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People? People!

Good 'uns and bad 'uns.

It what looks to be shaping-up as a week of critiquing people in Network Marketing, let's steer in a more-constructive direction by revisiting Scott Allen's 'The Real Problem with Network Marketing'.

In the previous entry 'Problem? Solution!', we referred to that piece through a clip from another NM-oriented site which selectively focussed on the constructive point of: Network Marketers who are serious about building a business should be reading and learning about business.

Good and worthy though that point is, taking it out of context loses much of the edge present in the original—from which we clip:

The real problem with MLM is not MLM itself, but some of the people it attracts. Network Marketing is just a business model. Its upside is that it has a very low cost of entry, with the potential for exceptional revenue, and there are those who achieve that.

But those same things that make it attractive make it attractive to many who are not really qualified or prepared to become business owners. The salient characteristics of MLM make it attractive to people who:

Have not done well in their business or profession.

Have no previous experience owning or running a business.

Have no previous experience in sales.

Have little or no experience developing business relationships other than that of employer/employee/co-worker.

Have unrealistic expectations of the amount of work involved compared to the revenue realized.

I'm not saying that this describes even a majority of Network Marketers—only that it describes a disproportionate number of Network Marketers, and that many of them never do anything about it.

As a result, many Network Marketers end up:

Over-selling the opportunity.

Inappropriately discussing business in social situations.

Coming across as desperate.

Being either inaccurate or deceptive when talking about their business.

Again, I'm certainly not saying that this describes a majority of Network Marketers, but it does describe enough of them to tarnish the reputation of the rest. To pre-judge someone based on the basis of a small minority of people in that group is horribly unfair, but we must realize that most prejudices have some basis in reality, even if it has been distorted.

So what's the solution?

There's a first time for everything. And Network Marketing is a great opportunity for people to have their first business, their first sales role, etcetera.

My point is this: recognize it for what it is: it's a business, and you are a business owner. And if you've never owned a business before, if you've never done sales before, if you've never networked before, you need to learn about how to do so, not just from the Network Marketing experts, but from established experts in those fields.

Good and sensible, entirely accurate stuff… to which we'll add the 'hardline according to Upline (365)':

1 If you're one of those who're clearly behaving inappropriately… 'fess up and either get yourself together, or get out of the business—you're doing neither yourself nor anyone else any favors by hanging around.

2 And, if you're one of those 'trying hard to get it right', recognize one thing: most of those you encounter as prospects will likely be in category #1, above—so be wary. Simply, to make real money in NM you need lots of people; and ultimately, 'how good you are' matters a lot less than 'how bad they might be'. So be selective in your recruiting.

Filed by g on December 11 2007

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