The internet is amazing! I’m sure you agree. Since the internet started growing in popularity, back in the 1990s, more and more network marketers have shifted their efforts from building their business offline to trying to build it online.
And while the IDEA of building a MLM Business online sounds SEXY, it’s much harder said than done. I’m sure you realize that already. I’d bet that just as many people FAIL trying to build their business ONLINE as they do trying to build it OFFLINE.
That’s because people run to the internet to AVOID the activities they don’t want to do offline (call people, show presentations, generate leads, face rejections, etc.).
Study ANY 100 top earners and I’d bet that at least 98 out of every 100 of them still focus on building their business OFFLINE. Yes, I said OFFLINE. That just goes to show that Old School MLM still works. In fact, offline is much easier to do, and it’s much more duplicatable with your team, than trying to get everyone to build their business online.
If you’re struggling to build your business offline, you’re going to struggle building it online. You can’t just run to the internet and expect to have leads flowing in and start making money right away. Yet, that’s what most people think will happen.
If you don’t understand marketing, if you aren’t willing to advertise, if you’re scared to talk to people, if you don’t know how to generate leads, if you won’t invest in your business education, if you don’t know how to build relationships, you will struggle both online and offline.
As I see it, the internet is a marketing medium, not a system. It’s simply a way to advertise or market your business. It’s not a solution to building your business.
The internet is no different than in home parties, newspaper advertising, or one-on-one presentations. It’s just a WAY to build your business.
For most people,the internet is WAY to complicated to figure out. It took me close to $50,000 and almost four years of full time effort to figure it out. Most people do not have that amount of time or money to figure it out. Nor do they have the patience.
Few people will ever be able to build their business online.
Now, I’m not trying to be all doom and gloom and tell you not to build your business online. It’s smart to leverage the internet.
HOWEVER, don’t think it will be easy. Don’t expect everyone on your team to WANT or know HOW to build their business online.
Don’t think you can just take your business online and achieve instant success. That will not happen.
Learning how to market and advertise properly is the key to success in network marketing, whether online or offline. Generating leads, converting leads and getting those people to do the same thing is what you need to learn how to do. And once you do that, you need to learn how to build relationships with your people.
And if you don’t know how to do that, you will fail online or offline.
What’s the bottom line? The internet is not the answer to your struggles in MLM. You are the SOLUTION. And until you get your thinking (mindset) and skill-set right, nothing else really matters.
Just my thoughts. What do you think?
Sincerely,
Chuck Holmes
Network Marketing Professional (21+ years)
Top Recruiter & Top Rep
mrchuckholmes@gmail.com
The fact remains that building your MLM the old-fashioned way is probably still the best method today. While I do think the Internet can be a powerful support tool, I don’t think there is any way to build a successful MLM business without the face-to-face, phone calls, presentations, etc. Those elements are priceless and they have been used for years and years because they work. As simple as the Internet seems to make things these days, I think it would be much more complicated to rely entirely on the Internet. Besides, there is something personally gratifying for me when I get to have those personal interactions and build those personal relationships.
I agree. This business is all about relationships.
I think that this is great advice. It is new and trendy (still) to build your business from the ground up, all on the internet, all from the comfort of your home while wearing your pajamas. But if it sounds too good to be true, then it is. Nothing beats getting out there and pounding the pavement: meeting and greeting and exchanging business cards. Most people still want to do business with someone that they can look in the eye, and that may never change.
I totally agree Chuck. The internet is a beast that is difficult to tame. For the average MLM business, I would agree that offline is the best bet to really build success. Personally, I have found that selling tangible products such as our books and items on Ebay can be a good idea on the internet, but creating a downline for your MLM can be a whole lot more difficult.
When it comes to MLM mentality, being friends with people is one of the steps. If you really consider it, making “friends” on the internet just doesn’t really happen often. Yes, some claim it, but is it really? Without that meet and handshake or hug, it just seems to me that it is difficult to call the cyber world a friendship world.
This is just my opinion.
What do you,my friends think?
Nothing will ever beat or replace face to face contact.
You are right the internet is not a system it is a tool. A lot of people who are afraid to connect with others may start to see this as the way to avoid building relationships in person. People who decide to use the internet should only use it to help them build something they have already started in person.
Getting leads online is easy. Converting those leads into reps and customers is hard to do, especially if you do not use a personal touch.