It’s been a confusing few weeks in the world of Attraction Marketing for MLM. Would you agree? I’m not just talking about the usual overwhelm and endless offers you receive to your inbox, but rather about the game changing strategic moves from Attraction Marketing leaders like Ann Sieg, Mike Klingler and Mike Dillard.

I mean what’s really going on?

You get all fired up for building your MLM business online and then just as you’re getting the hang of it, Mike Dillard emails you that actually he’s now developing an offline system! There was a great interview he did this week that talks about this in more detail with Jerry Chen. You can watch it here if it’s still up. Mike Dillard and Jerry Chen Interview

It’s a long one but worth listening to if you are real student of this stuff. I extracted a few of the key points and will share them with you in case you don’t want to invest 77 minutes of your life watching this now:

Mike Dillard has recognized the need for an offline system. This has been triggered by the huge downturn in the economy and his realization that his parents can’t do what he does online. (Or may not want to bury themselves in Pay per Click campaigns etc.)

I can almost hear Randy Gage chuckling and saying ‘I told you so.’ The key to duplication is to have a large group of people taking a few SIMPLE actions over a long period of time. Okay Randy we hear you.

Mike Dillard said he is developing an offline system for his primary company so that the huge crowd of baby boomers heading our way can plug into building the business with their real life networking and warm market skills. (I hear ‘Ouch!’) I bet there were a lot of moans and groans from the diehard online crowd who almost spit at us guys who dare to talk to our friends and family about the best opportunity of our lives!

From my point of view I think Mike Dillard deserves credit for being honest about that. He could after all have just kept quiet about it and not risked messing with the enormous success of his Magnetic Sponsoring system.

What he actually observes in the interview is that offline is still not for him but he understands that it is needed for the baby boomers who are now much more receptive to MLM after many of them have experienced losing their ‘nest egg’ and pension plans.

This of course brings us full circle back to what I’ve been blogging about since I started two years ago. Even though I have a mad passion (some might say ‘obsession’) for creating systems and using social media for online marketing, I have never lost sight of the fact that it is not going to be for everyone.

The systems that are 100% online (until this point) are generally not Network Marketing programs. They are affiliate programs or direct sales programs which often have just a couple of levels in their compensation plan. Many people are working these types of sales businesses now and they are usually the first to knock MLM. This is because their hottest market is frustrated network marketers who are tempted by the promises of instant riches.

I’ve got nothing against sales businesses but they are not MLM and therefore operate much more smoothly with internet marketing sales techniques. On the downside they don’t offer the kind of hands off long term passive income that MLM does. Don’t get confused by this!

So what is the future of MLM? Is it online or offline?
Well you know what? I think it is online AND offline. It is old school AND new school. It is integrating good marketing and being an attractive person and marketer BOTH online and offline.

Whether you focus online (as I do) or offline as many do – it is a personal preference. Go with the flow of what you want to do and what fits best with your life.

Better still do BOTH! I’m very happy doing online but I have offline marketing skills ingrained in me from years of meeting people and doing MLM meetings offline prior to this.

I won’t lose these skills and if I meet a great prospect for my business out in the real world I know what to do, so it isn’t an issue for me. (Go here to read in my recent Attraction Marketing series how to drive offline prospects online if you need help with this integration)

What about you? Are you doing both or are you closing your mind to your upline business partners and refusing to do anything other than online?

This is okay if you have experience. If you don’t then I highly recommend that you plug into your team system (if there is one!) and get the skills you need for talking to people.

What many online marketing pro’s forget to mention is that they would not have the coaching and people skills that they have to be successful online if they hadn’t been through the trenches OFFLINE. (I know it’s a pain but I tell you the truth!)

Even if you generate 100 leads a day – unless you are in an online sales deal, you will need to speak to your business partners (whether you phone them or they phone you.)

You will need to COMMUNICATE with them and build trust with them.

Can a lot of this be done with blogging and email auto-responders?

YES of course it can. BUT you still need to be ready to connect with a real live person and say, ‘John – are you ready to get started?’

So with Ann Sieg sending out emails about offline Cash flow Seminars, (which has incidentally already been implemented by Randy Gage and Eric Worre for our MLM team system some time ago)..see press release: Randy Gage Cashflow System,
Mike Klingler promoting high level coaching courses which are not MLM specific, and Mike Dillard building a system for his parents to work offline with a sales business model… where does that leave YOU?

It leaves you in a place where you may be even more confused than when you started a few months ago.

So here are my top soul searching questions and answers for you to cut through the confusion and get yourself back to the centre line. (Building your MLM)

1) Q. Ask yourself – Am I a good socializer and busy outgoing person?

A. Yes = Go for massive offline campaign to get you started and build your business in your local area for starters.
B. No = Brand yourself online and get your MLM online funnel up TODAY. Otherwise you will just be faffing about chatting online.

2) Q. Do I enjoy spending a lot of time out of the home and am I turned on by being a local leader who supports and/or presents at my local meeting?

A. Yes = Go for it BIG. (Make sure to use tools, rather than just your mouth, and SYSTEMIZE your process)

B. No = Support your local meetings and do the basics for your warm market in your local area. Also work online and develop your marketing skills.

3) Are you a busy parent who is mostly based at home and likes it that way?

A. Yes = Online can be amazing for you. Invest in some good online training and coaching so that you can create a systematic marketing funnel for building and generating leads online. Also focus on interacting with people you meet as a busy parent. These can be the BEST prospects for you because you will have shared interests and a common desire to make a better life for your children.

B. No = Well you are probably not going to be at home on your computer but out working so you may be suited to doing more of an offline marketing campaign.

4) Do you like writing and/or creating videos?

A. Yes = Start a blog. (But do other offline/online stuff as well because 3 blog posts is NOT going to brand you and build your downline!)

B. No = Learn the basics online such as Facebook & Twitter. Start to build your online brand and have your MLM funnel set up online for hot prospects to request info about your MLM.

5) Do you enjoy spending hours working at your computer? ( I say working because Farmville is NOT working!)

A. Yes = Go for massive online action but remember that when you launch your business you must launch with your warm market also if you desire fast results.

B. No = Exit your home and do mostly offline but remember that branding yourself online is the future so make sure to do the basics with that aswell so that when your prospects are googling and researching they can find YOU online too.

Online takes more TIME to build than warm market because you have a lot of skills to learn and you have to develop lots of new relationships.

There are great residual long term benefits to building your own list though so it’s a great idea to do both if you have the patience and determination.

Okay my online-stopwatch.com has rung so I’m out of time today guys!

I hope this has helped you to get a bit clearer on the online/offline MLM issue.

If you’d like to get more details about working with me using both my Attraction Marketing online system, AND our offline Randy Gage Team Cashflow system for my MLM business go here: Cashflow System

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