Your Money System
“A system is just a series of events or processes that have a definite starting point and a desired stopping point,” Tom said and slipped the water bottle back in the computer bag.
“Let’s start with something you’re probably familiar with,” Tom said and rubbed his hands together excitedly. “Stick with me, this is important.”
Tom stood and pointed across the park to the top of a Golden Arch just on the horizon. “What is that, Jon?”
I followed his gaze and recognized the sign immediately. “That’s a McDonald’s Restaurant,” I said proudly.
“Right,” Tom said. “You know something. Back home there was this little hamburger joint that served burgers wrapped in wax paper. I loved those hamburgers. The lady that owned that place grilled the buns and onions, and piled on fresh shredded lettuce and a thick slice of tomato. She made the best hamburgers I’ve ever eaten, but she died broke.”
“I see your point,” I said. “McDonald’s is not famous for great burgers. Its success is its system.”
“Right,” Tom said. “We’ve all eaten better burgers than those served by McDonald’s, but when Ray Kroc designed McDonald’s, he designed a system that told the managers and staff exactly how to operate the restaurant. If the manager followed Ray’s processes, he was virtually guaranteed to succeed.”
“So, how do you use a system to make money from home?” I asked.
“It’s so simple, it’s almost scary,” Tom said. “I create content online, usually in the form of blog posts, articles and videos. When readers and viewers come across my content they can make a decision to click away to somebody else’s content, or they can chose to opt in to my email newsletter. Once they subscribe to my newsletter, I continue to shower them with valuable and useful information. Eventually, when the time is right for them, they may or may not choose to join my opportunity, or purchase my product.”
“Okay,” I said. “This is beginning to click. The purpose of your blog article and email marketing campaign is to provide valuable advice to a reader. You offer it for free because you want as many people as possible to see the article, knowing that a certain percentage of those readers will choose to join your opt in mailing list.”
“You got it,” Tom said and slapped my shoulder. “That’s my system in a nutshell. Of course, building the system took a bit of work, and I had to learn my way around blogging and creating an opt in newsletter.”
“And how did you manage that?” I asked. “”You mentioned the other day that you were not one of those so-called Internet gurus.”
“To be honest, Jon,” Tom said and reached for his water bottle again. “I was intimidated by the whole thing. It seemed overwhelming at first, but I figured it out in one afternoon by simply watching YouTube videos on Wordpress blogging and email marketing.”
Good ole YouTube, I thought, and smiled at the thought of sharing funny kitten videos with my wife.
“In the end, the entire process was a lot easier than I had allowed myself to believe,” Tom said. “And it works, because by leading with value, I have a chance to build and maintain a relationship with a prospective customer or team member. It’s a simple system—just like making and selling burgers at McDonald’s is a system. In online marketing terms, this system is known as a sales funnel.”
“But does this work in network marketing?” I asked and held my breath in anticipation. “That is where it works the best,” Tom said. “Do you remember when I mentioned old school versus new school marketing a few minutes ago?”
I nodded my head.
“Old school network marketing works to a certain degree, and if you’ve ever been involved in a network marketing opportunity, you’ll recognize this. In a sense, it’s a system, but it is an outdated system. What’s the first thing your sponsor asks you to do when you join a network marketing opportunity?”
“Create a warm market list,” I said.
“Right,” Tom said. “And from there you invite your warm market list to your home for an opportunity meeting. Your sponsor makes a presentation, and if you’re lucky one or two people from your warm market list joins your team. And what happens next?”
“I’ve been down this road,” I said. “You ask your new team members to repeat what you just did.”
“Exactly,” Tom said. “And in theory, it’s a great system. But what happens when you exhaust your warm market list, or for one reason or another you cannot get a single person in your little circle of influence to join your opportunity?”
“I guess you quit,” I said.
“Most do,” Tom said and shook his head. “Which is really a shame, because the direct selling, referral marketing business, is one of the greatest business concepts ever created.”
“I wish everybody could see that,” I said and reflected on my past failures in network marketing. “Prospecting is a royal pain in the butt.”
“That it is,” Tom said and glanced at his watch. “By creating an online presence with my blog, videos, and other stuff I post online, I have people who are interested in the home business profession coming to me for advice. Most of them move on, which is fine, but every now and then one of my readers joins my team. And that is how I make money on autopilot.”
I leaned back on the bench and thought about the dozens of rallies, home parties, and other events I had hosted and attended, and cringed.
“I didn’t hunt them down at the mall,” Tom continued. “I didn’t spread business cards and flyers across town. And I didn’t buy expensive leads or advertisements. I simply posted good content online and let interested people come to me.That is how my system makes money for me. And it works because it is something I can teach my team members to duplicate.”
