New School Marketing by Kim Klaver

If You Quit Your Business...

2009-11-19T13:06:00.000-08:00

If you quit your business, would you still buy your product regularly?

If so, chances are you have a product that customers would buy. Regular customers who are not also selling it. That doesn't sound very earthshaking, but it will when you do this: Look around your house right now, and note all the stuff you have bought. How much of it do you (want to) sell the way you do your NM stuff?

You are a very big customer. Everyone is. We are a land of consumers. Consumers buy stuff. To use it. Not to sell it. People are buyers, not sellers. They don't want to do sales and don't care much for sales types.

The NM/MLM business has focused for years on recruiting people who want to sell and recruit.

And they're missing 99% of the population - people who want to BUY stuff but not sell it.

If you think your product is good enough so that you'd keep using it if you quit your company, chances are other people might feel the same way. There are WAY more customers for a good thing than people who want to sell that good thing.

So how about it? You ready to find customers who are waiting to buy (but not sell) your product?

Think of this: If you make $10/customer, and you have 10 customers, that's $100/mo if they order each month. 30 customers gets you $300/mo. 100 customers gets you $1,000/mo. One thousand gets you $10,000/mo.

How many people would quit in your group, if they earned only $300/mo?

If you had 1000 customers, earning $10,000/mo, would you still be losing sleep over those elusive recruits you can't find or keep? Hehe.

Of course you don't get even ONE customer without effort, much less one thousand customers. But if they pay you $10 for every $100 order, you know exactly how many customers you need to make whatever number you want. Yes?

If you want to try something new, check out two customer programs...the mini here and the maxi here. Regular customers give you residual income. If they order each month, you get paid. Just like cable TV.

Here's why I added the customer focus to my recruiting programs.

"Listen to experts: respect your own ideas less and less."

2009-11-17T18:36:00.000-08:00

Have you lost respect for your own ideas because of them?

So says uber-successful rapper, 50 Cent in his new book. Here's a bit of it:

"You came into this life with the only real possessions that ever matter -- your body, the time that you have to live, your energy, the thoughts and ideas unique to you, and your autonomy. But over the years you tend to give all of this away. You spend years working for others -- they own you during that period. You get needlessly caught up in people's games and battles, wasting energy and time that you will never get back.

"You come to respect your own ideas less and less, listening to experts, conforming to conventional opinions. Without realizing it you squander your independence, everything that makes you a creative individual." More here

He's in the music business. You are in the network marketing business. Here's how it works the same way.

First you learn the biz basics. Either 1) from people who tell you stuff to do and you try it, or 2) you futz through the various activities on your own, trial and error.

Once you have the basics down, you must, to succeed big, find a way to stand out. Making everything your own, like 50 Cent suggests, can help you stand out. Here's how:

Stop conforming and doing and saying everything everyone else does. How will you stand out if you sound the same as everyone else? Where's the edge in that?

In the How To Attract a Market Seminar starting December 2, I will show you how to stand out. So you can get the attention of peeps who matter to your business? Because you'll learn to lead with you - your ideas, your why's, your story. That's what 50 Cent did, it's what Ray Charles and Johnny Cash did (scroll half way down).

Do not underestimate yourself, your creativity, your talents, hopes, dreams and your story. Offer these up to others. What if they come?

How To Attract a Market will be a small private teleclass. Starts Dec 2. See here. How To Stand Out is one of five major topics we'll cover. Who else is ready to stand out?

Brilliant or Stupid?

2009-11-17T09:50:00.000-08:00

Advice...from the guy who has to tell Congress and the country what their proposed legislation will cost the taxpayers.

"I get e-mail messages and read blog postings that think I’m a brilliant hero, and I also get blog postings and e-mail messages that think I’m a stupid traitor, and I’ve learned to let that roll off my back."- DOUGLAS W. ELMENDORF, head of the Congressional Budget Office, which assesses how legislation would affect the federal budget.

Make Everything Your Own

2009-11-16T23:08:00.000-08:00

From the new book by 50 Cent (the uber-successful rapper)...

"You came into this life with the only real possessions that ever matter -- your body, the time that you have to live, your energy, the thoughts and ideas unique to you, and your autonomy. But over the years you tend to give all of this away. You spend years working for others -- they own you during that period. You get needlessly caught up in people's games and battles, wasting energy and time that you will never get back.

"You come to respect your own ideas less and less, listening to experts, conforming to conventional opinions. Without realizing it you squander your independence, everything that makes you a creative individual.

"Before it is too late, you must reassess your entire concept of ownership. It is not about possessing things or money or titles. You can have all of that in abundance but if you are someone who still looks to others for help and guidance, if you depend on your money or resources, then you will eventually lose what you have when people let you down, adversity strikes, or you reach for some foolish scheme out of impatience.

"True ownership can only come from within. It comes from a disdain for anything or anybody that impinges upon your mobility, from a confidence in your own decisions, and from the use of your time in constant pursuit of education and improvement.

"Only from this inner position of strength and self-reliance will you be able to truly work for yourself and never turn back. If situations arise in which you must take in partners or fit within another organization, you are mentally preparing yourself for the moment when you will move beyond these momentary entanglements.

"If you do not own yourself first, you will continually be at the mercy of people and circumstance, looking outward instead of relying on yourself and your wits..."

Great stuff. Think?

Yeah, I made $31,787 my third month

2009-11-15T23:07:00.000-08:00

New FTC-Safe ad? You decide. FTC rule vid and brief write-up here.

"Yeah, I did make that. And lemme tell you right now: nobody else made jack. You probably won't either.

"Because I did some cool kick-ass stuff. Stuff people noticed. That's what ya hafta do.

"The others just make noise. They all say the same lame crap. Nobody knows nothin. Nobody does nothin that's their own. Buncha parrots. Who cares?

"If anyone that knows their xhit wants to do some original kick-ass stuff, tell em to call me. Otherwise, leave me alone. Vincent 899-888-1111"

Ladies: New scarf fashion to get attention?

2009-11-15T14:42:00.000-08:00

Do you sit unnoticed on the sidelines while others are picked?

Try the latest scarf fashion and you too will be the center of attention...
- Thanks, Joanne.

Now that I have your attention, what should I say? Hehehe.

The 'Best Customer Experience'

2009-11-12T22:54:00.000-08:00

Here's from Kathy Sierra, delightful insightful marketing maven:

Some marketers believe the best 'customer experience' is: "customer experiences the true awesomeness of our brand".

But that is not so, she says. Instead...

The only true 'awesome customer experience' is where the customer experiences HIS or HER OWN "awesomeness" through new capabilities.

Amen. Marketing in transition.

"Yes, I blocked you bec of el em em..."

2009-11-12T18:08:00.000-08:00

Readers: This person's talking about your competition. So relax.

The title was a tweet today from a guy with thousands of followers - to someone he'd blocked. Here's the rest of it:

"Yes, I blocked you because of em el em (hell you can't even type the letters without the vultures descending)"

I saw it and asked him what his experience was with MLMers - and he posted back:

"It requires aggressive + deceptive efforts. I Tweeted 3 letters once, and was spammed for weeks." (the 3 letters - mlm)

Aggressive I can deal with. But deceptive, not good. Vultures - not good either.

I got this (as one of a series) in my email last week:

"Can you say $10K over, and over with a Onetime investment of $275 and all that is needed is 2 folks......... That's it ...... For Ever!"

People really! What kind of hapless and ignorant people is this pitch asking for? Does anyone with ANY business sense really think a one time investment of $275 makes $10,000 'over and over'?

Oi vey.

Take QTs advice. If this is the competition you're up against, my readers, relax. The good peeps will be waiting for you.

How To Overcome Fear of 'No'

2009-11-12T15:12:00.000-08:00

Win the big Customer Enchilada program.

If anxiety is keeping you from reaching out to prospects, or doing follow up, here's something that's helped me: JUST before you start writing or dialing the prospect's number, adopt this mindset:

"THIS IS AN EXPERIMENT"

No one knows for sure how to sell anything consistently. What works for one doesn't work for another. What works at one time doesn't work another time.

When I was recruiting in the San Francisco Bay Area some years ago, I got several HUNDRED resumes in the first three weeks, most of them OVERNIGHTED. When I went to LA two months later and ran the same ad campaign, I got about 30% of what I got in the Bay Area. AND the population in Southern CA is THREE times that in the San Francisco Bay Area! Same ads(!)

There is no "right WAY" to win over good prospects. Therefore we are all testing.

Will five of you test the "This is an experiment" mindset for your next 5 prospect calls or emails or posts?

Let me know how it changes:

1) what you say or write and
2) how you feel AFTER you have done it, regardless of whether they respond or buy, or not.

I'll send five of you who report their results - in detail - here in the Comments - the Customer Enchilada MP3 program ($99). Here is what you get in that 9-MP3 program.

P.S. "This is an experiment." Say it out loud, put it on a sign in front of you before and during.

3 Symptoms of Successful Entrepreneurs

2009-11-11T19:06:00.000-08:00

From a Silicon Valley Pilgrim...an entrepreneur like us

First rate observations. See if this sounds like you. From Tales of an Entrepreneur

1. Successful entrepreneurs are relentless in their pursuits
I can't count how many times I've been taken aback by an entrepreneur's dedication to solving a problem, reaching a milestone, or achieving something everyone thought impossible. A good entrepreneur will baffle you with their relentless dedication in pursuit of a goal...
2. Successful entrepreneurs move in packs
Successful entrepreneurs are like wolves. They survive in packs. Since graduating ...several of our fellow...start-ups have remained in touch while others have drifted and either died or disappeared. We're very close with the founders...and we share things with each other in the utmost confidence, which is not something most start-up founders can do. It's almost like group therapy. Having a trust circle...con't
3. Successful entrepreneurs crave knowledge and are eager to share it

An entrepreneur who is not starry eyed and dreaming is an entrepreneur that will fail.

Almost every time I meet with a successful entrepreneur, I see that spark in their eyes. Maybe they just had a vision or just read a great blog post. Maybe they just solved a problem or they just learned about a new product. Whatever it is, they are excited to talk about it. Entrepreneurs are always searching for knowledge, and they can't wait to share it with you. You'll find that this is reflected in their products...

To sum it all up, he writes,

"successful entrepreneurs live in a distorted reality that they create for themselves. They have a vision that they pursue like food during a famine. Satisfaction is rare and never immediate. To be a successful entrepreneur, you need to live in a world that doesn't exist yet: the world that you want to create." More here.

Does that sound like the entrepreneurial world you live in?

Quentin Tarantino's advice to aspiring movie makers and you

2009-11-11T18:00:00.000-08:00

Quentin Tarantino's advice for film makers and you...warning some profanity in vid.

In the movies too, everyone wants to be an already successful film maker, not really go to all the bother of learning how. Anyway.

About 2 minutes into this video, someone asks if newbies have a chance to make it big like those guys did - since there is so much more competition these days. Everyone has a camera. Everyone wants to be an indie film maker, blah blah blah.
One panelist agrees. But not QT: His attitude:
Who cares how many people are out there making films? That crappy stuff isn't competition! You do this one thing and you'll be able to go around the world with what you made...even if you are new.
Go ahead and watch it. What's QT's one-liner YOU walk away with? What's that thing you gotta do to get what you want? And how does it apply to YOUR business?

First five winner get a house copy of How To Be An Awesome Sponsor MP3. Or something comparable if you already have that. Check stuff out here.

Good Bye Big Results Marketing (vid)

2009-11-09T23:48:00.000-08:00

Here's an animated little vid (2 min) for those who like to see fun stuff set to music. Inspired by yesterday's post,

Recruiters: Dec. 1, 2009. Adapt Or Risk Being Sued by the FTC

I'll see about finding a different player so it doesn't cut off the end or have all the ads. Yuck. Sorry.

Recruiters: Dec. 1, 2009. Adapt Or Risk Being Sued by the FTC

2009-11-08T15:40:00.000-08:00

"Everyone I've signed up is either dead or dying. How can I get someone who will DO something? Especially now that we can't lead with the big income anymore?"

Yep, after December 1, no more big income (or big any result) testimonials. Not unless you also tell what the typical results for the typical person doing the deal are. It's not enough anymore to say "results not typical." (See FTC release here.) The relevant language:

"Under the revised Guides, advertisements that feature a consumer and convey his or her experience with a product or service as typical when that is not the case will be required to clearly disclose the results that consumers can generally expect." More here. (ital added - kk)

No one who sells via big stories wants to tell you what consumers can generally expect. It'll ruin everything.

If anyone ever found out that almost no one makes much money (who's putting forth effort) in money making ventures, be it MLM or Internet marketing, who would buy? The big boys know this.

Several of the biggest Internet marketing 'make money' gurus have already announced their exits from the make-money business, moved it outside the US, or announced they'll no longer use income testimonials. See here.

I think the MLM/Network Marketing business has a much brighter future than some of the other options. Because - we don't need to sell based on giant (and atypical) income. Instead of marketing money, I suggest we market meaning.

Consider the advantages when you stop selling the money:

1. Peeps who quit ALL thought big income was going to come much faster and more easily than it does. The new FTC regs forbid those big income testimonials (unless you also tell, at the same time, the typical results peeps get). So retention should improve greatly. You didn't lure them with easy, big money. Right?

2. No big income stories means you won't miss anyone except the get-rich quickers. Because. While money IS one reason people start a business of their own, it is almost NEVER NEVER NEVER the main attraction. See here for the top three reasons Americans want a business of their own. Note: Money wasn't the reason the Google boys started their business, either (see here)

3. Last, money is not the reason thousands of folks stay in MLM, I mean the masses without much income. Here's why they say they DO stay in.

We can do the business for much MORE than the money. How about for the meaning it gives your life and that of others? I believe this is the only way the industry can remain a viable business option long term - to people who are long term doers, not screamers and hype-filled chatter boxes. Aren't you sick of them 'friending' you on MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and littering your email box? Yuck. Get-rich-quickers.

“It's not the strongest who survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most adaptable to change.” Charles Darwin.

Here's a little video I just made, to keep things on the light side. Work in progress. 3 minutes.

If you'd like to learn how to recruit with meaning, and create meaning testimonials, contact me here and perhaps I can arrange a class for your group or your company.

Dec. 1, new FTC rules take effect. Isn't it time for you and your babies to adapt your recruiting to the new FTC rules? You can. I'll help you. Do you believe meaning trumps money?

"The market for something to believe in is infinite" - Hugh Macleod

Is mindset enough for success?

2009-11-07T13:59:00.000-08:00

Success: Who doesn't want it? Three rules of the road...

For this post, let's say success is defined by income (you choose the number) and recognition. Here are three rules of the road.

1. Right attitude. Self-help movement leaders, mlm recruiters and Internet marketing gurus all tell us this is a key requirement.
Mindset. Attitude. Optimism. See the glass half full (v half empty). "Winners never quit and winners never quit."
No doubt about that. We gotta adopt the 'fail your way to success' mindset. Next -

2. You must develop a finely-honed skill set. Whether it's product sales or recruiting others, you must be not only GOOD at what you do, but remarkable. Else you won't be noticed at all, much less have someone buy from you or join you.

3. Just do it. Even though you know you're not very good yet. Doing it and adjusting it over and over and over is required. You can't just think about doing it. Or talk about doing it. You have to effen DO it: reach out online, offline, however.

With those three firmly in place, it's just a matter of time before you make it big. Right?

Wrong.

Unless you're a follower (and practitioner) of the Gita (next), and you're doing your thing primarily because you seek success, 1-3 are not enough. Not for big success. As academics like to say, 1-3 are "necessary but not sufficient."

Because. You. Need. The. Cooperation. Of. Others.

No matter how optimistic, skilled and consistent you, your business or you products are (consider Apple), everyone will not buy. In fact, almost no one will, relatively speaking. What, one in 25 for your product (after the relatives)?

One in 375 for your business (that actually DOES anything)? And those are high numbers in direct selling. Usually, we're looking at 1/10th of one percent "conversions" (buyers or joiners).

So am I seeing a glass half empty?

I hope not.

I tell you this for one reason: so that you STAY with it if you love it. My sticking advice:

1. Master 1-3. It's a daily heart churn..

2. Do not plan your success around anything that requires the one thing you cannot control: the cooperation of others. Others have to buy your product or your story, don't they? We all know that's the bummer.

It may not be because you did a bad job. It's that others have their own agendas. They're not planning their day - much less their purchases and careers - around you.

3. After you've got 1 and 2 down, learn to FIND YOUR AUDIENCE p. 212-218). Find FIRST those who already share the values represented by your product or business.That will reduce by far, the Nos from all the wrong ones. Thus making the process less painful and more survivable.

Make sense?

P.S. And anyway, says Woody Allen, "If you're not failing every now and again, it's a sign you're not doing anything very innovative."

P.P.S. Orange eBook hunt. I have put three links to a house copy of the Orange eBook on the Banana Marketing site. (NOT on the home page.) If you find one and click on it, you'll get the download link to the eBook, If My Product's So Great, How Come I Can't Sell It?
Give it time to download, ok? Links disappear within 24 hours.

Optimist or Pessimist?

2009-11-06T22:31:00.000-08:00

"Both optimists and pessimists contribute to society. The optimist invents the airplane, the pessimist the parachute." -GB Shaw

You can do the same in your own mind for any undertaking where you cannot know the outcome for sure. Like your own business. Don't buy their simplistic notion that it's all about 'seeing the glass half empty or half full.'

More Building Less Talking

2009-11-05T22:43:00.000-08:00

"Get things done. More building, less talking: A simple rule of thumb for raising money." - Garry Chan here.

Doesn't this rule apply to building a network too? More building, less talking. And perhaps, less whining?

The Secret To Amazon's Success...

2009-11-05T20:05:00.000-08:00

"The secret to Amazon's success is half luck, half good timing, and the rest is brains." - Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO, Amazon

Mr. Bezos happily admits what is so hard for us to accept...that we are not responsible by ourselves for an out-sized success. And that is why big fat success is so rare. You'll have to bust it for sure, as Gary V says in Crush It. Every big successful person has. But if success doesn't come as big as you had dreamed, as soon as you dreamed, may this soothe you:

"We vastly underestimate the extent to which success happens because of things the individual has nothing to do with." See here.

"How do you not take offense?"

2009-11-05T15:32:00.000-08:00

Do you get offended quickly (and maybe shoot back) when someone belittles you, heaps verbal abuse on you, ignores you, or just says NO without even listening to you?

The other day I told the story ("I Feel Offended") of Mr. G. He'd gone to visit a newspaper editor who made him wait for an hour, and then came out just to dismiss him with a curt "I'm not predisposed to listen to you."

"But," asked reader Trace in the Comments, "how do you take no offense? It is easy to say and much harder to do. I think Mr. G had something more going on that made him able to do so, don't you?"

He did. He remembered. And that saved him. He'll tell you...

"I once went to an English hair-cutter in Pretoria (South Africa). He contemptuously refused to cut my hair. I certainly felt hurt, but immediately purchased a pair of clippers and cut my hair before the mirror. I succeeded more or less in cutting the front hair, but I spoiled the back. The friends in the court (Mr. G was an attorney) shook with laughter.

"'What's wrong with your hair, Mr. G? Rats have been at it?'

'No, the white barber would not condescend to touch my black hair,' said I, ' so I preferred to cut it myself, no matter how badly.'

The reply did not surprise the friends. Then Mr. G wrote this:

"The barber was not at fault in having refused to cut my hair. There was every chance of his losing his customers if he should serve black men. We do not allow our barbers (in India) to serve our untouchable brethren. I got the reward of this in South Africa, not once, but many times, and the conviction that it was the punishment for our own sins saved me from becoming angry." - M.K. Gandhi, An Autobiography P. 213-214.

He made three mental moves to avoid feeling offended and angry:

1) he shifted from his own to the barber's point of view. That softened the anger
2) he remembered that the very same conduct went on in his own country
3) he viewed his own treatment by this barber as punishment - for the sins his own country's people were committing against their "untouchables."

These are mental moves we too can make. They require though, the belief that we are not the center of the universe around whom everyone else should dance. And some practice.

P.S. Want to take some baby steps to react more like Mr. G? Here's a DIY program I personally recorded, edited and did: Unstick Your Brain. Go ahead and slip some new beliefs into your noodle. Most humans don't come equipped with them. Try it. Comes with my personal guarantee.

Step 7: Let Customers Be Customers

2009-11-04T12:56:00.000-08:00

(If recruiting isn't going as fast as you'd hoped, consider, instead of quitting, building a steady customer base. Step ONE here. Step TWO here. Step THREE here. Step FOUR here. Step FIVE here. Step SIX here)

Have you ever tried telling a customer about the business when they're ready to buy the product or service? What happened?

"She rolled her eyes and said she'd get back to me. Then she didn't take my calls anymore."

Step 7: Let Customers Be Customers

You may not realize it, but asking a prospective customer to sell the thing she is just deciding to buy is a telltale sign to her that something is not normal. It sets off an alarm in her head that this must be "one of those things." That's not a good thing. (See Chapter 10 in Orange book.)

Cable TV Man Story (from the Orange book, p 163-4)

Picture this: The cable TV guy has just finished installing your cable TV (and Internet) hookup. You've just signed the order and are making your payment. Before he goes, he says:

"You know, Mrs. Jones, we make good money doing this. And we're looking for people to help us sell cable TV. It's really easy. Anyone can do it.

All you have to to is share it with your friends and family. You know, like recommending a movie. And we're the best cable company in the country. How about it? You want to make some extra money with us?"

What's your gut reaction? Here's what my students have said:

"I'd laugh."

"I wonder if I overpaid."

"I'd be surprised. Why ask me? I don't know anything about that."

"I'd wonder if they're financially in some kind of trouble"

"What kind of cable-TV company is this?

The next week, the phone rings, and it's the cable-TV man. He says:

"Hi Mrs. Jones...this is Joe, the cable-TV man. Say we're still looking for people...

You know, it could be your ticket to financial freedom. Do you want to talk to my supervisor who has made a lot of money doing this? He just bought a vacation home in Hawaii. How about it? You want to make some money with us? It's really easy. Everyone wants cable..."

The next week, he calls again. Same pitch. And the following week again.

How are you feeling right now about your cable-TV service? (By now the entire class says they'd ditch the service and find another cable TV company.)

But, says the die-hard recruiter, doesn't everyone want financial freedom? Or at least get their products or services at a discount for referring others to them?

NO. Everyone does NOT. Not if the price of either of those things is doing things they do not want to do. Like sell to their friends. Most people prefer to do other things to make money - things that have nothing do do with contacting and selling friends.

Referring products for discounts or in exchange free products seems simple to us, the seller, but it is also tricky. Many customers tell us that they will refer a product they love, but only if they are NOT paid for it. They feel being paid taints their recommendation to a friend. Others say they will but never do.

Warning. This is NOT like recommending a movie or a restaurant. You have no financial stake in either of those. The recommendations are clean and agenda-free. But when you're paid for your recommendation, the motivation is no longer clear. And that is why friends do not like selling to friends. And the FTC is now promising to levy up to $11,000 in fines to people who recommend stuff online without telling up front that they are being paid for it. So you lose all around.

Wait for your customers to come to you. Some invariably will ask you - "Hey, I'd maybe like to sell this - how do I do that?" Tell them then. Meanwhile:

Step 7: Let Customers Be Customers

This is the end of the series: How To Build a Customer Base in 7 Steps. I might put all the steps into a little Manifesto -a PDF. Would you like that?

Excerpts from the Orange Book here.

Audio classes of the teachings on how to build a customer base here. Enchilada=12 CDs. 3 Scripts=5 CDs.

P.S. I might do a bonus Step 8.

New FTC Regs Claim Mr. Filsaime's IM Guru Career?

2009-11-03T16:16:00.000-08:00

(IM=Internet Marketing)

Ready to earn $537,897 on the Internet like Joe did? Want to make $250,000 in your first year of MLM like I did?

As of Dec 1, you can't do that anymore. Wow. No more 'dramatic' testimonials says FTC

No more big income statements unless you ALSO report the results that the typical persons who follows the program got.

Who in the how-to-make money business wants to do that??

Within a few days, my pal Frank Kern announced on his blog (bottom) that he would no longer be using big income stories. And Mike Filsaime, one of the most active Internet marketers of all, announced around then (on Twitter) that he was becoming a software developer. Yesterday, Mr. Filsaime confirmed that "I am excited to close out 2009. Time for me to pass the GURU baton on to others." (A "tweet" on Twitter 11_2_09)

I suspect he's concluded that the new FTC regs will bind him too much. Either no more income stories, or else he (and everyone else) has to disclose how everyone else has done with the programs. That is, compared to the income numbers that were advertised.

UPDATE 11_08_09: John Reese, another of the big names in make-money Internet programs, just announced he's gone offshore, to the Philippines, to market his incomedotcom business.

The buyers of these programs, lured in by the big money, have no way of knowing just how atypical those big income numbers are.

On December 1, 2009, that will change. Big income claims will no longer be allowed. Not without admitting to the audience what typical results were. (Same for weight loss, etc. see below.) From the FTC site:

"Under the revised Guides, advertisements that feature a consumer and convey his or her experience with a product or service as typical when that is not the case will be required to clearly disclose the results that consumers can generally expect. In contrast to the 1980 version of the Guides – which allowed advertisers to describe unusual results in a testimonial as long as they included a disclaimer such as “results not typical” – the revised Guides no longer contain this safe harbor." From the new FTC Guidelines here.

I think this is a good thing. Not because big income is not or cannot be earned. But because the numbers bandied about are earned by almost no one else, despite good and honest efforts.

No amount of sweet talk - it's really easy, look at us, we're just like you - can change the results most people have gotten, even with honest effort.

I think there are better ways to entice good people to join your program. Coming soon.

I Felt Offended...

2009-11-02T14:53:00.000-08:00

Feeling offended leads us to do dumb things. Here's an instant fix I'm practicing now.

Mr. G went to see the editor of a local newspaper to pitch him his idea for an editorial article that he hoped the editor would write up in his newspaper.

The editor kept him waiting for an hour, during which time others who wanted to see the editor came and went. Finally, it was his turn. Mr. G tells us:

"He would not so much as look at me... On my venturing to broach my subject after the long wait, the editor said: 'Don't you see our hands are full? There is no end to the number of visitors like you. You had better go. I am not disposed to listen to you.'

"For a moment, I felt offended, but I quickly understood the editor's position...I could see there was a regular stream of visitors there...they were all acquainted with him. His paper had no lack of topics to discuss, and mine was hardly known at that time."

Mr. G's attitude kept him from feeling offended, getting discouraged and perhaps giving up. He explains:

"However serious a grievance may be in the eyes of the man who suffers from it, he will be but one of the numerous people invading the editor's office, each with a grievance of his own. How is the editor to meet them all?...

"But I was not discouraged. I kept on seeing editors of other papers..." and others "realized the importance of my [issue] and they published my interviews in full." - M.K. Gandhi, An Autobiography.

Isn't it the same when we want to introduce our product or business to someone with a wide sphere of influence? Are there not many folks lined up to see such a person?

It's so easy to feel offended when they won't see you. But it's better to find a way to get over it quickly, so your own offended state doesn't keep you back.

Mr. G's strategy which I am practicing: Take no offense, ever. Think from THEIR point of view. Do not even try to convert. Go to the next one.

P.S. For Twitter followers: A similar "I felt offended" event made news around the Twitter world yesterday. Actor Stephen Fry, with 942,803 followers (!!) offered to QUIT writing on Twitter on the spot. Because. Someone said he was - ready for this? Boring. The sequence:

Mr. Fry to fellow who called him 'er, a bit boring' on Twitter:

1. "You've convinced me. I'm obviously not good enough. I retire from Twitter henceforward. Bye everyone."

2. "Think I may have to give up on Twitter. Too much aggression and unkindness around. Pity. Well, it's been fun."

Mr. Fry expressed second thoughts the next day:

"Well maybe I'll see how I feel in a few days. Very low and depressed at the moment and any drop of meanness makes it so much worse. Sorry."

With only kind words for the gent who called him boring:

"Arrived in LA feeling very foolish. Wasn't the fault of the fellow who called me "boring", BTW. A mood thing. Sunshine will help. So sorry."

And then Mr. Fry pleaded with his followers to stop banging on that guy:

"Feeling terrible for that poor guy.He had every right to call me boring.Not his fault it caught me at a vulnerable time. Pls be nice to him."

Mr. Fry is now live on Twitter again, making his nearly million readers very happy. And showing us all how vulnerable we humans are, how easily we take personal offense, when we only think of ourselves and our own point of view.

P.S. Twitter lovers can follow Mr. Fry and/or see his notes here. And yes, I'm on Twitter too, here

Step 6: Nobody Likes a Seller

2009-11-01T19:29:00.000-08:00

When you realize there is a seller in the room, do you want to go TOWARDS that person, or AWAY from them?
When you're not sure whether to buy something or not, would you rather be talking to a SELLER or an ADVISER?

Whenever I've asked this in my customer building classes, I learn that we who are sellers mostly choose to avoid sellers ourselves. Seems like nobody likes sellers. We'd rather have advisers (knowledgeable about the options) to help, particularly when we're not sure.

Ergo, you must do everything you can NOT to be perceived as a plain old seller.

Fortunately, that is pretty easy to do. Because sellers, especially network marketers, have a way of talking that makes them instantly recognizable. And out comes the Raid from any listener. :(

Two signs of a seller.

1. Techno-babble. Sellers, especially new ones, are full of it. Lulu's just signed the app and, fresh from her science-of-the-product meeting, bubbles to her prospect: “I’m a wellness consultant. We market unique patented nutraceutical products…”
(More in Orange book excerpt here.)

ANY jargon - words a 13 years old wouldn't understand - is techno-babble. And it does NOT impress anyone outside your own company. Au contraire, others run. So don't use it. If you slip, you'll know why others glaze over or say they have to use the restroom now.

Quiz: Is the name of your company (or your product) techno-babble to people not in your company, yes or no?

2. Hype (two sorts - more in the Orange Book, p 32-51)).

a. Promises. Making ANY predictions about what the product will do for someone else. We do not really know the future, do we? No matter what a product has done for you, you can never be sure that will happen to someone else. Predicting the future for others (making claims) is something network marketers are known for.

NOTE: The new FTC regs make it plain that you can no longer use extreme examples of say, weight loss (or income) to sell your product or business. Not without telling what happens for the "typical" persons at the same time. Big FTC penalties too. See here and here.

b. Screaming. Perceived overstatement. How often have you heard networkers crowing about their products - "It's the best, the newest, the most scientifically proven," blah blah blah. Falls on deaf ears today. Because everyone does it.

Online, screaming is using too much red, too much bold, too capitals and too many exclamation points.

"When you overstate, readers will be instantly on guard, and everything that has preceded your overstatement as well as everything that follow will be suspect in their minds because they have lost confidence in your judgment." Elements of Style, 50th Anniversary Edition.

You do not want to come across as a dreaded seller anymore do you? So, no more seller talk. More examples of seller talk in the Orange book here.

Wouldn't you rather be perceived by your prospective customers as an adviser? A trusted, knowledgeable person who dares to recommend another company's product to Lulu when that's the best choice for the her?

P.S. Even if you truly you love it with all your heart, you are the reformer when you approach others. And it is usually just "the reformer who is anxious for the reform, and not society, from which he should expect nothing better than opposition, abhorrence and even mortal persecution. Why may not society regard as retrogression what the reformer holds dear as life itself?" From Mr. G here.

Mr. G's New Definition of Winning

2009-10-30T20:13:00.000-07:00

Years ago, a newly minted attorney, Mr. G., was asked to assist in a case where two prominent businessmen in the same town were in a nasty legal battle. The feuding men were also related.

Attorneys on both sides were doing all they could to win. That meant then, as it does today, to soundly defeat and if possible, ruin, the other.

Mr. G., the junior attorney for one of the parties, spent several months studying the facts of the case. He came to two realizations: 1) both sides were losing so much time on their businesses and running up so much in legal fees that it would likely leave both parties unable to rebuild their businesses afterwards, and 2) the client he was helping had the most law on his side.

Neither party's legal team top bananas wanted anything less than total victory. The other guy had to be wiped out.

Mr. G however, thought that the public financial (and social) defeat of either party would be a dreadful outcome - regardless of whose client ended up the winner.

So he did something very weird: With everyone's approval, he visited with the other side - the client. He suggested that neither party could financially come out of the fight whole, what with all the time spent and legal fees and costs already incurred and still to be incurred.

So Mr. G suggested arbitration. Something which would leave out the attorneys on both sides.

The legal beagles on both sides resisted furiously. His own legal team thought he was ridiculous to hand the case over to an arbitrator and wanted to fire him. But Mr. G prevailed on the principal parties. Both had told him they wanted to continue in business after this dispute had been resolved.

So the case went to arbitration.

Mr. G's own client won the case, and a huge amount of money was awarded to him.

Mr. G however, was not satisfied this would end well. He realized that the losing party would likely go bankrupt having to pay this giant settlement (to his own client). And a public bankruptcy was worse than death for the other man. So Mr. G took another unusual step.

He prevailed upon his own client to accept payments from the losing relative - not to demand the lump sum. After much haggling and the insistence of Mr. G, it was agreed: Mr. G's client would accept payments to be spread out over many many years

Mr. G wrote this about it years later:

"Both were happy over the result, and both rose in the public estimation. My joy was boundless. I had learned the true practice of law. I had learned to find out the better side of human nature and to enter men's hearts. I realized that the true function of a lawyer was to unite parties riven asunder.

"The lesson was so indelibly burned into me that a large part of my time during the twenty years of my practice as a lawyer was occupied in bringing about private compromises of hundreds of cases. I lost nothing thereby - not even money, certainly not my soul." - M.K. Gandhi, An Autobiography.

P.S. In our own businesses, Mr. G's approach means we do not dump on or belittle competitors or their products. Our self-serving agenda is transparent. Sing your own song, and find others to sing it with you. (See here.) Leave those with different musical tastes to their own happiness.

Candy coating truth: Creating future dissent?

2009-10-30T15:17:00.000-07:00

Sugar coating truth - good or bad?

Last year I had Donna Johnson on a call. She's been multi-million dollar/year earner for almost two decades - #1 in Arbonne. She decried the way some parents had sugar-coated the success challenges their children would face - the "trophy generation" - some of whom were now in her business:

"The trophy generation wants to earn money, but they don't want to be inconvenienced," she said. (!?!) "The trophy generation is young people up through our college age kids - we over did the self-esteem - everyone is a winner, you don't have to work harder than anyone else. They want to earn big income, but not if it means being inconvenienced in any way." See 'Watch Out for the Trophy Generation' here.

Hear Donna say it here..."Does the 'Secret' movie cause do-nothingness? Part TWO.

The self-esteem movement too, got beat up in a recent piece. Self-esteem is a good thing, says the author. But by itself, it's not enough for success. Interesting data from the church as well. His conclusion:

"I’m all for motivation and inspiration. But truth is truth. Maybe it’s time we stopped candy coating it and give it to them straight." See here.

Your take? Are we candy coating the truth of life's challenges - income, relationships, happiness - too much?

How would we un-candy coat say, the challenge of building an NM business?

Slumdog Millionaire: A Lie?

2009-10-29T13:19:00.000-07:00

Robert McKee, Hollywood screenwriting guru, hates Slumdog Millionaire as a business model for movies. In an interview in Singapore, he says the flick

"like all popular culture, is based upon a lie that life is not what it seems to be, that it is full of hope and optimism...."

Then...

"Slumdog Millionaire is a hideous lie. When you get artists in countries such as Japan who are serious and sophisticated, they won’t lie. The (film) business model that you are proposing is based on the ability to lie. That is how you reach the mass audience."

His conclusion:

"Hollywood, as an industry and business, is based upon the myth that everything will turn out for the best, that good triumphs evil, that hard work and perseverance will pay off, and that everyone has a soul mate. Hollywood as an industry is based upon a lie. All popular culture is based upon a lie that life is not what it seems to be, that it is full of hope and optimism."

"Do we seriously want to encourage film cultures around the world to continue telling that lie?" More here

I know, we all know movies are pretend. And only $10.

But - I bet he'd likely say the same about the self help and 'opportunity' industries. That they're both "based on a lie and full of hope and optimism, which rarely happens in real life."

But we all love the happy endings, even if they are not true for 99% of us. Maybe we're just late bloomers. Maybe we just like to live vicariously through the magical characters in the movies, or in MLM or Internet Marketing, who sound "just like us." (That's a skill gurus learn to develop early - to give you the impression they're 'just like you.' And in some ways they are.)

What to do?

Movie fantasies aside, whatever you devote yourself to - to find your financial success - choose something first that matters to you. As in, you'd do it anyway because you're almost called to do it. Then, remind yourself each day: "I cannot control the actions of others. But I will keep on keeping on because this matters to me." Maybe you will score big, maybe you won't. It's not all about you. It's also about this:

"We vastly underestimate the extent to which success happens because of things the individual has nothing to do with." See here.

There might be a way to reduce the pain if your results are not what you wished for. Next.