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"How do I get good people to listen to me?"

When's the last time you asked yourself that?

Part of the reason marketers everywhere have such a tough time getting people to listen to them is because their audiences (i.e., us) don't believe them entirely.

So how can they become an opinion leader?

Problema...

We all know the marketers are "selling" whatever (they're professionals aren't they?) and that they'll say whatever nice words and make whatever promises they have to, to make the sale.

So we, as marketers, are suspect. Yes, including network marketers. Because a normal consumer doesn't know if we say the nice things to sell it and make a few shekels, or because we really love it ourselves.

Here's the good news...

We ALL like to buy stuff, don't we? So ask yourself: What kind of person do YOU most like to buy FROM?

Here's what I do. For anything that matters, I seek out a member of the club, so to speak.

As an avid tennis lover, if I'm thinking about a new tennis racquet, I'd not go to Wal-Mart to buy one. Instead, I have usually gone to a good tennis coach, took a lesson or two, and asked them for a recommendation. I go to the best tennis places and people I can find. Because I love tennis.

And yes, of course I know the person or shop is making something on the sale, I don't care. What matters is that they know and love their tennis.

Say you, as a consumer, know that nutrition matters. You know you need to supplement. And you want whole food based products, no synthetics.

Or you're someone concerned about how your skin looks, and you believe that the ingredients in the skin care products you use make a difference. E.g. no chemicals or no animal products.

So who would YOU rather buy from?

A. The sales rep who sells various nutritionals or skin care products as part of their 'line',

or

B. Someone who cares about nutrition like you do, or about skin care and chemical-free products like you do, and who sells a specific line because THEY love it and use it themselves, too?

This is where network marketers have a very big edge over regular marketers. If you sell it because YOU love it - because of how it helped you - you are like the tennis coach recommending a racquet so an aspiring player. You are an instant 'opinion leader' to tennis players and tennis player wannabes.

The regular marketers are all abuzz about what it takes for a corporate spokesperson to be perceived as an opinion leader, so they'll be listened to when they deliver their product pronouncements.

In a survey by a prestigious PR firm, they asked, "Who is a respected opinion leader?"

Findings:

"68 percent of respondents said: 'A person like yourself or your peer' is the most credible spokesperson about your company."

Isn't that what we just said? A member of the club (or even more passionate than you), or your peer or better? Someone like you or even more so?

Regular marketers have a much bigger hill to climb than network marketers. Many don't use what they market, and they don't market it because the products have changed their lives. They are usually NOT a member of the community of those who care about X.

They just try to sell stuff to people who care about X.

People who care about X, being consumers, don't like buying from people who really don't care about X in their own hearts and lives.

We want to buy X from X lovers.

X lovers are X opinion leaders.