NETWORK MARKETING: Should I Join?
Should I join Network Marketing?
Will it be good for me?
Can I make a career in Network Marketing?
First of all it has to be your decision. After all it is your life. You know yourself better than many people around you. This doesn’t mean that whatever decision you make about starting a business in Network Marketing will always be right. You can be wrong too.
If your decision to start Network Marketing proves to be wrong because you have failed, then you will take corrective action and do something about it. You will not blame others for forcing you to join. Either you will give up on it or change your strategy.
Whatever you do will take you forward in life.
If you succeed then you will thank yourself for taking the right decision. You will be able to create a life of your dreams.
So, the decision of ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ has to come from you.
What I can do through this blog is present to you my way of looking at the Network Marketing Model and trust that it will help you come to a right decision.
So, shall we begin?
Network Marketing is one of the most dreaded words in the minds of the people. Whenever someone starts talking about the subject of network marketing in a group the listeners start to feel uncomfortable and want to disappear from there.
Why does this happen?
When someone starts a conversation about Network Marketing more often he doesn’t know what he is talking about. Whether they are singing praises of the industry or cursing and criticizing it, they can be wrong. This may happen because they maybe speaking with half baked knowledge on the subject. I believe that you can talk about any industry under two circumstances – either you have gone through the grind in the industry and have become successful or you have done a PhD type study on that industry.
I am not here to criticize or inspire you to join the Network Marketing industry. My endeavor is to just look at the industry from a different angle, from different perspective and present you the same. It is then up to you to decide whether you want to be a player in the Network Marketing industry.
In fact my writings may even help you become better at Network Marketing if it ever make a decision to start your business using the Network Marketing Model.
Even if you don’t take up Network Marketing, after reading my blogs on the subject you may be able to speak accurately and confidently about the subject matter.
In This Blog
- What is Network Marketing?
- How do I join Network Marketing Business?
- Is Network Marketing for me?
- Disadvantages of Network Marketing
- Advantages of Network Marketing
- My final thoughts
Let’s set the ball rolling…
WHAT IS NETWORK MARKETING? Do I Really Understand It?
Let us begin at the beginning by answering this question -- WHAT IS NETWORK MARKETING? Do I Really Understand It?
Network Marketing is not a business. It is a way of marketing your business.
Let us look at the two words closely – ‘Network’ and ‘Marketing’.
If you look up at the meaning of ‘Network’ here’s what you will get –
“a group or system of interconnected people or things.”
“Interact with others to exchange information and develop professional or social contacts.”
When you Google ‘Marketing’ this is what you will come up with –
“The activity and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.”
So what Network Marketing means is “communicating and exchanging of information that have value to a group of interconnected people”.
It is a way of marketing a product or service. Every company needs to market their products to prospect customers to earn profit. The way they market products can vary. Marketing a product through a “Network” of people is one way of marketing.
So when you join a network marketing company, you are agreeing to market their product using the system of “Network Marketing”.
If you start a business using your own products, you can choose any form of marketing to promote your products. It need not be same as the “Network Marketing Way”.
Trust this gives you a simplified and clear understanding of what is “Network Marketing”?
HOW DO I JOIN A NETWORK MARKETING BUSINESS? HOW DOES THE BUSINESS WORK?
You don’t join a Network Marketing Business.
With Network Marketing Model you start a business of your own. To start a business you need a product or a service that you can market and sell. Since you don't have the know how or idea or finance or all three to create your own product, you choose a product from companies that you can market to people.
Once you decide to become an entrepreneur of a solopreneur using Network Marketing, this is how things move forward –
• You don’t want to do a job or you want to quit your present job to start your own business
• You don’t have an idea or enough capital or both to manufacture your own product. Still you want to start your own business
• You want to start a business with minimum amount of investment
• You are introduced to or get to know about the ‘Network Marketing’ way of doing business
• You attend lots of presentations by various companies and choose a product or a service offered by the one of the companies that you want to start your business with
• You become a partner in their business by following their registration process and paying a certain amount of money
• Now you are in business
• If you want to earn money from your business then you need to market your business the “Network Marketing” way. There are many ways the companies follow. You will be called upon to attend the training programs conducted by the company you have partnered with, of course you will have to pay a fees to attend the training program. Please remember, in this field nothing is free
• How well you market your product in your network will decide how many people buy your product or service. How many people buy your product or service will decide how much money you will make in your business. This is the basic math behind the business
IS NETWORK MARKETING FOR ME?
Even though Network Marketing way of doing business is for everybody, it everybody can do Network Marketing.
What do I mean by that?
Network Marketing is a field where you have to be an aggressive marketeer.
Big companies have huge amount of cash to invest in their marketing and reach out to millions of people. You as a Network Marketer don’t have that leverage. So what you have to do is depend on yourself to reach out to as many people as you can and market your product.
Network Marketing has nothing to do with how well educated you are or how less educated you are. In fact you can be successful in Network Marketing business even if you are tenth class failed.
Success in Network Marketing is not about your education, its all about the skills that you practice. It is a way of doing business that requires a high level of persuasive power and communication skills. If you are not good at both you may struggle in your business. Of course, you can learn it; but the learning curve might be a long one spreading over many years.
If you want to succeed in Network Marketing I suggest you take up a sales job where you have to hunt down prospect clients, go out into the market to meet them and persuade them to buy your product or service. The trauma and experience you go through will prepare you at mental, physical and emotional level to become a Network Marketer. The lessons will be valuable only if you don’t give up and succeed by bringing in new clients and sales for your organisation.
Hard core sales will teach you and build inside you all the qualities that you require to be successful in Network Marketing.
Remember, Network Marketing is not same as having a casual conversation with your friends. Although this is what people already in Network Marketing will say. It’s a conversation with a purpose to make the listener interested in your product or service so that he will buy from you.
This is how you will earn money in Network Marketing.
DISADVANTAGES CREATED IN NETWORK MARKETING
Network Marketing has a few disadvantages that can stop you from becoming successful.
1. The products and services offered through Network Marketing are very expensive:
The companies can give various justifications for keeping the price high but one needs to identify the buying mentality of consumers. Today even premium brands like Apple has to reduce its price to increase its market share. To be successful one has to come up with really compelling reason to persuade your customers to buy your company’s expensive products.
2. Most of the people who are in Network Marketing don’t know how to go about doing the business and they pass on the same lack of knowledge to their sponsors:
This is the biggest tragedy of this business. People may know how to do the business but they don’t know how to go about it. The result is that they struggle. For example, people in Network Marketing know that they have to convince people to join their business or buy their product, but what they don’t know is how to convince their prospect clients.
Even if they know how to convince they don’t succeed because they have not practiced enough in convincing others.
Network Marketing is all about practicing the right skills, just knowing is not enough.
That is why I tell that your education is not important to be successful in this business. What is important is your practice of the right skills.
3. In the name of training they just motivate you:
To be successful in Network Marketing you don’t require motivation, you require training in the right skills.
For example, what is the use of motivating a person who doesn’t know the art of convincing people? He may get motivated and meet ten new people instead of five, yet he will fail because he doesn’t have the skill to convince them. Most of the so called leaders in the company show up dressed well and force in motivation on the new group who have just joined. Motivation will only help if you have the desired skill to succeed.
4. People Join looking at the Reward instead of focusing on the Process:
It’s good to know the rewards of getting started in Network Marketing. More important than that it is critical to know the path on which you will have to walk to achieve those rewards or get qualified for those rewards.
5. People already in Network Marketing most often hide the Painful Realities of starting a business in Network Marketing Model:
The reason behind this can be either they know nothing about the painful realities or they hide it deliberately because they don’t want their prospect to run away. This sometimes brings in people in this business who are not capable. These are the people who fail miserably and then start bad mouthing the industry as a whole.
ADVANTAGES OF STARTING A BUSINESS IN NETWORK MARKETING
Well, I don’t want to focus on the advantages of joining Network Marketing. I am sure you would have heard mountains of praises on why you should join Network Marketing. I don’t want to beat the drums announcing how you can become a billionaire, own expensive cars and bungalows, go on expensive holidays. Yes, just like some other businesses Network Marketing also give you the opportunity to live your dream life.
For those of you who are new to Network Marketing I would like to share two advantages.
Firstly, you get the opportunity to start your own business with little startup money. If this attracts you then this can be an advantage for you.
Secondly, the compensation plan of the company you decide to work with can help you earn a profit at multiple levels. That is why Network Marketing is also known as Multi Level Marketing or MLM in short.
If you want to get started in Network Marketing, I suggest you take one step at a time instead of zooming ahead haphazardly.
You May Want to Check out few Books on Amazon.
Network Marketing Books in English
Conclusion: My Final Thoughts
“You Get Out of It What You Put into It”
In any field the effect you get will depend on the causes you create or don’t create. In simple words what it really means is – ‘what you sow is what you shall reap’.
Network Marketing is no different. You can have the best of the best. But unless you take action, unless you do what needs to be done, you will not achieve anything. Without the right actions nothing much will happen to you in this business.
Remember, in Network Marketing your failure is your fault and your success is your achievement, nobody can be blamed for your loss and nobody can take the credit for what you do and achieve.
What is your opinion of Network Marketing?
Are you a part of this business or are you thinking of becoming a part of it?
Do let me know your views in the comment box.
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