Stand Out

Hi Biola

Marketing vs. Network Marketing

I discovered that no matter what department we claim to be, we will all sell! Since I discovered this, I have tried hard to develop my skills and to assist others in doing the same.

I got approached by a company a few weeks ago, who wanted me to drive the sales of their product for them. They explained the marketing strategy and got me to really like their product. I asked them one question however that got them thinking. I asked them that since I was one of the first few people they considered to market their product on their behalf, what would be the benefit I would get from the marketing leads generated indirectly from my sales efforts. The Marketing Manager asked for clarity which I promptly provided. At that point, he began to scratch his head and look disturbed; it was a question they had no answer for.

Conventional marketing offers you an opportunity to make commissions from only the sale you make directly. Whatever happens by your customer informing another customer on and on, has nothing to do with you. You earn from the direct sales you make and no more. I don’t know about you, but I’m tempted to call this unfair. Relying on years of marketing directly myself, I understand how it works, the company does not rely on only the sales man to close the sales, and the company invests in all forms of advertisement and can easily claim that any of these are responsible for the sales.

In network marketing however, because the company deliberately relies on one form of advertisement – the recommendation of a friend, they ensure that anytime a marketer makes a sale, they track the sale and all subsequent sales from that network. What evolves eventually is a scenario where the marketer or referrer makes a commission from all the sales that happens within his/her network. This by far is the fairest marketing deal in the world! A deal that even when you are no longer marketing creates passive commission earning opportunities for you.

In recognizing the best opportunities, there are two key things you must check out:

1. Product

Is there a viable product? Is the product one that you can buy without the presence of a business opportunity or paid commissions?

If the product is viable and good, then it passes step 1. Alternatively, if the product does not exist or is useless, then what you have is a ponzi or pyramid scheme so steer clear.

2. Business Opportunity or Reward Model

There are a few questions I have learnt from experience to ask.

a. Can the reward system be gamed or cheated? If it can, then trust people to try to cheat it. One popular cheat is when people use their own money to buy the product in multiple forms creating false unreplicable sales. This makes the reward system stuck, as fake people have been sold to, and they will never duplicate themselves. A clear example of this is any system that uses boards.

b. Do you continue to earn passive income even if you stop working after a while? If the answer is no, then don’t touch it. Network marketing is great for its potentials to generate passive income. If it doesn’t generate passive income, don’t bother. If you are likely to split to some place where you will not earn until you work again, let it go!

c. Who is behind the company? Are they known or hidden? Are they credible or dubious? Who are the leaders in your local environment? Are they honourable or crooked? Do they care about others or about themselves? People attract as friends the type of people they are, if they are relating with crooks in your country, you don’t need to meet them to know.

Recap

Marketing is an essential skill that we all need to learn and use!
The best marketing deal in the world is the network marketing deal!

There are 3 characteristics of a great Network Marketing Deal.

Kind regards

Adeolu Akinyemi