Will the Internet Kill Your Duplication, pt 2
Okay so the debate is raging. And I’m okay with that. The last post produced some interesting discourse on how technology can help – and hurt – your business. If you haven’t read the original post and all the comments, it’s worth a visit.
I addressed a few of the issues in the comments section, but there are some things worth repeating, and some others that should be addressed, so let’s continue the discussion here.
Some of you wrote to talk about the many people that have built six- and seven-figure incomes in MLM using the Internet. Sorry but I’m not buying that bridge, you’ll have to sell it somewhere else. Don’t tell us there are people earning that money. Tell us if YOU are earning that money. Now I do understand that you have people telling you that this is happening in the business. But this is where experience and discernment come into play.
I work with and consult with the top people in the business, and am close friends with many company owners and executives. So I know what kind of bonus checks people are really earning, who got sweetheart deals, or rolled over a line from a previous deal.
I know of exactly no one that is earning a seven-figure income in MLM using cold market recruiting techniques. (And suppose we are able to find one somewhere. Contrast that with how many we have doing it by the fundamentals.)
Do we have some people earning six-figure checks a year? Sure. But even $100,000 a year qualifies as “six figure.” And if someone spends $40,000 a year on Pay Per Click advertising, $10,000 buying leads, and thousands more to webmasters, to earn that $100,000, I’d rather get a paper route. I’m writing this Blog and offering my coaching programs to people that are looking to make serious money in the profession, not simply match what you can get doing numerous other jobs.
Now it’s important to note that I’m not against the Internet and technology. I love what it can do for us in many areas. (See my last “Randy’s Rants” about the Web 2.0 Expo I attended.) But it’s a double-edged sword in MLM, because everything goes back to duplication. And the formula for duplication:
Lead a large group of people to do a few simple actions consistently, over a sustained period of time.
Pay Per Click advertising can be very profitable. It’s a major tool for Internet marketers. It’s also an area where people without enough knowledge can lose lots of money. The people that do it well learned how to do it, and they spend a substantial amount of time checking and adjusting bids daily. It’s not a simple action that a large group of people can do consistently. Particularly people that only have ten to 15 hours a week total to do their business – which is most of the people in MLM.
Likewise squeeze pages, auto responders, search engine optimization and other techniques are staples of Internet marketing. But in my opinion they’re not simple actions that are going to be duplicated by a large group of people.
Some of you questioned why I suggested many things would slow down your duplication, yet seemed to use them myself. Guys I love the marketing power of the Internet. I have two Blogs, two e-zines, auto responders, and dozens of websites! But I don’t use ANY of these things to build my MLM business. I use them to support my publishing business and other concerns.
When I got back into MLM, it was with the goal of developing passive income. So I am maniacal about everything I do to grow my business being done in a duplicable way. So even though I’m very proficient in Internet marketing and actually made millions of dollars doing it, I don’t use it to build my network.
I still believe it’s about warm market, meeting people, developing relationships, and meetings. Someone suggested that I can get people to meetings because of my reputation while others can’t. But on any given night, I could have 500 meetings going on in my group. And I won’t be at 499 of them.
Now a lot of this is about my personal philosophy for building, and you don’t have to agree with everything I say. I do recognize that technology will become simpler, more accessible, and play a larger role in our business.
Some of you have contrary views, and I invite you to share them with the other members on the community. It’s all part of the MLM Revolution for us to have spirited debates and explore other opinions.
You can disagree with everything I say and call me everything but a child of God, and I’ll let your post stand on the site. But you can’t pitch courses from Ann Sieg and expect your post to stay up. It’s because of people like her that I wrote my manifesto to begin with. I won’t allow any forum I run to promote materials that in my opinion are so misleading and bad for our profession.
Other than that, hit me with your best shot. If you’ve used Internet leads and Pay Per Click to produce real and long-term results and your people are duplicating you, tell us all about it!
-RG
P.S. If you want to be notified when I make a new post, sign up in the blue box in the upper right hand corner. And when you find posts helpful to others, please use the Twitter, Digg and other share buttons. Thanks.
The time about fussing around internet leads and all stuff I think is gone ‘cos if we really follow the idea of duplication then we would always say : “Is it duplicable or not”. In other case we will feed our ego or mislead ourselves. I had my own experience about all the internet buying leads stuff and the finish line was very sad even after prof-made site and autoresponder. Guys the best main line in this article : IS IT DUPLICABLE???
Great thank you Randy for clarifying all !!!!!
Randy, you’ve really stirred up a hornets nest of opinion with these last two posts on the use of the ‘internet and it’s killing duplication’.
For as much as I love social media and am an advocate in using technology, I do agree with you – so my ‘hat off to you’ for bold enough to say what you have!
We’re all conscious of paradigm shifts and as much as many of us recognise the power of influence, far reaching though the internet is, there are big warning signs to take heed off ahead, as you say we should be scared!
I agree, for ‘simple’ relationship duplication, ‘old school – offline’ basics will always work and there are plenty that would never be able or even desire to attempt the minefield of avenues the internet presents to us, it’s certainly not simple – therefore not duplicatable to the masses!
More than this, I fear most advocating online strategies are at the sacrifice of the ‘old school’ basics many are simply concerned ‘self preservation’ – playing in their heads Radio Station – WIIFM (What’s In It For Me). Irrespective of their ‘online persona’ to add value, ultimately all that many of them care about are their affiliate commissions or can they recruit someone into their MLM opportunity! Where is the passion, the caring, the ‘real sponsor’ philosophy of sincerely wanting to develop the best in others, to help them have success or a changed life?
One of the reasons I entered this business was not just for the money, I’ve already been incredibly blessed in my life with a multiple six figure annual income. I realised in Network marketing I had an opportunity to bring incredible ‘gel suspension’ products to improve the lives of others. I know from personal experience such products really make a difference in the health and wellness of individuals. Yet I knew also that this industry overlooks education, experience and influence to allow others an opportunity to create extra meaningful income, even possibly an entirely new lifestyle.
Those solely advocating online principles with their affiliate programmes etc, of which I admit I do participate in some, are fooling themselves in many ways. I admit I do participate and promote any tool or programme that I believe will help others, but I won’t particupate in anything that ‘tears down’ our industry or the basic relationship business building principles which we know work.
Sometimes I just don’t ‘feel the love’ from many out their in the virtual world, some cross across in just a self serving greed. By contrast in your defence, for the many millions you’ve earned, I’ve only ever felt your desire to improve the lives of ‘Joe Average’ – to elevate and help others reach a higher perception of themselves through this incredible industry of Network Marketing, so keep challenging and inspiring us all as you always do.
I’ve been reading the comments on the previous post, so I look forward for this debate to continue. There is certainly value the internet brings our industry but embrace it fully at the expense of the basics is at our peril. Let the debate continue with passion, it’s a fierce one!
The Internet is not what’s going to kill Duplication, let alone your business. As Network Marketers, we are responsible for our business success. The internet just like anything else is just a TOOL. It’s the lack of fundamental financial, business, marketing and sales skills that would “kill” any business.
I am HAPPY to be the 1st poster to say I HAVE made 6 figures PER month doing MLM totally online and have had 6 leaders (out of my 21 recruited) do the same! We didn’t use websites, blogs or ppc…but we did heavily rely on autoresponders as there was NO way we could keep in touch with all the prospects and downline we built.
I got into this business in 1989 and was a successful brick and mortar business owner. I was working 90 hours a week and wasn’t sure how I was going to fit MLM into my life…but the idea of leverage with residual income was too hard to ignore or pass up. Mind you, I had 180 employees, but that really meant NO time freedom. The lure of MLM spoke to me!
I did MLM the old school way…and for 3 years I failed miserably. The upline’s duplication plan did not fit for me and wasn’t helping my downline. Frankly, I chalk it up to BEING recruited instead of being sponsored. I resigned from that Company after 5 years thinking MLM was not for me, I was actually making a pretty good check, too…but my downline wasn’t.
Then a Company wanting to embrace the internet called me. My situation had not changed much but it was a LOT easier to work online than it was offline. I worked closely with that Company to set up systems and felt we easily created a system online that duplicated MOST of what was being done offline.
Within 4 years, with 21 on my frontline we built a 74,000 Rep group and I had 25,000 personal customers. 100% online. I think I had previously known 2 of those people, but none came from the past downline I had built.
I know there are a ton of network marketers who refuse to embrace the Internet and that is fine with me as most don’t know the best way to approach it and aren’t patient enough to put the systems in place to support the group they create.
For me, I have been able to sell my brick and mortar and now I enjoy the lifestyle I always dreamed about.
Faith Popcorn said back in the 80’s that “cocooning” was a major trend. And with the busy schedules people keep today, I don’t see how network marketers can expect to get people to hotels and homes to take their precious time for something they aren’t even sure about.
We’ve had people on our autoresponders for 2 years before they decided to pick up the phone and have a conversation to really explore how MLM could fit their life.
The Internet is a communication tool. And I have been able to watch people with NO warm market and no real skills, learn and grow and truly make MLM a 2-5 year plan for their freedom.
I WILL never work MLM offline as it is just too easy to find the prospects I want to talk to, even get to know them, and build a relationship to determine if I want to sponsor them. I don’t even talk about MLM until I know someone well enough that I am comfortable vacationing with them. It is SO much easier to target market and find people who have similar interests to me. Does it take time…you bet…is it worth it…I believe it is when I see other MLM leaders traveling the world to provide support and missing out on the real lifestyle and freedom I enjoy.
Hi, Randy! Another great article… as always!
What’s your opinion on using paper ads leading to your website (specifying the product’s industry), so people can leave their info there, so you can arrange a personal meeting later?
I think it’s a way to attract people who are truly looking for what you are offering, while keeping to the basics: knowing them in hotel meetings, home meeetings, and one on ones to qualify them.
Any comments on this? Thanks and keep up the great work!
Let’s define MLM… Multi (for many) Level (obvious) Marketing. The MLM arena has been made for many people doing the same things on many levels. It seems to me that online marketing has not been created for not that many levels.
I know I can show a 70 years-old grandmother how to present a third party tool…not too sure I can show her how to maket online, let alone surf the web! Don’t get me wrong, I respect my elders, but duplication means that it needs to be easy for everyone! I just can’t picture showing all I have learned about internet marketing and expect them to duplicate me… Makes no sense!
Yet, I can clearly show anyone how to invite, present with tools, follow up, pick the right personnal developement material needed to change, ask for what they need and show someone else how to do the same.
I use the internet for automation, systemation and other repeated actions I can leverage with a machine. I let my people use my tools, so they don’t have to build their own and I show them how to do the same with their poeple. Always keeping it simple…
That been said, I still think that it takes a special kinf of thiking to succeed in business. In any business. No matter how it is done. You can all your tricks and strategies to a dud…it will not make him a stud!
The most important thing is just to take action and to know why you’re taking those actions. The rest is experience…
Just my opinion,
Adrian
Hey Randy,
I’ve been full-time in the network marketing profession for about two years (and it’s the best thing I’ve ever done). I come from a successful career in Oil and Gas.
My brother and I joined a company about two years ago. We weren’t given a single person in our downline (we started from scratch) and we built an organization of over 13,000 people in less than two years.
First, I want to contribute a huge part of my success to learning the skill of marketing. Marketing does NOT mean just using the Internet. Marketing applies in all areas of my business.
Second, I want to contribute another huge part of my success to your teaching. I think, without a doubt, your training is the BEST in the industry. Most people have no clue what they are talking about. People talk on things from a “theory” standpoint. You teach on things from experience. Big difference.
Having said that, I think a few things are confusing from your last two posts on the Internet. Here’s the process that I have experienced, learned, and teach my organization.
There are 3 phases to network marketing (in my opinion) that I see most successful people naturally go through:
Phase 1: Creating a core group. From my experience, most people do well at network marketing when they form what I like to call a core group. A core group is one or more people in the same location that want to build a business together. Could be a brother, husband, wife, best friend, co-worker, etc. I believe this first phase is the most duplicable.
Phase 2: Writing out their list together. This is where the core group launch their business and begin compiling the list of people they know. They will use all kinds of tactics such as three-way calling, one on one, meetings, websites, etc. But, this will be their foundation to their business. This phase is also very duplicable.
Phase 3: Going beyond your warm market to “find” more potential leaders. I’ve found that people naturally go through Phase 1 and 2 but hardly anybody teaches them how to properly go through Phase 3. Phase 3 is about learning how to promote yourself and business through various means like business cards, craiglist, ppc, magazine, etc. The goal of this phase is to find potential leaders, build a relationship with them and plug them back into Phase 1 and 2. This phase is not as duplicable but is still a very important phase.
So, from my experience, the Internet is great for phase 3. In fact, I can personally testify of finding some of the best leaders in my organization via the Internet. But, I always meet them face to face AND build a relationship with them AND plug them into our system.
Bottom line, the Internet is a great way to find more people. And if taught right it can be quite fun and duplicable. But, Phase 1 and 2 will always be the bread and butter of true duplication.
Thank you, Randy for all you do for the industry. I too would love to see the people come forward who are actually earning solid 6 and 7 figure cheques that actually are residual. Seems to me the comment board might be a bit quieter now.
I love Facebook ( and I did like Twitter) for building relationships with people all over the world, however, I am so sick and tired of being spammed by every so-called-mlm’er messaging me to check out their site for endless lead generation. No Thanks. I’d much rather be decent to people and grow my list through building real relationships and having compassion towards people who really do need a way out of a bad situation instead of promising a quick fix over night from the comfort of your own home. It’s about learning a new skill set and doing what it takes to be successful, even if that does mean inviting people into your home and doing what you feel will be uncomfortable. As a mentor of mine says “If you are comfortable you are not growing – get uncomfortable”.
Thanks again
Jill
Amen! Not only is it not duplicable, it becomes a big, dangerous distraction for teams. I used to think it was possible. In fact, I came to the network marketing profession as an experienced internet marketer. The more I studied duplication, the more I realized that internet marketing as it is taught today does not fit the model. Social networking as a real human being can fit the model if you don’t get swept away by all of the internet and network marketers selling their “goods.”
hi Randy
first of all, you are my mentor and my teacher for MLM. i probably watched your “chack out the biz” video over 100 times.
but this time i disagree with you on Ann Sieg.
this is my take on the matter.
you are teaching us to after the prospect joins the biz an Ann teaches how to get them in the first place.
i know you also teach prospecting technicians but that is old school and it takes months before you get someone into your biz with out convincing him.
what Ann teaches dosn’t contradict what you say. she brings to the table business building advise that no old school MLM guru is talking about out there.
i agree that you need to go after you warm market firs, but after your finished talking with your core prospects, its time to use new school ,internet marketing to genarat more leads for you.
not every body can do this, but i am sure that those how are willing to learn old school MLM will want to learn internet network marketing as well.
to day opening a blog is as easy as 123, and i am sure that if you ask you leaders you will see that every successful leader doesn’t know only MLM his is trained on other skills that enable him to attract more people to him.
and that is what Ann teaches every body.
i learn a lot from you and i learn a lot from her, i combined the two togther – her methods for attracting prospects to me and your system for building a biz after they join.
Randy,
Are you having any success with Ann Sieg’s method? This is the first I’ve heard of her. I downloaded her ebook and what she says are the exact things I’m struggling with. I agree with Randy Gage but after reading her free ebook I feel she may be just what my business needs.
Hi Randy
I read your previous post and comments with great interest. I’m familiar with your opinion on this so I wasn’t too surprised at most of it.
I would respectfully like to say that I think you are presuming that the guys who are coming through now and using the internet to build their business are all doing it with expensive strategies such as pay per click and buying leads.
This is not the case at all. Many many people are now learning how to use Web 2.0 correctly to build their own list of contacts. It is very possible now to generate high quality leads of people who want to hear from us. This is so superior to buying leads and therefore is a very positive thing to happen in the industry. It is very low cost to run and also more time efficient.
I know you don’t teach any of that buying leads nonsense but still many do it.
Most web 2.0 applications are free and I’m not talking about spamming. When we attract people to our content online and people opt into our list or send us a tweet etc. we have an immediate opportunity to build a real relationship.
The attraction marketing business model is based on giving value first when done right. This is exactly what you demonstrate to us with all of your amazing business tools and sites. You are inspiring many people to duplicate what you are doing as an attraction marketer Randy, even if unintentionally!
Mike Dillard uses you as an example of a great attraction marketer in his book, Magnetic Sponsoring.
It is an effective way of building a huge warm market but rather than relying on manual follow up and memory, it is now very simple to use an auto-responder.
As you say all of this technology is getting easier and easier to use and last year I would have certainly agreed with you about how difficult it would be to duplicate the business. Things are changing fast with Web 2.0 and I no longer believe that to be the case.
Many people find it enormously challenging to do the business in the traditional way. If they didn’t surely we would have many more success stories to show?
As for cold market I know of lots of top producers in Herbalife who use leads and all sorts of difficult methods to build their business. The Petersons who you probably know… and many more.
After experiencing lots of that ‘do it all menu’ and paying the price, I am all for alternate methods that enable people to build warm markets at low cost and empower them to learn some skills that set them up as business owners, no matter how many times they may have failed in the past.
I think the basic systems work fabulously for some but turn off so many that it seems like madness to keep fighting it.
Thanks for all you do and I know that you have our best interests at heart when you shake us up like this.
Rachel Henke
Actually I did a whole Tele-seminar on using social 2.0 sites to meet people and expand your warm market. And that is the role I see people using it successfully, which is to build online the same way we do offline.
And I am very familiar with the people in Herbalife generating lots of leads, since I helped create the campaign to begin with! While we have had great success getting hundreds of thousands of leads, I did not see the kind of duplication I’m looking for.
-RG
Hello from Spain
Before anything let me apologize for my english in advance !
I’ll try my best 🙂
After many years working as profesional internet marketer developing PPC campaigns with my own company for big clients in my country let me tell you Randy that your are completely right!
Most people don’t understant that the learning curve for internet marketing, especially PPC is big and the risks are many.
Some people arguments that you can teach your group about internet marketing in a duplicatable way and many others that if you use their methods and their systems the duplications will be created for you
Recently i can tell you that i invested many many time taking a close look to all of these MLM super duplicatable and incredible internet marketing easy to newbies systems and this is what i found:
After I paid for being member buying their books and systems to take a look on the other side of their sales pages
I found…
Very well constructed systems for promoting their main products (ebooks seminars, other type of info products on the backend) and using other people efforts to promote these products for them as affiliates.
The main argument they use for their systems is that using their approach its the better way to capitalice your PPc campaigns and efforts for recruiting and second selling you and position yourself as an expert instead selling your company
I can tell that many of this products are excellent ones (many others not) but in my opinion perhaps intermediate person could make some money promoting these products as affiliate but never will growth their own downlines and main opportunity
I think these systems are very good for the owners but not so good for the serious people that want to focus on productive activities that can be duplicate by large number of people
THA MAIN THING IS…
Finally you need to create big ammount of traffic directly to the system and the average person with only 15 hours a week doesn’t have any idea about how much this will cost them, in time and money.
I can assure that people without experience will lose money for sure
the best benefits are for the system creators who use this systems to get affiliates for their main products line.
what its your opinion about all these systems Randy? I’m sure you know about the best of them and i don’t want to reveal their names (sure many friends) hope i expain myself 🙂
thanks for your vision and recomendations about this important topic!!
German Castro
Randy, thank you.
I have dabbled in a few companies until I saw the one I am with now. My breakdown was always in telling the people I knew and met about the opportunity. I was a chicken and chose the chicken way out, I referred them to the internet and the company website. In 4 companies I only ever enrolled 5 people. I did better in my sales career than in my desired career. I have been learning about web 2.0 because I saw it as the answer to my fear. I studied it a great deal and learned things like list building and e-newsletters and landing pages and SEO and so much more. I learned of people who sold a bunch of stuff and made tons of money by sending email to their lists. I was receiving about 30 email a day from these guru’s. What I really learned is that this stuff is great but it takes more time than I have to build that type of business. I also learned something very valuable – these gurus didn’t care about me. if I wanted their help I had to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars to ask a few questions. I also learned that even though I was their student and subscribing to their stuff I was just as customer. I am more than a customer… I am a person.
I am more interested in relationships than internet lists and sending thousands of email every day to try and sell a $29.99 product or what ever. I am more interested in helping people than in making sales. I have finally learned that network marketing is about giving to give not giving to get. I have learned that by focusing on helping a few people achieve what they want I am receiving what I want.
I finally understand that the simple easy things are how my business will grow. I can teach people to do what I do over a cup of coffee. I am proud to say I use home meetings, one on one presentations and 3 way calls to grow my business. I understand that the easier I make this to learn the easier it is to teach. That is what makes it easy to duplicate.
Our business is a business of relationships and of helping other people get what they want.
I am on Facebook and twitter and am learning from those things but the biggest thing I have finally learned is that it always boils down to relationships. Some people will be able to grow their business using the internet tools but when the next latest fad or guru comes along if they haven’t built relationships the people they have will leave. Nothing beats personal contact, a telephone call, a card in the mail, a personal visit.
Cheers,
Dan
I find this discussion fantastic, especially considering the fact that I had related arguments with many of my colleagues for the last couple of years.
While I do agree that most of the “attraction marketing gurus are hurting our industry, I was surprised that you generalized this to cold-market all together.
I mean, correct me if I’m wrong, but many people in the industry use leads – some of them pretty successfully and there was a time when you were teaching cold-market methods as well.
I am all for using Facebook, Twitter and sites the like for expanding our warm market, however, I am with Randy when he says that we need to be building ‘real’ relationships online just as we would offline. People go on and on about how hard it is to build a business with the “old school” techniques and not eveyone can do that….and you are right. It is hard..it’s really hard which is why most people fail and it is the ones willing to be Extraordinary that have great success. This business isn’t easy, it’s not get rich quick, and most of the time it is not comfortable as we all know. As a great mentor of mine says “If you are not uncomfortable, you are not growing….get uncomfortable for awhile and see what happens”. Learn a new set of skills and if that means leaving your house and talking to people you wouldn’t normally talk to then we have to do it. Looking for a shortcut and the easy way out will not bring you a true residual income and will not duplicate in your organization.
I am so tired of being spammed on Facebook and hearing about Magnetic Sponsoring and Ann Sieg. Twitter has become so bad that I can rarely bring myself to logon. The contacts that I actually do want to follow, I can never find their tweets because they are lost in the swarms of “Check my site for endless lead generation”…. “Stop doing what your upline is telling you and do it my way”… I find it very hard to believe and follow these people who claim to be successful when nobody has even heard of them.
I think I will continue to follow Randy’s advice as he is earning OVER $100,000/month every month in Residual Income and until I hear of someone doing that strictly from behind their computer, I will continue to do so. As he states in his post above, he does use a blog, and websites, and auto-responders, but that is all for his publishing company and not to build his network marketing business. Yes, he is using attraction marketing, but not to build his business. I wish people would understand that.
Thanks Randy for all you are doing for the industry.
Jill
Hello Randy:
Another good post. While I agree with your statements about utilizing one’s warm market to build a sustaining business, I also disagree that it can’t be done specifically with the internet or cold market. I’m in my third opportunity and I’m convinced that this opportunity is the one but I’m not about to hit up my warm market yet again to tell them about it. That said, I decided to manage cold market activiites that would yield the best results for me: Networking events, internet marketing, social networks like Facebook, radio advertising, etc. If it is done with a professional flair – no spamming, etc – it works well. Is it more difficult than the warm market – Absolutely. However, being in sales for 30 years I’ve turned into quite the people person. I talk to people with their interests in mind and not my agenda. I’ve only been in network marketing 6 years but it isn’t rocket science. The only downside I see in this industry is the lack of a screening process to keep out the jerks. I have my own screening process and so far I have really good people in my biz. All of them I never knew before I connected with them. So, your way is a great way to build and co-create but the internet and other forms of cold market marketing can also work just a well if it is done properly.
Hi Randy,
does this mean that you don’t think cold-market techniques should be used at all?
I mean, you were teaching them at the time – what changed?
Hi Randy,
I am an Internet marketer and network marketer who earned $333,000 last year (can prove this if need be) in my primary network marketing program last year – building about 90% of my business on the Internet. I mostly use organic SEO to rank high for keywords specific to my opportunity, so my “cost” is almost nothing – except a couple hours a week to keep content fresh. I don’t do any PPC. I know, as the word gets out about our opportunity, about 67% of people will do a search on the internet to learn more about the opportunity and to seek out leaders such as myself.
When I first started with my current company, I used EVERY marketing method available; 3-foot rule, warm market, in-home party’s, hotel meetings, Craigs List, purchased leads, etc. I fought my way to the top and also won a prestigious award in our company. We still do in-homes and hotel (actually a golf course), but the majority of my personally sponsored Coaches come in through the Internet.
Like many people, I have made some money and lost money in network marketing over the years. I have been with good companies, and I have been with bad companies (I have been in the industry since 1992). I took a year off in 2003, did some time for a small nutritional network marketing company in corporate as their Director of Global Marketing (I have no College education, and have been mostly trained by Corey Rudl, Derek Gehl, Jay Abraham, Alex Mandossian, and a host of others) from 2004 to 2006. I went back into the field in March of 2007 with my current network marketing company. Currently, I sponsor an average of 2 to 7 distributors each week from the Internet and have about 105 personally sponsored distributors I have brought into the business over the last two years. My organization is about 3,000 distributors strong and averaging between 80 to 90 new distributors coming on board each week. I also have tens of thousands of customers.
When a new distributor comes into my business, I/we provide them with several options on how they can build their business – just like I did. All the way from 3-foot rule, in-home meetings, hotel meetings, warm market, cold market, Craigs List, and yes – Social Media and Internet Marketing – BTW, I am not a fan of Anne Sieg or Funded Proposal Systems either.
So, back to the question at hand, “Will the Internet Kill Your Duplication?”
Maybe – Maybe Not! And, in this day and age, is that the real question any longer.
From my standpoint, it all depends on where you START the duplication process.
Unfortunately, this industry continues to use (and beat to death) a 100% bricks and mortars business like McDonalds to demonstrate that you need to have a 100% precise duplicatable system, all the way down to how you wrap a burger, to be successful in (Network Marketing) business. For the most part, you CAN’T market/sell burgers over the Internet, and you CAN market/sell most Network Marketing businesses and products over the Internet.
From my standpoint, there are three important things we do and teach regarding how to build their Network Marketing business:
1. Teaching people how to market their business, and or building relationships and peeking interest. We teach them 3-foot rule, warm market, list building, cold market, purchasing leads, Social Media, Craigs list, and Internet marketing if they have the proper skill set and know the downside to the Internet, etc.
2. Next, no matter what form of marketing they use to get through the door, they are then instructed to get the prospect to one of our online presentations, or a local meeting.
3. After their prospect has watched some sort of presentation they are instructed to get them on a 3-way call with one of the distributors on our 3-way call team (we also teach them how to do proper edification).
Now the honest downside and truth I tell every one who contacts me about my business on the Internet…
What I do, for the most part, on the Internet is completely not duplicatable for the typical person looking at the business. Anyone CAN do what I do, the fact of the matter is the majority will simply not take the time to learn what I have learned. They want to do what I do and earn what I earn, without learning anything, do it in 2 hours a week, and make $10k/mo their fist 30 days. I compete on the Internet with other distributors in my business – many of them in my organization, and the Internet has brought in hundreds of distributors into my business.
The other downside to the Internet is I have taught some of my organic SEO to other distributors that have the skill set, and while several of them rank high with me, they don’t get the conversion. Why? Because people are looking for proven leaders with training systems in place. For the most part they are looking for leaders. That’s the downside to for other distributors coming into the business trying to build using the Internet. They don’t have the Income and the proven success to attract Internet prospects.
One other thing I have noticed about Internet prospects. They are not as loyal as warm market and tend to move on much quicker because there is no real relationship being developed. There is another crossline distributor in our company who has personally sponsored about 70 distributors (30 or so less than me) over the last two years – however, his organization is double the size of mine. This person is 100% 3-foot rule and warm market when it comes to building his business – until recently he popped up on the Internet. He also has an office for meetings and trainings – which I would not do. So, I know the warm market and building relationships is ONE of the best ways to build, and produces a stronger, more loyal distributor.
In closing, I think you can make the Internet work, and it is natural for people to go seek information on a specific company, or home-based businesses in general. Besides, if I don’t sponsor them from the Internet, someone else will. So why would I leave low hanging fruit out there for others to pick when it’s so easy to get myself?
Yes, in general, many of these people quit much sooner than a person in my warm market does, but every once in a while you get a superstar that grabs the business and runs with it.
I will continue to teach all aspects of marketing the business – always moving to a presentation and a 3-way call.
BTW – another top leader in our company builds 100% and teaches cold market by purchasing thousands of 10 cent leads and using the speed calling programs like Phone Burner and Callers Edge to blast through the leads. We have tested this to – and it also works.
Thanks,
Blake Warrington
“There is more than one way to skin a cat”
My mom used to say that. I agree – but do think the principals of duplication must be honored no matter where you network.
Randy has been teaching “system” and I have been a student. I met Randy in Boston, and think he is 100% sincere but not 100% right.
I know that I would not be involved in network marketing if the “internet 2.0” did not exist. I am using Facebook, Youtube and Twitter, and also My Telephone! You still have to build relationships, the internet only makes it better – not necessarily easier.
Be bold, be creative, listen to everything Randy says. Read everything he writes.
Be yourself. Take bold action.
John
What I’m saying to the people I sponsor in now is that your *core* business is people you know, meet and referrals, and also some cheap ways to generate local leads.
Then I say once you’ve done a bit of your warm market look at choosing 1 additional way, whether it be SEO, PPC or lead lists and focus on doing that well.
Dan
Being on vacation for the last few days helps me see many more comments before posting this one.
It’s interesting how the first few comments are relevant to the original point yet the later comments seem to go off in a different direction.
Then the writer posts a reply to one comment and the following comments get back on track but again skew off in another direction shortly thereafter.
The point here is that in Randy Gage’s educated opinion, online marketing doesn’t duplicate well.
Not that it doesn’t generate leads of doesn’t sell product, or doesn’t generate income of whatever size, it doesn’t duplicate well.
It reminds me of the ‘count how many times a specific word appears in a paragraph’ concentration game. Most people get that wrong and yet again most people commenting here have completely missed the message and gone off on their own tangent.
I am glad I saw this happen right in front of my eyes as it has prompted me to read an article more than once, at least, before commenting.
Try it . . . you might find that you are commenting on something other than the original message. And believe me, that doesn’t do you any justice at all.
Randy,
Wouldn’t a simple yes or no answer be great, but there isn’t once.
Especially since I have made six figures doing meetings, doing direct mail and doing the Internet.
In all cases I have had trouble finding anyone to duplicate me.
As Tom Schreiter says if you think you have 2 or 3 leaders in your organization, you’ve miscounted!
It’s the nature of people.
Regardless of the METHOD of marketing MLM people have a tough time of it, until they get to know, like and trust you.
They have to have four beliefs REGARDLESS of the marketing method.
They need a belief in:
— The product
— The company
— The Industry
— Themselves
If you don’t have all 4 core beliefs you could be doing meetings every day of the week and your growth won’t be there.
If you are in meetings and you have all 4 core beliefs you’ll have success.
If you are doing direct mail and you have all 4 core beliefs you’ll have success.
If you are doing the Internet and have all 4 core beliefs you’ll have success.
I prefer meetings, as it grows slower but had a higher retention rate.
But, back in the early 2000’s I was sick and tired of meetings and wanted to stay home to raise my two newborns and spend more times in my shorts and t-shirts.
Guess what, I didn’t miss any meals and neither did my downline.
Each specific marketing method is a niche’, yes.
And, you can “attract” different’ niche’s to your “meeting funnel” and go from there.
As far as the internet goes, it needs to be a single product focus.
In fact, I am putting up a new website which does nothing but offer a $7.95 free trial of our product that converts to a $35.25 customer.
I have created a 7/14/28 day follow up call by the distributor to the customer to see if they got the product, open it up, take the product, watch the DVD and put the product in refrigerator where they have 42 chances a day to see it and consume it.
Day 7 is the quick 2 minute call.
Day 14 is to get referrals.
Day 28 is to convert to distributor or stay a customer.
Randy, after PUSHING the opportunity online for 7 years now and watching the fallout on the back end this is the only way I believe the Internet can be used.
I will come back and post every 90 days my results so I can “show you and not snow you” about this reality.
Remember, single focus websites outpull corporate sites that have 99 links on them.
That single focus is the webs only way to survive in MLM, in my opinion.
Of course, I can outsell the pants off the internet in person at meetings because of the buzz of the crowd and the face to face contact.
But, what about Mary in Des Moines who has no downline?
Sure, make the list of 50 people, call and mail them and do one-on-ones and hold home meetings until you get enough for a hotel meeting.
Yes, you follow leadership wherever it goes.
UNLESS, you flood a particular market with advertsing, but no single distributor has that kind of money unless corporate or the upline funds it to kick-start an area like I live in, here in Dallas where we have 8 million people.
I’ve also purhcased 40,000 names of folks here in Dallas to email and voice broadcast to do a two-step method with folks.
I’ve met one gal at Starbucks, she had no money to join.
She went out and retailed 7 bottles and put those checks in her account and signed up 3 days later.
She came from a cold list.
She is now my new friend and I am teaching her the business.
She doesn’t have a website yet.
I want her to exhaust her warm list first, see the difference?
I stage this to my group.
I never throw them to the cold market first as it will turn them cold to you and your opportunity unless they have previous business and sales experience and have a thick skin.
I’m now meeting with her group of 10 suspects next week at starbucks and will take that where it goes…either customers or distributors.
So, there is no one SILVER BULLET it today’s age, in my opinion.
I just moved to Dallas and I know NOBODY here.
So, I forked over some money and am turning cold leads into warm leads.
Warm leads work best.
Meetings work best.
But, I’m savvy enough to know that there are many other ways to lead suspects to my duplicatable and unified system.
It’s just common sense.
I’m keeping good stats and will let you know of my “Retail to Recruit” online system and how it goes for the Internet portion of my business.
Sincerely,
Robert Blackman