1. Ask any network marketer: What do you do?
“Oh…
“I do Shaklee…
“I’m a USANA Associate…
“I do Isagenix…
“I’m an independent rep for Arbonne International…”
Who are they promoting with those first few words?
2. How about that self-replicating company website?
Who’s that site about mostly? When you send a business prospect there, do they learn about you, or about the big company with the best products, the best opportunity, etc.?
When all the talk is about the big company, how entrepreneurial sounding is that?
You are looking for entrepreneurs, right? Well, most of them want to get away from a faceless corporation. They want to be their own boss. Remember?
Entrepreneurs don’t want to join a big company. That’s usually what they are leaving. They want to join YOU. In an entrepreneurial venture. Isn’t that who your pitch and your website should be focused on?
A few years ago, Tom Peters got business headlines everywhere with his article: The Brand Called YOU.
“We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You.”
My question to you as network marketers: what is the brand called You?
And how do you market You with your opening pitch and your online website?
You only get one chance to make a first impression. How can you attract real entrepreneurs when the first thing they hear and see from you is the big company stuff?
The very thing entrepreneurs are trying to get away from so they can become their own boss…
Challenge: What is the brand called You, and how to you start promoting it?
Hi Kim –
I’ve been busy these past few weeks (actually since I was at your Kansas City retreat) changing the first view of my business. I’m turned off by the opportunity focus on company sites, company marketing materials, and even company biz cards. When visiting websites I believe people will click off when they have to jump through hoops just to get to the product they are interested in. If they have contacted me about the product I don’t want them to be subjected to “Make Money Now” and “This is the best company you can find”. I fixed this with my own Product Only website. No biz opportunity – no hype – no promises. It is branding Me and my product. Too assure people it is a reputable company I have a little about the company and follow up with how I feel about the company. There’s not a way to find the info you will need to be a rep without contacting me directly. This way the people serious about wanting to market my products will get my undivided attention without my customers being put off by Network Marketing and the way they have been treated in the past. Maybe I’ll have a page for the business some time but for now it’s about me and my product.
I’ve done the same thing with my business cards. No fancy empty words. I make them fun – always with a cute photo of a dog (or cat).
Kim I use what you are passionately teaching us and test it out. I have found the number one thing to always do is “Be yourself –be passionate about what you market.” New School is the only way I know how to do network marketing. It’s habit forming.
If anyone wants to visit my new site – products only- contact me. I’m not trying to make this self-promoting so I decided NOT to include the website link.
Warmest regards –
Robin
Constructively…
>Entrepreneurs don’t want to join a big company. They want to join YOU.
Beg to differ.
In Franchising, the ‘deal’ is that duplicable system. Same in NM – even though many think otherwise.
Sure, that ‘people buy other people’ thing applies – and/but to attract ‘people’, those ‘other people’ better be selling something good.
The hook really is the company (at least for the smart ones rather than the dreamers who’re buying into hope) with its multi-million dollar infrastructure and corporate image. Anybody who doubts this should consider the fervor with which annual conventions and corporate events are conducted. Or, indeed, the partisan manner in which distributors describe their company and defend it when critiqued.
Sure, we’ll do better if we can add a strong layer of ‘personality’ to the process. Which is where ‘Brand You’ comes into play.
On the issue of ‘how to you start promoting the brand called You?’… there’s a pre-requisite that’s being missed here: ‘Branding isn’t something you do. It’s something you are.’ It runs much deeper than many consider.
This concept of people buying You is difficult to internalize, but it is true.
They are new to the biz and want to know if
a) You can help them be successful
b) You will be their mentor
c) If they can do what you do.
They are joining people, and you are being evaluated. If they like what they see, they will then consider your biz opportunity or product.
Brenda Bunney
http://MLMSuccessBunney.com
brendab@brightok.net