Network Marketing Business
Plan
Your Network Marketing Business Plan is unlike any
other business plan you will ever write.
Typically business plans set out the
- Experience of the owner in this field
- Background on the industry
- Financial information on the industry
- Marketing plan, usually with established
marketing channels
- Manufacturing or development strategy
- Plans for growth
Do you honestly think you could write intelligently
about any one of these items as they pertain to Network Marketing?
AND make a banker understand it? (That's the real catch:
Make a banker understand it.)
Maybe before the dot-com crash I could have gotten
some lenders to listen. But not now. I could print out this
entire website, put in pretty pictures, and bind it nicely. And
I'm not sure at all that any banker would fund it.
A
Network Marketing business plan is an alien item to lenders. Heck,
it's an alien item to most of us, and we work in it.
Also before MLM became such a dirty word I might
have gotten some lenders interested. But not now. Now "MLM"
and "Network Marketing" are often viewed as one in the same, and that's
not good.
| The concept of
"Network Marketing" as drawing from multiple streams of income,
all built around a common concept, just hasn't entered the
mainstream yet. |
So Why Have a Business
Plan?
Well, there are still several audiences that can
benefit from your Network Marketing business plan.
YOU. This is the
most important audience.
What do you really plan on doing with this
business?
Brainstorm with yourself and find out just how
many potential income streams you can devise.
Figure out how much money you can honestly make,
and how long it will take you to get there.
Figure out if you might need outside financial
input, and if so, where it might possibly come
from.
YOUR SIGNIFICANT
OTHER. Honest. With the time and energy you are going to
be putting into this, you need all the emotional support you can
get.
YOUR LENDER. It's
probably not a banker. It is more likely a friend or relative who
will loan you the money for that new computer you need, or spring for a
web designer to build your site professionally (which is not usually
necessary, incidentally). When you can present a thorough,
well-thought out plan, you are much further ahead.
The Marketing Plan for Your
Network Marketing Business Plan
When a cement contractor opens shop, or a
needlework store opens, there are real statistics they can gather on
their industry and on their geographical region that will tell them how
much business they can reasonably expect. They know how they can
promote their business, and what that promotion is going to
cost.
Where are the statistics for a Network Marketing
company for a book editor? or an online bridal supply store?
or an online travel agency? They don't exist.
What does exist are statistics pertaining to how
many searches real people do each month on keywords pertaining to your
topic. About half of you reading this page found it by searching
for "network marketing business plan", or some variation thereof.
In fact, I used this keyword because I knew so many of you would be
searching on it.
Successful Network Marketing websites are built
around knowing how to find and use these keywords. Step One of
your Marketing Plan is to identify and use those keywords.
And Step Two of your Marketing Plan is to populate
your website with revenue-generating streams of income.
What About a Five Year Network
Marketing Business Plan?
That, actually, is a good idea. Few Network
Marketing businesses spring up, fully loaded and ready to go. Most
grow, changing to meet the needs of their visitors. Over time
yours will grow too, sometimes in unexpected ways. That's
fine. Put your goal in place, and be ready to adjust your Plan
from time to time to reach that goal.
