One Man's MLM or Network Marketing Story - No Happy Ending Here (Yet).
Over the past five years, whether you have noticed or not, network marketing and MLM business efforts have crossed paths with Inbound marketing (Internet marketing). Many optimistic entrepreneur who have jumped into the world of network marketing have by extension been exposed to Internet marketing.
In my own professional estimation, that gap has been difficult to bridge for most MLM or network marketers. Part of this challenge has been the significant competition for keywords used in the more popular network marketing products models. Another possibility is sub-standard training in SEO, blogging, social media and analytics.
My professional suspicions were confirm to one degree or another by an email I received yesterday. This email message was in response to a LinkedIn discussion post trying to explain a better way to connect network marketing with inbound marketing. I had forwarded this discussion post to this gentleman because he is one of the few network marketing professionals I have a connection to.
The email reply is posted below and is from a man who has had great success in the traditional business world. I have much respect and have known him for more than 10 years. I have purposely left out specific contact and network marketing affiliation information for obvious reasons.
If you have some feedback or input I can share with this person, we would both appreciate it very much.
Response to LinkedIn Network Marketing Discussion:
Thanks Dan...
This is a great well written article that leads you into "another" "how-to" get rich program. Looks like it has lots to offer however it also looks like a lot of overload and how does one find the time to work through all the training materials and earn an income at same time. My coaching and training folder in email is the largest folder I have - chocked full of "how to" and "this is how it's done" stuff. Granted I haven't worked my way through every one of them but almost all of them end up in a "drip" system like the one below at $49 per month which admittedly you can stop at any time but most people get started, then forget it and one day review their credit card or bank statement and exclaim "what the h... is that for" to find they've been paying out hundreds of dollars for a program they forgot they even had or maybe never even looked at. So you think I'm a skeptic. Actually - you're right. I've just been down this road so many times that I'm burned out on all the hype and sizzle like this one puts out. Talk about doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Been there - done that.
Right now I'm into about 10 years of trying to make an income out of home based businesses. I've literally been through a hundred ones that promised wealth and happiness and all I have to show for it is the huge (well into six figures) cost of trying to make it work and it didn't. I currently have a couple of good programs I feel have great potential but my biggest problem is marketing it, getting people signed up and generating the residual income that's so elusive. I've run through my warm market to the point nobody listens to me any more no matter how good it is so I have to reach out beyond that onto the internet and I am searching for the right answer on how do this this without bankrupting myself and not reaching a dead end again.
I'm not sure my ABC website is of any value in achieving this as much as it may be just feeding my own ego. It's not marketed and virtually nobody even knows it exists. It's probably the wrong thing to do. The business ventures I'm involved in have great capture pages and websites so it's probably confusing to people for me to bundle it all together into a single website which is constantly changing as I end out of one program and get into another.
Is this anything that you can work with me on? I definitely need a coach or mentor that will show me how to really get it done right without spending a fortune to do it. If you can help I'd love to talk to you further.
For the record, I personally do not know which specific network marketing ventures are involved in this description and I am an Inbound Marketing Professional, NOT a MLM or network marketing professional. Admittedly, my experience here is limited and my own evaluations that network marketing maybe hampered by the lack of inbound marketing application, it seems at least in this case, these judgments aren't too far from accuracy.
Again, any feedback that I could share with this marketer would be appreciated.
