The 4 Horsemen of the MLM Apocalypse

In this article we are going to look at the four biggest problems faced by network marketers.  We’ll start with a brief overview of the four horsemen then go into more details about each.

The first horseman is often referred to as Pestilence, which in this case of network marketing is a lack of quality leads.  This lack of quality leads causes a fatal epidemic, or disease in your network marketing business.

Once the lack of quality leads (Pestilence) has come the next to horseman to appear is War.  War manifests itself as a lack of money, causing you to go to war with yourself, very often resulting in people quitting their business before they have had time to succeed.

On the tails of War is the third horseman, Famine.  Famine in network marketing comes in the form of a lack of duplication.  This lack of duplication results from the malnutrition brought on by Famine causing your business to experience a lack of growth.

Following in the wake of Famine is the forth and final horseman, Death.  Death in network marketing is caused by a lack of real marketing training.  After the first three horsemen have pillaged and plundered their way through your business it is possible to save yourself and business from the grasps of Death by learning and implementing real marketing training.

In the following sections we will discuss the 4 Horsemen in more depth.

The First Horseman of the MLM Apocalypse (Pestilence):

Lack of Quality Leads

When the majority of people join a network marketing company the first thing they’re told to do is make a list of everyone they have ever known and come into contact with.

This list is your “warm” market and theoretically easier to persuade to join your opportunity. The problem with this is, the majority of your “warm” market has never shown any interest in network marketing, being their own boss, or running a business.

There are only TWO types of people that you should be prospecting, those already in network marketing and those who are actively seeking information about network marketing.

We’ll come back to your target market later.

Once your “warm” market inevitably runs dry you must get more leads through some other method. Usually that means buying business opportunity or genealogy leads. Unfortunately, leads from these sources are not very timely, aren’t actively seeking information about joining a MLM opportunity, or are often just tire kickers looking for a “get rich quick scheme”.For example, when you fill out a “Win a Free Wal-Mart Gift Card” form on the Internet that information is sold to lead companies who resell them to individuals seeking leads. And to make those leads even more second-rate, they are often sold to multiple people.

Without high quality leads you will end up wasting your time weeding through the “tire kickers” trying to find the rare individual who truly wants to build their own business. This process of weeding through people not only WASTES YOUR TIME (your most valuable asset), but also WASTES YOUR ENERGY. You waste time and energy trying to convince people not only on your company and product, but also on the benefits of the industry.

Now back to your target market. The process of identifying your target market is actually a pretty easy task. Very simply, just think of about who your ideal prospect is.

This should include only the two groups of people we talked about earlier (network marketers and those actively looking for information about network marketing). These prospects should also be tailored to whatever product or service you represent.

For example if you represent one of the companies that offers weight loss products you would target people who are looking to lose weight, or if you offered long distance telephone service you would target people wanting long distance telephone coverage. Pretty simple, eh?

Now that your target market is more clearly defined you can start creating your own high quality, laser targeted leads. Doing your due diligence through market research and identifying your target market is the key to understanding how to generate high quality leads. With high quality, focused leads the whole process is now simplified.

You don’t have to deal with as much rejection, and people are generally much more receptive to what your have to say and offer. Also, you don’t have to chase friends and family and be the scourge of your family and social network. Notice I said ‘as much rejection’, you will always have to deal with some rejection, there’s no way to get around that. My advice is to just get over it!

It must be obvious to you by now that the key to getting high quality leads is to generate them yourself.

Now you may be thinking, “But Nick, I don’t know how to generate my own leads!”

That’s not a problem at all. It’s really not that complicated. It just takes someone to show you how to do it.

The Second Horseman of the MLM Apocalypse (War):

Lack of Money

Often the lack of money people experience is due to poor marketing techniques. They spend their money on one-time endeavours, such as buying a whole bunch of low quality leads, instead of producing their own. Once these leads are gone they have to spend MORE money to buy more LOW QUALITY leads.

This creates a mentality of desperation often resulting in people not wanting to join you in your business because they sense your desperation. This creates a vicious cycle of increasing discouragement and despair, leading to increasing levels of despondency.

People only work with others who they believe have more value than they do. If you appear desperate they automatically assume you don’t know what you’re doing and will find someone else who does.

People also spend their hard earned money on ads, drop cards, magazine spots or fliers which once gone no longer produce any leads. Instead of spending money on a one-shot deal, people’s money should go to sources that produce ongoing, high quality leads, or into educating themselves on real marketing techniques.

The goal is to leverage your time, energy, and money for increased results. You want to work smarter, not harder!

Although, a lack of money is a definite roadblock and causes many people to quit. It is NOT a deal-breaker. In fact, there are numerous methods for producing tons of traffic and high quality leads. You just have to be a little creative, think outside of the box, and invest some time and money to educate yourself on these methods.

A lack of money is only a problem if you believe you must have lots of money to be successful with marketing online. I would highly recommend Mike Dillard’s Building On A Budget or MyLeadSystemPro if you have no idea where to start with your marketing efforts.

Almost everyone starting out building his or her MLM business will face the problem of a lack of money. As a matter of fact it’s a badge of honour! It makes your eventual success story have that much more impact, makes you seem more human, and garners more credibility.

In order to overcome the lack of money, you must have a fully thought out and developed marketing funnel. A marketing funnel is simply a system that guides people through the buying process. A good funnel will allow you to make money even from the people who say no to your primary opportunity. If you are not making money from the 90% of people who say no to your primary opportunity you are leaving heaps of money on the table.

Notice I said guide and buying in the above sentences. People absolutely love guidance (they want to know what to do next, and what the next step will look like) and people love to buy (they hate being sold though).

The Third Horseman of the MLM Apocalypse (Famine):

Lack of Duplication

Right on the tails of War is the third horseman of the MLM Apocalypse, Famine. Famine in MLM comes in the form of a lack of duplication, resulting from the malnutrition brought on by Famine, leading to a lack of growth in your business.

To me, lack of duplication is controversial. The things that bring about true results don’t necessarily have to do with duplication. Those that make the real money in this industry are leaders. Leaders don’t just follow the crowd; if they did they wouldn’t be leaders they would be followers.

I’m certain that every single person in the network marketing industry who makes more than $20,000 per month has achieved their results using different techniques and systems than others. These folks don’t have ordinary results because they didn’t use ordinary strategies everyone else is using. They found out what worked for them and their personality and ran with it, not what worked for others.

I’m positive they used the same concepts and principles other successful marketers have used, but not the exact same techniques or system. The top earners in this industry are unique; they play to their strengths, express their unique personality, and stand out from the crowd. You have to do things in ways that work for you, not for others.

For example not everyone will be a skilful presenter and public speaker, master copywriter, or have the same pizzazz, charisma, and confidence while prospecting on the phone. Trying to duplicate someone’s charm is not going to cause duplication in your business. Most people should realize it’s a waste of time and energy and they would be fighting a long, hard, losing battle trying to change someone’s personality and character.

Don’t get me wrong; I believe that duplication is necessary. If there weren’t any sort of duplication the MLM business model cease to exist. The whole idea behind Network Marketing is to build a sales force and get paid not only through your efforts, but from other’s efforts as well. In order for that to work effectively there needs to be duplication.

I believe the duplication needed to grow your business is the duplication of becoming a leader, educating yourself, developing your core beliefs and paradigms, and growing through personal development. In other words, it’s the process of finding your strengths and leveraging them, thereby standing out from the crowd.

If you can create the ‘duplication’ of becoming a leader then you will have a growing, thriving business. You want to create a leaders culture in your organization, not a management culture. Once a leader is developed that person then has the ability to lead his or her own group of individuals developing leaders within that team. That’s the simple process that creates huge organizations. Not the duplication of great copywriting, presentation skills, or persuasion.

Those skills may be necessary, but not everyone needs to possess them. That’s where the team comes in… Everyone has a unique skill set they can contribute to the betterment of the team. The name of the game is to help others get what they want, and in the process of helping them you get what you want as well.

What you are looking for is growth and success from many different people who are going building the business using their own unique style. What you want are people who are committed to a cause, developing as a leader, and training others to work in a way that works for their unique personality.

The Forth Horseman of the MLM Apocalypse (Death):

Lack of Real Marketing Training

The fourth horseman faced by network marketers is a lack of real marketing training, which I find really funny and ironic.

Everyone seems to forget about the name of our industry… Network MARKETING.

People seem to think that if they just get out their and do a lot of networking they will become stupendously rich and start living the dream. It doesn’t matter if you network until you are blue in the face, you won’t have anyone interested in what you have to offer if there you don’t do any marketing (something drawing people’s attention and creating curiosity).

I’m not saying that you don’t have to network… It’s an absolute necessity to network. If you aren’t networking you won’t have any leads and consequently no one to market to. The key is networking AND marketing.

People need to have their curiosities piqued otherwise they just don’t care. They really don’t care about your product or service, your compensation plan, the fact that your company is debt free, or that it’s based in the United States or wherever.

If you think that just dangling the money “carrot” in front of them is sufficient to grab their attention you are mistaken. You need to delve deeper into the real reasons people join an MLM opportunity.

People want to sleep better a night not worrying about money; they want to be able to go to the finest restaurants and look at the menu first, not the worrying about the price; they want to spend more time with their families and loved ones; they want to go on that dream vacation and enjoy the sunset while watching the waves crash onto the beach while the warm mist sprinkles their face.

The only way for people to realize their dreams is to learn the skills necessary to market effectively and efficiently. Not many people really want to learn these skills… that’s why 97% of network marketers fail.

If you really want to bask on the beaches of the world with your frosty, ice cold drink of choice in hand, you need to devote your energy to mastering these moneymaking skills.

Are you ready to master these skills, and live the life you desire and deserve?

To Your Prosperity and Abundance,

Nick Klopper

Nick Klopper is a Network Marketing Professional and Internet Marketer who enjoys connecting with others, helping them discover their true passions and getting them MLM Results Today. To learn more about Nick visit his blog at NickKlopper.com