Online MLM Porn
I just read a great post by Kim Klaver in which she reviews an online marketing program. She goes step-by-step through each part of the program, noting all the places where the program upsells additional products and services, promises things that are way out of line, and basically offers the “get rich quick” story.
I then scrolled down and read comments by Klaver’s readers, some of whom are doing very well with online MLM marketing. The comments are all the same. The people who are really in the trenches, doing online MLM marketing, are saying there is no “get rich quick” method. People who are successful are following a strategy of methodically offering useful information and education about internet and MLM marketing.
Tally ho and yeah Kim!
What is Online MLM Porn?
I call the “get rich quick” people the online MLM porn folks. MLM done any which way, online or offline, isn’t ever going to be a get rich quick scheme. Yes, there will always be the MLM freaks out there who make it from zero to hero in 30 days. But, as they say in the weight loss commercials, “This person’s experience is not typical.”
We’ve gotten pretty used to seeing all kinds of things slip through our spam filters related to regular porn. I love getting emails that tell me I can increase the size of my fire hose when, well, I don’t have a fire hose.
I’m starting to view the emails that promise to teach me how to make $8,871 overnight as the same thing. It’s online MLM porn, but it’s still porn. It promises “larger than life” results. So, unless you’re into that kind of thing, I’d follow Kim’s recommendation and avoid it.
Exceptions to the Rule
Having said all that, I will also say that there are exceptions to the rule. There ARE good online marketing programs out there. The reason that the average Joe doesn’t succeed with these is that they are more complicated than the average Joe is prepared to deal with.
For instance, I recently bought a $350 package that helps with search engine optimization (SEO). I had been using a bevy of free products for SEO, which worked fairly well, but felt I was wasting too much time importing data from one free program to another. So I went ahead and purchased this program. It’s great and I love it. It’s also complicated, and has lots of bells and whistles. I had to punch quite a few buttons before I figured out how some of the stuff worked, and I was born with a laptop in my lap.
I can see how this program would be totally overwhelming to the online MLM newbie. So the exceptions to the MLM porn rule are the programs that really do as advertised. The main problem is that they are far too advanced for the beginner, so they tend to be abandoned quickly in favor of the “get rich quick” schemes, which are easier to swallow.
The Good Stuff is Still Free
At this point, I feel that online MLM is still in its infancy. If you really want to learn how to market your MLM business online, you might consider learning from people on the leading edge of online marketing, most of whom are not in MLM. I’ve listed these sites before, but here they are again:
Copyblogger
Problogger
Best MLM Resources
Dosh Dosh
FuelNet
Duct Tape Marketing
Chris Brogan
IttyBiz
Lateral Action
Really Practical Marketing
This is just a short list, but you get the idea. Visit a few of these blogs, subscribe to their feeds (hit the orange button with the little curved lines), and be prepared to learn a lot about how the online world works. These guys will not only give you a lot of insight into how to really promote online, but will also give you a total overview of what the online landscape looks like these days. It’s a complicated world out there, so let these pros be your guide!
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Photo credit: Internet Porn
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