http://www.markschnitzer.com/ 

I came across the site above, so I thought I'd offer you my analysis of its marketing strategy. There are many important things to be learned here about business strategy, and if you are serious about achieving financial freedom, it's critical to understand basic strategy.

Strategy means "doing what you have to do to win." It's really that simple. I subscribe more to George Stalk's school of thought (he wrote the book Hardball) than Henry Mintzberg's approach, although I recognize that the latter may offer useful insights for large corporations.

In other words, when I'm hired as a strategy consultant by startups -- and I prefer startups that are aiming at high six- or seven-figure sales, I tell them what they need to know to WIN.

The most important thing to remember in business is that it's a risky environment, and that to DERISK that environment (thereby maximizing one's chances of success), one MUST be close to the client and give him EVERYTHING THAT IS IN OUR POWER TO GIVE HIM.

Do not hold back. I even recently hired "Mad Max," a VP whose sole concern is to push me to give AS MUCH VALUE AS POSSIBLE to my clients for FREE. I will write more about that uber-strategy later on.

So let's take a look at the site above, where they are trying to recruit networking marketing people.

First, they seem like nice people, and they are courageous. You have to be courageous to embark on any business. Most people are too scared to do that.

Their main mistake is that there is a lot of promise on the page, but not a lot of evidence. The key in recruiting is to show evidence of success -- proofs, testimonials, arguments, facts, case studies, demonstrations, diagrams, stats, etc.

In other words, don't sell to people. Serve them.

How? Give them USEFUL and CREDIBLE information so they can make up their own mind about the business opportunity. Treat them as intelligent adults. Don't use emotionally charged words. Speak in a calm, controlled, composed manner. This shows self-mastery.

In my life of work, many people do ask me my opinion about network marketing. I believe it's really about selling. "Network marketing" is an expression that conceals the real task, which is to sell.

I recommend Jeffrey Gitomer's books if you're interested in mastering the art of selling. He's the real deal. We're talking about corporate sales, the tough kind.

Whether you're looking for a job, a promotion, or a first client for your new business, you need to learn about selling. And selling is really serving. It's really that simple.

Another way to put it is that selling is a conversation with a win-win goal in mind.

So from that perspective, you can basically practice your selling skills every time you talk to another person. If you have nothing to sell, then practice by selling that person to herself. That is, encourage her to do something that is clearly in her interest.

Another great book I recommend is Dale Carnegie's "How to win friends and influence people." His idea of getting people to talk about themselves is not as innocent as it sounds, because the more people talk, the more they reveal their hot buttons. It becomes much easier to sell to them afterwards. In other words, it becomes easier to gently move them in a direction where BOTH parties will win.

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