My name is Ty Tribble and I would like to welcome you to the MLM Blog. I launched this site in 2003 as a journal of my thoughts and opinions on Network Marketing.
While I write about many companies, I am only active in one, if you would like more information about myself or my business, visit my personal web site at TyTribble.com
If you have story ideas, comments or questions, you can contact me at ty (at) tribble (dot) org.
"I do not believe a Network Marketing business is for everyone."
- Robert Kiyosaki, Author, Rich Dad Poor Dad
"I've met some used car salesmen, and I've been happy to call a few of them friend - but the perception of the Used Car Salesman is one of being a slick hustler in a loud suit with a bad haircut.
Now I'm sure that the stereotype exists for a reason. Whether it is deserved or not the stereotype does exist.
It also exists for MLM as well.
Too many people judge the industry based on the salesman - the dream hawker who thrives on greed and ignorance."- Fugi Saito
When folks are presented with a Network Marketing opportunity, the presentation often takes place in a hotel conference room with a guy on a stage in a fancy suit and a Rolex. The speaker likely pulled up in a luxury car and was ushered to the stage as if he was royalty. He is the dream hawker, talking less about the details of the opportunity and more about how your job is sucking the life out of you and how things would be better if you just made more money.
What the dream hawker doesn't tell you is that 90% or more of the people involved with Network Marketing don't make any money. He is busy hawking the dream when it is mathemetically impossible for everyone to make money in Network Marketing without retail sales.
"IT IS MATHEMATICALLY IMPOSSIBLE FOR EVERYONE TO MAKE MONEY!
But it is possible for virtually everyone to be a happy satisfied customer no matter where they decide to get their product from.
Now I'm sure that some of the people here are marketing good products, that have a better quality, price, and benefits than what people could get somewhere else.
I also know that 90 - 95% of the people could be good customers of those products."- Fugi Saito
Once the training and tools scams are peeled away from Network Marketing, you have a group of people that signed up to be part of a business. But in reality, 90-95% of the group are customers. They buy products and have no real intentions of building a business. I have seen companies today that call these folks members, (not Quixtar Members). Folks become members upon signing up and have all of the benefits of the associates with the exception of the profits from the Network Marketing bonus pool. Once they sponsor a couple of people then they become associates. In other words, a member is really a customer until they start to sponsor other people.
Trick people into buying products by hawking the opportunity and you have a scam. Build a network of people that truly find value in the products and you have a business.
If you have "My Yahoo", you can add the MLMBlog to your page My Yahoo Contect for MLMBlog.
It's a neat way to keep track of several blogs.
To me, the most interesting part of the “Big Myth” of Network Marketing is that the critics are as in the dark about the reality of MLM as those involved. Keep that in mind as we look at the “Big Myth”.
What is the “Big Myth” of Network Marketing?
According to Fugi Saito - (see bio), “The belief that MLM is about making money” is the "Big Myth" of Network Marketing. Mr. Saito continues: “Network Marketing is about marketing, about getting products and services to the end user (customer). The fact that some people do make money is a natural consequence of engaging in the activity of getting products and services to the customer. They can do it themselves (customer growth by addition) or they can get others to help (customer growth by multiplication).
So, if you join a Network Marketing Company, and do not do the work needed to get products and services into the hands of the end users, you will not make any money. Just to make sure you understand this:
IF YOU DO NOT DO THE WORK NEEDED TO GET PRODUCTS AND SERVICES INTO THE HANDS OF THE END USERS OR CUSTOMERS YOU WILL NOT MAKE ANY MONEY. Sure, you can join a company, or buy from a distributor of that company, and you should still get value for the dollar you spent, but simply joining a Network Marketing company does not guarantee you a lifetime income.
No magic, no bells and whistles, no hoopla -- the more product or services that you and your organization get into the hands of customers, the more money that will be paid.
So forget all the cheque waving, capped tooth smiles, the big cars and the houses. Forget all those overnight "rags to riches" stories and the tried and true "humble beginnings" dialog.
Network Marketing is about creating a large organization of loyal customers who find the product or service of value and they will buy and continue to buy because of the value of the product or service.”
Remove the hype and scams from MLM and you find a very fair and simple business. One that offers the average person the opportunity to launch their own company for a fraction of the costs typically associated with a start up. But it is not a ticket to riches. Move a lot of products to end users and you will likely make a lot of money in Network Marketing. Don't and you won't.
From The Government of Canada:
For over 25 years, Fugi Saito has been involved in management and sales. Prior to 1989, Fugi was a Senior Business Analyst with Dun and Bradstreet Canada - Business Data Division. Since 1989 he has been the President of Saito-San Inc., a consulting firm that supplies management and administrative support services to the small to medium business market. He speaks internationally to audiences about business issues including marketing, security, technology and fraud.
Mr. Saito was kind enough to give me permission to publish portions of his files for the benefit of MLM Blog readers.
Here is what Dean Van Druff, author of What's Wrong With Multi-Level Marketing says about Mr. Fugi Saito:
Where Fugi and I wholeheartedly agree is when it comes to dispelling the "Big Myth," as he terms it.
If people take Fugi's advice and really market as individuals selling product and not in marketing the "Big Myth" of a "money making opportunity," then I will admit that the pyramid "Wrong With" rather proportionately fades from view.
I just have to wonder, though, if once the "Big Myth" is popped, what will really be left? Might an MLM minus the "Big Myth" be something else entirely?"
You will see in the coming posts how my thoughts and opinions on Network Marketing have been influenced by Mr. Saito. I want to thank him for allowing me to post his research and conclusions. We will get stated on Monday with "The Big Myth of MLM".
If you struggle to turn a profit in Network Marketing, I want you to read this post carefully. Network Marketing companies don't pay you to recruit a bunch of people, they pay you to move products from the warehouse into the hands of the end consumer. Network Marketing companies usually allow you to do this two ways.
If you do those two things often enough and monitor your expenses, you will turn a profit in Network Marketing and I believe you should turn a profit in your first or second month. Yet for five years I didn't turn a profit in. I built a team that did over $10,000 a month in volume between products and motivational tools and this resulted in a net loss at the end of most months.
In March of 2003, I stumbled across Bo Short's Passport and after some additional research, I signed up and with the exception of one month, I have turned a profit. Aside from the profit, something very odd happened. People bought products from me. My own mother never bought Amway products from me in five years, but she religiously buys Passport - Summit Nutritionals Daily Plus and Joint Health Plus at the retail price. It has everything to do with price.
This brings me to a closing question, one that you should ask yourself before getting involved with a Network Marketing company and one that you should ask yourself if you are already involved with a company.
Would you buy the products at the retail price if you weren't involved with the company?
Dani Johnson offers free practical Network Marketing training every Monday at 10PM EST - 7PM PST. Call 512-225-3270 and enter 953953#.
You can also find free audio from previous calls at: www.danijohnson.com
Dani appears to make a living through selling seminars, cd's, and personal coaching, but there is no requirement to do any of that if you just want to check out the conference calls.
The calls are non company specific. The training is easily as good as training that I paid hundreds of dollars for in the past. There are dozens of audio clips to check out on the website once you register, in addition to the weekly calls. Enjoy!
The MLM Experiment at MLMLabs.com is off to an interesting start. We have had several people ask for more information as a direct result of the website. In addition we have had over 20 new people join as a result of the Vemma upline team.
The MLM Experiment is an experiment in online marketing of a Network Marketing company using only a weblog. The site also talks about the process. If I get a question, I post it on the site. Site visitors will see copies of bonus checks and other specific details about the project.
Let the feeding frenzy begin as news spreads about the downfall of Excel Communications.
I haven't confirmed this yet, but it appears as though Excel has made some type of deal with Shaklee so that Excel reps have a place to turn. Apparently Shaklee would become distributors of the VarTec phone services. I'm not sure where that leaves Excel Reps, but I'm sure there are plenty of MLM companies, like Vemma that would love to have them.
The MLM Experiment is the name of a new blog and project that I am taking on. I decided to sign up with a start up Network Marketing company and use a blog to journal my experience. While an online journal about the day to day experiences with a start up MLM company is probably not new, what is new is that I will not be doing any other marketing for the company outside of the new blog. Thus an experiment is born.
Details of this project will be posted on the new blog but I think it is important to mention that I am very involved with Network Marketing company, Passport. I truly believe in and will continue to build Passport as my primary business. I will be devoting no more than one hour and a half each week to this new blog. More than anything this is an experiment to see what happens if I consistently journal about this new product and business.
Why not do this experiment with Passport, you ask? I have been building Passport for 18 months and would be unable to track the growth that specifically came due to the experiment so I decided do the project with a company that no one has ever heard of.
So tune in to the MLM Experiment later today as I will be announcing the company, product and other details. I don't know if this is going to be a train wreck or an online success story, but I hope it will be interesting either way.
Remember to vote on Tuesday,
Update: The MLM Experiment takes on Vemma
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