The Funny Part of Network Marketing

I am a network marketer. I represent two companies at the moment which are Usana and Plantex.

Now the funny part about network marketing is that we are often asked to represent products that we might not be knowledgeable about. So before I got into Usana and Plantex, I decided to ask questions about the products first. For Usana, I was dealing with my old friend Joy so she asked me to buy a sample of the Essentials product from her to try out - plus she gave me an extra pair of tablets too. So I tried it out and liked it. Fortunately, someone else had introduced my sister to Usana products so she asked me to sign up with Usana under Joy as my upline. So that was my introduction to Usana. Now for Plantex, well, I have Usana to thank for that. Because I needed to find new customers to sell Usana to, so I visited Mrs. Guerrero, who was my former landlady back when I was working full time for another company. But Mrs. Guerrero doesn't like Usana because of the pricing so she didn't buy from me. Instead, Mrs. Guerrero told me about Plantex products that she sells from her head office in UP Village, Diliman, Quezon City. Since I'm always on the lookout for nice, biodegradable, non-toxic products I decided to sign up with her network. And that's how I wound up with two network marketing companies.

This is where the training program comes in. We new Distributors have to attend trainings at Usana to familiarize ourselves with the products - which I did at the start. But I realized that the best way to market Usana is to find people who actually need the products. So although yes, I do need the skills program which are offered in-house at Usana, I also need to find people who would really be able to testify that the products worked for them. But at Plantex, the reverse is true. I actually try out the products for myself before I market these to my friends, colleagues and neighbors. I feel this is the best way to be honest about what I'm selling although I also ask the opinions of my customers who have bought the items.

Anyway, my point is that some people sign up to become network marketers without checking first if what they are selling actually work and are worth the money that their customers pay for them. I think this is a weakness of the network marketing industry that unscrupulous network recruiters exploit. There should be more of an effort to educate recruits about the proven benefits of the products even before they are signed up as the downline of their recruiters. Not only will customers and network marketers alike benefit, but this would remove the stigma attached to sales jobs like network marketing that these are dishonest lines of business.