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[al king Contribution Level: 2]

I'm somewhat new to Mike Dillard, this website, and all that is involved.

I actually found this website by complete accident; I was doing a search on Domain Names to see if a few I wanted to register were used.

When there is NO Website, my ISP displays a page with 'similar search topics' - and one of them was betternetworkers.com

After Joining, some of my business partners had already heard about it, because they had Purchased Mike Dillards "MLMleadsPro" system -- and I guess this website is promoted as part of that package, along with all of the other 'tools' in place - which are really great.

I'm Not new however, to Network Marketing, or Internet Marketing... I like to think of myself as one of the First guys doing it online, before people were doing it online; I just never marketed "my self" - was too busy marketing products.

I guess that's because I really am not in it for the Fame; I just want the Money - I want to Help others change or improve their lives - and I don't need a thank you; the check will say enough.

Back to what I was saying ... it seems to me, that most of what is being discussed on this board is about magnetic sponsoring from selling Your Self, instead of your Opportunity.

I dont think that's duplicatable.

Sorry, but this thought has been on my mind for a few days now, and NOT everybody can or should sell Themselves.

I didnt' join network marketing 10 years ago, because of the people standing up presenting the business; They helped; But I didn't get involved because of my Friend, Mr. Collins, who exposed me to the business. I got in, because it made sense.

I wanted to get paid on that product; I wanted to share the business with others, help Them get paid on the product, and get paid on Their work; I got in because Network Marketing Made Sense to me.

Now, did people join because of Me? Yep, they sure did - and they were HORRIBLE Reps!

They got in, for the wrong reason; they got in because of My excitement and enthusiasm, My belief that THEY would make money; Problem was, THEY were not willing to do what it would take to make money; and so I didn't make much money either.

Like so many of you here, obviously, the Solution to the problem was, I needed Better Leads.

And so the business of 'attraction' comes to mind here ... Attraction was a subject I studied by default; many mentors would talk to me and others about how if We became better, we would attract into our lives better people to network with; Better Leads!

Personal Development - learning more, adding value to myself so that I could add value to others

Attracting to myself, Other Valuable people just like me.

And so I dove in; I became a better person, I knew more, I could speak on more subjects with confidence, I was able to motivate, to explain the business like a pro, to talk to anyone, anywhere about the business, the products, the services, the training, the benefits of being involved, and also could relate to them about acheiving their goals, talking to them in such a way that it would inspire them to Connect their Goals, to our Business plan -- and yet, because I wasn't making Money - people STILL weren't joining.

So I'm saying all of this to simply say, Not Everybody can sell themselves.

Sometimes, sadly - people look at what's in your Pocket.

I wrote this on Facebook... and decided to Expand my Ideas on this one here

"i'm leaning more and more away from this Idea that you have to sell "YOU" to succeed in Network Marketing. I think you need a Good product, and you need a Good Compensation Plan - I'm sorry, but i don't agree that people join "people" - in some cases, sure ... If you've got the Right "people" In your Opportunity, those "people" can influence Your People to join YOUR downline - because They want to work with That person; be a part of that Persons company; and then finally, the bottom line is, they Truly DO see a benefit to using and selling the Products or Services offered by that company.

And yet, NONE of that will bring them success.

So, I Really feel that True Success comes when you JOIN the RIGHT Opportunity; It's got to be early enough to Truly help Lead the development OF that company; to allow you to Find, and Identify Leaders to partner with and expand the "Sales" of whatever Prodcut or Service that opportunity has.

That's where Success is, in DOING the business."

I'm not against systems used to Find and Capture leads - I'm all for it; hell I use it myself - it's a great system, that I used for other businesses, when I left the NWM industry in 2005; I got into permission marketing as it was originally Called in 2001 - using mostly Yahoo Groups to find people to Opt In to boards where I would Discuss Business Ideas with them.

And I found Reps! I found Partners, Distributors ... other people who Liked the Opportunity I had, and got involved, not because of "me" - because It Made Sense to them as well.

I think now.... many years later, the original idea of "permission marketing" has morphed into this Attraction Marketing stuff; and I think some of the people falling for it are missing the point.

Most of you are just re-selling Mike Dillards "system" - you're buying his tools; and HE's making the BIG check; which is great for him, it's genious.

However if YOU want the BIG Check; You need your OWN System to sell.

In a way, his 'system' has become a Network Marketing business in and of itself. It's its Own opportunity; for network marketers in search of 'better leads'

I guess most of you are being told, that after you get done Selling His opp; THEN you bring up yours.... but by then, they're selling His stuff to others, and they're either NOT gonna join yours because you Look like a guy who can't make his mind up on what to sell; that you'll sell Anything; or because they're way too confused from being bombarded with All the tools, that they've got No Opportunity to use those 'tools' for.

The Other option, is you need to be part of a Good Business Opportunity. Bottom line... if your business does not offer you the option of making a decent check without recruiting a single Distributor, it's Not really a good Opportunity.

Recruiting Distributors, should only be an option to GROW your business exponentially; it shouldn't be the Deciding factor in whether or not you're able to survive in your current company.

Also, you shouldn't have to break your back to earn a decent check -- your personal customers should be able to help you pay your bills, alone; In my First business, 20 customers got me $9 ever 3-4 months. ... and they wouldn't send the check till it was over $10 - So Luckily I had a few people in my Downline with customers to push me over; and was able to get paid almost every 3 months!!



With my new company, One month, One Customer, the check was bigger.

So, I'm convinced you need a "Good Opportunity" if you want to make money, in Any business. A Good Opportunity is in My Opinion, built around a "Good product/service, at a Good Price, to where you make a Good Profit per Sale"

If not, doesn't matter HOW many Leads you have .... or how Good those leads are.

[Nathaniel Johnson Contribution Level: 6]

However if YOU want the BIG Check; You need your OWN System to sell.

In a way, his 'system' has become a Network Marketing business in and of itself. It's its Own opportunity; for network marketers in search of 'better leads'


If not, doesn't matter HOW many Leads you have .... or how Good those leads are.

Have you had the pleasure of seeing his videos? I think since you are new to this whole concept you are misunderstanding the point. Of course, ultimately you are marketing his product and building his image, but if you take the lessons from the system you'll learn that success isn't going to come from peddling his product <--- that is not the main point he is pushing, I suggest you take a look at his videos and soak in the MS attitude before you go ahead and "disagree" with Mike

[al king Contribution Level: 2]

However if YOU want the BIG Check; You need your OWN System to sell.

In a way, his 'system' has become a Network Marketing business in and of itself. It's its Own opportunity; for network marketers in search of 'better leads'


If not, doesn't matter HOW many Leads you have .... or how Good those leads are.

Have you had the pleasure of seeing his videos? I think since you are new to this whole concept you are misunderstanding the point. Of course, ultimately you are marketing his product and building his image, but if you take the lessons from the system you'll learn that success isn't going to come from peddling his product <--- that is not the main point he is pushing, I suggest you take a look at his videos and soak in the MS attitude before you go ahead and "disagree" with Mike

I think if you read what IM saying - I already get it.

Mike didn't Invent this ... it's been around.

He's just one of the first people to "package it and sell it"

I've watched a couple videos of him selling a list to sign up on; I listened to a conference call he did on closing more leads; the guy Knows his Stuff; No denying that.

It isn't "mike" I'm disagree'ing with; It's the idea that you need to Sell "YOU"

You might wanna try re-reading what I said

I don't think selling "YOU" works all that well for Everyone. It may work for some, but it's not truly Duplicatable, because Everyone is not Marketable.

[Richard Bravo Company: Life Force International Contribution Level: 9]

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Hi Al, welcome to the community.
Thank you for posting this topic... very interesting.

I myself agree with much of what you have said.
(ducking quickly, dodges assault of rotten fruits and veggies from the crowd)

I have also thought about this subject and have realized that "attraction marketing" and the way it is "gospelized" is not for everyone. The basic internet marketing principles work quite well, and as you said, are nothing new. Attraction Marketing is nothing more than a "brand" placed on a set of marketing principles, packaged, and sold; just as the concept itself teaches.

I have seen many harsh responses online to people who are struggling with this marketing concept; wrongfully so in my opinion. I've heard so called "leaders" belittle people and claim they are weak minded and just need to "get over it" if they are going to succeed in this industry.

As with any "organized" movement that has a group of passionate followers and zealous "believers," I see where they are coming from. But so to must those followers be compassionate and understanding of the people who aren't at the level of "commitment" or better yet, "confidence" that you may be.

A true leader meets people where THEY are at, on their level, on their terms, to help them succeed. Of course along the way you present the methods and strategies that have worked for others and help that person grow and cultivate their personal skill set in order to utilize the tools and strategies that are working.

But people have been making money in network marketing for a long time, before Youtube, and they will continue to do so. Internet marketing and affiliate marketing and making money online has been an active industry for some time now, before the mlm industry began using it as a medium for leads, and will continue to be a viable, profitable industry; without the use of "personal" branding.

As I said, don't get me wrong, the strategies work, but not for everyone. Just like this industry isn't for everyone. Even Donald Trump has said he does not believe "all" people can be rich. It just isn't true. Not everyone is a leader. Not everyone is comfortable in front of a camera.

However, for those that try and commit, but don't make a Youtube video, does that sentence them to failure? I say no. I created several thousand dollars in monthly income in my business and never made a single video. Am I failure at marketing? Can it be done today? I say yes it can.

There are no terms when you help someone. You either help them or you don't. Yes there may be a time to walk away, but if a person is putting forth effort and YOU chose to accept them into your life, then I believe it is your duty to see it through.

So for whatever that's worth, I hope the "leaders" take heed and really put some understanding into what it really means to "help" people. Empower them. Educate them. Lead them. But do not judge them.

Sorry some of that may have come from another thought string, but hope it contributes to the conversation non the less.
Cheers!

~ Richard

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[al king Contribution Level: 2]

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A true leader meets people where THEY are at, on their level, on their terms, to help them succeed. Of course along the way you present the methods and strategies that have worked for others and help that person grow and cultivate their personal skill set in order to utilize the tools and strategies that are working.

But people have been making money in network marketing for a long time, before Youtube, and they will continue to do so. Internet marketing and affiliate marketing and making money online has been an active industry for some time now, before the mlm industry began using it as a medium for leads, and will continue to be a viable, profitable industry; without the use of "personal" branding.
~ Richard

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Hey Richard, thanks for chiming in there; some strong valid points from you about Leadership.

Everyone isn't a good leader; and not all Leaders (meaning those who've been able to build big organizations in this industry) are good Leaders.

Like you, I totally understand the devotion - I get it - for many of the people here I am sure their businesses were fluttering until this system came along; or into their lives. So I get it... I really do.

It's interesting being 'back in the saddle' so to speak after an almost 5 year absense from the industry; not absent from Marketing; just absent from being part of a Company -- many of my Former business partners who did Very well with old school, friends and family marketing are completely Green to what this is; The Internet marketing monster -- I know one guy who's peddling 4 different companies.

He's under the impression that if he has enough People on his List, that he can pretty much sell them anything and they'll buy.

But I tend to think People are not that Naive.

Furthermore, I would not want to build my business on a Naive 'foundation' - I want Informed Leaders; I want Informed Distributors; and I think if you Have a Product, the goal is to focus on That One specific product -- you Build Trust by sharing "Good Information" -- People will get involved because your Information is Helping them; they can See how joining you, joining your business can help them flourish.

But I really doubt people want to jump into 2, 3, and 4 businesses; I'm sure one will suffice.

Anyways, I've said enough on this for today; Thanks Richard for your thoughts;;; I also don't want to Slight you either Nate; I thank you as well for sharing your thoughts;;; hopefully some other people will also share their views on this; in hopes that it helps everyone in this community to become "better networkers"

by the way ... i LOVE networking

[Lawrence Tam Company: Numis Network Contribution Level: 3]

Good points all around.

I say not everyone is cut out to make money. Be it in sales or whatever. Just because you get a degree doesn't mean you will make money in that industry or money at all.

To just lump people into a broad categories isn't a good thing to do. You can't really say "ALL" or "Everyone" can be a leader. Of course not. Now I guess it comes down to if you believe:

1) Leaders are born and have it in their blood
2) Leaders are taught and can be learned with dedication to their craft

I tend to believe 2). If someone wants something enough and actually puts time to learn their craft they CAN and WILL become a leader. A lot of that comes from mental preparation of changing your outlook on life and yourself. This is taught by Mike Dillard and I totally agree that you can't have everyone being a Alpha Male.

So the Question comes to: Do you want to make money by sponsoring 10 weak distributors who will fail in 3 months or find one alpha marketer.

I believe with good mentoring someone who has the appetite to learning the industry WILL make money.

I don't believe in pushing products. Products come and go. If I wanted to sell products I would go into technical sales which pays nicely to sell widgets but that isn't an effective use of my time. I don't lead with products as that isn't the image of what I want to portray to my prospects.

Many companies have good compensation plans. But what happens if it all closes down tomorrow like WaMu, Circuit City... The people joined you for the business and not really you. I find that leading with you product severely limits your market. People don't want to sell products, they just want to make money, and by limiting your prospects to selling "one" type of product will again limit your market.

Understanding that Magnetic Sponsoring is just one of many affiliate programs. I don't funnel my targeted traffic to the Magnetic Sponsoring capture page first. That would be silly. I funnel my traffic into ME first. Then I introduce free information to helping them Grow as a distributor.

When you only focus on promoting ONE business the likelihood of actually get paid on that time goes way down.

To say a product is for everyone is incorrect, but to say everyone wants a product..... well. I got something you can use The greatest thing about it is that it's mostly done on autopilot.

If the bottom line is just to make money, there are money people making MORE money in just straight up affiliate sales vs network marketing. Combining the 2 was the light at the end of the tunnel for me.

[Dan Collins Contribution Level: 2]

I think a valid point you have is that the PRODUCTS need to be better than average now, esp. in this day and age. They have to then believe your the one to bring them to the promised land.

[Mark Fuller Contribution Level: 3]

I'm Back to what I was saying ... it seems to me, that most of what is being discussed on this board is about magnetic sponsoring from selling Your Self, instead of your Opportunity.

I dont think that's duplicatable.

Hi

I believe if you can sell yourself and the product, you will be more effective. When people are initially attracted to the oportunity because of the leader, ultimately the product needs to sell itself. Thus, understanding the product's target market is critical. Several months ago, I struggled with defining a target market for my company's services. Now it is increasingly becoming clearer.

[Alicia Andersen Contribution Level: 2]

What's duplicatible is selling a smaller product and then following up with a consultative sales approach. The opportunity is in the back end, and a consultative approach is much easier for many people.

Branding yourself increases the power of the consultative approach & allows you to better target your niche.

Your right, attraction marketing has been around for a long time. But that's not the point.

The point is, you don't have to be a leader to make it work. Leaders who know how to share this with regular people are watching their teams duplicate like crazy.

I think that you have a lot of great points, and I suggest that you consider really digging in & understanding what some of these people are doing. You just can't study it from the outside.

[Adam Taha Company: Amway Contribution Level: 7]

Very interesting topic. Really liked much of the discussion here and also, bringing it up too.

Well, here's my thoughts..

It's duplicatable, because everyone can invest knowledge in themselves.

People can't invest in knowledge in their industry and learn PPC and SEO and share it? That's not duplictable? Yes it is.

People can't invest in training to create sales funnel by reading and learning, and share the knowledge? Yes it is.

People can't learn and create a capture page and share the knowledge? Not duplicatabe? Yes it is.

People in skin care for example, can't learn and share the knowledge on how skin works, how to prevent this, and how to do this...isn't duplicatable? Yes it is.

People in nutritution, supplements, health, wellness, can't create valuable information targeted to their audience needs, on how to, and knowledge they want...isn't duplicatable? Yes it is.

People in music can't create videos about how to play a guitar, or if the needs of their audence is how to use a samplar, or a Reason software, or how to do this and that, isn't duplicatable? Yes it is.

Follow through everyone, for every industry and it is it duplicatable? Yes it is.

Guitarist And His Value
I knew a friend. Guitarist. Instead of doing what many do, he did a very smart move. He didn't go and play in a train station, or in streets. No, he was very smart.

He knew his audience group very well. Lazer target this guy had. He went where they were hungry.

He's really good at guitar, flamenco style. Took him 8 years to play like that. He invested money and time to learn to play the guitar that way. Even in his second year he made money and he did by doing this...

He goes outside an art college, and made sure he got permission, and plays outside when students come out. The art college is...90% music college.

The learners would go out and he'd put that amp up and play the guitar. The melodies that guy came out was just awesome!

He would not say a word. No board, or poster, nothing. Just plays the guitar.

He walked away that day with students craving for lessons and...college wanted to hire him. Word spread and he makes a lot of money doing DVDs.

He now uses...youtube.

Far too many people keep saying about a lot of things and I heard this said to me too, "it's not duplicatable."

Yeah, well, I'll find those who are hungry enough to duplicate. Or, create a system, in which people can learn in their level and work their way up.

Adam