Here’s a very sobering statistic for you. 97% of network marketers, who attempt some form of network marketing business, where down-lines are your gravy train, fail in short order because they either cannot successfully build their down-line or they build a very weak down-line. Let’s call them the “97 percenters.” They quickly come and go in the business, with many of them turning to bad-mouthing the industry because they failed miserably, thinking they gave it a valiant effort, and it just didn’t work – heck after-all, it wasn’t their fault.
Well, there are a few things going on here that many who understand the industry can easily explain. Since I was one of those “97 percenters” for a two to three-year span, I can empathize with them. However, rather than outright quitting after only a half-hearted attempt, I persisted, even though I kept making the same mistakes over and over. I’m sure you know the old saying, “the definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over and getting the same results.” That certainly was me at one time.
As my attempts at network marketing continued their ascent into the abyss, I blamed the programs themselves for my failings. I just assumed that they weren’t as attractive to others, as they were to me. I thought maybe I was the oddball for seeing value in the product or service.
Nothing changed in my attempts at success until my lightning-fast mind began to consider, maybe it wasn’t the programs after-all, but just maybe it was “me” that was the problem, and my lame strategies at attracting leads.
Let’s start at the beginning and discuss the nature of a network marketing business.
Many assume that because it is easy and very inexpensive to get into the network marketing business that they can just sign up with a NM program and the money will just come rolling in.
Now in fairness, whether it’s intentional or not, that’s how many of these network marketing programs tend to mislead people to believe. Let’s face it – and this is not an excuse to mislead people because I believe network marketers, for their own reputation, should be upfront with the statistics of potential success and failure, and by law they should be – but if network marketers were to give these statistics, their prospects of accumulating leads would drastically be reduced.
In the same token, as a network marketer, you want to keep you product or service reputable and not be looked at, as so many do today, as nothing more than a “pyramid scheme.” In some cases this label may fit, and you should certainly steer clear of those types of programs, where nothing of value is being offered. There is no product or service that one can get a benefit from.
These programs certainly only benefit, monetarily, those who establish the program. These programs quickly “peter out,” almost as quickly as they started because most people want something of value when forking over their hard-earned money. Plus the fact that pyramid schemes are unlawful.
However, network marketing is a very reputable and profitable industry if your product and/or service holds value in the eyes of the end consumer. The beauty of a good network marketing program is that consumers could benefit in a twofold manner. First, they can find benefit from purchasing the product or service, and then turn around and profit from it by establishing their own network marketing opportunity, utilizing the very same product or service – hence, multilevel marketing.
But, that’s not the end all. You can have the best product or service on the market; yet, fail in your bid in marketing it yourself. This is what happens to many in the “97 percenters” category of failed network marketing businesses.
With this post, I am beginning a series of articles aimed at the “97 percenters” and dissecting the reasons for their failure in growing a network marketing business. I mentioned earlier that I was, at one time in the not too distant past, a “97 percenter” myself. It wasn’t until I began to understand the nature of the business and that it has to be treated like any other reputable business opportunity, with knowledge of the industry and a developed skill-set to be successful.
For example, you wouldn’t open a restaurant without knowing how to cook, or at least, hiring someone who does. You can go online and copy a recipe and attempt at opening a restaurant with that, but you still need understanding on how to improvise, as a good cook will in order to develop his or her own unique flavor that sets them or her apart from the rest.
The same goes for a network marketing business. 97% fail because they just follow the same failed principles of those who preceded them. When you look up how to market a network marketing business, you will get the same failed examples of contacting (and ultimately alienating) friends and family and pushing yourself on them. Posting fliers on cars and local announcement boards in supermarkets or libraries, or wherever. These techniques just do not work.