Healthy Business » know like and trust

Network Marketing is so Web 2.0

wbhawkins — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 11:06:22 +0000

Network marketing was built for Web 2.0

If you read what’s happening in marketing, of which advertising is a part, then you will know that this world is changing dramatically. For example, no longer do we watch TV when we are told to watch it. We can record TV using our digital boxes and watch it when we can fit it into our busy lives. When we watch the show we recorded, we can whiz through the advertisements.

Print advertising is no longer as effective as it used to be. People are buying less newspapers and magazines, and it less than certain at best that your advertisement is going to have an impact. Telemarketing is getting blocked out by ‘telephone preference services’ and email is getting blocked by spam filters. Direct mail is getting placed directly into the bin (let’s hope it’s the recycling one).

So, the new phenomenon is called social media where friends, colleagues and contacts congregate online and share what’s going on in their lives, whether that’s telling the world what they are eating right now (I can see a tweet on my screen now from someone telling me they are eating bread, cheese & marmite and washing it down with a bottle of aloe vera drink!). Some people scoff at it as a waste of time. But, the reality is that it is becoming a major source of influence for many people.

Social media and the term ‘Web 2.0′ are all about the new capability of web sites and tools, as well as the desire of people to share thoughts, ideas and information with people they know. This is from where much of our influences in choices about products, people and services derive today. And, on that matter, this is not new. We have always spoken to our friends, family and contacts for their thoughts on their experiences on a product or service. It’s just that the internet now makes it much easier to reach to people than was previously possible.

Big companies with big marketing teams are now struggling to handle this new approach. They are all geared up to ‘interrupt’ our lives with email blasts, TV ads, direct mail, SMS, poster, inserts, wobblers, banner ads on web sites, people shoving poor quality newspapers in your hand in the street, and activities which were deemed normal in the past but which are now blocked out by people at the receiving end.

It’s now a recognised fact that about 70% of all products and services are researched on the internet today before they are purchased. People don’t go to a manufacturer’s site to find out whether a product or service is any good or not. Oh no. They ask their friends, they check out web sites, blogs and forums for opinions and reviews. They block out the traditional marketing from the manufacturer knowing that it is biased.

So, what has this got to do with network marketing? People scoff at network marketing as some sort of ghastly, brainwashed cult that sells products through illegal pyramid schemes. It could not be further from the truth. Like social media, network marketing is based upon people who know, like and trust you.

The business I am in, Forever Living, does not advertise its products and it does not sell them through high street shops. Our products sell through recommendation. Anyone who owns a business wants people to recommend their product or service because they know it is powerful, more powerful than some marketer saying their product is great so you should buy it.

Take last night, for instance. I spent some time last night with two people who came along to hear about my products. I knew one of them from work in the recent past. She’s a great person who knows me quite well. She brought a friend of hers along, who was lovely, with her to see what all the fuss was about who had never heard of our business and products.

I showed them our products, let then try them and talked about how they had helped other people. My old workmate, without prompting, said she knew someone who had used one of the aloe vera drinks we produce to help them with a problem with their digestion and it had worked. Another mutual friend has used our aloe propolis creme for a long standing skin condition on her face. She had told me that within three days the creme had started to make a positive difference to her skin.

That meeting last night with two people I know was all about knowing, liking and trusting people and their views. That is what successful network marketing businesses are built upon. Recommendation from your friends and contacts. It’s what marketing teams in big companies dream about and which they are failing to achieve through the ‘interruption techniques’ they have used until now to let you know about their product or service.

Networking marketing is powerful and relies upon good people recommending good products to people who know, like and trust them. People who own network marketing business understand ‘inbound marketing’ where they don’t rely on old marketing techniques to sell their products. They rely on trust and word of mouth which is exactly what social media and ‘web 2.0′ is all about.

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My First Recruit

wbhawkins — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:43:06 +0000

It's about who you know, like and trust

It has been about two weeks since I started working on my new business in earnest and I have learnt a lot already. It’s not easy but when it works (and it does work), it is the most satisfying feeling to experience success. My first success has come in the form of my first team member.

My team member is running his own business already and wants to run his Forever Living business in parallel to his vending enterprise. We worked together in a former life and we got on well. He had looked at the business five years ago but had not known anyone in the business to understand what it was really like.

He got in touch with me after I emailed him asking if he knew anyone who was looking for an opportunity to start their own business or to earn some extra income. He called me to catch up and my up-line manager, Cora, and I took him through the details of the business.

This business is really built upon people who know you, like you and trust you. I’m looking forward to working with my new team member again and helping him to reach his goals. This business will enable him to work around his existing commitments while he develops his retail sales and his own team.

I have now planned to run my first ‘product launch’ next week in conjunction with a new, local spa who have offered me their ‘relaxation room’ (which is fabulous) to show people our range of health, nutrition and well being products and presents.

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How network marketing works

wbhawkins — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:23:36 +0000

Network marketing is about knowing, liking and trusting people

Networking is part of my being. It is part of most people’s way of life but they often fail to realise this because they just do it everyday. When you work with someone for a number of years, you get to know them. When you go to school with someone, you spend six to eight hours, at least, with them every day and you soon get to know them and they get to know you too. Over a period of time, you understand their habits, their passions and dislikes, their taste in music, fashion, food and friends. It’s natural.

Every week, I attend a business networking breakfast at a hotel where a group of us get together and talk about our businesses. One of the group gets up each week and gives presentation about their business and how they can help people. In addition, one person gives a quick ‘learning point’ about something they believe will be applicable to everyone around the table in their businesses. There is time to chat over our breakfast with whomever you are sitting next to and to hear their news. The group is diverse. There are solicitors, health and safety experts, accountants, web specialists, printers, financial experts, HR specialists and sales training experts.

I have been going to this for over six months and it has been interesting to see how many people in the group stick with the networking group and how many drop out. Most have stayed the course but some have dropped out. Those that have dropped out of the group left because they were not getting any business from it, as far as they could see. But, the funny thing is that after a few months of slow business, the group has started to increase the amount of business beig carried out.

The reason is clear. It is down to the simple fact that we are starting to get to know, like and trust each other. Those that have persisted with the early mornings have started to gain from it. The level of humour and noise has increased as people have begun to understand each other. People have done business amongst themselves and they have seen how professional they have been with them and so they now feel comfortable to refer them to their own contacts.

Some people that come to the group expecting instant business have totally missed how networking works. They think that they need to sell to everyone around the table. But the opportunity for business is not immediately at the table. The opportunity is with the contacts of the people at the table. The hard earned contacts of the people at the table will not be easily handed over without that person knowing that you are a trustworthy person.

When you are known, liked and trusted then you will find that your persistence with networking will bring you business which is profitable, sustainable and strong. And that is why people who have good reputations and who have good contacts and networks do well in companies like Forever Living. They succeed because they contribute to their network by helping people first and foremost. They don’t push their products or services onto people. They listen to people and understand people’s circumstances and recommend people who can help them if they cannot. Network marketers are in it for the long term and not just for a quick buck.

So, when someone approaches you with their network marketing business, it is probably someone you know well and you probably like and trust them. So don’t dismiss them as just someone trying to sell you something. They are doing something which is far deeper than that. They are paying you a great compliment because they know, like and trust you and would never approach you with something which they did not believe was anything but the best.

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