Products or Opportunity?

There's an ongoing debate in the network marketing industry about what is best to lead with…your products or your opportunity? And like all controversial issues there are points to be made for both sides. It's easiest to just ride the fence and say, "There are pro's and con's to everything, and a lot depends on the products or opportunity you are promoting."

While that statement is true, I'm going to step out on a limb here and favor one side of the discussion. I realize I'll be unpopular with some who disagree with me. But before you start calling me names try to open your mind to a few facts I'll outline below. Too often we humans make choices based on emotions, then try to find "facts" to justify our decisions. Once we've convinced ourselves we're right, we tend to be less open-minded about that topic.

Before we get into this discussion, lets make a couple assumptions right up front. We'll assume your products are:

1. High Quality
2. Effective - have noticeable results fairly quickly
3. Priced reasonably

If you don't meet those standards, the debate doesn't matter. You will not have LONG TERM success no matter how you choose to do your business. Many get-rich-quick deals with questionable or over-priced products have short-term explosive growth, and create short-term profits for the con artists and crooks who start them. But they ALWAYS crash just as quickly as they grew. And most of those "deals" focus on the "opportunity" almost exclusively. 

Out of 100 people picked at random, what percentage do you think are potential customers and what percentage are potential business partners? If you answered that a much higher percentage are potential customers, you're right on target. Reality and experience tell us that while 80% to 90% of the population may be a potential customer, much less than 10% are potential business associates. So customers (product users) are a much larger potential market.

And that's partly why contacting your friends and family about the "latest and greatest get-rich-quick business deal" you just got into is a BIG MISTAKE. Many people who might be interested in good products have no interest in an "opportunity," no matter how hard we entrepreneurs wish it were so. Trying to convince the wrong people is NOT the right way to do this business. That's the first mistake that drives most new networkers out of business. After getting shouted "NO!" to enough times (2? - 5? - 10?), they give up. They're simply going after the WRONG people. This business is a lot more FUN if you TARGET the RIGHT people. That's why my TEAM teaches people NOT to approach their friends and family first.

Another important fact to consider is what keeps ANY company in business? And what is the company's primary purpose? It's selling products or services. No matter what business you're in, customers buying products is what pays your bills and makes your profits. Therefore, we should all be in the customer acquisition business and lead with our products. Loyal customers repeatedly buying products or services is what leads to long-term success.

Many distributors do not focus on customers and products because they may be in the wrong company, or their company doesn't reward them well enough for TOTAL product sales in their entire organization. I'm NOT talking about retailing here, but that's another potential part of the equation. Companies that pay commissions more for recruiting reps than moving product are doomed to fail for reasons too numerous to get into here. 

If you're already in business, do you earn a reasonable percentage on the TOTAL VOLUME of sales your organization produces? Calculate that number sometime. You may be shocked and dismayed if you're with the wrong company or compensation plan. Ask for the "Nine Secrets to Mega-Success" free report if you want to know a simple, straight forward, and objective way to find the right company.

My vote in the Product vs Opportunity debate is definitely focus on products! That's a change for me. I used to pursue "biz-opp seekers." And if that's what you do, ask yourself a Dr. Phil question: "How's that working for you?" (Long Term)

Product-driven companies are the only ones that have ever had long-term success. The key is to find a company that has GOOD products, will compensate you fairly, and pay you a reasonable percentage on the TOTAL VOLUME your organization produces. Many companies use BREAKAGE hidden in the compensation plan to secretly rob distributors of what they have earned.

Most compensation plans are too confusing for us "average folks" to really understand or figure out. 

And there's no doubt in my mind that many companies do that deliberately. In many cases, if you knew in the beginning how little you would actually get paid after you built a business, you would never have invested your time and energy. So understanding compensation plans is important if you want to get rewarded fairly for your efforts. But that's another article entirely. If you have an interest, check out the "Does Money Really Matter" free report.

Many of the newest and best compensation plans no longer "force" distributors to buy unreasonable amounts of products. Customer purchases alone can qualify you for a paycheck. And if you approach people with a sincere attitude of "How can I help you?" vs "Get in my deal" you'll have a lot more FUN and SUCCESS!

Best wishes for awesome personal success in any business you choose.