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| Multi-Level Marketing Business – General Overview |
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Thursday, September 6, 2007
The principle, while economically sound, must have core strength at its base and not fall into a well documented type of business known as pyramid selling, which became popular in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. When I say core strength, I mean that at its foundation any business must have a product that sells! This may sound ridiculously obvious however a major problem occurring with many of the products marketed through this method, in their experience, has been that the products simply did not penetrate into the market successfully. When joining one of the companies that participate in MLM, one is generally pressed upon to purchase materials for personal use and to buy stock for distribution to further people. Additionally, whilst the figures shown in the literature are very impressive, to attain these figures it is imperative to introduce other people to the business thereby gaining a percentage of their material sold. As that person introduces further people to the business, one then gains a percentage of sales from that person also. Depending on the company, the revenue continues for a certain amount of levels, hence the name multi level marketing. The major drawback that they discovered was that to attain the desired figures, one had to concentrate on recruiting more and more people to the business with the result being that nobody was really concentrating on selling product. This is why pyramid selling was made illegal - quite simply no product was moving at the bottom end and the only people making good money were on the top level and able to benefit from many peoples ‘efforts, whether or not product was moving. Unfortunately for the people on the lower levels they often parted with considerable sums of money unaware that the end product was either non-marketable or in some cases did not even exist! After this, the only way out for these people was to rope more people into the business on levels beneath them and thus recuperate some of their money. Multi level marketing, while not crooked in this way or illegal, still carries with it the problem of having to recruit other people into the business to attain the dizzy financial heights projected by the companies. I know several of the companies that we looked at in the early nineties, including the one they became involved with, have disappeared without trace and one never hears nor sees the products anywhere- is this coincidence? Since the companies were extremely well capitalised, did the owners realise that their products had a very short shelf-life and this was the best way to juice any profitability possible in a very short time? Without sounding too sceptical, it does seem to me that this was the case since, as they mentioned earlier, the products are never seen and the company is never heard of. You be the judge. Naz Daud is the founder of CityLocal Business Franchise Opportunity Business Franchises and UK Business Directory Business Franchise Opportunity Ireland Business Directory & Franchise Opportunity Once upon a time… We had the likes of Leo Burnett, David Ogilvy et al. And they were the keepers of the flame of advertising. Nowadays no aspect of advertising is as badly served as advertising itself. Where to day are the advertising voices that ring out as intelligent, passionate, current, and, more importantly, critical of current advertising practices? Can you, for one moment, even imagine David Ogilvy not giving sarcastic comment to some of what passes for advertising these days – especially the use of the new technology? Once upon a time we had an excellent heritage of critical writing on advertising. Unfortunately to day no one speaks with any authority either for or against advertising. In our current trade press the lexicon of adjectives used by critics of advertising is…zilch…nada…nothing! Even worse, the banality of what passes for intelligent commentary on all aspects of marketing/advertising is simply that – banal! The current crop of writers have forgotten that their first calling is to write readable, intelligent and amusing articles. Because like everything else advertising needs strong criticism, it needs that to keep advertising strong and innovative. Bad advertising, and there happens to be a lot of it around these days, drives out good advertising unless there is someone there to stop it. The current crop of writers and what they have to say about advertising is growing in irrelevance. Sometimes I feel that, when reading the marketing/advertising press that they have no idea who they are writing for. Sadly, a myopic tunnel vision is bought to bear on the subject currently in vogue – in this instance Web 2.0. However what is really worrying is the fact that, in the instance of Web 2.0, there is no debate as to the suitability of Web 2.0 as an advertising medium, there is no debate as to the claims of it being accountable. Which, by the way, it isn't, it is too susceptible to all types of fraud and manipulation! And there is absolutely no discussion on the huge, and growing problem of clutter. Whether it's emerging digital platforms or the nooks and crannies in an ever-increasing buyable physical world – from dry-cleaning bags, coffee cups, door hangers and even houses. The simple fact of the matter is that clutter is leading to more clutter So if clutter is such a problem, why isn't there a clear, unified way of thinking out a way to reduce it? And that perhaps is where a good debate and discussion within the Marketing and Media press could contribute, but no, no critics within the trade have emerged to courageously tackle this huge and growing problem! Added to which is the headlong, unquestioning rush into all forms of new media. Like, for example cellphone advertising. A much more critical stance would have questioned the very thought of advertising on mobile telephones. Now the obvious has been confirmed, marketers' new-found fondness for cellphone advertising is not an enthusiasm universally shared by consumers. When 4,000 adults were asked about different forms of mobile phone ads the overwhelming majority of respondents found them "not acceptable at all"! "My new gizmo has gone up in smoke but I can't face ringing yet another call centre"…that was the headline in yesterday Times of London, as if in vindication of what I am trying to say here. "Customer satisfaction plumbs the depths as a survey suggests that we are fed up with poor services" states the Times. I can guarantee that there will be no discussion/debate/criticism of that little article in the trade press! Here I am going to announce the fact that we are trying ourselves to (partially) address the problem of reader satisfaction/dissatisfaction. On our blogsite, listed below this article we have a short questionnaire asking for your opinions on all of the articles I have written this year. And, more importantly, how we can improve them for your interest and satisfaction. Please take the time to visit and respond to the questions, we can all benefit from your input, so…thank you in anticipation. Having invested over $10 million in independent research, Paul Ashby is ideally suited to present the case for the widespread use of interactive marketing communication. The research investment has proved conclusively that one exposure to an interactive "event" is far more effective in all key measurements, than traditional advertising. Paul made this investment because his company, Effective . Accountable . Communication is predicated on being totally accountable to its Clients. Discover more on http://effectiveaccountablecommunication.blogspot.com My Indispensable Mortgage Notebook My Indispensable Mortgage Notebook There's no doubt about it...the Internet is changing the way we shop, bank, arrange travel, search for information, buy and sell homes, and if you haven't noticed...the way we do mortgages. A few years ago I came to the realization that if you're running a mortgage business that's computer and Internet based, you need to supplement all of that high technology with something decidedly simple and very old fashioned...a notebook. As you may have guessed, I'm not talking about a Dell, HP, or Gateway laptop computer. I'm referring to an inexpensive school spiral notebook. It may seem silly to store information in such an old fashioned way, but it really makes a great deal of sense when you think about it. Every mortgage professional should have one notebook in which he or she can safeguard critical information. Use your notebook to store important passwords, website URLs, membership sites, key contacts and other critical information. Here's why your notebook is so important to your mortgage success... Your notebook is available even when your computer isn't. If you experience a power outage during a winter blizzard or a summer tornado or hurricane, you'll have all of your key phone numbers in one place. If you're new computer goes on the fritz or your old desk top crashes and you have to run things from another workstation or a new machine, you'll have all of the necessary information to keep going right at your fingertips. Yes...there are various ways to back-up your important information. You should be doing those as well. But, your notebook becomes your ultimate back-up. Take the notebook with you where ever you go, add your notes on a daily basis, and never let it out of your sight. It truly represents one of your "keys to success." Working without a notebook is sort of like walking a tightrope without a net. With some luck and dexterity, you just might make it across the rope without incident. If you slip, however, you'll be regretting your decision all the way down! Slide a net under your mortgage business tightrope by logging critical contact and password information in an accessible notebook. Keeping track of essentials this way provides you with a great insurance policy and can keep your mortgage business afloat in the face of technological challenges and failures. Many years ago I worked for a mortgage business that had all of their computers stolen one Sunday night. You can imagine the loss and havoc this created. The business was crippled for days and weeks until order could be restored. Ask yourself this question: If you had to start all over again tomorrow with a new computer and no stored information, would it be easier if you had all of that key information written somewhere? Now that you're nodding "yes," get started immediately on building your notebook. Here's a little tip to get you started: There's no need to go back and try to document your old information. Start fresh today and enter your information as you access it. If you access a Lender Website... jot down the URL address and your username and password. Make a quick note of today's "To Do List," or the prospect call information you need make next week, or what ever. Use your mortgage notebook and briefly document everything that you do or needs to be done, and in one years time you will have built your ultimate mortgage back-up. It's so easy, so simple, so basic, and so inexpensive...how can you afford not to get started? Tom Domin is the author of "101 Ways to Originate Mortgages" and publisher of "Tom's Mortgage Tips" a twice monthly Mortgage Newsletter geared for Mortgage Professionals. Put your mortgage career on the fast track and sign-up for FREE at http://www.MortgageMarketingToolKit.com/ |
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