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.
Copyright 2006 Donovan Baldwin
But in my humble opinion, by far the single best kind of product someone can sell is money-making opportunity products and services.
In fact, I find this is always a good idea because you can always get good money when selling an opportunity that will create more money for the end user.
It's extremely easy to justify a high price and, if it truly delivers (and if it doesn't, you shouldn't sell it) people will love you for it. Plus, many marketers just don't realize what kind of impact a good money making product has on a person's life. Most people are struggling with bills and to make their rent or mortgage. In some cases, just an extra $100 per month can radically change someone's life for the better. Get them out of the red and into the black. And allow them some much needed "breathing room."
And besides that, money is a very emotional topic and it's easy to sell something that creates emotion.
In fact, if you tell someone who is desperate to bring more money into their lives that for $100 you will give them $500 per month they will sit up and notice. They will listen to every word you have to say so long as you do it in a way that respects their intelligence.
Here are some guidelines to help you determine what kind of product to create:
Find a market that is hungry for a particular kind of information. For example, you do a little research and discover there is a huge demand for people who want to make money at home.
Then, what you do is locate ten or fifteen people who are experts at this, send them a letter or call them up and tell them you're a producer, you're your own company and you're putting together a website for money making experts.
You also tell them you're interviewing the ten top experts in the industry. And that their interview will be played internationally on your website, and you'd like to know if he would like to be one of the top ten experts to be interviewed.
Many times people will agree to this. After all, it's free promotion for them. Plus, if you position yourself correctly, as someone who is asking a simple favor in exchange for giving them lots of free publicity, then they are usually only happy to help you out.
And once you get them on the phone, you start from the beginning and just let them to talk. Let them tell you about how they got started, the mistakes they made, the triumphs they had, etc.
Before you know it, they're in a trance talking and reminiscing and you just shut up and listen and keep that recorder going. And as they talk, things are going to come up into your mind, questions you want to expand more on. And you just make notes on a piece of paper while they're talking.
Some of the interviews could go two or three hours.
If you don't have that kind of time, just cover the most commonly asked questions.
One real good trick is to go to book sites like Amazon.com and find the books on the subject you're interviewing people on, and looking inside the books at the table of contents. The table of contents of popular books act as a sort of outline for things you can talk about.
The editors have already produced a table of contents of the things they're going to teach their readers that people want to know about. You just follow that format. It's already been done and that can be related to any subject you can think of.
And that's it. After that, you edit the audio or hire someone else (it's not that expensive) to do it and you got a product to sell.
All in all, this is a very simple, very easy way to create a product and make money at home quickly. And anyone willing to put in the time and effort can do it -- usually pretty quickly.
Both Donovan Baldwin & Michael Senoff are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Donovan Baldwin has sinced written about articles on various topics from Women, Health and Bodybuilding Supplements. 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. Donovan Baldwin's top article generates over 1220000 views. to your Favourites.
Michael Senoff has sinced written about articles on various topics from Accounting Bookkeeping General Svc, Network Marketing and Fund Manager. For 24 hour of free audio recordings to help you create your own information product, visit . Michael Senoff's top article generates over 4400 views. to your Favourites.