The reasons for so much failure in network marketing are quite simple but many have no idea of why they fail, how they fail, or what they are doing wrong. A failure rate of 95% in this industry is a shocking statistic but is also equal to the failure rate in offline traditional ventures, so really there is no difference between both. Most would-be network marketers fail because they don't have any idea about what they are really selling or how their products and services can help others.

In the past, most new associates were taught that they had to emphasize selling their company's product above all else. That may have been true 30 years ago when people worked programs like Amway, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Avon, and Tupperware in their local areas. Today, door to door selling has been surpassed by Internet communications and advanced technology.

The compensation plans back then were programs that were built around retailing products. People sold to family, friends and neighbours (their warm market) and through home based parties (their cold market) in which the product was the sole focus. People were there to buy things, not to attend a presentation. Recruiting downline members was not the primary activity, in fact some viewed it as competition. Retailing/Selling was how most people made money. Recruiting usually happened when a retail customer decided that it was a good way to earn some extra money for themselves.

Most network marketing Comp-plans today are very different from past years. They pay profits to those who build a sales organization of people who consume the products themselves and who may or may not retail a small amount on the side. Yes, it is very important to be in a program that supplies good products and services at a fair price. Those that don't, will not be around for very long, usually just 12 to 24 months.

Always remember this point, if you are trying to build a sales organization, emphasizing product as the major selling factor will never build you an organization of people who understand how to maximize their profit potential ... and make you the most money. The money comes from Leverage and that comes from recruiting new distributors and training them.

If you want to retail product, your efforts should emphasize products. But when you are trying to recruit members for your downline, this is the wrong approach. You are not trying to sell product to a potential recruit, so why should that be the major focus of your sales presentation?

When you are recruiting, you are really trying to sell three things: *1-Yourself, as a potential business partner; *2-A business opportunity; and 3*-Their dream of a profitable business.

Product is a very distant fourth. Your prospect will want to be assured that they will be representing a good product that people want. This is a given. You don't want to spend your time with programs that produce inferior products at inflated prices.

But hundreds of MLM programs have great products. You aren't trying to find a retail customer, you are trying to recruit a business partner. You should be very clear about that. If you don't know what you are selling, your prospect won't either and they will not respond to your communications.

That doesn't mean that you won't mention the product when you are recruiting business partners. It means that the total focus will not be on product but on YOUR partnership in a business opportunity and how successful your prospect will be when they join you.

Part 2 Next Week...