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What is MLM and what Can It Do For
You?
Seriously Though, What is MLM?
We've heard the term a million times, we've watched the
info-mercials and have possibly even come within inches of
jumping onboard, but do we really understand the concept and
the ins and outs of Multi Level or Network Marketing?
Amway seminars immediately come to mind and most women these
days have been approached at least once by an independent
consultant for Mary Kay Cosmetics. For the majority of us,
the reality is blurry, buried in the back of our minds just
in case we ever muster the courage to take the plunge.
Multi Level Marketing (MLM) is one of the fastest growing
businesses today. In truth, it is not an industry but simply
a marketing method for moving product from Point A to Point
B. The concept spread like wildfire through the 80's, picked
up a little negative press in the early 90's and has
rebounded in the 21st century as the wave of the future.
Many people tend to confuse MLM or Network Marketing with
Pyramid Schemes. Pyramids are actually illegal. The easiest
way to identify a Pyramid Scheme is to ask yourself two
simple questions. (1) What is the product? And (2) where it
is going? Something has to move!
Multi Level Marketing moves product on various levels hence,
it's name. Here's how it works. In MLM you are in business
for yourself. You purchase products directly from a
wholesaler at wholesale prices.
Product moves from Point A to Point B. You can, if you wish
simply use these products for personal consumption or you
can resell them at a retail price to make a profit. The most
common misconception, however, is that you have to sell
retail to be successful. Not true depending on the company
you've chosen to work with.
In the majority of MLM programs, the true success comes from
building the organization or your downline. Your sales will
come as a result. Getting a little nervous? We mentioned the
word sales.
That word will generate a negative response in almost 95% of
the people who hear it. If you're seriously considering
Multi Level or Network Marketing as a career, the first
thing you need to do is instantly replace the word sell in
your vocabulary with the word share. We all love to share
and we were actually taught that skill when we entered
kindergarten. If you can share, you will be successful in
this business.
When you build your organization or your downline, what
you're actually doing is building a network or a funnel for
your product or service. The sale of a product comes when
distributors share that product with family, friends,
coworkers and/or neighbors. Now, visual a single thread from
a spider's web.
As the spider continues to expand his web it continues to
grow and reach in all directions. This is exactly how MLM
works. As you meet people who are interested in doing what
you're doing, you recruit them. You become responsible for
their training, helping them to build a business of their
own just like yours.
From that single thread becomes a massive web. Each thread
that makes up that web ultimately leads back to you. Each
thread is moving product from Point A to Point B either
through their own personal use or the sharing of the product
with their friends, family, coworkers and neighbors.
As your web expands you become the person at the top, the
business owner who is successfully directing potentially
hundreds or thousands of people who are busy moving that
product or service from Point A to Point B.
Depending on how your particular program is set up, you are
financially compensated for every person and the product
they move. The most obvious difference between MLM and a
Pyramid is that anyone can come into a network-marketing
program and end up on the top. In a pyramid scheme, however,
the top remains the top and very few people actually make
any money before it collapses.
The products and services currently being sold via Multi
Level Marketing continue to increase. Corporations are
beginning to realize that the dollars they spend on
advertising their products and attempting to identify their
markets are better spent on the consumers themselves. Who do
you prefer to purchase your consumables from, your best
friend or the big chain down the street that doesn't pay any
attention to you when you walk in the door?
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