The Renegade Network Marketer Newsletter

"How to lose a lot of money: Why you
don't want to advertise your products or
opportunity"

 

Michael,

At the end of last week's email, I asked everyone to send me their most important business building questions, and my email inbox has been FLOODED ever since!

So let me cut to the chase by answering one of the biggest questions a lot of you had!

If you don't see your exact question below, don't worry. My answer will still apply to you.

First off, let me just say that if your company prohibits you from advertising your products or opportunity, that is NOT a bad thing!

In fact, it's a very good thing because you wouldn't want to anyway! (I'll explain more in a minute)

But before we get to that, we need to start with an understanding of what exactly the purpose of your advertising is in the first place.

This was a big question in my mind when I began building my business using "non-conventional" techniques as well, so let me set the record straight here, once and for all :)

The Renegade Network Marketer method ISN'T about advertising your company's products or opportunity directly...

Instead, what it IS about is...

Generating Qualified Leads For Your Business

And yes, there's a HUGE difference between the two! Let me tell you a quick story that will help you understand...

Let's say a massage therapist named "Dave" sets up a shop in your neighborhood. Normally something like this would slip through the cracks, not even catching your attention.

But it turns out, this guy Dave is no marketing slouch. He uses just about every advertising method in the book to spread the word and create a buzz for his grand opening.

• He runs ads in the smaller, free community newspapers and magazines that everyone reads and cuts coupons out of.
• He runs ads in the bigger, more popular, city newspapers that are delivered to people's doorsteps early every morning.
• He puts up little signs at the busiest intersections all around town.
• He sends out a couple thousand direct mail pieces to everyone living close to his location.

This massage therapist is getting noticed! And his special offer really has you drooling...

A FREE 30-Minute Back Massage!

You can just feel the tenacious knots in your back loosening and untying themselves reading one of his ads. And since it's so close, and you're really stressed out from a long day at work, you can't resist. So you head on over to his new shop.

And boy, are you ever glad you did! You don't want to surrender the chair after your 30 minutes are up. You even offer to pay for another half-hour (on the spot) to stay in the coma-like state you've fallen into.

Unfortunately he can't because others are waiting. So on your way out, you make an appointment to come back and you also try out a couple of the bottles of lotion he recommended.

Now, did you notice how you ended up spending money, yet the advertising that got you in the door never offered anything for sale?

Did you notice how Dave DIDN'T ADVERTISE ANY OF HIS PRODUCTS before the grand opening?

Instead his ads focused exclusively on...

Lead Generation!

Or in other words...

Corralling as many people into his office as possible by enticing them with a free massage. It wasn't until AFTER this, did he mention the products he was selling.

Now let's take things one step further and say Dave was in an MLM business, and the lotions he was selling were MLM retail products.

Even though he's selling their products INSIDE his shop... his MLM company, of course, doesn't have any say over how he gets people INTO his shop.

After all, it's his shop.

He's free to advertise however he wants because all he's doing is...

Generating qualified leads.

And guess what?

The Same Rules Apply Online!

Just think of a website as a physical office or building.

So Helen, Paulina, and Gregory (and anyone else who has asked this question) what this means is... you're free to get people into your "shop" however you want as well, as long as you're just generating leads and your website isn't directly promoting your products or opportunity.

The techniques I teach in The Renegade Network Marketer are safe to use with any MLM business because all we're doing is getting people to raise their hand and say, "I'm interested."

NOT interested in XYZ opportunity or ABC product, mind you...

BUT... interested in finding a solution to their problem.

Which may happen to be a second retirement plan or a natural alternative to the drugs they're taking for their allergies (notice how no mention of your business opportunity or product is needed to describe their solution).

After you've done this, after you've gotten the prospect to qualify themselves, then you can offer them what you're really selling.

And if you're company says the only way the products or opportunity can be sold is one-on-one, that's fine.

You generate the leads using more leveraged and efficient marketing methods, and then you follow up with them one-on-one about the business.

It's no different than if you buy a batch of $5.00 leads from a lead generation company.

Did they use names lists or the three foot rule to generate those leads?

Of course not (they wouldn't be in business if they did). They used mass advertising methods.

But you bought the lead and now you're following up with them one-on-one. Does your MLM company have any say over how that lead generation company advertises?

No!

So what if YOU are the lead generation company and you just "sell" the leads to yourself?

Same thing.

All we're doing is removing the middle man and doing the lead generation ourselves at wholesale, rather than paying someone else full retail price.

(And aside from the tremendous cost benefits, there are countless more advantages to doing your own lead generation, just one of them being that the prospects call you instead of you calling them!)

Online vs. Offline

The example I gave you above about Dave the massage therapist was an offline "brick and mortar" example.

I used to consult with a woman who owned a coffee shop that used this EXACT approach.

And it worked like crazy!

But not all of us are lucky enough to own a physical store that serves as a massive lead generator for our business, are we?

Well, good news!

There are way more advantages to taking your business online and "setting up shop" than there are to doing it offline... and... it's TEN TIMES EASIER!

It's really a no-brainer when you think about it...

• In the offline world, you're open maybe 10-12 hours/day? Online your doors are open all the time, 24/7!
• In the offline world, you (or someone else) has to physically be there manning the register. Online, people can buy from you, request more information from you, and enter your marketing pipeline whether you're there or not. You don't have to be chained to your computer.
• In the offline world, you can only reach people living close by. Your pool of prospects is limited to a given physical radius around your location. Online the ENTIRE WORLD is your marketplace!

Those are some pretty big differences, huh?

Anyways, I hope my response answered your initial question.

But now you may be thinking to yourself, "Ok, the lead generation part makes sense. But I still don't understand why I don't want to directly advertise my opportunity or my products. Wouldn't people want to know what I'm offering?"

The reason is because the best way to get people to raise their hand and say, "I'm interested" is by removing what they don't want (a sales pitch) and giving them what they do want (information)!

Do you remember 'Hooked On Phonics?' I sure do. Their radio ads will forever be engrained in my memory.

Do you know what made them so successful?

Their Advertising Didn't Try To Sell Anything!

Nope, instead parents were asked to call a toll-free number (1-800-ABCDEFG) to request free information that would help their kids learn to read!

No Sales Pitch.

No Mention Of A Product.

No Asking For Money.

Hooked On Phonics has made millions by not directly advertising any of their products or asking for the sale right away. Instead their advertising generates qualified leads by giving away free info -- the exact model I teach in The Renegade Network Marketer.

Positioning yourself this way - as a good Samaritan instead of a greedy salesman - will cause your prospect's defenses to crumble. They'll trust you and consider you a friend who's got their back, rather than a shyster trying to make a buck off them.

Which means, when you do eventually introduce what you're selling you won't be fighting an uphill battle. They're more than happy to buy from you, especially if your free stuff over-delivers.

The big point to be made here is that this is how we would want to do it no matter what product we were trying to sell - even if we weren't building an MLM business.

The most wasteful and ineffective ads in the world are the ones that have the name of the product or company plastered all over the place in big, bold letters. (This is why most network marketers lose tons of money when they DO try to advertise).

So the fact that many MLM companies don't allow this is almost irrelevant anyways.

In fact, one could even say they're doing you a huge favor by prohibiting it!

To Your Success,

Ann Sieg

P.S. - I really want to keep a pulse on your biggest questions and concerns. If you have something you need to get off your chest, just click the link below and drop me an email.

(We'll call it "Ann's Mailbag." Or something like that)

http://katherine.TheRenegadeNetworkMarketer.com/mailbag/

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