Can A Network Marketing Business REALLY Be Run Exclusively Online?

Written by Elena Fawkner


Can A Network Marketing Business REALLY Be Run Exclusively Online?

© 2002 Elena Fawkner

For many people,repparttar words “network marketing” or “MLM” (multi-level marketing) conjure up images of hitting up your so-called “warm market” (those two or three hundred people near and dear to you as well as those unfortunate enough to have crossed your path at some time inrepparttar 117756 distant past) and pleading, cajoling, persuading, arguing and plain pressuring them to join your program. Or organizing house parties and presentations to make your pitch to a captive audience. Or having to approach complete strangers while standing in line atrepparttar 117757 supermarket.

Any or all of these options may be unpalatable to you, and for good reason. They certainly were to me. But what if you didn’t have to do any of that? What if there was a way to have people approach YOU to join your business rather thanrepparttar 117758 other way around? What if you didn’t have to hold face-to-face meetings at ALL? What if you didn’t have to make a single approach to someone you know? Or to someone you don’t? Would you think differently about network marketing then?

Well, there is such a way. Running a network marketing business usingrepparttar 117759 Internet.

I’ve heard many people say that it’s just not possible to run a network marketing business exclusively online. Well, I’m here to tell you different. Because I’m doing it and if I can do it, so can you.

Before I tell you a bit more about how a network marketing business can be run exclusively online, let me clear up a couple of possible misconceptions. First, running an online business does NOT mean creating a website and then sitting back expectingrepparttar 117760 business to run itself. You will work every bit as hard in an online network marketing business as you will in an offline network marketing business. This is just a different method, that’s all.

Secondly, when I say “exclusively” online, I mean that’s where your lead generation and prequalification work happens, it does NOT mean you will never have to pick up a telephone and speak to a real, live person atrepparttar 117761 other end.

OK, so what’s involved in running a network marketing business online then?

The first thing to understand is that network marketing, just like Internet marketing, is a numbers game. It is for this precise reason that network marketing is IDEALLY suited to being run online. Why? Because ANY Internet business is a numbers game. Just ask anyone with a web site what their focus is when their web site is up and running. It’s traffic. It’s getting as many people to their web site as they can because somewhere inrepparttar 117762 range of 2% - 4% of site visitors will click on a link that, in some fashion or another, can generate revenue forrepparttar 117763 web site owner. Of those 2% - 4% of visitors who click onrepparttar 117764 link, however, only 1% or so of THEM will go on to buy after clicking onrepparttar 117765 link. Ergo, with such tiny response rates, high traffic is repparttar 117766 name ofrepparttar 117767 game. The same principle holds true for your network marketing business.

At its core, network marketing is a simple business. It’s all about generating leads, qualifying those leads and then following up with those qualified leads until they takerepparttar 117768 action you want them to take (or tell you to stop) - either purchasing product from you or joining your downline as a productive distributor.

=> GENERATING LEADS

How do you generate leads? This depends on your starting position. If you already have an established web site and your network marketing business is a natural fit with that existing site, then you will not need to do too much inrepparttar 117769 way of additional lead generation for your network marketing business other than including a link to your network marketing company’s web site from your existing site.

But if you don’t have an existing web site, you’re going to have to start from scratch. You’re going to need to create a web site (on a subject matter of interest to people who would also be interested in your network marketing business opportunity or products), link to your network marketing company’s site from that web site, submit your site torepparttar 117770 search engines (and employ allrepparttar 117771 myriad other ways of driving traffic to it) and you’re going to have to start publishing an ezine (electronic newsletter) on a relevant subject and on a regular basis and build a sizeable subscriber list (again using a variety of different methods).

To generate significant traffic to your site and subscribers to your ezine is going to take time. Lots of it. Months, in fact. You should probably allow a year before it’s at a size that will make much of a difference.

From Ant Farm To Success

Written by Karen LaVoy


Tom Harpointner, a founder of AIS Media, told us a story one day that struck me as containing qualities that have been a huge part of Tom's success in Internet business. Our story begins with 10 year old Tom's ant farm. He'd always had ant farms in buckets and boxes and so forth. One day his neighbor tossed out an aquarium in excellent shape, except for a cracked bottom. While clearly not repparttar appropriate receptacle for fish, Tom, even at that early age, had a vision.

Where others saw merely a flawed vessel, a used, discarded, aged box, Thomas Harpointner saw past all that torepparttar 117755 essence: this item would be perfect as a state ofrepparttar 117756 art ant condominium. Yes, his ants would live in comfort and luxury forrepparttar 117757 rest of their antly lives. And not only did he provide a wonderful community for ants, he spreadrepparttar 117758 word and marketed those ants to everyone who would hear him. Sure,repparttar 117759 other kids laughed- what kind of doofus geek keeps an ant farm? Tom invitedrepparttar 117760 nay-sayers and non-believers to witnessrepparttar 117761 great wonder. It didn't take long forrepparttar 117762 word to spread that Tom had something cool going on in a glass tank outside his house. Tom would explain to his audience howrepparttar 117763 ants, once introduced to their new environment, worked together to create their own communication and travel system. By depositing foreign objects like orange peels and other bugs intorepparttar 117764 tank, he demonstrated how his favorite insects worked together to achieve a goal.

Successful Internet entrepreneurs share these characteristics-repparttar 117765 "I have a dream" vision,repparttar 117766 persistence to work through any obstacles blocking making repparttar 117767 dream a reality, andrepparttar 117768 passion to communicate this vision to everyone in a manner that instills passion in those who hear about it.

If you are excited aboutrepparttar 117769 product or service you are providing on your website, you are already sharing a quality of entrepreneurship. Your excitement will inspire those working with you on your website, or those customers and prospective customers you talk with. Business owners who are constantly thinking about their business, andrepparttar 117770 next thing to do or to add or to accomplish are going to be successful because they have a vision and are working to become successful through everything having to do with their business. Just keeping an open mind will open doors for you. You never know when you'll stumble across your own cracked aquarium.

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