Why You're Just "Duping" Yourself If You Think You Can Build a Sustainable and Thriving MLM Business without First Developing an Audience
Monday, August 18, 2008 at 05:36AM 
If so, it's costing much more than what you've spent on business opportunities, training, marketing, leads or sales aids. It's costing more than just lost time.
It's quite literally costing you the exhilarating experience of fulfilling your goals and dreams (and any dreams you have for your family).
That's the greatest cost of all.
dupe1 So 'to be duped' is to be fooled or deceived. But why would people deceive themselves? The answer explains why the MLM industry is famous for its 'Get Rich Quick' and 'We'll Do it For You' propaganda. It's because there's a large number of people who want to believe they can get something for nothing. It's a fundamental (but primitive) desire. It's an underdeveloped person to want such things, and that's why you'll find a completely different message at the opposite end of the spectrum in MLM--skill development. Things Like: This is what makes MLM work. It's where the leaders and high-income earners are born. Has anyone ever told you something like, "You gotta' get in now!" Or, "We don't have time to build an audience or develop our marketing skills! We have to grow our business NOW and get the word out any way we can!" If someone has led you to believe that you can create wealth in MLM without skill development or attracting an audience than you've been duped (just as I once was). But you've been duped by yourself. The reality is you have to take personal responsibility for where you are and what you've done up until now. If you've been duped, you're much better off blaming yourself for the dupe-job. Personal responsibility is a key trait in winners, business leaders, and successful network marketers. Have you ever really studied the lives of these people who have made tons of money overnight? They either built an audience through home or hotel meetings (and referrals from others), or through conference calls or online presentations. In rare situations they didn't have to lead a presentation and they used powerful sales aids, like a DVD (this is very rarely accomplished in reality although it's commonly tried). Even in such cases they developed an audience and built a relationship with that audience--by leveraging some form of an event (usually many types of 'events'). So even if they did it the old-school way of contacting friends and family, cold-calling or striking up conversations initially in the grocery store line, they invited people to 'the next step' (which was a meeting or conference call, or eventually a company event) and they slowly built their audience that way. They built relationships with that audience. And then they leveraged that audience to build a large organization through referrals. There is no exception to this need to develop an audience in network marketing, even in the old-school model of MLM. All successful people had to develop an audience to win. Of course, you don't always hear this part of the story. You'll sometimes get just pieces of it... and those are naturally the juiciest parts that appeal to your emotions most... often leaving out the "how to" or the blood, sweat and tears that came before it. Often they do tell you how bad and rough it was before they hit it big in their MLM, but they tell it in a way that makes it sound as though they were lucky to find their MLM--that it was the MLM that made the success happen. Now, there are some very good leaders and uplines out there that share the bigger picture because they know, long-term, they will attract more success by doing so. They share the fact that you do have to develop skills. The only challenge is that they usually teach methods that rely on outdated 1980's style sales skills, instead of developing modern (highly leveraged) methods of marketing. When you are marketing, you attract your audience, which gives far more leverage. Here's the bottom line that you must accept if you plan to win in MLM... Whether it's the old-school way or the new school 'attraction marketing' way, you have to build an audience to succeed in network marketing. In the old-school way, it's going to initially happen by a cold-call or 'going through the numbers' with friends, family and strangers, which then leads to expanding that audience at meetings or events. In the new-school way it can start and expand through your marketing online, where people come to know and trust you. So if you have to develop an audience to be successful in MLM, what are your options? These are Categorized as Very Low Leverage... Meaning They Require a Lot of Time Upfront to Produce a Low Result - Make a names list and approach people with the numbers game (imagine how that appears... how do you like it when you're approached about an MLM or product from someone you know). If you perceive that experience positively than this is probably a good option for you. Most don't perceive this as a positive experience and, therefore, it's not effective for them. If you do choose this approach, highly developed leadership traits would need to be acquired (if you do not already possess them). - Cold-calling leads. Again, if you enjoy getting cold-calls than you'll probably do well at this method. Most do not enjoy receiving or doing cold-calls so this is often a failed method. You still have a lot of skills to develop (listening and communication skills). Your skill level will need to be very highly evolved to be successful with this method because these people do not know you and your first step is to establish trust. Not surprisingly, it is a long road (like years if not decades) for most people to develop this level of communication and report-building skills. - Approach strangers you run into at the store, mall, etc. If you already love striking up conversations everywhere you go and do it naturally, why wouldn't you continue to connect with people this way? If you love it then you'll keep doing it... It will be just a matter of developing additional skills to comfortably invite people to consider the benefits of your business. Still, highly evolved leadership and communication are a must, and often need a lot of work before seeing success with this method. If you are not already comfortable striking up conversations, this method will be a long-road. You can use the above old-school MLM methods as a starting point to invite people to watch a DVD (or review some resources), or invite them to conference calls, online presentations, home meetings, company events, etc--but it all leads to a very inefficient way of building an audience. Your audience must still be built... people who either buy from you now, will buy from you later, have joined you in your opportunity, will join you later, or who will never join you but who know what you offer and may or may not send you referrals. In the old-school way, you do not have a lot of leverage until you see duplication on a large scale, which is rare. It's almost as though it has to either happen all at once or never happen at all. So if you're going to be building an audience anyway, what's the best way to go about it? As you've already been hearing (I'm sure more than a few times by now) the Internet gives the greatest leverage for building a business. It's the only tool within your grasp that puts you in reach of the entire world. And most of your options for marketing on the web are either free or extremely low cost. The Internet has evolved in the last 18 months. Sites like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Digg, Squidoo, and other Web 2.0 Social Networking resources have made it possible for average people to interact, share and participate in the Internet economy. It's become so simple to create content (like a website, blog, YouTube video and profile) that 'newbies' still learning to send their first email are learning to 'brand' themselves online at the same time... and doing so effectively. How do you use the Internet to build your audience? You've seen 'attraction marketing' all around you, all your life. For example, when you see the magazines in the grocery store line your experiencing attraction marketing on the receiving end. Do you feel pressured to buy anything from the magazine? Of course not. But you know the magazine was placed there to catch your interest. Compare this to a door-to-door salesmen or telemarketer who tries to sell you 'out of the blue' on buying the same magazine... Does your guard go up? Of course it does. And this shows you the powerful advantage you have if you learn to employ attraction marketing in your MLM business (as opposed to pitching or going through the numbers like the door-to-door salesman or telemarketer). Let's go back to those magazines in the grocery store line. Does the magazine make any money when you pick it up and browse through it? Not from you... unless you buy it. But check this out! They still make money! And that's the other powerful aspect of attraction marketing, that you can also be enjoying while building your MLM business. Well, they know that after a lot of exposure you may buy later. They're still working the numbers game, but in a much more leveraging way. They know you may subscribe to the magazine later because you enjoyed it so many times while waiting to buy groceries... so when the timing is right and you have a chance to subscribe by mail (or on the web) you pick it up then. You were exposed to it so many times in the grocery store line that you came to trust it as a magazine you'd enjoy. You may even buy it in the grocery store line but not subscribe to it right away... which is another income stream they count on as a 'front end' way of making money while bringing you closer into their audience. No one pitched you. That's why it's so effective. But attraction marketing goes further... The magazine doesn't just make money if you buy the magazine (or later subscribe to it)... they also make money by 'monetizing' through advertisements they sell inside the magazine. This money doesn't come from you but from companies. Those companies (and the magazine) know that millions of people will be exposed to their ads even if they don't buy or subscribe (just from browsing in the grocery store lines). So the magazine is making money in more than one way while they're constantly attracting more customers to them. That's just one example. Have you ever asked to receive something free by email or by mail? If you liked the information or whatever it was you received, then you probably paid closer attention when this same person or company emailed or mailed you the next time. And these are often the people and companies we end up trusting and buying from. Radio and television operate the same way--they provide free value that attracts an audience. Then they make money out of that situation. Build an audience and you can't help but learn how to make money in MLM, or any way you choose. There are quite a few ways you can attract your audience to you. You can set it up so they call you first (by inviting them to do so). Because you're attracting people interested in what you offer (whether that's a certain kind of product or a business opportunity) many of them will want to talk to you, particularly if you've given them something first (which is what we teach you how to do). But one of the most successful ways of carrying the attraction model over to the actual conversation on the phone is to do what's called 'The Consultative Approach.' This means you offer a free consultation on a particular topic related to the subject of your business. This postures you in a leadership role and is far more attractive as a starting point than pitching your deal (obviously). The Internet is a powerful tool for employing 'attraction marketing' principles... because it's so inexpensive (in fact, it's ridiculous how inexpensively you can have everything you need to market yourself like a big company). By learning how to give something away, or just by sharing tips... ideas, experiences... anything... you attract your audience to you. And just like the magazine who makes money selling ads to companies on one end, and the subscription to you on the other end, you can create multiple income streams through many passive 'monetizing' strategies of your choice, while you're building your audience at the same time. This way, you're generating revenue while you're building your own prospects list for your MLM. In addition to funding the early stages of your MLM business development, this gives you much more security long-run. And instead of it being a distraction as the old-school MLM model would naturally want us to believe, it actually empowers you to become a true business system owner--the utopian goal for the MLMer seeking 'true' financial freedom. This is what we're teaching you how to do at Renegade University and with the Marketing Merge Professional program in Step 3 at the University. Renegade University gives you thorough training to introduce you to all of this, and to show you real examples of how it works (in Step 3). Then, when you're ready to begin actually doing it, we'll show you step-by-step how. We won't just show how and where to go to set things up... we also teach you simple step by step methods to help you create the content (and value) that attracts your audience to you. If you accept that, indeed, to be successful in MLM or network marketing you must develop your audience, then we'll show you the most effective way of going about it online. Pitching your deal and playing the numbers game is short-sighted. Building relationships with the right kind of prospects who came to you... who perceived you as helpful, or as a resource, gives you an advantage you just can't get when you're chasing people down. To continue your training and to gain access to several revealing Webinars that visually show you how you can use Internet Attraction Marketing in your MLM or network marketing business, log into Renegade University at http://www.MarketingMerge.com Then click on 'Renegade University' Login If you forgot your login details you can have them emailed to you from there. Partners in success, Mike Klingler "Is the Internet Network Marketing Model Ever Going to Saturate?" "A Waste of Time to Network with Other Student Marketers in Social Sites?"Here's the definition of the word 'Dupe' according to dictionary.com
noun, verb, duped, dup·ing.
1.
a person who is easily deceived or fooled; gull.
2.
a person who unquestioningly or unwittingly serves a cause or another person: a dupe of the opponents.
3.
to make a dupe of; deceive; delude; trick. (verb)
Did Someone Dupe You Into Believing You Can "Hit it Big" in Network Marketing Without Developing an Audience and Skillsets?
Note that there's nothing wrong with approaching friends, family and peers about a business opportunity or product line if you want to--but to believe that this alone will allow you to 'hit it big' without first establishing a leadership role within a particular audience is ridiculous.
"But Mike, I know some people who have made a gazillion dollars in 3 weeks in this MLM and they didn't build an audience."
Here are Some 'Old-School' MLM Methods Still Commonly Taught Today (I Do Not Personally Recommend for Most).
The Absolute Most Effective Way to Build an Audience and Your MLM in the Modern Age...
It's Called Attraction Marketing
How does the magazine make money if you don't buy right there on the spot?
How Does this Attraction Model Carry Over to the One-On-One Conversation You Have With Your Network Marketing Prospects?
Attraction Marketing is All Around You...
With an audience of people coming to you on their own, feeling comfortable and appreciating you--it puts you in a far better position to offer a solution to their problems or needs (like a business opportunity or product, for example).
The Internet Attraction Model Can Be Used to Build Any Home-Based or Small Business
