Network Marketing: The Best Product To Sell
Network Marketing:Â The Best Product To Sell
Copyright 2006 Donovan Baldwin
A lot has been written on the subject of network marketing
and the products commonly sold through network marketing.
Unfortunately, most people joining a network marketing
program for the first time don’t read the books first.
Even if they did, they would get a message that is really
hard to grasp for someone used to the standard sales
techniques of the modern world.
If you are new to network marketing, a great book to read
is “Masters Of Networking” by Ivan R. Misner, Ph.D., and
Don Morgan, M.A. While it does contain instructions on how
and where to network, I believe that part of its value lies
in what it doesn’t always say out loud, but hints at in the
subtitle: Building Relationships For Your Pocketbook And
Soul.
So what does that have to do with selecting the product
that you will attempt to “sell” through network marketing?
The book I just mentioned gets a lot of its message across
through the stories of people who have passed through the
stages of learning to network. In keeping with that, I am
going to talk about my favorite subject…myself.
In 1996 I was introduced to my first network marketing
venture. Never mind what it was, but I will say that it
was a valuable product and I felt good being associated
with it. I honestly felt that it was a service that many
people could use and that by purchasing this service they
could get better service in certain health related areas
and they could possibly save large sums of money.
In other words, I BELIEVED!
I also believed that I could make a lot of money. After
all, I saw other people doing it, and being a product of
20th century marketing practices, I began doing what I
thought I was supposed to be doing. I placed ads, I handed
out flyers, left business cards laying around, and mailed
out a lot of brochures. After a few months, I was making
some money, but it sure seemed a hard way to make a living!
In the meantime, people I knew were making larger and
larger sums from the same product, and with a fraction of
the time, effort, and money. So I did the next logical
thing…I dropped out and spent a couple of years licking
my wounds, nursing a grudge, and generally being a chump.
The one thing I didn’t do was ask for help or study the
subject of network marketing. However, I DID keep signing
up for program after program, with the same predictable
results.
Finally, I broke down and did the unthinkable…I did some
research!
What did I learn? I learned that some of the best “sales”
people and some of the best network marketers had the same
thing to say. Their opinion was to quit concentrating on
sales and concentrate on building a network of people who
respected you. They did not necessarily mean “respected”
in the sense of someone who was an expert or who stood head
and shoulders above the rest. What they meant was that you
should be someone who is willing to listen, to help, to
guide, to support…to be a genuine friend and someone who
could be counted on.
I started thinking about the people I had known who were
successful. Not a one was a “sales” person. They were
housewives, retirees, ex-teachers, bus drivers, fast food
workers, garbage collectors…but most had three things in
common. They believed in the product and the company, they
knew the important points of the product and the
opportunity, and they were genuinely interested in and
involved with those they sold to or recruited.
As it happened, at about the time I was doing this
research, I actually had a JOB teaching newcomers to an
industry how to become successful in that field. It felt
great. I got to take people and help bring them to a point
where they were going to be in a position to have a new
career and make lots of money. I didn’t have to “sell”
them anything. I provided solid information, guidance,
advice based on experience, and sometimes a shoulder to cry
on. I noticed one interesting thing. They hung on my
every word. If I said a certain item was important to
have, within 48 hours at least half of my students would
have that item if they didn’t have it already.
By the way, one common benefit of the job I am speaking of
and a network marketer is the gratitude of the people that
have come into the business and been successful thanks at
least in part to the interest and support you have shown
them.
I saw this happen again and again, and not just with me,
but with others who were providing this instruction as well.
Okay, I’m slow, but not fatally so. I realized that if I
could place myself in a similar position in a network
marketing endeavor, I might have similar results.
I then began to apply my newfound knowledge to network
marketing, and, after a couple of false starts and the
occasional retraining session, I found out that the
technique works!
Start with a good strong product from a reliable company.
Make sure you understand what the heck you are talking
about, arm yourself with order pads and pencils, and then
get out there and start being NICE! I know it’s going to
be difficult, but you will have to buckle down and be a
benefit to society and let people like you.
I guess you’ve figured out that in the network marketing
world, YOU are the best product to sell.
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Donovan Baldwin is a Dallas area writer and network
marketing professional. He is a graduate of the University
of West Florida, a member of Mensa, and is retired from the
U. S. Army. Learn more about network marketing at
http://donovanbaldwin.com/cbmall/networkmarketing.html
