The Right Multi Level Marketing Product – What to Look for And What to Avoid

Choosing the best MLM opportunity for you involves many factors. Whatever the network marketing company sells is just one element that you really need to examine . . .but it is an extremely important one. . .

According to Darren Falter, author of “How to Select a Network Marketing Company” and the top network marketers that he interviewed. . .there are 7 qualities that are absolutely essential for a multi level marketing product to bring you success.

You might already know in the back of your mind what these qualities are but it’s always better to put them down in black and white.

1. Is the product consumable? This could very well be the most important point in the whole list. It may seem obvious but it’s surprising how many network marketing products are NOT consumable. Ask yourself. .will the product you are selling be used (and used up) on a regular basis? Or is it something that you buy once and it lasts forever? You want to pick something that you can sell again and again to the same customers. Some products are more consumable than others and that’s fine. Just make sure that your multi level marketing product is used on a regular basis.

2) Is the product or service emotional? Does it stir up feelings of excitement and enthusiasm? Many network marketing goods represent people’s needs. But, although they may not realize it, most people are more likely to buy what they really want than what they really need. Vacuum cleaners are necessary. . .but are they exciting?

3) Is the multi level marketing product suitable for the direct sales model? Or do consumers usually go to retail establishments for this type of good? If your product isn’t traditionally sold in the direct sales model, it might create some difficulties for you in your business. If people are not used to purchasing the product through direct sales, you’ll more than likely have a hard time getting them to change their minds now.

4) Does the multi level marketing product stand out in any way? Does it have a unique angle? A good item should be unique. . .but it has to be unique in a believable way. If something seems too good to be true, it’s probably worth it to do a little extra research. What makes a product unique? Things that contribute to a product’s uniqueness include whether it is the first on the market, if it has a patented ingredient or trademark, a celebrity endorsement or even a out-of-the-ordinary type of packaging.

Is the multi level marketing product hugely popular right now? Timing is everything. Don’t be fooled into thinking that it’s better to start selling a product before it’s really popular or to keep selling a product that has lost its luster or appeal in today’s economy.

6) How stable is the multi level marketing product? How long has it been around and how long will it last? An MLM that’s been in business for at least 5 years is a pretty safe bet. Don’t be fooled by promises of more potential with a start-up company. They are also the most likely to have problems and fold.

7) Do people perceive the multi level marketing product to be worth what they pay for it. . .or even worth more than they pay for it? Would they buy it in a retail store at the same price? The product must have value.

The multi level marketing product is just one factor that should contributes to your decision about joining a network marketing company or sticking with the one you are with currently.

You’ll find lots of network marketing companies whose products pass the test above. Put a quality multi level marketing product together with the other important elements for success in network marketing and you’ve got the basic layout for a profitable business.

The tools of advertising, sales promotion, publicity and directing selling when used together contribute towards business promotion. Each major tool includes a wide variety of activities. Many companies use all four of these marketing tools to achieve business promotion objectives but place different emphasis on each of them.

Industrial companies typically spend more on direct selling than on advertising or publicity. In contrast, consumer product companies are likely to place more prominence on advertising and sales promotion to reach the vast numbers of customers in their target markets.

In direct selling, salespeople and managers are faced with several challenges related to selling effort decisions. They ask themselves questions such as; how much sales effort should be devoted to each customer? How should time be divided among customers and prospects? Whatever, the marketing strategies that will be adopted by the departmental manager, ultimately what will determine sales is the personality of the individual salesperson.

The average salesperson must be a very strong listener so as to be able to sense customers needs, interpret signs and messages, evaluate the results and respond effectively. The strong listener works hard at listening and attending to the message relayed and exhibits active body states while the weak listener who shows no energy output, rather fakes attention. The weak listener is easily distracted but the strong one resists distractions and learns how to concentrate. He keeps an open mind and interprets information quickly so as to RESPOND appropriately.

Responses provide feedback to the other party, emphasize understanding and encourage further elaboration. Therefore, a good listener should respond well after summarizing the needs of the buyer mentally, so that a sale might be made, after they have reached a point of understanding.

Almost everyone nowadays wants to have his very own profitable home internet marketing business that can ease his financial burdens and help him sail smoothly through the ravages of the global financial crisis currently engulfing the economies of the world. Understanding of the ABCs or fundamentals of internet marketing is essential to the success of any online home business.

Internet Marketing

Different people of different profession and stature have view internet marketing in different perspectives. People in one hand consider internet marketing as simply the act of placing banner ads or inbound links on other websites. On the opposite hand, there are many companies claiming that it is the secret to exponentially increasing one’s wealth overnight. Caution should be exercised however, because most of these many companies only try to make you buy some sort of internet marketing program that they proclaim will make you rich by morning.

At the present, internet marketing or online marketing has successfully evolved to a higher stage which now involves a combination of many components a business can utilize to increase sales regardless whether the said business is being executed fully online, partly online, or fully offline. Internet marketing is fully discretionary and it can’t be fully said that it is strictly needed for success but its recent popularity has caused those who don’t use it get left behind by those who do. It can provide a vast and unique competitive advantage to any company. It is for this reason that some companies even rely purely on online marketing to promote their business, its products, and services.

Internet Marketing Objectives

Internet marketing is being employed to make use of the Internet to do at least one of the succeeding:

1. Communicate a company’s message about itself, its products, or its services online.
2. Conduct research as to the nature (demographics, preferences, and needs) of existing and potential customers.
3. Sell goods, services, or advertising space over the Internet.

Internet Marketing Components

Internet marketing is made up of many components which may be summarized into the following:

1. Making a business website and getting it launched and published over the Internet. It may consist of text, images and possibly audio and video elements that broadcast the company’s message to visitors, informing current customers and prospects of the features, benefits, and value-for-money of its products and services. The website may also include additional features that extend its capabilities like the ability to capture and store leads from potential customers or the function to directly sell a product or service online. A website may very well be the best way to establish a company’s own internet persona and business entity. Websites can always outperform their offline equivalents – brochures and mail order catalogs.

2. Marketing a website over the World Wide Web via search engines otherwise known as Search Engine Marketing or SEM is the process of helping a website shop up in the top search engine pages whenever one makes a search with certain defined keywords through search engine optimization or SEO, pay-per-click or PPC advertising, or pay-for-inclusion or PFI advertising in which a website is listed in online website directories, the same way as with yellow page listings.

3. Email marketing is the technique of getting information about a product or service out to customers or getting feedback from customers about a product or service through the use of emails. Email addresses of customers or potential customers can be collected through the use of the company website or purchased from lead generation specialists. Email marketing is simply the online version of direct mail marketing. There are different methods that can be utilized to do this form of online marketing like the regular distribution of newsletters or mass mailing of offers related to the company’s product or services.

4. Banner advertising is the online marketing equivalent of the traditional ads in newspapers and magazines. It is the free placement of ads on a website usually known as free ad directories.

5. Online press releasing is the placement of a newsworthy story about a company, regular distribution of newsletters or mass mailing of offers related to the company’s product or services on online wire service or online press release directories.

6. Blog marketing is the process of posting comments, expressing opinions or making online announcements in a discussion forum or blog directory that can be done by hosting your own blog or by comment and link exchanges with other blogs whose content is related to your product or service.

7. Article marketing involves the syndication or online publishing in article sites or directories of freshly written or unique articles that tackle things related to your business, products, or services. These articles have the potential to spread and circulate over the internet since online article hosting services allow the re-publication of articles so long as all links in the articles are maintained. Traffic boost can be the primary result of article marketing, together with the promotion of your brand to a wider audience through the syndication of these articles.

Internet Marketing and Home Business
A website is an element that all internet marketing components, prospective customers, and clients anticipate a business to have. Through the years, having a website has become one of the best ways to get a consumer’s trust and interest in a company and its products and services. Having no website may even cause a prospect to lose interest and head to a competitor. Up-to-date information available 24 hours per day, 7 days a week something that can best come from a website. And the all-encompassing use of online means has cased many prospects to decide to transact only with companies that have a good and useful website.

Engaging in online marketing and having a website is so comprehensive in scope that it can benefit even a business that only has very local customers like a single location food store or clothing store. Internet marketing offers a very cost-effective and comprehensive way of attracting customers and it also gives a business a worldwide reach with its own Web presence that can be very hard to get from other methods especially in the case of businesses whose customers are not restricted to ma single geographical area only.

A website though in some instances is not a complete necessity, can definitely provide a home business operator various benefits due to the virtual nature of most home businesses. A website can act as a storefront for direct selling of products and services as well as serve as a very inexpensive means of getting prospects as well as clients know what your business does or what products it sells especially to those home-based businesses that do not have a physical location.

The internet has been one of the primary drivers that fueled the growth and expansion of home based businesses because it has paved the way for starting and maintaining a web presence with reasonably low cost. It is therefore a must that internet marketing becomes as integral part of your business plan and marketing strategy.

Finding the Right Internet Marketing Mix

Determining and utilizing the right marketing strategy is essential to business success. Defining the percentage of marketing efforts that should be done online, the needed Internet marketing elements and the amount of focus to be given to the website are all vital to the formulation of a marketing plan that will work. The nature of business, the budget, and some personal traits may all affect the marketing mix. All these, and many others influence the development of an internet marketing business blue print.

Using Offline Elements with Internet Marketing Strategies

Only businesses that transact 100% of their business online can make use of a fully online marketing scheme. All others should utilize a marketing mix made up of both online and offline efforts. Traditional methods can greatly supplement the effects and benefits of web marketing. In fact, there are even businesses that conduct all their operations completely online and yet employ the placement of traditional ads on newspapers and magazines to drive prospects to visiting their website and participate in online transactions with the firm. Perfect examples of business that integrate offline elements as components of their internet marketing strategies are Expedia, Travelocity and Monster.com. These firms shell out huge investments in radio and TV advertising as well as other traditional means of advertising to get consumers visit their sites where the real businesses dealings are being transacted.

Develop Internet Marketing Strategies You Like

Only incorporate in your strategy the marketing techniques you like or those that do not annoy you whenever someone does them to you, because most people probably feel the same way. The most hated marketing tool as regarded by many is spam. This is why many companies nowadays do not include email marketing in their arsenal of promotion methods.

Many forget the fact that email marketing does not necessarily mean the sending out of unsolicited emails to every email address you can find. Email marketing can also be accomplished by incorporating a visitor registration webpage on your site. This page then works as a tool to gather email addresses of interested prospects. You can then create a newsletter which you can send to all who have registered in your site. You may also consider updating your newsletter and sending it periodically to your prospects. You may also create a schedule for sending regular emails just to see how your prospects are doing, if your company can be of assistance in any way, or if any of their wants or needs has changed since when you last had a conversation. This is a very efficient way of utilizing email to boost your business promotion even without engaging in email marketing.

Your Budget and Internet Marketing Strategy

The budget plays a very important role in any marketing strategy as it lays out which components and techniques you can develop and exploit. A website for example needs you to select a domain name and then register and purchase it from a web hosting service. Due to the growing demand for web hosting services, the competition has greatly tightened and many now offer discounts. There are those that offer domain name registration for as low as $1.99 per year – provided you also purchase other services, like hosting, which is now also available for less than $10 per month. Next is the design and content of your website. Your can design and write your won content or your can hire a graphics artist for the design and a web content writer for the content. You can also opt to make use of the online website builders that can be found all over the internet.

After your site is all ready to go, getting it found is the next task, because no matter how good or useful a site is, it is of no value if people cannot find it. This is the point where search engine optimization or SEO comes in. SEO is vital to every website. You can either learn and do the SEO yourself or you can hire search engine optimizers to do it for you.

Web content should be search engine optimized from the time it was written. Same goes for the web design as the manner in which a website is designed can either enhance or limit the site traffic it will be receiving in the future. SEO should definitely be a major part of any internet marketing strategy. You can opt to do things faster but more costly or vice versa, depending on your perspective and your budget.

Once your website is up and running, you’ll either need to maintain it yourself or outsource the duties to an independent Webmaster to do it for you.

Google AdWords and similar pay-per-click (PPC) advertising services can be a good choice as they go easy on your budget due to the fact that you can specify the maximum amount you are willing or able to spend. You also get to decide how much you will be paying whenever someone clicks on your site as well as the limit of how much you will be paying per day. You also get control over whether the pay-per-click ads appear only on major search engines or on other related websites as well. Geographic and time restrictions regarding when and where your ads run are also at your disposal, making the said ads quite easy to update. Real time tracking of the benefits is also possible with PPC services. You can also use images and/or videos with PPC advertising, which may even be less costly than placing banner ads on other websites. You can also, on the other hand, utilize pay-per-click advertising to earn money with your website to such programs as Google AdSense, Yahoo Publisher or Microsoft AdCenter.

Tracking the Results of Internet Marketing Strategies

Putting up and operating a successful home-based business is not that easy especially for the average home business operator. Tracking is very important especially when you spend money on strategic Internet marketing initiatives. You should know the effectiveness on such initiatives to be able to make the right decision on whether to go on or discontinue with them. If you are satisfied with the performance of the currently implemented techniques, continue using them. If you are not satisfied, learn from your mistakes. Determine why such approaches did not work and find other means that can work better. Such practice is sure to improve your skills and enhance your chances for success.

Your business will mature and grow faster and more efficiently if you know which internet marketing strategies are worth spending your money.

Remain patient in tracking the performance of your internet marketing efforts and they will surely pay off. Always keep in mind that effects do not occur overnight and a significant amount of time is usually needed before you can feel the benefits. The same is with revenues, at first your efforts may seem to be in vain but after some time, more revenues will surely materialize.

Strategic Internet Marketing Needs to be Flexible

There are millions of people wanting to succeed with their own home internet marketing business and most of these also engage in strategic internet marketing. It is therefore vital that you make your marketing strategy flexible. It should be ready to quickly absorb changes and necessary adjustments. However, some knowledge, some capable assistance, and a well-managed strategic Internet marketing plan can increase your chances for success.

There are a lot of people that get burned in multilevel marketing. As one of many home business opportunities, multilevel marketing has a lot of great things to offer, but there are downsides too. It’s important to face the facts and be aware of the truths when getting involved. This article will give you a quick snapshot of the good, the bad and how to succeed.

The truth is, 95% of all people that get involved in multilevel marketing fail. And by failing, I mean give up, don’t make any money at all, and often lose money. Before this happens, many lose friends along the way because of the typical prospecting approach. They are coached to prospect friends, family members, colleagues, old school mates, and the list goes on. It can leave even the strongest person feeling very icky inside. It is these aspects that give multilevel marketing a very bad name.

It’s not all doom and gloom. In fact, in 2002, Warren Buffet turned heads around the world, when the billionaire and stock market expert purchased one of the largest multilevel marketing companies in the world, Pampered Chef. His confidence in the industry has only grown as he has gone on to purchase more and more network marketing businesses. I must point out, however, that owning a direct selling business and benefiting from the profits of the company is far different that being a distributor of a direct selling business. That being said, multilevel marketing has a firm position in today’s economy and most experts agree it’s only going to grow. In Japan, one of every 7 person is involved in a multilevel marketing business.

So what is the good side of multilevel marketing? It’s a fantastic home business opportunity, with very little or no start up costs for someone who wants to be his or her own boss, run the show, and benefit directly from his or her own results. In today’s economy where more and more people are finding themselves displaced, it’s a fantastic option. I will repeat, the upstart costs are often very minimal and the option is open to anyone with the courage to try. The income can be minor and serve as a supplement or, it can be substantial. The top producers of many multilevel marketing companies make 7-figures and have amassed a residual income that will continue to pay them for years and years.

The secret to success in multilevel marketing is aligning your personality with how you market and sell your products and business opportunity. I guarantee that every single top producer in a multilevel marketing company has a personality that matches his or her marketing style. Most multilevel marketing companies teach one marketing system – go get your warm list and start prospecting. This works incredibly well for some personalities. But if it doesn’t work for you, it doesn’t mean you are destined to failure. You just need to find a marketing system that matches who you are, what gifts and talents you have to share with others, and adjust your marketing to what works for you.

The emergence of online marketing makes adjusting multilevel marketing to your own style particularly easy. Online marketing allows you to use your own gifts and talents and create solutions around them that can help many, many people…and then position yourself in front of people looking for that solution.

For example, if you are an introverted person that hates picking up the phone, but great at writing, you could start a blog (for free, I might add) and write about your passion – perhaps it’s nutrition. On your blog, you can post articles about nutritional products, how they help heal certain ailments or illnesses, etc, etc. Your target market is people looking for a solution to those ailments. They are perfect potential customers and your blog is giving them a solution to their problems. They are 10 times more likely to buy from you because you have built a level of trust through your blog. They also, might make perfect distributors, and instead of you picking up the phone to pitch the business, they approach you about it, because they see you being so successful at selling products in a non-obtrusive way.

Most multilevel marketing distributors are not educated about online marketing. However, I am certain that if every single multilevel distributor out there were to adjust his or her own marketing style to his or her own personality, he or she would quickly rise to the top and become one of the best producers. Online marketing allows you to do that.