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There is a wide variation in the roles uplines take toward the downlines in network marketing organization. Some uplines are the ’sign em up and move on to the next’ type, often leaving the downline stranded and not really knowing what to do. Still others act as permanent mentors for their downlines and give them lots of care and guidance as long the downline remains in the organization.
I think the most sensible approach for anyone hoping to build a large network marketing organization is somewhere in the middle of those two extremes. When you think about it, the upline should take some sort of mentoring role in the beginning. A good middle ground role for an upline is to the mentor the downline only long enough to get the downline taking those first steps on their own and tapping into resources on their own. In general, get them to the point where they do business on their own. If the upline spends too much time with each downline, what happens when that upline’s organization gets large? He/she will soon become a full time mentor and if that what is the upline desires, then great. But to continue to grow that NM business, will require a structured approach to mentoring those new downlines, and letting them eventually go mostly on their own.
At some point in the last 10 years or so Multi-Level Marketing supposedly became known as Network Marketing. Funny thing is, I am not sure exactly when that occurred. I have only been really involved in NM since about 2003. I had someone involvement prior to that (Amway in the late 80’s, Herbal Life in the Mid 90’s), but wasn’t ready to take on that role at those times. Was not serious about it (yet).
Did the name change do anything? I went searching for some definitive distinction between the two and found this bizarre entry in the Work at Home Forums. It claims among other things, that:
MLM means they pay you on a multi level , the market is based on Multi level unfortunitly most of home business today are based on this illegal scam market which known as a Pyramid. Network Marketing is a group of people who currenlty enjoying a benefit of products offered by a network marketing company , they like the product alot that they like to recommend every one to use it.
However, most everyone who followed up with comments disagreed with this and said what most people think: They’re one in the same. Indeed, if you search the term “Network Marketing Wiki” it will take you to the Wikipedia page for MLM which has an “also known as” in it.
So it seems that in most people’s mind, the two terms are interchangeable. It’s not Network Marketing (formerly known as MLM), but rather it’s Network Marketing (also known as MLM). I have a feeling this is not what the parties who invented the term Network Marketing had in mind.
The recent report “Death of Network Marketing” (a great read by the way!) says that the term Network Marketing is only a band-aid meant to correct an image problem created by MLMs of the 80’s and 90’s. It also says while it worked for a few years, it doesn’t really address the underlying image problems and thus has been reduced to a mere “AKA”.
I have to admit, I prefer the term “Network Marketing” myself and use it almost exclusively when talking to people about it. Although, I do use MLM when I need to save space here on the blog (like in the Categories). Network Marketing is NOT dead as the report title implies nor is it dying. It is however, evolving.
The NM company I am currently involved in (ITV Ventures), is large enough to have a chat room. The chat room serves a dual purpose. It’s the launching point for the call center, but it’s also a support center where ITV Ventures IBO’s can get answers to their questions.
One of the things I find appalling is the very basic questions I see people posting in that chat room. The kind of questions that make me think “Where is this person’s upline?”. In one recent case, I gave one of the people my phone who needed help because I had a bit of extra time. As it turned out, the help he needed was very basic and should have been provided by his upline. Why would I assist someone else’s downline? Because it’s all one company and his success ultimately benefits me. But I do have issues with his upline and maybe this speaks to you as a recruiter. Are you spending enough time with your downline?
There are a lot of people in Network Marketing companies that are brought in via what I call “Assembly Line” style. Some network marketers will quite literally, recruit any old warm body without regard to the type of capabilities he / she has or the time that might be needed to bring the new IBO up to speed. Get em signed up and move on to the next — Yee hah!
A new IBO in any network marketing business is going to need some attention up front. The level of attention varies depending on the individual, but the upline should allow for this rather just get them signed up and then move on. The upline should at least get the new IBO to the point where he/she can make take those first steps.
Too many network marketers just leave their downlines high and dry. I am convinced this is a major contributing factor to the high rate of network marketing failure. I don’t believe this ‘Assembly Line’ rectruiting is good for either the NM company or the new IBO.
It is called RssHugger. It’s a place to get your blog listed but it’s not the same tired old blog directory thing we’re used to. You know the ones where you had to post a link before you can get your blog listed with them? That by the way, is called reciprocal linking and it’s seen better days.
But RSSHugger has two ways to get your blog listed. Either you can write a review for RSSHugger or pay $20. Interesting idea. It has a Top 100 that resets every month with the idea that everyone should have a crack at getting in the Top 100.
The search function appears to need some work. When I checked, it was not really a search in the classic sense where you type something in. Rather it appears to be a browse feature where you browse by category. At the current time, there only one category listed (Windows) and nothing under. I will assume that’s something they’re working on.
There is also a random blog feature which will bring up the title of the blog and it’s most recent posts. This stays within the RSSHugger site, but you can click the blog link to go out to visit the blog.
So if you have a new blog or even a well established blog and are looking for a few more visitor sources, give RSSHugger a try!
I am always probing Network Marketing opportunities because I feel by now I can ‘probe’ without letting my emotions get carried away and ask the right questions; the tough questions. One of the questions I ask has to do with Lead Generation and Customer Acquisition. Those are two the biggest hurdles for people who join Network Marketing businesses (or for just about any business for that matter).
How to get me to lose interest really quickly? I posed the following question to a certain distributor in a certain NM who will go nameless.
What tools and advantages does [NM company] offer in the way of (a) Lead Generation and (b) Customer Acquisition?
It’s a rather open question but yet it asks about two specific things. Here is the dance around I got.
Is it going to take work ..yes it is. Am I going to tell you that it is going to be easy…no I won’t. This company has:
The Integrity I am looking for
The product I was looking for
The leadership I was looking forEither this company is “for” you…or it is not. I knew…after doing the research “on my own”…that this was the company for me. I did not wait for anyone to feed me canned information…stuff they thought that I wanted to hear. I could easily do that here…but I will not. Do the research [Church of NM]. If [NM company] is not for you…I wish you well on your journey for the perfect company. If it is what you are looking for…I welcome you with a hearty hand shake and a promise that I will work as hard as you do on your business.
I never replied to him. I don’t remember asking about whether it would be work or not. If he can’t directly address my two points, then I am left to assume there is nothing new in the Lead Generation and Customer Acquisition areas of this NM company. If all he can do is paste what is probably a template response, then I am left to assume this just another old school NM company without anything new to bring to the table.
Here is a place to get you blog listed. They do require a link back and that is the purpose of this post. It’s a directory with a lot of good quality blogs listed. I didn’t see too many ’splogs’ there. They seem to have a well thought out category structure so you can fit your blog into just about anything there. If you’re looking for a place to list your blog, check out BlogCatalog!
Having been involved in several Network Marketing programs in past, I can at least say that by now I know what I’m looking for in an NM company. And more importantly, I feel that I know what to avoid.
One of things I avoid is single product Network Marketing companies. NM companies that really only offer one product. Max International is an example of such of an NM company. They have one product that is supposed to boost glutathione levels naturally.
Without arguing the merits of whether this product does what it’s supposed to do or not, let’s look at the ’single product’ approach. What happens if some fundamental shift occurs that causes this product not to be desirable or marketable? The most likely thing to happen with a product like this would be some sort of side effect and a lawsuit, followed by a lot of negative publicity. Or it could be a negative report from the FDA or something.
A few years ago, EcoQuest International was riding on a high horse. They weren’t a single product NM, but they definitely had a flagship product which brought in the lion’s share of the business – the ozone based air purification system. These systems worked by spraying ozone into your room and ‘crushing’ mold, odors, and contaminants. And EcoQuest was not the only one selling these things: Sharper Image had one too. But in 2004, the EPA came out with a report warning people that using these systems in the home was unsafe due to the levels of ozone in closed environments. Needless to say, that hurt the business and I think EcoQuest is still recovering from it.
Bottom line: single product NMs or NMs with a high percentage of sales coming from a single product can be a dicey proposition. It’s the old “too many eggs in one basket” thing all over again. Now as Network Marketers does that mean you shouldn’t join one? Well I wouldn’t for the reasons mentioned above. But they could work and I do know they work for some people. And if you have more that one of these businesses going, that could serve to spread your risk around as well.
