The Problem With The ‘Friends And Family’ Approach

Ah…the classic “make a list of 50 (or 100) of your friends and family” strategy.

This is what we’ve all been told about how to properly grow your business by the leaders of the company and your upline.

After all…why would they tell you different? Your success is their success.

Right?

And when you think about it, the whole idea of ‘duplication’ through people you already know sounds pretty easy, too, doesn’t it?

All you have to do is…find 3 people, and then help them find 3 people, and teach them to do the same and… voila!

Well, much to most people’s delight, there are 4 major reasons why this is the “less than ideal” approach to build your downline.

The “Duplication” Model Requires People To Be, Well…Non-Human

You see, the majority of people simply are not leaders.

People want to be led.

If you’ve been in this industry for any length of time, you already know that *most* of the people you recruit just won’t work the business like you wish (hope?) they would. Why this happens is a very complicated discussion in psychology I won’t go into here, but regardless of the reason…it’s just a fact, and the sooner you accept that *most* will not work the business, the sooner you’ll start making serious progress.

So, regardless of your approach, if you’re expecting every person you recruit (or even most) to work the business like a superstar…you’re in for a big disappointment.

The bottom line is: If you want to be successful in this business, YOU are going to have to build this business yourself.

Yes, it is likely you will find a superstar here or there, and that will be a very nice bonus, but they’re not very common and I don’t recommend betting your financial future on some kind of “hope” or “maybe” marketing. There are far better ways to lose sleep at night.

You Can’t Scale It Up

Assuming you are one of the lucky few to be blessed with more than 50 friends and family you have great influence over, this isn’t even the start of any real numbers.

First, even if you actually COULD meet with each one of those people in person, and if you got your presentation down to just 60 minutes…the MOST you could do is 24 people in a day (that’s if you don’t stop to eat, sleep, or anything else).

To build any successful business you need to expose your message with numbers…BIG numbers.

We’re talking 100’s of people per day …and the more the better.

PLUS…as your business and skills grow, you’re going to need to expand your numbers even more.

So, even if you could fill a conference room with 20 people every hour, on the hour for 10 hours a day…that’s still only 200 people per day that you’re reaching.

Yes, that would be some nice numbers, but it’s sure a LOT of work and there are much easier ways to hit those numbers while lying around in bed until 1:00PM in the afternoon (ask me how I know!).

Sure, there are some who will say, “Well, I just started and already recruited 15 people from my circle and I’m going strong.”

That’s great, but there are two problems: A.) You’ll eventually run out of your circle …and B.) Even if you don’t, the people you bring in don’t have your circle of influence or your recruiting superpowers, which brings us back to the first point about nobody else will work the business like you (if they work it at all) simply because they don’t have your skills and resources.

Do you REALLY want a whole downline of people… who do nothing?

Of course not.

“Positioning” Strategies Are Ineffective

Positioning is the single most powerful marketing strategy…bar none.

This is where you are perceived as an expert and the better choice among the competition.

Positioning strategies have created more millionaires and billionaires than any other business approach.

Period.

This is the exact strategy used by Wal-Mart, Proctor & Gamble, KRAFT, Nike, Apple…the list goes on and on. They know how to be perceived as the ‘better choice’ in the mind of millions of consumers.

Even your network marketing company is using positioning (they’re just not telling you about it).

Consider this: How can you suddenly be perceived as an expert about something you’ve never done in the eyes of someone who’s known you for many years and knows you just started your venture?

You can’t.

However, you can easily position yourself as an expert in the eyes of thousands and thousands who’ve never met you.

Remember how I said: People want to be led?

Guess what…they want to be led by someone they perceive is an expert (hint – hint!).

And finally…

It’s Hard On Those Relationships

Sadly, I’ve seen good friends quickly become distant over this.

You know what I’m talking about.

They don’t hang out together anymore or answer the phone…maybe you KNOW someone this has happened to…?

In the worst cases, I’ve seen things become very ugly…divorces, bankruptcy, loss of a home…all because one person’s blind faith and hope that the ONLY way to build their business was to badger everyone they know about their “fabulous” business opportunity.

It makes me sick to my stomach every time I hear another one of these tragic stories…all because the person had an undying belief in what is predominantly poor strategy.

There are the select few who have built successful businesses using this model (and will send me hate-email for this post)…and that’s great for them.  But this model just doesn’t work for the majority of people out there.

You need a better plan…one that works for EVERYBODY.

Reach out to me and I’ll show it to you.

Ah…the classic “make a list of 50 (or 100) of your friends and family” strategy.

This is what we’ve all been told about how to properly grow your business by the leaders of the company and your upline.

After all…why would they tell you different.

And when you think about it, the whole idea of ‘duplication’ through people you already know sounds great on paper, too, doesn’t it?

All you have to do is…find 3 people, and then help them find 3 people, and teach them to do the same and… voila!

Well, much to most people’s delight, there are 4 major reasons why this is the “less than ideal” approach to build your downline.

The “Duplication” Model Requires People To Be, Well…Non-Human

You see, the majority of people simply are not leaders.

People want to be led.

If you’ve been in this industry for any length of time, you already know that *most* of the people you recruit just won’t work the business like you wish (hope?) they would. Why this happens is a very complicated discussion in psychology I won’t go into here, but regardless of the reason…it’s just a fact, and the sooner you accept that *most* will not work the business, the sooner you’ll start making serious progress.

So, regardless of your approach, if you’re expecting every person you recruit (or even most) to work the business like a superstar…you’re in for a big disappointment.

The bottom line is: If you want to be successful in this business, YOU are going to have to build this business yourself.

Yes, it is likely you will find a superstar here or there, and that will be a very nice bonus, but they’re not very common and I don’t recommend betting your financial future on some kind of “hope” or “maybe” marketing. There are far better ways to lose sleep at night.

You Can’t Scale It Up

Assuming you are one of the lucky few to be blessed with more than 50 friends and family you have great influence over, this isn’t even the start of any real numbers.

First, even if you actually COULD meet with each one of those people in person, and if you got your presentation down to just 60 minutes…the MOST you could do is 24 people in a day (that’s if you don’t stop to eat, sleep, or anything else).

To build any successful business you need to expose your message with numbers…BIG numbers.

We’re talking 100’s of people per day …and the more the better.

PLUS…as your business and skills grow, you’re going to need to expand your numbers even more.

So, even if you could fill a conference room with 20 people every hour, on the hour for 10 hours a day…that’s still only 200 people per day that you’re reaching.

Yes, that would be some nice numbers, but it’s sure a LOT of work and there are much easier ways to hit those numbers while lying around in bed until 1:00PM in the afternoon (ask me how I know!).

Sure, there are some who will say, “Well, I just started and already recruited 15 people from my circle and I’m going strong.”

That’s great, but there are two problems: A.) You’ll eventually run out of your circle …and B.) Even if you don’t, the people you bring in don’t have your circle of influence or your recruiting superpowers, which brings us back to the first point about nobody else will work the business like you (if they work it at all) simply because they don’t have your skills and resources.

Do you REALLY want a whole downline of people… who do nothing?

Of course not.

“Positioning” Strategies Are Ineffective

Positioning is the single most powerful marketing strategy…bar none.

This is where you are perceived as an expert and the better choice among the competition.

Positioning strategies have created more millionaires and billionaires than any other business approach.

Period.

This is the exact strategy used by Wal-Mart, Proctor & Gamble, KRAFT, Nike, Apple…the list goes on and on.

Even your network marketing company is using positioning (they’re just not telling you about it).

Consider this: How can you suddenly be perceived as an expert about something in the eyes of someone who’s known you for many years and knows you just started your venture?

You can’t.

However, you can easily position yourself as an expert in the eyes of thousands and thousands who’ve never met you.

Remember how I said people want to be led?

Guess what…they want to be led by someone they perceive is an expert (hint – hint!).

And finally…

It’s Hard On Those Relationships

Sadly, I’ve seen good friends quickly become distant over this.

You know what I’m talking about.

They don’t hang out together anymore or answer the phone…maybe you KNOW someone this has happened to…?

In the worst cases, I’ve seen things become very ugly…divorces, bankruptcy, loss of a home…all because one person’s blind faith and hope that the ONLY way to build their business was to badger everyone they know about their “fabulous” business opportunity.

It makes me sick to my stomach every time I hear another one of these tragic stories…all because the person had an undying belief in what is predominantly poor strategy.

There are the select few who have built successful businesses using this model (and will send me hate-email for this post)…and that’s great for them.  But this model just doesn’t work for the majority of people out there.

You need a better plan…one that works for EVERYBODY.

Reach out to me and I’ll show it to you.