When I surf around business-oriented networking sites (Yuwie and DirectMatches in the main) I see a constant stream of spam, smoke and mirrors. You introduce yourself to someone, and they reply with something along the lines of "Nice to meet you, tell me about your business. By the way you should look at this system, it's making 1000s every day, so here's the link".



The thing is, the majority of people you might meet on those sites are doing something very similar so, after a while, you start automatically filtering this "noise" out. This is such a shame, because these networking sites are incredibly powerful tools for everyone, with real connections to be made on a business level, and socially. I love meeting people online from the world over, but spam is spam no matter what language it speaks.

So are people inherently liars, with a desire to spam the hell out of everyone? NO WAY!

They do this because they have a dream, and they have learned from their system's instructions that this is the way to do it. In the current climate, maybe it is one way of doing things. With so many people, pulling in so many different directions, there is perhaps a need to get your message across quickly and efficiently. The thing is though, most people will automatically filter you out, no matter how great your system may actually be.

So is there an alternative? You might have guessed it already, but yes I think there is. Honesty.

Actually, not just honesty, but also throw in transparency, respect for others, and making genuine connections with your fellow inhabitants of this planet.

To give an example, when I make a new connection with someone online, I generally start out by leaving a comment on their profile page, thanking them for the "friend add". I use their name because I bothered to check it, maybe I say something nice about their profile page (if I liked it) and I wish them a good day (or something similar) - you get the idea I'm sure.

What I don't say is anything about the systems I use, nor do I explicitly give them referral links. They can of course take a look at my profile, or web sites; what they do beyond that point is up to them.

This approach has given me 2 things; contact with some really lovely people that I have things in common with, and some good business leads and contacts. Many fall into BOTH categories.

When it comes to working with the people I sponsor, I again use honesty. If I sell them a story that doesn't pan out, they will very quickly lose trust and respect in me, and faith in the system. No, what I offer them is honesty, support, advice, and encouragement. They of course need to provide the desire, effort, and willingness to stick at it for more than 5 minutes, but they do all that within a supportive environment.

So why bother using this approach? Well, for one thing, it allows people to move beyond the superficial level, fosters real relationships, and leads to ways of working smarter rather than harder. It also frees up some of the time that would be spent spamming everyone with referral links; time that can be spent on working with your team, developing your business, or communicating with online friends in meaningful ways.

Cut away the need to "act out" a role, and that energy can be used far more productively; even freeing up time to spend with your family!

So why do I think this approach works? The key to that is understanding WHO these marketers you meet online actually are. The majority are NOT MLM gurus, nor are they running a large company. Most of them are office workers, housewives, students, IT guys, truck drivers, landscape gardeners etc. etc. In other words, they are ordinary people like you, trying to earn extra income, and gain access to some of the good things that a bit of wealth can provide.

The current methods are turning us into faceless robots, typing and clicking for hours on end, acting out online versions of the "foot in the door" salesman! We as a global community should be connecting at deeper levels, not jumping from the wage slavery frying pan into the "small cog in a giant internet money making machine" fire.

Let's keep it honest guys, let's be more transparent and let people know we are just trying to do the right thing for our family. People will respect that and, what is more, it is something they will continue to respect because there is no mask to slip off.

People respond to people, so just be yourself.