MLM Online Offline Or Both?

February 13th, 2008 | by Chris |

Two different schools of thought there, each with its own advantages and disadvantages, its style of doing business, the skills needed to succeed and its advocates and bashers.

And when I talk about offline, I don’t mean the warm market and talk to everyone methods that it’s proven they don’t work. I am talking about offline advertising, lead generation at a local level and one to one follow up with the prospect so you can present the opportunity or the product to him.

Online we still have the same pattern “advertising-lead generation-follow up”, only this time they all take place online and we follow up through emails or phone calls.

But what are the benefits and drawbacks each one has?

Well, first of all, when you work offline your network tends to be more stable as members don’t quit that easily. You see, out in the real world where you can see and hear the other in front of you, a stronger bondage is created among two people than online. Because of this they don’t perceive you as an email address or a distant voice on the phone, but as a real human being and emotions tend to be stronger. As a consequence they are more reluctant to desert you and of course they take you more seriously.

Furthermore you can better communicate face to face, share views and knowledge. Plus the training and teaching becomes easier as you can coach and mentor people more efficiently.

On the other hand, on the drawbacks side, most members are afraid of talking to others about their opportunity. They fear rejection and they lack necessary interpersonal and sales skills. That results in them sitting on the bylines and not working their business. Usually it takes a lot of training to motivate them to move beyond their comfort zone.

Moving online, one of its strongest points is the automation you can bring into your business thanks to the Internet and all of its tools and services that is offering us. Furthermore you can move now to a national or worldwide level when you are prospecting. Social skills are replaced with copy-writing ones and a good autoresponder to follow up for you. No direct contact any more and any of the associated fears.

Of course, no matter how much automation you can put in, the greatest drawback when it comes to online MLM is the huge drop out rates from your downline. Seems that people when they hear about automation think they just have to pay and then wait for the check to arrive to their mailbox. When they figure out that it entails work they are moving searching for the next push-button opportunity land.

Another thing that is killing a lot of marketers efforts is the fierce competition that exists online. The Internet is a medium that can offer tremendous leverage since you can reach any home with a modem. Wherever there is leverage the superstars stand out and get all the attention making it hard for the other copycats to get noticed, much more succeed. So in order for the little guy, the new and inexperienced distributor, to make it, it needs to bring something new in the market. A new style that would help him to differentiate himself from the rest of the pack.

Of course, there can also be combinations of online and offline prospecting methods. For example, someone may use national or local offline advertising and send the readers to his website where his system can follow up with them. Or he may use online advertising targeting local surfers and meet in person with the leads he generates to make his presentation.

The best course is to incorporate both methods in your marketing efforts as many successful networkers are doing. That of course is easier said than done. All of us have strengths and weaknesses and we tend to cling towards the one or the other method. The most important part is to start and the best thing is to start with what you feel more comfortable with. Later on when you reach a satisfactory level with the prospecting method you practice you can expand and include new ones.

If you try to do too many things in the beginning you’ll get confused and you will ill-perform to all of the methods you try. Concentrate first until your business grow and then diversify to make it more stable and secure.

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