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The MLM Dilemma

by: Steve Lowell

Copyright 2005 Steve Lowell

Does this sound familiar...?

You have taken ALL of the company training, listened to the tapes, recorded phone calls and live conference calls, read all the company materials and tried the products. You bought some inventory, made business cards, set up the web site that the company provided for you.

You have purchased leads, set up an e-mail campaign and told everyone you know about your awesome company, the cutting edge products and the lucrative compensation plan...you were exited, motivated, dedicated, enthusiastic, positive and committed and yet...your results are dismal.

If all of that sound familiar, I have news for you...you are one of the roughly 95% of people in MLM that have been completely wasting your time, money and infinitely more important...your life! Keep reading...there IS hope!!

I know that there are people in your company who are doing well...making tons of money...but here's the question...can you REALLY duplicate what they are doing??

What is it that the people who are on top have that you don't have? Well, there's bad news...and there's good news!

The bad news is that if you were to take a close look at the top performers in your company, you might notice a few things such as:

1. They have above average communication skills. They can walk into a room or stand in front of an audience and command attention. They just have that skill. Most people can't do that! In fact, the number one fear in North America is public speaking!

2. Maybe they are able to work 22.5 hours per day without sleeping. Some people just have the metabolism that allows them to do far more in a day than others. Most people can't do that either!

3. Maybe they had money to begin with and were able to purchase a position in the company which allowed them to maximize their income potential...most people can't do that either!

4. Maybe they are great salespeople. Maybe they don't mind getting 100 rejections in order to recruit one person, but most people can't do that either!

The point is that there are any number of things that allow some people to just outperform others and usually it's because they really do have some quality, characteristic or skill that others just don't have. This allows them to build enormous organizations only a VERY small percentage of those people actually earn them the big money, and it's normally people who happen to have the same outstanding skills.

After I studied this over many months of failing miserably in MLM...I asked myself this question; �Where the heck does that leave an average guy like me??" That brings us to the good news!

The good news is that there are people just like me; average people with average skills making a substantial living with Network Marketing, and so can you.

You don't need the "gift of gab" or tons of money to buy your position and you don't need to work 22.5 hours per day or to withstand an onslaught of rejection. So what does the average person need to make a fortune in Network Marketing?

You need only two things:

1. A System that can be duplicated by anyone
2. Education as to how to properly deploy that system

The system can be either automated or not as long as the process takes the prospect through specific steps and brings them to a point where they can decide weather or not they are interested in seeing more.

A good automated system will walk the prospect through the following steps:

1. Attention: I have found that the best way to catch attention is to reduce the flashiness of the presentation. The best attention grabbing tool is a very well written introduction abut YOU, the marketer.

2. Interest: Maintain the prospects interest by providing something with which they can relate. Claims of riches tend to alienate most qualified prospects who are not interested in the hype�they are interested in content. Your system needs to provide strong content which allows the prospect feel that they know you a little.

3. Education: The prospect should learned something new. Some actual valuable information that makes them understand that you have a legitimate business opportunity. Education regarding Network Marketing would be best because it can help you pre-qualify your prospect and eliminate that �pyramid� objection.

4. Desire: By the end of the presentation, your prospect should want more information from you. If your system gives away to much information, the prospect will have no reason to speak with you again.

This is where most people drop the ball, especially when using automated systems. Most people think that their on-line system is going to do the recruiting for them.

I have seen many times when a marketer considers the flash presentation on their company website to be their entire automated prospecting system. The problem with this is that the company website gives away the entire story and rarely leaves the prospect in a state of desire. The prospect can make a final decision without ever having to get to know the marketer. This puts the company, product, or compensation plan in the forefront of the prospect�s mind, instead of the exciting potential of the Network Marketing business itself.

A strong automated prospecting system is just that�a prospecting system, not a recruiting system. We can not exclude personal relationship building from the Network Marketing equation. Which brings us to the second requirement for success in Network Marketing�training.

Training is perhaps the most neglected part of our business. Rule number one is that you should never ever lead with your company, your product or your compensation plan...the reason is very simple...NO ONE CARES!!! Here's why...

When you lead with your business, your products, your opportunity or your comp plan, you are talking about what is important to YOU, not to the prospect. They might listen to you out of courtesy or respect for you, and you might sign up a few people along the way, but your chances of building a solid business in the manner are slim because this approach is not �duplicateable� by most people.

In order for the prospecting process to be effective, you really must build a relationship with your prospect before you introduce your company. This can be done using a combination of your automated system and personal follow-up.

Network Marketing success requires that you deploy a balance of properly designed automation, and training on how to develop a personal relationship with the prospect.

If the automated system is properly designed, and the training is effective in teaching the basics, then the average person can do exceptionally well in Network Marketing.

About the author:
Steve Lowell is president of SJ Lowell Inc. in Ottawa, Ontario Canada; a business consulting firm and founder of The MLM Executive Round Table at by email at steve@stevelowell.com or go to

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