The Mind of Vatke
Thoughts, Musings and Advice by Andre Vatke

Ever see a video like this?

Sitting in his rocking chair, swaying back and forth, the camera held loosely in his lap, a gruff middle age man, with a full wooly beard, a ball cap and tinted glasses begins to talk about the role of attraction marketing in network marketing. "You have to attract people to yourself..." he paused, momentarily losing his train of thought, the camera rocking with the motion of the chair, "...then people will want to join your downline."

Video’s like this are becoming more and more common. It’s a good try, but largely ineffective in generating interested prospects or even more importantly, in building credibility.

They are a symptom of what may be the biggest misunderstanding (or con job) to ever hit the network marketing industry.

[More:]

Many of today’s "Attraction Marketing" proponents are leading people to believe that as long as they are two weeks ahead of their downline, they ARE the expert, trainer or coach and that they can easily charge $100 an hour or more for that expertise. Would we accept this logic in any other profession?

It doesn’t take very long to realize that there is something seriously wrong with this model. The most obvious is that there are very few true experts in network marketing. While 100% are spending money in their business less than 3% are earning a profit. The vast majority of so called trainers writing blogs or recording videos are not in that 3% ground and are simply repeating concepts and training they have heard elsewhere – often just days earlier.

Expertise or what they like to call "being an authority" comes not from just claiming it, but from experience. How can someone with no experience in building a network marketing business suddenly become an expert?

What is being created is a dangerous concoction of pseudo-trainers – people who copy their ideas from others, and amateurs – those with no clear history of their own prior to becoming a trainer.

The end result is that those following this game end up competing for the same audience, with the same message. Only a few will ever hold the top spots while the rest buy ebooks, training courses and marketing systems always hoping to be ahead of the inevitable curve. It’s hurting the network marketing industry.

Do you really need to be an expert to succeed in network marketing?

First, don’t kid yourself into thinking that there’s some shortcut to becoming an expert. Expert knowledge comes from experience, not just reading a book or taking a course. At the very minimum you have to put what you learn into practice. When you do, you will inevitably learn that there is a lot of tacit information that’s impossible to include in courses or books.

The good news is...

You don't need to become an expert in the way you may think, or others have led you to believe – like needing to know everything about everything! What you do have to do is become intimately familiar with what is offered by your company or opportunity. In essence all you need to do is learn how, when, and where to point those that are within your target market and leave the training and the majority of support to your built-in support system.

Over time, your experience will grow and the legitimacy of your expertise will be proven by real results and knowing all the bumps and cul-de-sacs of going through the learning curve.

That is what Leaders Club Subscribers all over the world have been capitalizing on in their respective businesses for over 15 years, and that is what really works.

It's as a Leaders Club Subscriber that you will quickly learn the basic fundamentals of how to communicate and what to communicate. These fundamentals will enable you to build a profitable business that others will be attracted to because it is ethical, logical, and proven effective for years. And you won’t be competing with 15 million other networkers either!

Here’s something you can capitalize on starting today...

Rather than faking being an expert, why not capitalize on something none of your competitors have access to: your personal story. I don’t believe that blogging or making videos is a must to be successful. But for those that do, they need a way to be different from everyone else. No one else has your personal experience with the product or service you’re affiliated with. There may be similar stories, but none are exactly like yours.

Don’t kid yourself into thinking that your story alone will generate sales, bring in business builders or even leads. Depending on how creative you are, it may do some of those, just don’t assume it will. Remember that top marketers are still spending a lot of money on advertising and lead generation or are riding the wave of past spending on those efforts. It’s tough to compete with that when you are just starting out. But your story can serve a more immediate and productive purpose… It’s a way for you to communicate with existing prospects and customers.

Marketers often forget that their blog, emails and other media can be an important asset in leverage the personal connection you have created with your prospect through other channels. People today crave real, authentic relationships. While in-person meetings and talking on the phone are still unbeatable, online communication can help to reinforce the connections made there. Understanding this will enable you to invest your resources more effectively and focusing on relationships built on mutual accountability rather than trying anything and everything to get people to buy. The sale or commitment to join becomes the natural outcome rather than a forced or manipulated situation.

Interested in learning more? Come view our new YouTube promo – http://bit.ly/iOW1i and then get a copy of our new training DVD free at: http://www.leadersclub.com/8great/

We believe "pay it forward" still makes sense! And we'll help you get a handle on the 8 greatest challenges faced by networkers today.