The 7 Great Lies of Network Marketing by Ann Sieg - HTML preview

Table of Contents

Introduction 4
Lie #1 – Everyone is your prospect! 7
Lie #2 – This really isn’t sales. We just share products with people. 11
Lie #3 – Anyone can do this! 15
Lie #4 – We’ll build your business for you. 19
Lie #5 – We have the best product ever! 22
Lie #6 – You just don’t have enough belief! 27
Lie #7 – The proven system. 31

Dear Friend,

 

If you feel like you’re struggling way too hard to make it in network marketing and nothing is happening, I wrote this book specifically for you.

 

Have you ever thought to yourself: There’s gotta be a better way to do this. Something’s missing - it can’t be this hard?

 

I sure did.

 

After almost 2 years of religiously going to meetings, setting up appointments and showing the plan, I came to a point in my business where I hit a massive brick wall.

 

For all my hard work, I had nothing to show for it but debt, an abundance of products and a dwindling list of friends who actually still talked with me.

 

Maybe you can relate.

The worst part about it was, I could not – for the life of me – figure out why this wasn’t working! I was doing everything I had been told to do. In fact, I did way more than that. I was the kind of distributor you’d kill for.

But I wasn’t any closer to the dream of financial freedom than I was when I started.

 

So I began looking for real answers to why I was spinning my wheels.

 

To make a long story short and get right to the point, I finally did figure out what was wrong. And when I did, my entire view of this business changed forever.

 

I’d like to share with you what I discovered:

Almost Everything You’ve Ever Been Taught About Building A Network Marketing Business Is Pure BS!

And here’s why: In this industry we have a genuine case of the blind leading the blind.

 

Network marketing is very unique in that it’s the only business opportunity that’s ever been marketed to the general public on such a massive scale.

 

Your average, every-day American is told that they can jump right into this, with no prior experience what-so-ever and make a killing within 6 months!

 

For example, on the website of one well known nutritional company, would-be distributors are told that “You don’t have to be a pro to succeed!” Unbelievable.

 

This self-destructive message is broadcasted to thousands of people over and over again as they join this industry.

 

As a result, 95% of people who get involved in network marketing have absolutely no foundation in effective sales techniques or good business practices.

 

This has severe side effects.

 

There’s a horrible mess of hype, hot air, misconceptions, falsehoods, delusions, distortions, myths and downright lies that get passed along from one sponsor to the next.

This is what happens when you take a bunch of people who don’t have a clue about sales and marketing and have them tell a bunch of other people who don’t have a clue about sales or marketing, to go make a bunch of money doing it.

The few techniques that actually do have some grounding in basic sales philosophy are all outdated and completely ineffective. They might work okay for you – if the year was 1984 – but in today’s modern society, these kind of neanderthal tactics will get you slaughtered.

You see, not only do the common methods taught in mlm not work, they’re extremely destructive as well. That’s why it’s so common to feel like your working yourself into the ground and not getting anything out of it.

Well, I had put up with this for far too long. I started doing the opposite of what my upline had taught me to do and guess what? I didn’t just start to experience success – I was flooded with it.

I went from desperately coercing one person every 5 months into my business…to having more eager prospects than I could handle.

By ignoring conventional mlm “wisdom,” I learned how to have prospects line up to join my company and sponsoring 10 people a month didn’t just become normal – it became routine.

And if you’re willing to be open-minded and set aside any predisposed beliefs you currently have…for just a moment…you’ll discover how you can easily do this too.

 

Network marketing doesn’t have to be so hard.

Using the wrong techniques – like trying to force a square peg into a round hole – makes it hard.
So my purpose in writing this book is to help you “deprogram” some of the nonsense and misconceptions that pollute this industry. This is the crucial first step towards becoming a highly-effective, well-paid, professional network marketer.

Then, once you have a clean slate to start with, you can begin learning how to really make this business work.

 

Enjoy.

 

Lie #1 - Everyone is your prospect!

As I was compiling this list, I was trying to think of which lie was the worst. Which one was the absolute most detrimental to a business? Which one topped ‘em all as the “whopper of all whoppers?”

I tried to narrow it down, but I just couldn’t bring myself to select a definite winner. They’re all so bad. I’ll tell you though, this one was a serious contender for the title:

 

“Everyone is your prospect!”

 

A similar version of this lie is:

 

“Everyone wants this, they just don’t know it yet!”

 

An article found in a popular network marketing publication declares that, “You just have to believe that everyone is you prospect!”

 

This insane belief has led to such ridiculous practices as the “3 foot rule” and the “when in doubt, blurt it out” technique.

 

Because of this lie, people have the mistaken idea that talking to anyone and everyone they come within arms length of is an effective recruiting technique.

Prospecting Red Lobster waitresses…employees at Marshall Field’s…gas station clerks…total strangers at malls…the postman…kiosk stands…the girl at Caribou…leaving flyers on car windshields…

…These kind of antics have damaged this industry’s reputation almost beyond repair. They’ve absolutely destroyed any image of professionalism and made it harder for everyone to sponsor people.

These “street hustler” methods of recruiting have single-handedly placed network marketing on the same level as some low-life schmuck peddling fake Rolexes in the minds of most people.

It’s absolute lunacy. Don’t buy into this fallacy. This isn’t evangelism for cryin’ out loud!

 

Not everyone is your prospect.

 

One of the most important lessons I’ve ever learned in marketing is this:

 

People Who Try To Be Everything To Everybody, Wind Up Meaning Nothing Special To Anyone.

See, not everyone is looking to run their own business. Contrary to what we’ve been told, there are actually a substantial amount of people who are 100% content with being an employee and have no desire whatsoever to change that.

Some people love their job and wouldn’t give it up for a million bucks. Some people despise network marketing and would rather be buried alive than be associated with it. Some people despise business in general. Some people think making lots of money is a bad thing. Some people don’t have the funds to properly run a business. Some people are absolutely scared to death of anything that involves risk. Some people have plenty of money and aren’t looking for anything else. Some people just plain old don’t care. Some people don’t have time. Some people just aren’t cut out to be entrepreneurs and are better off working at McDonald’s. Some people are perfectly content with where they are at in life and have no desire to change. That’s fine.

Whatever the case, you do not need to convince anyone to get into this business. It’s a waste of your time and energy to try and do so.

 

Please listen very carefully:

No One Is Worth Your Time Until They’ve Shown An Interest In What You’re Offering And Have Asked You For More Information.

I don’t care if someone fits the mold of what would normally be considered “the perfect mlm prospect”: mid ‘40s…absolutely despises their high-paying corporate j-o-b…wants out of their 9-5…loads of connections…great people skills…sure, they might be a potential prospect, but they’re not a prospect worth pursuing until they’re actively seeking a solution to their problem.

It doesn’t matter how qualified you think a person is or how good you think they’d be at this business.

It’s not even enough if a person does want to start their own business. Until they go out of their way to get more information on how to do it, they’re just another bystander. Not a player in the game. They’re not worth going after.

Sure, someone could have great people skills (a waiter for example) but that doesn’t mean they’re a good prospect.

They could be so violently opposed to mlm, business opportunities or any other way of making money besides being an employee that it would take a massive barrage of information to ever sway their opinion.

If someone has a strong belief about something it can take years to reverse that.

It’s not a good use of your time to try and convince someone who disagrees with your way of thinking.
As a business owner, your job is not to make a convert out of anyone. Your job is to get the maximum returns possible for your time and efforts. And that means talking with people who are, for the most part, already on the same page as you.

Well…why not at least prospect them and find out?

 

For one, as stated before, it gives this industry a tacky, “second-rate” image.

 

And secondly, it’s a horrible first impression for your prospect. Because you’ve just shown them exactly how you do business – soliciting total strangers.

 

And no one wants to be a part of that.

You see, mlm uplines love to tote the fact that these marketing tactics (the 3 foot rule, etc.) don’t require any money and therefore are perfect for the average person who doesn’t have a whole lot of extra cash.

Here’s what they fail to tell you: Second rate advertising methods lead to second rate results.

When you market this way, it shows your prospect that you’re the type of business person who isn’t professional (or successful) enough to invest in some respectable marketing methods. It immediately projects a “cheap,” rinky-dink image.

Who wants to work with a person who advertises their business like that? Think about it. Do dentists or doctors go around trying to prospect every single person they cross paths with? Hey there, got any built up plaque you want me to take a look at?

Even if you do happen to hit on someone who has a “business mindset,” they’re not likely to take you seriously.

 

Why? Because…

 

…Who Finds Who First Is Very Important.

When you go head hunting and chase your prospect, the whole operation is doomed to failure because you’re viewed as a nuisance! When they find you and seek you out, you’re viewed as an expert.

Positioning makes all the difference in the world.

I remember this one appointment I had with my son’s friend’s mom. She was adamantly opposed to multi level marketing. The whole appointment with her was about as pleasant as giving blood. I don’t know why I even bothered doing it. (Oh wait – I do know why! Because everyone’s a prospect!).
Anyways. Towards the end of our lovely time together, I had given up trying to give a good presentation and I said, “So what’s your single biggest objection to network marketing?”

She immediately replied, “Taking advantage of your friends and family.”

I don’t know why but it was at that point during that appointment that I realized how much I truly hated sitting down at someone’s kitchen table and going through my little flip chart. And I realized that I completely agreed with her.

I used to get so excited about it. For a very long time I believed that network marketing was the cure to financial cancer and it was my job to spread the good news throughout the land. Maybe you’ve thought that yourself. Maybe you still do.

But what finally hit me – after I began feverishly studying anything about marketing I could get my hands on – was this: Why make it harder on yourself than you have to?

 

Why expend valuable time and energy trying to force-feed your opportunity down the throat of someone who’s entirely indifferent?

Why do that when there are millions of people who actually do want to start their own business? The ones who warrant your attention are the ones who take the initiative and go out of there way to find out how to do it. These people are prospects.

Another problem with this mentality that really started to wear on me is, if everyone’s a prospect that means you have to constantly be “on the prowl.”

 

Anytime you first meet somebody, you’re always looking for that “in.” The “in” that will allow you to bring up your opportunity. You know what I’m talking about don’t you?

Wouldn’t it be nice to not have to worry about that? To hold a conversation without thinking of ways to recruit them in the back of your mind? Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to separate your personal life from your business life?

If that idea sounds appealing to you, keep reading. A little later I’ll talk about how to do this by having people come to you instead.

What if instead of having to fork out money for your prospects or leads…people actually PAID YOU upfront to prospect them? Sound impossible? Not when you understand the simple methods behind “information marketing.”Click here to learn more.

Lie #2 – This really isn’t sales. We just share products with people.

 

“It’s not selling. It’s sharing!”

 

Doesn’t that just give you warm fuzzies inside?

 

This untruth also has a distant cousin which often takes the form of gibberish like this:

“Your family and friends should buy from you just because you’re you. I mean, why would they give their business to some large corporation when they could give it to a close friend or relative. It’s called keeping your money in close circles. People a hundred years ago used to do it.”

More about this in a minute.

 

First, let’s talk about the severe ramifications this whole idea of “sharing” has for people who are just getting started.

 

Here are the two major side effects of this lie:

Side Effect #1. There’s a huge deficiency of proper sales training because if it’s not sales, then there’s no need for sales skills. As a result, people are thrown to the wolves totally unprepared to retail their products and their opportunity.

Side Effect #2. People are set up for failure because they’re given false expectations about how easy this is going to be. Labeling this whole business as “sharing” makes it sound like child’s play. New distributors are given the impression they’re doing one thing, when in fact it’s something else entirely. They think this is going to be a cakewalk and when they find out it’s not they aren’t too likely to stick around.

When people are fed the idea that it’s simply a matter of sharing, they’re in for a very harsh reality check.

They go out and eagerly “share” their incredible product with all their family members, only to be sorely disappointed when they’re shot down. Then they’re baffled as to why it didn’t work for them.

One of the main reasons people tell this lie is because they don’t want to scare new prospects away.

They want people to get this nice, cozy feeling that all we’re doing is telling the rest of the world about our wonderful product and people will be so swept away by our enthusiasm that they’ll automatically buy.
After all, it’s common knowledge that most people hate sales. So uplines and sponsors will beat around the bush and basically sugar-coat this inconvenient and uncomfortable fact:

If You Are In Network Marketing, You Are In Sales.

 

Understand this: Anytime you’re asking another person to give you money in exchange for something, you’re talking about sales.

 

Selling is not sharing and sharing is not selling.

 

We’ve all heard it before. Word of mouth is the most powerful form of advertising there is, right? Right.

What do you do when you see an incredible movie at the theatre? You tell your friends how awesome it was…how gripping the plot was…how engaging the actors were…blah, blah, blah, all that good stuff…and that they absolutely have to go see it. Same with eating out at a great restaurant or picking up your favorite artist’s new CD.

People will be very likely to go spend money on these things after hearing a glowing report from you, their trusted friend.

 

Here’s where the stick gets thrown into the spokes.

Your personal recommendation for all that stuff is so powerful because you have nothing to gain by “selling” them to your friends. As soon as you throw a financial interest into the mix, everything changes.

Both for you and for them.

For starters, you’re not as comfortable. You don’t feel as natural as you did with something you don’t make money off of. Now you’re forcing it and as a result, it just doesn’t “flow” the same.

It’s also different for them because they know you’re making money from the deal. It’s no longer an unbiased, “third party” opinion. People can smell an “incentivized” referral from a mile away. The whole dynamics of it has changed.

So the fact is, in network marketing you have now crossed over from the world of personal recommendation to the realm of direct sales. Don’t let anyone tell you they’re the same, because they’re not.

Once you get this you’ll understand that you do indeed need to learn effective sales skills. It isn’t enough to just “recommend” your products to people you know.

 

Just Because Someone Is Your Friend Does Not Constitute A Good Enough Reason For Them To Buy From You.

It’s their hard earned money we’re talking about here. And now you need to give them real, solid and compelling reasons to buy your product instead of all the similar ones out there.

There’s a story I have to tell you that illustrates this whole issue very well.

 

My son has been involved with a few mlm companies throughout the years. He was actually even my sponsor at one point (figures…).

 

One of his upline mentors in his very first company used to give people this analogy to explain to them how to retail the products.

He said that if he were to open up a McDonald’s franchise he would darn well expect all his family and friends to eat at his McDonald’s rather than any other fast food joint in town. So therefore, just the same, all your family and friends should buy your products instead of going somewhere else.

Well isn’t that nice.

What if your brother lives 40 minutes away from your McDonald’s and he’s got a Burger King that’s 3 minutes away. Is he still expected to drive all the way over to your business every time he wants a burger and fries? Or what if he doesn’t even like McDonald’s? What if he doesn’t like fast food at all? What if your brother doesn’t even like you?

See where I’m getting with this? Just because someone is your friend/relative does not mean they will or should spend their money with you.

Yes, your warm market is an excellent way to go for retail customers…but…just as you would need to give a stranger strong enough reasons to buy your product, you need to do the same with your friends and family. You can’t expect them to buy from you.

You know, there are families who will give each other their business no matter what. No matter how inconvenient it may be, regardless of whether they even like the product or not, they support each other in all their endeavors.

If your family is like that, great. But mine sure isn’t. And the reality is, a lot of people’s families aren’t like that.

 

So what it comes down to is this: Learning effective sales techniques is mandatory for success. You have to understand the sales process and what really motivates people.

 

For starters, know that…

When It Comes To Selling (And Therefore Network Marketing), Far Too Much Attention Is Paid To The Product And Far Too Little Attention Is Paid To The Person Doing The Buying!

Because there is one thing and one thing only that’s on your prospect’s mind…“What’s in it for me?”

And the successful salesperson is not the one who knows their product inside and out and can talk the other person’s ear off…it’s the one who can best make the connection between their prospect’s true desires and how their product/service will fulfill those desires.

Simply getting excited and telling someone about your product is not enough to consistently bring in sales.

 

Lie #3 – Anyone can do this!

 

This one is actually sort of a half-truth. A very dangerous half-truth.

 

It can be very misleading because the simply fact of the matter is…

 

Not All Network Marketers Are Created Equal.

 

Everyone comes into this game with different advantages and disadvantages.

Some people have an enormous head start on others in terms of skills, time and money, and just because they were able to build an enormously profitable business in 24 months does not guarantee the next person will be able to.

The problem with statements like “ Anyone can do this business!” is they imply that everyone - regardless of what their current situation is - can jump right in cold turkey and get the same results the heavy hitters got, just as fast.

Here’s an example that’s not uncommon.

Jane, who holds a high paying executive position in the corporate world, decides to enter network marketing. Say she was the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for XYZ Widgets Corporation in Randomcity, Texas.

She’s obviously got quite a background in sales or she wouldn’t have that job. So right off the bat, she’s way ahead of the pack. She’s also already making a high six figure income as it is, which means two things…

…First, she isn’t dealing with the same kind of financial “crunch” and emotional stress that most people experience as they try to pay their monthly residual bills. And…

 

…Second, she has plenty of cash to fund her new business venture.

Now…if you’re looking at it from a “warm” market approach (a big mistake for anyone to make, which I’ll explain later) she also has truckloads of professional contacts to work with and these people have a lot of respect for her. Safe to say that pretty much everyone Jane knows is going to take her at least somewhat seriously if she brings a new idea to them.

She also has lots of professional sales contacts like herself, who also have tons of other professional sales contacts.

Let me ask you: Do you think that someone who’s a stay at home mom, secretary, college student, electrician, school teacher or bank teller is going to be able to see the same kind of results that Jane will in the same period of time? Probably not.
That’s just one example – more of an old school one – but here’s something else that happens all the time in mlm: When an upline with a big organization moves from one company to another and takes their whole team with them.

People on the outside looking in only see the rapid growth and big bonuses, but what they don’t see is everything that’s gone on behind the scenes. They’re not getting the whole story. Yes, that upline brought in a huge team with them and began earning big money pretty much right away…but…it took years and years before they got to the point where they were actually in a position to do that.

They had to develop relationships and build a team that was loyal enough to them that they would even be willing to move with them wherever they went.

 

The point though is that…

Everyone’s On A Different Timeline And There Are Multiple Puzzle Pieces That Come Into Play That Determine How Quickly And How Easily A Person Will Make Money.

A big one is skill level.

As we discussed in Lie #2, multi level marketing is a sales business and the amount of sales skills that someone brings to the table in the beginning will have a huge impact on their success.

Anyone who wants to can develop sales skills. Some will take longer than others. Obviously someone who has 14 years of sales experience has a bit of an edge on someone with zero sales background and rather poor communication skills in general.

I don’t qualify people on skills because anyone who has a true desire can develop them. Instead, these are the three areas I do qualify on: Time, money and interest.

 

I put people through a multi-step prospecting process.

 

I interview them to make sure they have a serious interest in building a long-term business…rather than just looking to make a quick buck.

 

I can’t get into all the details of a good marketing system here, but know that the more steps a person takes to get information, the more qualified they are.

I tell prospects that they can build this business with 8-10 hours a week, BUT – if they’re serious – they’ll need at least 15. The 8-10 hours needs to be pure action time (i.e. – income producing activities). After that you still need time for training and other “support” activities.
As far as money goes, every company is different when it comes to the initial start up costs. But aside from that, you do need an ongoing monthly marketing budget. Your upline or corporate team won’t tell you this, but it’s absolutely mandatory for running your business at full potential.

Without a marketing budget, you won’t have the constant flow of fresh, qualified prospects you need.

 

There are two ways to get these leads for your business.

You can generate them through your own advertising or you can buy them from people who do that for you. You want to strive to g