I know i’ll probably say some things that will resonate differently amongst different people.
It’s been a little while since i’ve written a post, lots of major events going on in my company
and in my family life as well. All very positive and very exciting, but I can’t forget about my
loyal readers here on my blog.
Today I wanted to talk about something that I’ve been observing for quite some time in the
MLM industry. Something that is becoming a serious problem even for leaders like myself.
Not me personally…Not because i’m a know it all.
It’s because I am an actual business owner. I invested hundreds of thousands of dollars
and took a risk in the restaurant industry. I know what type of repercussions can take place
if you don’t calculate well from the start.
That’s kinda the way things are when you actually know REAL business.
I see some distributors who post other leaders (from other companies) videos on
their Facebook page & share it with their downline. They wake up one day
and wonder where the heck their entire downline went. They don’t realize that for
every dumb move they make, they’ll pay many times over. Unfortunately, unlike
me, not every so called “youtube guru” has ethics and business standards.
Sadly, the MLM industry is made up of a lot of people who throw $50 bucks at some
program who say a bunch of nonsense in the beginning without ever taking a second
to think “will this come back to bite me later?”.
I call it the retraction dance. It’s a simple name. It means just that.
Slowly back peddling on what you’ve said before because now you realize the
repercussions that it will now have on your team.
Let me quickly explain:
You can say a whole bunch of stuff about building a business and duplication
when you don’t have an organization. However, when you start building a sizeable
group in the thousands, you can’t say the dumb stuff you
used to say that never got you in trouble before.
So, maybe when you had hundreds of people that you rolled into your business
from XYZ company (real life example from many “so called experts”) you talked
alot of rah rah about internet marketing and how making the list is lame.
However, because of the fact that very, very few people know how to market
in the cold setting and don’t have the budget to even think about doing Pay Per
Click marketing, that drum will get beaten to death really, really quick.
Now they’ll revert to recruiting in the warm market because that’s easier
(and proven) for them. Well, what now happens when you now have thousands
of people in your group who don’t know about internet marketing or
cold market prospecting/ recruiting methods, you gotta retract.
If you don’t, your downline will break away from your teachings, start
teaching their “own” system (which is most likely some other guru’s thoughts
on the blog post of the day) and your business implodes from the bottom up.
You have to start doing the song and dance. You have to start beating around
some really, really big bushes. LOL.
It’s hilarious. Some of these “internet gurus” or “makeshift you tube MLM Leaders”
can talk a big game and they’ll talk it very quickly. However, they don’t have
a clue about being a real leader. It’s a whole different world.
As a true leader, you need to think ahead of the game. You can’t just put a
band aid over an open wound. You need to prevent the wound first. You need
to think, “if I head down this path, will I eventually get cut”.
Let me give you a personal example.
About 6 months ago, I discovered a great video/internet tool that I used for myself
before I rolled it out to a few people in my organization. Word got out really quickly
that I was using an “Internet Tool” and I was using some type of internet marketing
“thing” that might take the focus off of actually prospecting in the warm market.
Because I choose to run my business the way I do, which is, I let my leaders promote
however which way they want to run their business as long as it follows the basic
guidelines of our system, I decided to only show a handful of people this tool.
This is sooo far from “deep doctrine” internet marketing that it’s not even funny.
I used it because it was the easiest thing for people to use, especially if they
don’t have their own capture page. A lot of people in my downline and even in my upline
were kinda shaking their head at this elementary school level internet tool that
would seriously benefit the masses. I didn’t care. I was using it…and still am.
About a month ago, my company rolls out a new tool. It’s an internet tool that shoots
out video that notifies you via text message when your prospect opens up the video.
The company went wild about it, still is. All the distributors are still going wild about
it..still are.
Funny thing is, it’s the same exact tool I have already been promoting to my group..
only thing is that they branded the player and it’s under a different name now.
It’s still the same service, company, and probably same price point.
I can almost guarantee that the company won’t pay commissions for referrals
to this service because the service providers are going to be charging less
for the service versus what I pay at $19.95 a month.
How do I know this, because roughly 156 other MLM companies use the same
exact service including Monavie, Xango, Tahitian Noni, etc… and they all
charge about $9.95.
I already get paid a great commission from this video service…because I was
ahead of the trend and I don’t have to back peddle.
Now many others who were opposed to my “internet thing”
are starting to do the dance now…
At first many said, “just give people DVD’s” or “just go face to face”
or “that’s nonsense, just open your mouth and talk”.
Now, they have to implement the “Retraction Method” and do
the embarrassing dance. I won’t. It’s great.
Many other gurus out there are just as freaking hilarious.
I was just watching a video of this girl that has made CRAZY money
from marketing on the internet. She spends more money on Pay Per Click
every month than most people ever make in a year in MLM.
She just recently posted a video talking about why Guru’s don’t know
how to really build MLM businesses and how online marketing
doesn’t really work…”as well” as offline.
Funny thing is, I know this because I do business with this person in an
Attraction Marketing Internet Based System. She makes
tens of thousands per month from that. It’s not easily duplicated.
You don’t do home meetings about this internet marketing
system. Yet, the retraction method starts.
[UPDATE: 11/10/2010– So, now it comes to find out that this individual
has just recently made a jump over to a “top tier” opportunity where
you sell a $3K package and make anywhere from 50%-90% profit. She
created a huuuge buzz to send some controversy out on the internet.
She held a webinar just a few minutes ago (that I attended since I had
a gut feeling about this) and sure enough my suspicion was confirmed.]
Her upline leaders just recently started beating that same drum as well.
Her upline leader came out about a month ago with the same message.
He beat her to the punch with the “retraction method”.
Does this mean that they don’t know what they are doing?? no.
They know exactly what they are doing. Most likely, they’ve had it
planned from the start….
Or did they? hmmmm.
Question: What is your upline telling you? How are you deciding to build
your business?
Like I always say, cut past the all the nonsense happening in the industry
and just get out there and kill it. Follow a true leader. Become one yourself.
