How to Market Your MLM or
Network Marketing Business Opportunity
By
Enrique Garibay
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Copyright © 2011 Enrique Garibay
Smashwords Edition
All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from Enrique Garibay.
You may print a copy of this book for your personal use only.
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Table of Contents
How You Make Money from Your MLM or Network Marketing Business
How to Evaluate a Marketing Method
Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner Presentations
Blog, E-zine, and Article Writing
Getting a New Distributor Started
BONUS SECTION: Tools and Resources to Automate Your Marketing
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Learning how to market your multilevel marketing (MLM) or network marketing business may seem like a monumental task but all you need are the right tools and knowledge to get started making your business a success.
Now, more than ever, there are a huge variety of marketing methods available, such as talking to friends and family, bumping into people on the street, emailing lists of prospects, and more. Depending on you, your personality, and the nature of your business, some will be more advantageous to you than their counterparts. Others can be more readily duplicated. But you don't have to settle for just one. Rather, it is best if you employ several different marketing methods simultaneously. This will increase your chances of success.
Each marketing method has its own cost in terms of time or money. Typically the more targeted the marketing strategy is, the more expensive it will be. As you look at the different methods available, you should consider the “Cost Per New Distributor Sign Up.” This is how much it will cost you to get each new distributor signed up into your business.
Be sure, as well, to consider the impact of the marketing method on you and your team. Ask yourself “can everyone on my team easily do what I’m doing to build my business?” You'll want to employ those methods that will be easy for others to employ in their business.
I have listed a number of marketing methods in this book that may be helpful in your marketing. And as a distributor myself, I’ve used every method listed herein. So when I list the various “Pros” and the “Cons” of any marketing method, I’m giving you the benefit of my many years of marketing and testing.
My own background in MLM and direct sales marketing is extensive. I started in 1994 when I joined a nutritional company. Learning that there was a way to make money promoting the products, I quickly burned thru friends and family trying to find people to join my business or buy my products. To expand my marketing, I put up fliers on cars; signs on telephone poles. I cold-called local businesses and random people out of the phone book. I walked into gyms and hair salons trying to sell my products. I did newspaper, magazine and radio co-ops. I created my own lead capture pages. That was back in the day when no one even knew what a lead capture page was. I did “bump-intos” in grocery stores, malls and McDonalds. I bought lead lists and figured out what to say and not to say when calling a lead. I figured out how to code and create HTML emails. I sent colorful HTML emails to my leads list which was a novelty since hardly anyone was sending HTML emails at the time.
Later I stepped into the Manufactured Housing (MH) industry. There we created the largest organic traffic base for manufactured housing on the Internet. We created websites for retailers and sent and received organic traffic from those websites. We created finance leads and sold them to Green Tree Financial. We started our own insurance company and created MH-specific insurance leads. We partnered with a supply company and sold MH-specific parts and supplies. We even sold informational reports and mailed them to our readers.
Jumping back into MLM, I founded an email marketing service called ProAutoResponder.com. This was the first self-serve email marketing company that allowed users to create unlimited email marketing campaigns from a single account. We had “AudioMail..Email That Talks”. With the 3-level affiliate program, I was able to put more than 23,000 people thru the service before I sold it.
Along with ProAutoResponder.com, I also co-founded Byoaudio.com and Hipcast.com. I sold those companies and maintained the MLMLeads.com business some years ago.
It’s fair to say that when it comes to marketing, I’ve been around the block. So as you read this book, please know that we've outlined the top MLM marketing methods available. I’ve personally tried and tested each method listed herein. Use my experiences to your advantage. Pick the methods that work best for you and use them on a daily basis to build your own business. Teach and help your team to do the same as you. That way you’ll build a strong business that will provide for you and your family for years to come.
As you read this book, I’ll briefly describe just how you make money in this industry. I’ll then make you aware of things to consider when selecting a marketing method for your MLM business. Once you have this understanding as a foundation, I’ll expose you to a number of marketing methods that you can use for your MLM or network marketing business.
Which method works best for you? Which method should you use?
I believe that all the methods listed in this book can work for you. However I don’t know which will work BEST for you. You’ll have to read the description and decide which method you want to try yourself. Whatever you decide, I recommend that you choose several marketing methods and use them every day to market your business. Don’t rely on just one method. Instead employ several all at the same time. That way you’ll find more people in less time that want your business. When you market this way, your sales team will do the same.
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How You Make Money from Your MLM or Network Marketing Business
As an entrepreneur of an MLM home business, there are typically two ways for you to make money:
1. Find customers and sell them your products and services. Your commission comes from the overrides on the products and services themselves.
2. Create a network of like-minded people who become distributors like you. They also sell the same products and services and find distributors that want their own business like you. You receive a commission based on the “team” sales volume that they create.
As an MLM business owner, you are responsible for all your marketing. You must decide what you’ll market: your company’s products and services, or the business opportunity. Most people market the business opportunity. While I've done both, I typically lead with the business opportunity.
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How to Evaluate a Marketing Method
Since your MLM business will run on successful leads, how do you make sure you're choosing the right one?
Building a sales organization is about creating duplication within your organization: ideally you want everyone in your downline or sales organization doing the same thing, every day, over and over again. This means that if you have a certain marketing method in place, everyone on your team should be using that exact same marketing method as you. This necessitates that any lead generation method must be easily duplicated among the members of your sales organization.
As you evaluate a prospective marketing or lead generation method, always ask yourself one question:
“Does this method require specialized expertise that only I have, or can anyone on my team use this method as easily as me?”
The answer to this question will tell you if it is a viable choice in terms of duplication. If the method can be duplicated by any of your team members, you will grow your business faster since everyone will be doing the same thing. But if only you can perform the method really well, your team may not be able to copy you. In that scenario, your business won't be able to grow as quickly or efficiently.
Years ago I had a mentor that was extremely gifted in telling his personal sales story. Many would hear his story and want to get started in the business. But when it came down to duplication, they were taught to tell their story like the mentor did. Unfortunately, unlike the mentor, they didn’t have a compelling story to tell their prospects. Many failed as a result since they couldn’t duplicate his marketing method.
Another consideration in selecting a marketing method is whether that method is “inbound” or “outbound”.
An inbound marketing method is one that is initiated by the prospect. An example of this is when a prospect sees your ad, and calls the number in the ad.
An outbound marketing method is one that is initiated by you. An example of this is when you call your friends and family to prospect them about your business.
The prospecting is always easier when prospects are contacting you instead of you contacting them. However when the inbound lead flow slows, you will want to increase your outbound marketing to make up the difference. Keep this in mind as you pick and choose marketing methods for your business.
When evaluating a marketing or lead generation method, you'll want to track the cost of new distributor sign up". A seemingly cost-effective marketing method may turn out to be very expensive when you actually track your costs. And yes, your time should factor into your costs. Unlike money, you can’t make up lost time. Once it’s spent, it’s gone forever.
But your job isn't over yet. Once your marketing has created a lead, you need to know what to say to the prospect. The best way to go about this is to learn the technique of interviewing prospects. You're not begging them to buy your products or telling them how badly they need your services. All you're doing is asking a series of questions to see if the prospect is really a match for your business or not. I venture to say that half the people you’ll talk to are not wired between the ears to be in business for themselves. The challenge for you is that they don’t know it. As such, they’ll take up a lot of your time while you figure that out about them.
The better you get at marketing your business and successfully closing your leads, the lower the cost per new distributor sign up will be. The best way to get better at both is to learn the marketing methods that will work for you.
So let's get started.
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The warm market marketing method is simply when a distributor tells friends and family about his company products, services, and business opportunity with the intention of gaining them as customers or business owners.
Your friends and family can be immediate prospects for your MLM business. Since they already know you, you have immediate access to this group of prospects.
Warm market prospecting can be performed in many ways. The prospecting can take place over the phone, in a web-based presentation, or even a home party to announce the business in a comfortable setting. Some distributors even send mass “Dear Friend” letters out to all of their personal acquaintances to let them know what they are doing now...including a business that the prospect can be included in, too.
Exploring the warm market is a quick and easy way to obtain new customers and build your network of distributors, but it does come at a price. Your warm market includes people that care about you and don't want to see you get hurt. So they’ll attempt to discourage you from your business venture so that you don’t later fail.
Others may be hesitant to join because they have not seen you become successful in your other business ventures. Plus, if a family member does give it a try and it doesn't work out for them, it could make the next family gathering a bit uncomfortable if not downright stressful for the both of you.
Pros:
You'll have a quick and ready-made group of people that know you and that you can prospect for your products, services and business opportunity. Your friends and family may also know people in their warm market that might also have the same interest. This could make for continual warm market expansion.
Cons:
Prospecting friends and family can sometimes be more stressful than speaking to strangers. Your friends and family already know previous failed ventures, so they may not value your new opportunity as much. Also, regardless of whether you gain a customer or distributor, knowing that you are seeking them out for such a prospect may cause some friends and family to start avoiding you. This is an outbound marketing method where you go to prospects instead of prospects coming to you.
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A bump-into is when a distributor spends time in public places with the intention of creating casual conversations with a passerby in order to prospect them.
The bump-into marketing method is as simple as it sounds. Go to public places that many people frequent: parking lots, shopping malls, coffee houses, and grocery stores. As people pass by, make eye contact so that you can start a conversation.
Eventually you’ll want to turn the casual conversation into talking about you. You use the opening to tell the prospect about your business. Ask the prospect whether they’d like to learn more about your products, services or business opportunity, or not.