Robert Ford Consulting

I’m Robert Ford. In this article I will share how I became a top earning Herbalife Distributor.

I will discuss what I discovered after sacrificing 11 years of my life building a Herbalife business. And why I resigned a six-figure income and started my networking career over.

Achieving the Top One Percent As a Herbalife Distributor

Three years after getting started (when Herbalife International was 15 years old) I had one of the fastest growing distributorships in America.

One of the most common questions I am asked is: “How did you build your business so fast?”

The short answer is massive marketing action. Now remember, when I did this it was in the late 90’s and “Old School MLM” was all there was.

What Did I Do to Succeed as a Herbalife Distributor?

What do I mean by massive action? Here was my method of operation or what I did to get my phone to ring off the hook:

•15 classified ads per week
•25 pole signs per week
•1,000 business cards per day, 6 days a week (I wore out two pair of Nike running shoes)

Was it easy to do? Absolutely not.

Did it work in building a Herbalife business at that time? Absolutely yes.

After three straight years of this level of commitment and work ethic my wife and I achieved Herbalife’s prestigious President’s Team status. As a Herbalife distributor we were on cloud nine.

We were in the top 1/2 of 1% of all Herbalife Distributors. Our Royalty and Production Bonus checks hit over $32,000.00 a month.

The Allure of Residual Income With Network Marketers

Let me digress... I really like network marketers. We are a very unusual group…
We are self-motivated.
We are willing to work hard to achieve our goals.
We are willing to step out of the box to achieve our dreams.
We are an unusual and special group, that’s why I like network marketers!

It is my opinion that most of the people who are attracted to this industry are attracted because of the promise of Residual Income. The promise of building a stream of income that can last a lifetime.

Does the Herbalife Business Opportunity Work?

So when our income had exceeded $25,000.00 a month my wife and I thought we had the world by the tail. We thought that because we had been told, “Once you hit the Herbalife President Team you will be set for life financially.”

Instead of experiencing that financial security, at the very top of our Herbalife career the true nature of the Herbalife business model began to raise it’s ugly head.

Our organizational volume began falling. Our distributors couldn’t get and retain loyal retail customers. Our Herbalife checks began dropping.

I thought as a Herbalife distributor I wasn’t training my people enough, or I wasn’t working hard enough, or maybe I didn’t have the right leads to work. I thought I was the problem. I never thought to question the Herbalife business model.

What Opened My Eyes About the Herbalife Business Model?

Then I read “The 7 Greatest Lies of Network Marketing”. It was like the scales fell from my eyes. Suddenly I could look at my Herbalife business objectively.

So let’s say our long-term goal is to build reliable residual income, OK? That was my goal when I started as a Herbalife distributor. Here is why I resigned my Herbalife President Team business…

If the goal is long-term income don’t we need customers that are using products month in month out, long term? Of course we do.

Is that what happens with the Herbalife business model, let’s look at this...

Question: Do you or most of the people you know purchase what they would consider to be a luxury product month after month?

Answer: Of course not.

Question: Are Herbalife weight loss products a luxury or a necessity?

Answer: Well perhaps we could have some disagreement here, granted. But here is what I know from real world experience. When someone losses the 15 to 20 pounds they wanted to lose they stop buying weight loss products. So from their perspective they must be luxuries.

The Four Reasons Why I Resigned a Six-Figure Herbalife Income...

Question: How can you build long-term residual income around a product that is not used by retail customers’ long term?

Answer: It is obvious, you can’t with retail customers.

Herbalife has some great weight loss products.

1. The problem is Herbalife weight loss products are expensive. There are two problems with this:

If the products are perceived to be expensive it is harder to get retail customers. And

If the products are perceived to be expensive the lifetime value of your customers will be shorter because the customers will not choose to be long term customers.

2. The next challenge a Herbalife distributor has is their sales quota. Most people are building their network marketing businesses on a part time basis.

The problem with the Herbalife distributor sales quota is it is set so high that most part timers can’t meet the quota. So they don’t get their full Royalty Commission check, it goes to their upline.

So here you have a part time networker who does the best he can to retail the Herbalife products yet they can’t get a full Royalty Commission check. So he either quits or he turns to recruiting.

3. The end result of this business model is you end up having a few people (builders) all focused on recruiting. So there is no real retail consumption of the product. It really is a few people all focused on bringing other people into their recruiting business.

4. Another major flaw, in my opinion, with the Herbalife business model is the fact that you can only sponsor your people front. This line creates a very top-heavy compensation plan. You end up having more people at the top of the compensation plan than at the bottom.

This is exactly opposite from what we are told about MLM. The business is supposed to duplicate, it gets wider as you go in depth. All I know is that did not happen in my experience or in any of the other top income earners in Herbalife that I know.

If you are seeing wild swings in your network marketing income you may want to really examine your company’s business model if your goal is long-term reliable residual income.

I Had To Quit Herbalife To Achieve My Goal Of Reliable Income

I am finally experiencing the benefits of reliable residual income. I had to quit Herbalife to start over but it has been worth it. My business is built around necessity products, it is based on bringing real value to my customers, it is a lot of people doing a little not a few doing a lot, it is based on real people using and consuming products and I am seeing real geometric growth as my business builds depth.

These components, allow any networker an opportunity to build a reliable stream of future income, do you have these components in your current network marketing business? If not give me a call at 770-205-7330

To read my letter of resignation to Michael O. Johnson, CEO Herbalife International

Once you have identified your target market's needs their problems being to come into focus. Remember each target group is going to have different needs and we have to reach them where they are when they begin their search on the Internet.

The person who has already purchased a business opportunity could have some of the following problems:

• They are looking for a way to find high quality prospects with out endless hours on the phone.

• They may be thinking about how to use the Internet and develop existing leadership or build new leadership.

• Perhaps they have discovered their current networking business isn't a good fit for them after all and they are looking for a new start.

• They want to learn how to generate leads so that prospects are coming to them.

• They want to know how to effectively sell YOU, Inc.

• They want to learn how to use affiliate programs to generate additional cash flow until their networking business is fully up and running.

The person who is specifically looking at a particular company could have these problems:

• they are looking for the best person to partner with so they get the training and support to experience success.

• They are looking for someone in their local area because they like working face to face.

• They are looking for a partner that can help them be more organized and efficient with their time.

• They no longer want to use old school marketing tactics they are looking for someone to coach them on how to build their business online.

The point here is that we are looking for problems or needs that we can help them solve. By providing valuable content to them for free we are building trust and credibility with them. The advantage of this is that when they do call or e-mail they are predisposed to doing business with us.

The content you make available to them on the Internet will let them know that they are joining a successful team and someone with the knowledge and skill set to help them with their business.

You can share your journey about how you are using the Internet to build your business and that you are available to them to mentor them as they set their Internet business up.

To be effective online we have to identify with our target market's pain (problems) and provide content that offers a solution to their pain. The more we can identify with their pain and provide viable solutions the more people we will have chasing us to get involved in our business.

Remember if someone is in pain (they have a problem) they are looking for relief... this is someone who is highly motivated. If you provide the relief then you just may be the one who will benefit.

When you are on the outside this looks very complicated but with our step by step training even a computer newbe will experience success.

Once you have identified your target market you then must identify your target markets needs. A couple of questions that will help you here are:

What is your target market thinking about?

What are their concerns?

What are they looking for?

By answering these questions you will be able to attract them by answering their concerns or giving them answers they are looking for.

By doing so you will be viewed as asset because they will see you as a resource to their success instead of someone just wanting to sell them something.

The people we previously identified as those who already have purchased a network marketing opportunity or looking to join a particular company, what are they thinking about?

The easiest and fastest way to answer this is to do a Google search or a Keyword search... simply type in "network marketing" or "your company name" and look at all the topics that are identified: network marketing books, systems, leads, lead generation, people like Mike Dillard... the list goes on and on.

These are all things they are thinking about and are interested in. Brainstorm this list and you have an almost endless list of topics you can write about to attract your target market to you.

If you have enough content on the Internet about these topics then you may be the person who's information comes up when they do a Internet search.

The more you have at different locations on the net the more likely you are going to come up when they are doing a search. I can show you how to accomplish this without even having a web site of your own.

One of the most appealing aspects to building your business like this is that even if they are already with another company doesn't mean they couldn't become a customer of yours.

This is possible because when you are solutions provider networkers have all kinds of needs. Maybe they need to build a web site of their own - you can show there where to get it.

Maybe they want to learn how to generate leads on their own - you can teach them step-by-step exactly how to do this.

Maybe they want to purchase books on network marketing and when they do you can generate income even though they are not in your networking company!

In short your target market is thinking about, searching for and concerned about anything related to network marketing and anything that will help them be more successful.

These are examples of your target markets needs and a couple of tips on how to identify them.

What is the perfect target market or markets for a network marketer? Or expressed in another way: Who is your best target market when you are selling a network marketing opportunity?

There are many possible answers to this question but I believe the best answer is: People who have already gotten involved with a network marketing business, or people who are looking to join your particular network marketing company.

Why is this the best answer?

Because they already are convinced of their need to participate in networking. You don't have to sell them on the concept or the business model. All you have to do is sell them on YOU and your ability to help them be successful.

The next best answer would be Business Opportunity Seekers. These are the people who are investigating ways to earn income working from home. They are looking to make money they just are not convinced that network marketing is the best way for them yet.

So here are the best target markets for network marketers:

1. People who have purchased a network marketing opportunity already.

2. People who are on the net searching for your company and looking for the best Upline.

3. Business opportunity seekers.

Now we have to explore our target markets needs...