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If you have been involved in a network marketing business, you will be told by your top leaders that you should stick to one company because you have to believe the one you are in is the best. But is this really the best way to secure your future? After debating this subject for years, I have developed an interesting angle on this debate.
When I got serious about MLM, I started building an organisation. I folllowed everyone up. I sent out regular newsletters by snail mail. I travelled extensively. I ran home presentations and company meetings. After 18 months of pretty consistent work, my income grew to $1,300. Then something happened. Someone in my organisation 4 levels down took off with the business. While this seems great, it meant their volume broke away from mine and I lost a whole lot of bonuses. The next month I earned just $600. I was devastated!
My sponsor had the idea of a portfolio of businesses. I followed him and joined a number of other companies. When income from the first one dropped so dramatically, I lost interest and decided to focus on another business. This one grew to $3,600 a month. Then my upline started poaching my downline for another business. That started a steady decline in one line, which has steadily eroded the income to $1,300 a month or less.
In 2005 I came across Mike Dillard and Magnetic Sponsoring. What he said made sense so I joined the program and purchased his book. I made a profit for about a year and built a list of 150 or so. Some of you reading this might be on that list. I then purchased MLM Traffic Formula to take it further.
Well, on call one we were told that the sole purpose of being in business was to make money! What a revelation. You mean it wasn't to make the advertising media rich! It wasn't to make my MLM company rich! It wasn't even to make my boss rich. This completely changed my thinking.
If you haven't yet shut down your browser and decided I am crazy, consider this. Everyone wants you to put all your eggs in one basket. What do the big boys do? Well they are directors of multiple companies. Successful property investors own several properties. Those successful on the share market own shares in many companies. Even movie studios make several films a year.
There is a reason they do this. It is called insurance. If one investment or business fails, they are still OK because they have other sources of income. Let's face it, if you have a job and you get laid off at over 50, there is a good chance you won't get another. If your MLM company goes broke, or something happens to remove a large chunk of your organisation, and you are solely reliant on that for your financial future, where do you stand if this happens? It is not a pretty picture.
Having decided to follow Mike's advice, I took another look at what I was doing. No more blindly following one thing. Now I would look at each business and see how I could build it best. That is how I came up with my Customer Acquisition System (CAS) idea. You see I now have 3 MLM businesses plus another internet business. They are all profitable and all pay me in excess of $1,000US every month. I am building them through marketing products and they all grew during January. Even if one failed, I would still be in good financial shape.
Yes, there are some challenges with this idea. First, if you are starting out, it is difficult enough to build one business, let alone 3. So, I would start with one, build it up, get it on autopilot and then work on the second. The important thing is to find a way to build it without losing money. This is called a self funded proposal. As long as more money comes back to you than you spend on promotion, you can simply spend more and grow the business faster!
I trust I have given you a long term vision of how you can succeed in this industry and have insurance against any challenge that may come your way. It may take a little time to get there, but it will be worth it. When investigating a business to get involved with, I would suggest you look at income from direct recruiting vs what it costs to get in. The business I am building at the moment pays up to 50% of the first sale. That means I can spend a lot to get a recruit. I have a few others in my organisation doing the same, and a nice monthly cheque as a result.
John Gaydon is an MLM and internet entrepreneur. He currently operates 4 profitable businesses. He has a University Marketing Degree and many years corporate experience. You can read more of John's articles on his blog at http://www.johngaydon.com or contact him direct at john@pems.com.au
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