Should You Lead with the Product or the MLM Opportunity?
"You just joined an mlm opportunity and you are not sure what to promote, what do you lead with? Do you lead with the money making side of the mlm opportunity or do you lead with the awesome product? Let me give you my OPINION on both of these approaches as well as a third option."Should You Lead with the MLM Opportunity?
"My suggestion is sort of and sometimes. Is that clear as mud? Here is what I mean, when you lead with how much money you can make in your MLM opportunity, you attract entrepreneurs that may not know about network marketing but you run the risk of sounding like everyone else. I see people on facebook posting crap on how you can make $5,000 a month on a $25 investment. If it doesn’t sound right, it probably isn’t. Network marketing is awesome but it isn’t magical. The lower priced stuff simply takes more people to make bigger money and the free stuff is virtually impossible to make any real money with as you attract a lot of non serious networkers that fail to grasp basic math.""The problem with attracting entrepreneurs is they are usually flaky. Trust me, I used to be a flaky serial entrepreneur that tried to make money in a million different things and each week that a new opportunity arised that would make me a dollar, I jumped all over it. However, there are a lot of people in this economy that want to make extra money so sometimes suggesting to people a way to make extra money is not a bad thing. Is it the best thing to lead with?"
What about leading with your product vs the mlm opportunity?
"This gets tricky. Let me give you an example that sounds really good but I believe is NOT the best approach. There are a few hundred different weight loss mlm opportunity programs out there, and there are some great products but a ton of competition. (Don’t worry, I am not bashing these companies nor discrediting them, keep reading!) Perhaps the most popular one has a 90 day weight loss program that gets highly advertised. (again, I am told the products are awesome.) However, this is where I see two problems."- "Those that “diet” are amongst the quickest to try new things and jump from product to product. The minute Dr Oz says peanut butter and jelly sandwiches cause fat loss, they are on that diet. Or when Dr Phil says cinnamon covered grapefruits burn calories, they jump to that one. That demograph of buyer is tough for a mlm opportunity as people are more loyal to people that they are products (this is a clue as to where I am going with this)"
- "It’s a 90 day program. If one loses the weight, do they quit? If one doesn’t lose the weight, do they quit? If you are in a MLM opportunity to make money, you want to experience the least attrition and the most amount of growth. If you have massive attrition, you might as well be selling products at a health and nutrition store and starting each month at zero. I did this for years, I know. =)"
OK, Ray, well, what should I lead with?
"In network marketing, people join people, not products. People, as a whole, want to belong to something bigger than they are. Whether your product is gold and silver, diet pills, juice, protein bars or technology, people want to belong to something that keeps them pumped up and excited. I don’t care how great your product is, product pumpupedness only lasts so long. Have you ever bought a new car? How long did that excitement over the new car last? Certainly not years which is how long you want your people to stay in your MLM opportunity.""Lead with your team and the vision of your leaders. Who is in your team? Why are they people that others want to be around? Why should they come to events? What goals does your team have? How uplifting and powerful are your trainers? Why do people belong to the same organizations for years or their whole life? They want to belong to something cool and bigger than them. Create a team atmosphere through training and support and leadership that inspires others and brings everyone together for a common purpose. Leading with the product promotes users and salespeople, which, may not be the longest lasting group of people you want in your business. Leading with the mlm opportunity can attract those that hop from deal to deal. Leading with the team and the leadership in your company/team will attract leaders which if you spend your time focused on that, you will build an empire."
There are many different tools that you can use in either one of these approaches these are two of my favorites to use.
Leading with the products
When leading with the products there are many CD's and DVD's to choose from. My personal favorites are "Best of Dead Doctors Don't Lie," "Cerial Killers," and "The Truth About African American Health" by Dr Joel Wallach and "Healing is Easy" by Dr Peter Glidden. This can be purchased at a discount on bulk orders and even be personalized with your contact information.
I also recomend the "Healthy Body Challenge" DVD and "The Healthy Body Challenge Booklet"
Leading with the opportunity
When leading with the opportunity, once again there are many choices. One of my favorites is the Financial Freedom DVD by Dave and Barb Pitcock. This can be ordered from their website.