Why are they online anyway?

Many people focus on why they are online and simply assume that most others are doing the same thing.  A recent post on a Facebook group confirmed this fact. 

There was a post on a “friend add me” group stating that this person was unhappy with the group because the friends they added through the group did not join their game application.  For whatever reason they assumed that all the open networkers were going to join in on the game they liked to play and boost their level in the game.  The creator of the group responded with an honest answer “I only offered a group to help you get new friends; I did not promise they would give you more power in your game”.

Others try to convert the social network into a no cost product website or information site and direct people there expecting that they are on this social network to shop or start a business.  Again, most people’s response is to disconnect.

What is missing is the other persons why.  Why are they here? 

Determining their why is a little more complicated then joining an add-me site.  Here are a couple of ways that will help determine their why. 

First create or join a group on the subject and invite your friends to that group.  If the person who was looking to make friends that play the game application had done this they would have a better shot of finding others with the same interest.  

The same is true for a type of product.  Setting up a general group based on the type of product or system is a great way to attract people interested in that type of product.  

In both circumstances expect the competition to join in with their point of view, it is all part of the open online environment. 

The one thing that is great about social networking is your ability to connect with people, a few each day, and find those who share your interests and goals.  It just takes a little time each day and a commitment to meet new people.

Is social networking having an impact?

Over the last few months I have been doing hands on research to see what affect social networking can have on a candidate running for election.

I approached a friend, who decided to run for office for the first time and offered to manage her website and establish social networking sites.

Some positives for the experiment and negatives for the candidate:

• She was relatively unknown in city, small business women who had a few book keeping accounts and worked part time.
• She had never run for office before.
• She was running against another first timer, but his family was well known in the city.
• She was running as a Republican in what was predicted to be an election which would be dominated by the Democratic Party.

The results are now history…

• She already had a website so I updated the format and added widgets to make it sticky (provide a reason for people to return)
• Added a poll to involve guests
• We placed recent updates on the main page to alert visitors of changes
• Included pictures of events

I also created a social networking site on Facebook and created a Twitter Account. The sites were updated at least three times a week to keep them fresh and current.

The results were amazing. Although she lost as a result of the state wide democratic sweep her district had one of the closest races for state representative. All three republican candidates lost the election to their democratic competition in her city. Here is how the results played out: District 22: 30 point spread, District 77: 11 point spread, District 79: 49 point spread. Yes you guessed it my candidate was in district 77 and the only candidate with a website and incorporating social networking tools.

My experiment demonstrated that when you add social networking tools to what you are doing there will be an impact on the results. It is easier for people to find, research, and stay connected with you.

Beyond the Hook

When distributors complain to me about building their business I ask what their system is and generally I get back:

“My mentor told me that all I have to do is Invite, present, and enroll”.

I say

“Ok that in the front end of the system but then what?”

Next I get the

“Oh we plug them into the system. We have this weekly opportunity call and training call as well as an online presentation. Some leaders are actually doing a webinars or hotel meetings.”

I then ask how many of your people are on these calls or events each week and I receive the blank look.

This is when they realize that the system really isn’t a system at all at least one that is not working for them. It is an invitation (the hook) and a presentation which works great if you are an accomplished person at inviting.

Well it is a system; I call it the Catch and Release system. Just like in sport fishing they are catching prospects, holding them up for the picture and then releasing them back into the pond hoping that enough of them survive and stick around.

What is the reality of making this type of system work? Well it works about 5% of the time. We know this because most successful leaders teach this system and the industry has a 95% attrition rate.

So now you want to know why leaders teach their people to do business this way, right?

The answer is this is this is the only way they know and it worked for them 20 years ago and again 10 years ago and it is working for them again now. They learned how to become an expert at "invite and present systems" and became accustomed to only keeping the trophy fish.

If something only works 5% of the time is that really a system?

You have to understand that before the year 2000 it was nearly impossible to do what it took to connect with everyone in your group on a weekly basis so this was the only practical way to do the business. You could not be in all places at all times like you can today. Look at this blog. I can post it now and everyone on my team can read it when it is convenient to them. In fact these systems are still being perfected but we are at a point where they are now practical and widely available.

Today we have entirely new ways to fill in the gaps in that system and connect our people to our leaders 24/7/365. Our new systems make it possible for our younger leaders to catch those older leaders and blow right by them using technology that was not possible when they built these “catch and release” systems.

The really big news is the older leaders don't really understand how to make these systems work so this is creating huge opportunities for new leaders to jump in and capture the 95% that they toss back.

Who is teaching people how to build these new systems?

We do. We already have an entire system in place:

• An online training system which runs for 1 year,
• this blog,
• social networking tools and much more

When used correctly, these tools fill in the empty spaces and provide a number of other ways to introduce prospects and keep them connected. A system is a system when it teaches you how to continue to function after you have gone through your circle of friends and also provides your prospects with several ways to stay connected both online and offline so they have access to the latest training, product information and what is working.

It is no wonder that our company has developed more millionaires then any other company in history. One of the ways we do it is by constantly reinventing ourselves…

Energy vs. Wealth Equation – which side are you on?

The Wealth Energy Equation states that when energy costs change so does wealth, but this equation does not create the same results for everyone. For most people when the cost of energy increases their wealth decreases. We are seeing this today as a result of the recent energy crisis.

There are other companies that do better during depressed economic times – they are called recession proof industries. Supermarkets, Hospitals, and other industries which are linked to our survival are recession proof industries.

For the rest when the cost of energy goes up so does their wealth. Clearly companies involved in the sale of energy are experiencing exponential growth in wealth. There are other companies which are called recession friendly companies.

So during times of economic down turns it makes sense to look for ways to switch to an industry that is either recession proof or recession friendly.

One of those industries which is recession friendly is network marketing. During economic down turns like we are experiencing right now network marketing is a way for someone to create secondary income and therefore more people join in times like we are experiencing and more people become economically stable and economically secure.

What is more important is those who take action during those tough times, most just to get by, have more opportunity to emerge once we are economically stable with a monthly recurring income for an extended number of years regardless how much effort they put into their business when the economy stabilizes. People who took advantage of building a secondary income during the 70’s when we are in the worst recession since the depression and again in the late 80’s when the housing market collapsed were able to walk away from both of those economic recessions with a sustained income for many years to come because they had such a large group volume that people continued to purchase month after month and year after year.