Does the idea of selling scare you? Are you annoyed when you receive calls from complete strangers trying to interest you in the latest ground floor product or business opportunity? So do I. That's because you and I belong to the 85% of the population who hate being sold to.
And if we hate being sold to, why would we want to inflict it on others by becoming network marketers ourselves? After all, the very crux of network marketing is sales, isn't it?
Not if you believe network marketing expert Michael Dlouhy. He is a 26-year industry veteran who has made it his business to spread the message that network marketing is NOT about sales.
What is network marketing about if not sales? Apparently, it's about people. I bet you have never heard any network marketing company tell you this. What they probably told you was that the big money was to be found in recruitment (the business opportunity) rather than sales of the products, how to put together your list of 100 names, and how the compensation plan would help you make money fast. That puts us introverts in rather a tight spot, because we don't like selling, and we don't want to risk rejection or jeopardizing friendships to make money. The result is that after maybe 6-12 months, we find ourselves with dwindling leads, few sales and even fewer downlines. No wonder we think network marketing is best reserved for the extroverts and natural salespersons.
The key here is self-understanding, knowing what works for you as an introvert, and then using that knowledge to market your products and business opportunity differently. You don't have to force yourself to put on a false front to succeed in network marketing. No one is going to be convinced anyway, and you are just giving yourself unnecessary pressure.
In other words, if you are an introvert, don't try to operate like an extrovert. It's not you, and your prospects will know it. What you need to do is to turn your personality into a business advantage. To do this, you need to know your strengths, find your own comfort level and work from there.
For example, I am highly uncomfortable opening up in a group environment. My strength lies in one-on-one conversations. Going one-on-one puts me at ease and allows me to give my full attention to the person I am with. When I am at ease, the pressure is off and that puts me in a relaxed and confident frame of mind, just what I need to build a good relationship. Work from your natural strengths, and you can market more successfully. It won't feel like selling (if that's what is holding you back). Your focus would instead be on the person you are sharing your product or business opportunity with, and how you can help him meet his needs. That's a win-win for both of you.
What if your preference is not to have any face-to-face contact? Can network marketing still work for you? Yes, if you use the right Internet marketing techniques. The Internet has such a wide reach that you can potentially reach thousands of people seeking your product or business opportunity - if you know how to find them. Again, remember that different marketing techniques work for different situations. Experiment until you find what works best for you.
Here are some suggestions on how to get started in marketing your business online.
First, you need to ask yourself who you are trying to reach. Are your prospects extroverts or introverts? According to research, introverts make up 25-40% of the population. That's a sizeable percentage. Make sure your marketing efforts contain something for everyone. For introverted prospects, their preference (like yours and mine) would probably be an arm's-length approach that gives them time to think and consider their response and get back to you when they are ready. Asynchronous methods like emails, ebooks, information DVDs and CD-ROMs would work well. Your extroverted prospects, on the other hand, would respond well to phone calls, tele-seminars and the standard excitable sales letter peppered with action words in caps, bold and highlighted yellow that tell them to whip out their credit cards and take action NOW.
Secondly, whatever your prospect's personality type, there is one thing you can do that is practically guaranteed to attract prospects to you without you having to chase them down. It is the content of your website. Put together a site with a professional look and feel and fill it with pages of high quality content that provide just what people are looking for on the Internet, and you will see your site rankings rise and enjoy an increasing number of hits. If you do it right by working with (rather than against) your personality, don't be surprised if some of these visitors eventually become your customers or downlines.
The bottom line is: just because you are an introvert doesn't mean you can't do network marketing or sales. You just need to find your own unique way of doing it. Be comfortable and natural in the way you reach out, and you will attract success more easily.
As Jacques Werth, president of High Probability Selling, a sales training company in Media, Pennsylvania, testifies: "Many of our most successful graduates, some of whom earn high-six-figure incomes, are introverts," he says. "I'm an introvert, and I have had a highly successful sales career for almost 50 years."
