You're doing it all wrong

Posted by Louise Venison
1610 Pageviews
Before I say any more, I'd like to point out that I did what I'm about to write about for many years.  I wasn't making any money, but I stuck with it because practically everyone else was doing it, so I thought it must be the way to succeed.  It wasn't.  It was only when I stopped doing this and started doing it differently that I started to see results.
 
What am I talking about?  Take a look at the 2 lists below.
 
List One
 
    * 2:1 surf ratio for free members
    * 10 second timer
    * daily credit contests
    * frequent "bonus surf" days
    * up to 50% commission
 
I made this list up.  It's the kind of thing you might see on a splash page advertising a traffic exchange.
 
List Two
 
    * quick start dollars
    * 5 in 7 cash
    * commissions
    * double commissions
    * spillover
    * matching bonuses
 
I saw this list on a splash page today.  The company being described is a multi-level marketing company with a fantastic product that every computer user needs.
 
Do you see the difference?  List One has 4 points describing the product and 1 describing the business opportunity.  List Two has 6 points describing the business opportunity and nothing about the product at all.
 
Most people advertise using the kind of points in List Two.  They talk a lot about the opportunity, and not at all about the product.  They think what you want to know - the only thing you want to know - is how much money you can make with the business.  And since you see other people doing it, you figure this is the right thing to do, so you do the same yourself.  You might have been doing it so long that you don't even realise you're doing it any more.
 
The problem is, it doesn't work - or if it does work, it only works in the short term.
 
Building a business takes time.  If you join a business because of the money you can make with it, you'll probably be disappointed and drop out some time within the first few months.  If you promote a business by telling people how much money they can make, they might join through you - that's true - but they'll be very disappointed when they're not earning that kind of money within a few months - and they'll probably drop out.  All your time, effort and money is wasted.
 
Look at List One again, the traffic exchange example.  People join traffic exchanges for the traffic - the product - not the opportunity.  While it's true that some become inactive, the drop-out rate is much lower than in multi-level marketing, and this is because they're getting what they joined for.  Many people will join a traffic exchange, upgrade, and keep paying for their upgrade month after month even though they never earn any commissions.  They're happy to pay for the product because it's useful to them.
 
This is what you want for your multi-level marketing business.
 
Stop falling for the opportunity.  Look at the product and see if it's something you will use - if it's something you will be happy to pay for month after month.  And then promote it.  Tell people about the product and how useful it is.  Let them decide if they want it and if it's something they will continue to use.  You might get less people joining you (or you might get more, depending on your product), but you will find people who want to stay with the business.  And they will tell people about the product because they love it, and more people will join ... and so on.
 
That's how multi-level marketing works.  That's how it's supposed to work.  Once you start promoting the product, that's how it does work.
 
So try it.

(This post was taken from my blog at louisevenison.com.)