I know all about the consequences of the current economic downturn. I guess you could consider me a victim. After spending about 12 years of my life in the golf retail business, managing three stores and putting in the 50 to 60 hour weeks that retailers don’t think about at all, it came to a rather sudden end in early 2008. Combining the deteriorating economy, high fuel costs, overhead from three locations, and increased competition from online sources we weren’t prepared to compete against, reducing expenses became the number one concern. from the owner.

Do I have to say that all three stores closed before the end of 2008?

Owning a business was always something on my mind, but like so many others, I was so busy making a living and taking care of my family that it took a back seat. You weren’t in a position to invest the amount of money needed to start a brick-and-mortar business: Between renting the space, building, inventory, and hiring employees, you could be looking at $50,000 to $100,000 before the doors open . Then come the marketing expenses.

Marketing was always something that interested me, and I always felt it was an area where most retailers were woefully inadequate, mainly because most of them don’t offer any value at all. Usually, it’s nothing more than the sales pitch, which turns most people off and prevents them from becoming customers.

I trained my staff to lead with courage and positioned our stores as the place to get expert advice on all things golf, thereby removing price as the primary issue and becoming consultants rather than salespeople. I always thought this was the only way to grow any specialty retail business. Unfortunately, the owner did not choose to market in this manner, instead employing the same tired “discount retailer” approach.

The network marketing industry had also been primarily involved in its own offline marketing methods up to that point: cold calling, introducing family and friends, the dreaded “3 foot rule,” buying lead lists, and other unpleasant activities. I had had my fill of that kind of selling in a few (very) short stints with sales companies before I got into retail. Ironically, one of the things that drew me to retail was the idea of ​​the prospect coming to you, rather than chasing you.

Enter attraction marketing.

Some forward-thinking people in the network marketing industry, like Ann Seig and Mike Dillard, saw the limitations of the old model of offline marketing techniques and introduced an entirely different school of marketing, one based on the concept of that people love to buy, but I hate being sold to. It’s about offering value first and positioning yourself as an authority or an expert, the kind that people are looking for and want to buy.

Think of online stores like Amazon.com. Is there a more pleasant shopping experience anywhere? You get personalized recommendations, the ability to create wish lists, and positive and negative reviews on almost any product under the sun. This is all before buying a single thing! When you’re ready to buy, it can be as simple as one click. Is it any wonder that they are one of the few companies that has held up despite the bad economy?

To me, this type of marketing was “sexy” because it was largely second nature. Any good retailer understands how vital it is to always lead with value. We have spent our careers building relationships by positioning ourselves as leaders so that we were never in the position of having to go after customers.

Another reason why retail professionals would be comfortable with network marketing is that we are entrepreneurs. You can’t survive as a store owner or manager by being a clock knocker. No one is going to build your business for you, so odd hours are the norm.

It’s no different building a network marketing business, except for one powerful thing: you make your own hours. If you feel like working in the middle of the night, the Internet is always open. That’s why a lot of people do this as a source of supplemental income: there are no set hours. It’s his business, but with no employees or hours to worry about, he works when he wants to.

Getting the proper education in internet network marketing is essential, but “sales training” is an old thing for retailers. The beauty is that by using the concept of monetization pull marketing, or affiliate marketing, you can actually pay for your education and, in many cases, make a profit while you learn. Affiliate marketing is essentially a business relationship with a merchant that allows you to link to that business, usually at no cost to you. This can be done in the course of learning the business, and is a vital part of many attraction marketing systems, such as Ann Sieg’s Renegade System.

The fact that we have spent our careers learning how to deal with customers, both in person and over the phone, uniquely qualifies us as a leader in this brave new world. The difference here is that using online methods allows us to reach a lot more people in a lot less time and with a lot less expense.

The tax savings that many retailers are already familiar with and accustomed to is also very present in network marketing. Your office is your home, and that in itself provides for a large number of deductions.

Those are some great reasons for retailers to consider network marketing as a viable business opportunity, but the current economic situation may be the most important factor. The economy is not expected to turn around for quite some time, which means more job losses and less money for discretionary spending for Americans. Discretionary spending is the lifeblood of retail, so that fact doesn’t bode well for the industry, particularly specialty stores.

The network marketing industry is entering a boom period that will only grow in size as more and more unemployed and disgruntled workers search online for income-generating opportunities. This works to the benefit of those of us who are already established in network marketing. We will be in a unique position to be a leader in the right industry, at the right time, to provide much-needed insight into those opportunities. The low cost of starting and running a business makes it an attractive alternative now, and with social media growing more and more every day, that’s not going to change for quite some time.