What the Experts Say
Warren Buffet, the world’s top entrepreneur once said, “It’s better to be medium-good in a great field than great in a medium field.” There are some great fields where a lot of money can be made, and the absolute top one of those today is Network Marketing. At a recent financial workshop, Donald Trump listed the top five income producing opportunities today as follows:
1. Network Marketing
2. Public Speaking
3. Real Estate
4. Internet Business
5. Stock Market
Today, several months following Trump’s presentation, number 3 and number 4 have actually switched places. Since Network Marketing, Public Speaking, and Internet Businesses are frequently employed in tandem with many home-based business opportunities, some very exciting potentials arise here.
What You Question
Hold on, you say! Haven’t you heard the statistic that most people (95%) fail in Network Marketing? How about the statistic that 95% of small businesses opened each year do not make it past their 4th year? Yes, I’ve heard those numbers, and I have good reason to suspect their legitimacy. For instance, the 95% statistic actually applies to Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) – NOT Network Marketing. Second, the 95% figure for small businesses is tracked through SBA and Bank loan data, yet many small businesses never use SBA or Bank loans in their first four years of operation. Nevertheless, a strikingly high failure rate for new opportunities is still sobering.
On closer examination, I can’t help wondering about a potential correlation between these two numbers? Is it possible that there is nothing wrong with Network Marketing per se and nothing wrong with the concept of a Small Business per se? Is it possible the failures were due to similar causes? Is it possible that in both statistics the majority of failures were due to a lack of preparation, planning, training, and systematized implementation? Is it possible in both cases that the lack of planning stemmed from lack self-development and goal setting. Without defined personal and professional goals, did the prospective entrepreneur commit the fatal error of losing track of his or her dream?
Potential Answers to Others Poor Results
Perhaps goals were initially set, but were not placed at the forefront of every daily activity? Did they form the root of every marketing decision and every business expenditure? Goals change mindsets and habits. Embracing goals throughout the day’s activities helps every prospective entrepreneur accomplish more than he ever imagined and become everything and more than he ever dreamed.
How True Entrepreneurs Get Results
True entrepreneurs believe that they have the power to change anything they choose in their lives. They do not have an ‘either / or’ mentality. They don’t evaluate choices from by weighing ‘this versus that’. Accountants weigh a pool of resources and say, “You can have this, or you can have that.” Entrepreneurs see both as necessary and align goals to expand the pool of resources to make both choices possible.
Goal oriented thinking leads to positive behavior in all aspects of a small or home-based business. We can take any aspect of a business and examine it closer to see how this is true. Let’s pick the least understood (and potentially most powerful) area – marketing.
The real money in any business venture comes from quality marketing. Bringing qualified customers to quality products and services is the art of direct marketing. In a storefront business, this marketing expertise often comes from franchise training, because experts have previously set goals and measured their effectiveness in the process of building their turnkey system. If you follow the system religiously, you are actually achieving goals set by others who paved the road before you. In a home based business the same can be true, but there are also some legitimate organizations that provide the same depth of training without the enormous investment fees associated with most franchises. An independent marketing consultant can also be employed to help us set and target goals. Careful research on the internet can reveal some serious marketing training opportunities. In any case, some legitimate expense will be incurred for training and ongoing marketing assistance. Expect it, plan for it, embrace it, for it will be the lifeblood of your success.
Let’s see how preplanning and goal setting are important here. If my product is consumable and low value, I need large volumes of customers looking for inexpensive consumables. If my product is high value and related to self-improvement or growth, then I need a few customers each month who want to grow beyond consumption and are looking for major changes in their lives. The goals we tailor to reach either audience will be radically different. The measures we create for utilizing advertising resources will be radically different. These in turn will determine which advertising resources we choose and the messages we communicate to potential customers.
In the case of the low value – high consumable item, we’ll want to target our marketing to large groups of people noted for high consumption spending. There are advertising resources who specialize in capturing leads specifically in this marketplace. Find them, set some goals and establish effective units of measuring them. Then target your advertising campaign to this audience.
In the case of the high value – self improvement item, we’ll want to target people who accept responsibility for what happens to them in life. They never blame their failures (or successes) on others. Any entrepreneurial thinker falls into this category: business owners, investors of all kinds, professionals continuously seeking self-improvement training, etc. In short, we are looking for pioneers in almost any field. These are not sheep looking for jobs. These are self-determined leaders or people who have finally achieved the realization that they must determine their own destiny. Direct targeted marketing can be employed to reach these audiences. Large numbers of responses are not necessary. Our goals and units of effective measure should help us find the few who truly want our message and opportunity.
As indicated at the start of this article, it is better to be medium-good in a great field. The experts tell us the top money-making opportunity in the world today is network marketing. Don’t let others’ failure to plan and goal-set deter you. Do your homework. Develop goals (or pick an opportunity with a proven track record that can teach you how) and start each and every day with a reexamination of them. Keep sight of your dream and it will take places you never imagined.