own journey learning about MLM. She invited her readers to chip in their two cents’ worth and help her along her journey.
She also interacted with people on Twitter and Facebook. She asked questions. She tweeted and retweeted. She posted on other people’s wall. She spent 4-5 hours per week, after work, on the computer blogging and interacting via social media. The writing was difficult, at first, but the social media was a breeze. Joan found quite a large circle of people who were also interested in MLM through this cold market.
Best of all, Joan wasn’t discouraged by face-to-face rejection. She figured out that the people who didn’t want to hear what she had to say just never showed up on her radar. They didn’t read her blog. Or, if they read her blog but didn’t like it, they didn’t leave comments. They just never came back.
With Twitter, the people who didn’t want to know more about her MLM opportunity simply didn’t respond to her tweets or direct messages. Those who liked what she had to say retweeted her.
Friend and family wasn’t a plan that worked for Joan, but online MLM did. Joan could face rejection in online MLM because most of the rejection was invisible. Most of the feedback she did get was positive, which encouraged her to keep going with her business, even though it took her almost a year to find her first strong business partner. The social interaction online was, in itself, enjoyable, which gave her the patience to wait for that business partner to appear.
So what do you think? Are you like Joan … allergic to the friends and family plan? If so, consider the online world as a place to create a new circle of friends, not to mention a place where rejection is less painful than in the real world.
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alishav/ / CC BY 2.0
