Internet Marketing vs Network Marketing

Are we Internet Marketing or Network Marketing?

The answer of course is ...we're doing both! 

The problem I've seen over the last 15 years in our industry is, no one taught us network marketers how to internet market so a lot of us don't know how to drive traffic to our sites to create targeted interested leads.

It's a whole lot easier today to build our businesses with all the advances in technology. We have iPhones, Androids, Tablets, Laptops, Desktops, etc. I know people building their entire businesses from their smartphones. 

What are a few things to learn to internet market effectively? 

• SEO (Search Engine Optimization) 

• SEM (Search Engine Marketing) 

• PPC (Pay Per Click advertising) 

• Content Marketing  

• Email Marketing 

• Display Advertising 

• Social Media Marketing  

• Video Marketing  

Having this whole internet marketing thing thrust on the world of network marketing I feel was kinda tough. I know, I know... nothing worth having is ever easy. 

Do you know what I liken this to?    I'm a bit of a history buff, so bare with me here.

It's like back when "The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974" was passed.   It's better known as the ERISA Act (amended in 1983).  This act allowed company's that were providing defined benefit plans to it's employees to change all that.  It use to be where you worked for a company for 30-40 years, they (the company) put up ALL of the money in an account for you until you retire, then they pay you a certain amount per month for the rest of your life to live on. It was called a PENSION.

Well the ERISA ACT changed that. Company's weren't required to fork over THEIR money for YOUR pension anymore. NOW, if you wanted a so-called pension when you retired you are given the option to participate in what is known today as a Defined Contribution Plan. Where now YOU the employee have the option to contribute a certain amount of money out of your paycheck every week or bi-weekly, towards your own retirement fund.  You put so much in and the company matches it. Thus the 401k and 403B plans were born. 

Just to be clear. A defined benefit plan, most often known as a pension, is a retirement account for which your employer ponies up ALL the money and promises you a set payout when you retire. A defined contribution plan, like a 401(k) or 403(b), requires you to put in your own money.

But here's what resulted from the ERISA act.  MILLIONS of people across the country who knew absolutely didley squat about investing in stocks & bonds, mutual funds, etc were now given the responsibility to choose where their money would be going if they chose to participate in a retirement plan.  That spawned a whole cottage industry of financial planners and financial consultants across the country to assist millions of people with their money.   

Amazing.

So I hope you see why I liken what happened with pensions to what happened to network marketers with the arrival of WWW.  When the World Wide Web was invented in 1989 and later when it went LIVE in 1991, MILLIONS of network marketers were thrust into the world of marketing their businesses via the Internet. And now 26 years later network marketers are STILL trying to figure how to use it to effectively build their busnesses.

So let's do something simple. Answer this one question correctly and I'll let you go. 

As far as the internet is concerned, what's the most important tool to have in your marketing toolbox to work your business effectively?

And no, it's not a website.   Although that is an integral part of marketing your business, it's not THE most important tool. 

Give up?

It's an AUTORESPONDER! 

And I'm really hoping if you're new to the industry and you don't know what an autoresponder is that you get on Google and educate yourself today. 

But anyway, yeah an autoresponder.  If you don't have one in your marketing toolbox, then you can't build a list.  And that's what you want to do, build a list. 

I've heard the phrase for years and so have you."The Money is in the List."  And it's true!  I defy you to show me any online marketer, that's been successful, achieve that success without a list. 

That's why I'm so against network marketers promoting their company's replicated website address as the first thing they show a prospect. Please stop doing this!  You're wasting your time when you do that. Send them to a "landing page" first that will capture their name & email address so you build yourself a list!  Then let the autoresponder do it's job and "drip" email messages every other day or maybe even weekly about your company's website and your opportunity later right into their email inbox. 

It's a well known fact that a person needs to be exposed to a product 7 times before they'll make a decision to buy.  How are you going to get a prospect to sign up with you when the first thing you do is send them to your company's sales page?  They see your page once and  then it's goodbye, on to something else. 

So make it your business to learn how to internet market your network marketing business. 

If I can do it, I know you can do it too!

Till Next Time,

Frank