List Building - Pillar 6 (part 1)

Which Marketing Method Works Best, Plan 'A' Or Plan 'B'?

All of The 5 Pillars for Success must be in place before you commit to joining any network marketing company. Once you have that established the next step toward building your network marketing career you must learn about The 6th Pillar for Success.

But first, let's look at some of the myths about network marketing.

Myth 1: It's about re-inventing the wheel and hoping others will come along wanting it."
Myth 2: "You have to sell to anyone with a pulse."

These are examples of “Plan B Marketing” (not network marketing). This method only works in the corporate world (direct sales). Network marketing and direct sales are two very different things. that is why "Plan B Marketing” fails in MLM big time.

So then what does work in network marketing?

The answer is "Plan A Marketing". What's that? Before I answer that question let's define what "network marketing" is by looking at each word on it's own.

Network: building of a customer base, building of business associates, & building of relationships.

This means network marketers deal with prospects, customers, & business associates.

Market: a. research intent upon determining the wants, needs, or desires of a specific group, b. providing a product or service that serves the wants, needs, or desires of a specific group.

So then marketing is about giving a starving, targeted market what they want.

Here’s a simple example of a "target market":

A stadium concessionaire's clientele is a target market. He doesn't need to "close" anyone or even have fancy, high quality products. All he needs to do is get what those ravenous sports fans want to eat and drink right next to their seats so they don't have to miss any of the game.

So the two marketing methods are:

==> “Plan A”: Find a ‘target market’ and satisfy their appetite for what they want. This method has a huge success rate.

==> “Plan B”: Re-invent the wheel by finding or creating a product, followed by creating a company, and then hoping someone comes along to sell to. If you choose this one you'd better pack a lunch as it has the highest failure rate.

If you're an entrepreneur with a goal of creating extra income, then you need a clear understanding of what network marketing really is. Playing to that strength by using "Plan A" will put your business light years ahead of everyone using "Plan B". You become the expert, the go-to person others want to find and do business with.

I appreciate you,

Bill Tessore

MLM Comp Plans - The Beloved Aussie Two-Up

In MLM Comp Plans - The Stair Step Love Affair we saw what MLM companies find so attractive about the stair step breakaway compensation plan. Now let's see why some network marketing companies wish they could all be Aussie Two-Ups.

How an Aussie Two-Up works.

Let's say Bob is building his team with this comp plan and he recruits Sue. Sue's first two recruits go directly to Bob along with the commissions earned by Sue's sponsoring efforts. From there on Sue can start to earn a check and fill her own downline group in the same way.

So why are companies wall-eyed over the Aussie Two-Up?

The Big Ticket
Generally there is only one product or service with an extremely bloated price tag. (ex.: a marketing course sold for $2,000, and the company keeps half of that)

One-Time Sales
There's no pesky residual income to pay out.

Companies using an Aussie comp plan lure prospects in with large sales commissions, but they usually offer only one very high ticket, one-time purchase product. And since few people recruit more than 2.7 team members in their network marketing career it's easy to get upside down trying to work with this type of comp plan.

Do you live to recruit? No worries mate. Go beat the bush and have fun!

But if the Aussie Two-Up comp plan is too Out Back for you, then look for a company with a comp plan that won't kick you in the face and expect you to come back for more.

I appreciate you,

Bill Tessore

MLM Comp Plans - Why MLM Companies Love The Matrix

In my previous post, "What Is Breakage In A MLM Comp Plan?" I explained what breakage is and how companies use it to pay reps less than what they claim … often a lot less. Now let's take a look at the Matrix compensation plan to see why it is so popular with some companies.

Here are the basics of a matrix.

Let’s say you’re in a company with a 3 x 5 matrix comp plan. In this plan you have 3 recruits on the 1st level, 9 on the 2nd level, and so on down 5 levels. A 3 x 5 matrix pay-line is complete at rep number 363.

Here's why network marketing companies love matrix type plans.

• They're easily understood so lots of people join.
• "Big money" claims attract new prspects regularly.
• "Spill-over" appeals to impulse buyers.
• 90% of network marketers are blue personality types, so the matrix plan plays well to a huge number of prospects.
• Reps who receive "spilled positions" are paid fewer recruiting bonuses on a full matrix.
• Drop out rates are high, so fewer residual income is paid out.
• Earnings "outside the pay-line" go to the company, so residual earnings are limited.
• Though some matrix plans offer unlimited one-time bonuses for sponsoring outside the pay-line, very few reps ever earn them because most reps sponsor an average of 2.7 people in their network marketing career.
• Since a matrix can have any number of "first level positions" and "levels of depth" the company can determine if they want to attract mostly recruiters, or average networkers.

MLM companies like the matrix comp plan because there are many structural variables they can use to their advantage. Pay out caps and the ability to choose to attract sponsor monsters or average Joes are just a couple things in the company's favor.

The built in income limits of a matrix attracts fewer networkers capable of building stable team growth. Most of the folks who join a company with this type of comp plan never do anything with it because they expect spill-over to do the work for them.

If you are a sponsor monster, then a matrix comp plan is perfect for you. However, if you are like the vast majority of networkers who want to build a team with real residual income potential, then you might want to keep looking.

I appreciate you,

Bill Tessore

Do You Have A Compass For MLM Success?

Explorers throughout the centuries have prized a reliable compass as an essential component of required gear. They know all their other gear can do little to assure their survival without that simple tool that will help keep them on course.

The 5th Pillar for Success, a simple system for duplication, will help you and your team remain on course so you can work efficiently and effectively to create long-term wealth.

All the sales, recruiting, and closing techniques in the world are absolutely worthless if they are not backed up by a system for success anyone can use. Why? Because people are not duplicatable, only systems are duplicatable.

Here are the 7 components of a predictable success system.

1. Affordable Price Point - people should not go broke using your system
2. A Personal Data Base manager - to organize your list
3. A Personal Contact Manager - to message part or all of your list
4. Self-Branding Capture Page With A Free Offer - valuable freebies attract the attention of targeted leads
5. A Personal Email Address - useful in many ways
6. Free Skills Training - no one should go broke learning success skills
7. A Team Web Site - a step-by-step action plan

People are not duplicatable. Only systems are duplicatable. In order for you to have long-term success in your network marketing career you must have a MLM success system that duplicates. An affordable system to track all your data & maintain contact with your prospects, which brands you as the “Go-To” person, and provides a team website for training throughout their whole learning curve, is a very duplicatable system.

I appreciate you,

Bill Tessore

Where Is The Company's Loyalty?

In my previous post "Location, Location, Location" I shared a simple way to tell if the leaders of a MLM company have experience with integrity in the network marketing industry. Greed and ego are intoxicating forces which can spell serious trouble for you.

The most vulnerable time in your network marketing career is when you are considering where to make your home. So here's another field sobriety check to see if the leaders are competent to be in the driver's seat.

The Loyalty Test

Some people get all excited when they learn a company is publicly traded. Why?

1. Qualification for publicly held status is very rigorous.
2. "There's financial power in investor backing".
3. #1 and #2 offers the company leaders bragging rights.

The Fall From Grace

A friend of mine who I'll call Rick had an experience with a MLM company that went from privately held to publicly traded. The company owners and executive officers were great at what they did.

They used their leadership and skills to help that company become a booming success. Rick and everyone else really liked these people. Since Rick was their top income earner these people really liked him too.

Theirs was a perfect match. Then one day that company became publicly traded.

The owners and executive officers were still nice, good people. And they really thought this move was right … until the new board of directors that came with becoming publicly held started making demands.

The investors didn't know the distributors and they didn't care to. The board's sole interest was the investors' profits.

Simply stated, assuring long-term residual income for the distributors was not in the board members' job description.

This conflict of interest caused the owners and corporate officers to lose control of the company. It didn't stop there. The distributors were eventually kicked to the curb when the board and the investors they represented summarily "discontinued" the compensation plan.

Many distributors, including Rick, lost everything they'd built. As if to add insult to injury, the thirty-day written notice to Rick and his comrades told them this action was called an "enhancement". I'm sure a few investors got a couple of chuckles out of that.

So what's the point here?

People build network marketing companies, not investors. MLM is a relationship business and long-term relationships are built on trust, integrity, and concern for others.

Publicly traded companies are controled by people with but one goal. That one goal is profit. They cannot afford to know or care about you the distributor.

I asked Rick if he would ever build with a publicly traded company again. He very quickly said, "NO", and I don't suggest you should either.

I appreciate you,

Bill Tessore

MLM Success - You MUST Think Like A Prospect

Prospects looking for a network marketing company have very specific things that are important to them. Knowing the order of importance each one holds in the prospect's mind can make or break you in MLM.

Do you know the priorities of your MLM prospect?

HINT: It’s all about you. See if you can match their answers. Here is what prospects look for in a network marketing company:

• Company literature shown
• Marketing plan and potential earnings
• Training provided
• Who gave the presentation
• Product line
• Company management experience
• Up-line support
• Company image
• Sales kit provided
• Being first in your area

Start off right by learning how MLM prospects around the world think.

The right answers are in my free success guide.

This will sharply reduce your learning curve and produce a quantum leap forward in your network marketing career.

I appreciate you,

Bill Tessore