Requiem for MLM Home Business by a New Kind of Internet Marketing Hero

Requiem for MLM Home Business by a New Kind of

 Internet Marketing Hero

But I, being poor, have only my dreams..

I have spread my dreams under your feet.

Tread softly, because you tread on my dreams.   William Butler Yeats

I closed my eyes momentarily when I read the words that MLM (Multi-Level Marketing) is like the old, drunk uncle at family reunions nobody wants to talk to! But only for a moment, because my reasons for joining a matrix to make residual income with other believers was more based on philosophical content than practical commodity. 

In hindsight, this strange personal conundrum can be explained by the right conditions versus the wrong directions with a big question left unanswered, some good news, welcoming a new hero, and precautionary warnings to watch for and run away from if you are thinking about an MLM home business opportunity. After all, experience teaches us not to repeat failures and, at the same time, not to miss the Big Picture and adapt to new concepts and new resources.

THE RIGHT CONDITIONS

When I joined my first MLM company, following my retirement, the internet was an email or two delivered by a butler on a serving platter with a whistle; now many emails are phishing scams. Sales presentations and word-of-mouth recommendations resided in homes with definitive party plans. Soon enough, business websites, personal blogs and self- branding quickly evolved. Traditional bureaucracies began to give way to consumers like you and me with our likes and influences about advertising, buying patterns and more.

In fact, with a few keywords and clicks, in a very short time, the largest transfer of wealth was moving from offline to online. A new Digital Age gave birth to a new Digital Economy where a new Personal Economy was possible. E-commerce and M-commerce accelerated with continuous disruptions. The challenge became how to displace huge income disparity with income mobility.  

The truth became self-evident much later: that MLM was never about self-empowerment or mass exposure.

THE WRONG DIRECTIONS

First, the mechanics of MLM work as any sales business based on creating customers to create customers. It’s not about wrongfully trying to educate a prospect…a lifelong commitment. The process starts by selling a product and then recruiting a new salesperson to make residual income via direct and indirect referrals in a matrix. 
   

Therefore, the nature of selling is to start a conversation, and by follow-up to earn trust and value of a customer as a partnership. Even the best salespeople require a few visits to establish integrity and psychological safety. Herein lies the problem root of MLM recruiting. It requires an entire sales team to participate with the same MINDSET, same vision and dialogue to persuade others to change their mindset. How difficult is this for anyone to be on the same wavelength?

However, the biggest blunder in MLM home business industry, in my opinion, is to bait prospects by chasing their dreams. The common hook is WHY? Why do you want to make money? Why are your dreams so important? Why can’t you be the best person you can be? Why don’t you want to be part of the fastest growing, richest opportunity?

 Who would say NO to these kinds of questions? The door is open for the next pitch and sometimes a home run with a new sign-up.

The dual engine of MLM or network marketing is to recruit but also to duplicate the process, inning after inning, game after game. But, in every next inning, who will be the best pitcher and the weakest player...and therein lies another problem...at least traditionally.

However, along came the Internet and Internet Marketing. Our team was over the moon, our backyard was the whole world, we were on a Conveyor Belt to Galactic Success!  It seemed like overnight virtual space was filled with exposures of digital fireworks, subject lines, banner ads, floating buttons, space ads, and sales funnels of unlimited variations.

Pioneer marketers became the movers and shakers with early technical expertise for mass exposure, to build followers and lists. But they were promoting what they did best … aid-packages to learn guru marketing like themselves, not building a home business based on relationships. And guess what, their mantra was loud, clear and everywhere that you do not need to talk to anyone, just program yourself to be a leader everyone wants to follow. Imagine that in a selling profession where everyone touts leadership skills?

But MLM or network marketers took the bait, hook, line and sinker. We invested endless time and money into these programs to become our own self-brands, competing with lucrative marketing superstars and huge ad agencies to stand out in the crowd. Imagine a little old lady in the valley trying to make a virtual footprint?

In hindsight, of course, it was exploitation of the dream for any individual to succeed, other than the power brokers; but it was also the death knell for MLM online marketing. There was a brief period when the MLM jungle thrived online when mercenary, ego-driven entrepreneurs took advantage of proper networking principles with promises of dollar bills falling from the sky, exotic cars and holidays, and 200% commissions; just a  brief flash into oblivion filled with vulnerable bodies.  Soon EBay and Amazon readily displaced products with 70% markups to pay distributors’ commissions. 
         

So, where does personal philosophical content play a part in this journey? It started with  distribution of wellness products produced by a doctor and cellular nutritionist, seaweed elixirs that arrived frozen in a Canadian winter, and Ayurveda tonic with a celebrity endorsement who very few people seemed to know.

This physical distribution soon changed to intellectual distribution of ideas in tune with a digital world; such as, overriding search engines to find the lowest prices online. It was the first time I was intrigued to hear the term that a home business has potential for the masses with a membership of $29 a month to save and make money. Who couldn’t afford $29 to belong to a residual matrix based on a worldwide pool?  

Here began my hope as a common denominator to be a fair and democratic home business mentor. This was beyond sales; this was ethical, people helping people. In a changing world, technology should not displace opportunity, or sabotage dreams; ignorance is not a virtue. Why not fit into the Digital Economy with a People Power program and plan that can duplicate and monetize new changes with or without self-development, technical skills and no critical details missing?    

BIG QUESTION

Everyone agrees, I’m sure, that internet technology has radically changed our culture, industries and movements by continuing to recycle more disruptions. We cannot disagree that more People Power has created the greatest marketplace. We possibly may agree that we have unlimited access to information that can be comprehensive, less expensive and fast without the heavy burden of labor.  

How can we best address the reality that until you have an asset where you can use information tools to expand your knowledge and time, it is difficult to go beyond physical geography or hourly income?

GOOD NEWS

The GOOD NEWS is that as the rapidly changing economy continues, there is still power in the distribution business model, but it must be applied to the industry that is the most crucial to internet marketing; namely internet marketing itself. There is no question that this totality developed over the years has become inordinately complex and I would not wish the trials and tribulations of learning and applying it by yourself on any enemy. But today it is possible that you don’t need to know a lot; I’m certainly not an expert. You can join the marketing evolution and use a marketing mastermind’s skills, knowledge, drive and execution.

My  experience shows that there is more power than ever in today’s technology to plug into the capabilities of a large company and expert personnel. It is the universal power of LEVERAGE unleashed like never before. You have the choice for affiliation to let the experts tell the story on your behalf, explain the comp plan, testimonials and bonuses. If the prospect doesn’t get the value, he rejects the mastermind, not you.

NEW HERO

I have managed to tone all this down to how to be a self-franchised distributor in the definition of franchising “where a company can expand its business and distribute goods and services via independent agents by providing them with an operating system, brand and support.”

Who has heard of a Self-Franchised Distributor or Affiliate Marketer? I believe the time and place has come to make room for such a hero. This is the opportunity to access the potential of Internet Marketing by leveraging and sharing a single resource with a total en-suite of necessary tools to be a successful online marketer, save time and make money. 

You can read more about this adaptation in The Self Franchise Report: 

Three Reasons to Be a Self-Franchise Entrepreneur

 Four Adaptations to Reality Check to Keep it Real. 

CAUTIONARY WARNINGS

In review, MLM may appear better exposed and not as dangerous but avoid hot buttons, launches and heavy-duty outdated repackaged marketing skills.

Never sign-up for any company without a free trial period that goes beyond the sales pitch to practical benefits. Make sure a refund policy is in place if money is paid to prevent buyer’s remorse. Never make a permanent decision based on a temporary emotion.

Stop thinking that there is “a beach bum and a millionaire inside you” and only you can make the difference. Business coaching or self-empowerment programs work for a few strong-minded people, they will never duplicate in a team.

Refrain from listening to self-made business gurus who tell you to feed your dreams and to believe in yourself to get better. Their magnetic charisma and well-honed speaking skills make it easy for a select few to proselytize, not generally reflective, more dream-baiting.

Run away from anyone who asks WHY do you want to be successful? Of course, you do. Instead, ask them WHAT kind of successful marketing program they use, WHY it works on today’s internet marketplace and HOW you can do it. Plenty of time to dream after your marketing strategies prove results.  

Remember the biggest blunder in MLM is hooking people’s DREAMS as a reason to start a business without an able marketing strategy. However, the biggest advantage is using professional LEVERAGE. The time is right to replace the WHY with the HOW.

Questions and comments are always important; in fact crucial. Let me know what you think about the right conditions, wrong directions, new opportunities and warnings.

Annemarie Berukoff
amarie10@gmail.com  (Please set a time to talk that fits you.)

Remember that it is a common fact that at times of disruption and wealth distribution of this scale, true entrepreneurs can make fortunes with right programs and systems.