Network Marketing: Why Trump Got It Right.
Love it when folks start dissing on network marketing / mlm. Most of the people that do this have no idea about business anyway. And they love to make excuses about their own lack of success. Myself however, I look at these things from strictly a business standpoint. And the fact of the matter is that if you have products that you want to bring to market and create customer and brand loyalty, network marketing makes perfect sense, provided that your products perform as advertised. If so, that fact, combined with the auto ship method of purchasing, means that you will have guaranteed repeat orders. And we all know that an existing customer costs much less than acquiring a new customer.
The reasons that I believe Trump got it right are the following:
1.) Trump bought an existing business, as opposed to starting from scratch. The failure rate for new businesses, especially network marketing companies, is extremely high. He bought Ideal Health, a bit of a junkyard dog in the network marketing business. Ideal Health had already been in business for 12 years by the time Trump purchased the company. Which means they survived the early years and the associated growing pains. Ideal Health developed and markets a custom nutrition supplement solution using a process called metabolic typing. A process that has been used by the wealthy, pro athletes and the like for years. But for the most part, it was out of reach for the masses. Ideal Health made it affordable for average people.
2.) Branding. Trump is one of the most recognized brands in the world. A new anti aging product line was rolled out recently, called BioC. If I were to come across a landing page for this product, and see the name Trump as the brand behind the brand, it would be instant credibility for me. At this point, my ego probably wouldn't allow me to buy an anti aging product, but for women, it would seem to be an outstanding product. Also, If you buy top of the line products, you tend to have a bit more of a bounce in your step when using same. A suit would be a good example. Why would someone spend 1-2K ( or more ) on a suit? Because it says Trump, Klein or Lauren on the tag. And, right or wrong, you feel better wearing that suit. If an anti aging product works for a customer, guess who's going to notice first? That's right, her friends. Boom, instant sales, for the most part. And the product itself, based on my view, is at a very good price point. Hell, every time I go to Nordstrom with my wife, and just look in the general direction of the beauty counter, it costs me $500.00! That's why I always try to enter Nordstrom from somewhere other than where the beauty section is located. Good idea, but it doesn't work.
3.) Retail Price Point: The perceived ( and sometimes true ) problem inherent in some network marketing products, one which hinders actual, real retailing of the products, is retail price. Often the retail prices of network marketing / mlm products are inflated to pay commissions. But the Custom Essentials vitamin regimen, which is based based on your individual biochemistry, retails for around $70.00 per month. You can easily spend $100-200.00 per month on regular, one size fits all vitamins at a nutrition store. The BioC anti aging kit retails for around $300.00. Again, ( refer to my Nordstrom story above ) I can drop that in a New York second at one of the upscale department stores. These price points compare favorably with the other brand name, comparable products available today in the marketplace. Again, assuming that these products perform as advertised, there should be plenty of repeat orders.
As far as the concept of network marketing and / or MLM, I won't even attempt to justify the concept. You either get it, or you don't. If you don't, that's your decision. The only thing that I can say is that Donald Trump is a billionaire, which means that he knows roughly a billion more things about business than me or you. Common sense tells me that he probably knows what he's doing and understands a viable marketing concept when he sees it. If you think you're smarter than Trump, then there's nothing I can say. Then again, if you think you're smarter than him, you probably would not be reading this article.
To your success.
The reasons that I believe Trump got it right are the following:
1.) Trump bought an existing business, as opposed to starting from scratch. The failure rate for new businesses, especially network marketing companies, is extremely high. He bought Ideal Health, a bit of a junkyard dog in the network marketing business. Ideal Health had already been in business for 12 years by the time Trump purchased the company. Which means they survived the early years and the associated growing pains. Ideal Health developed and markets a custom nutrition supplement solution using a process called metabolic typing. A process that has been used by the wealthy, pro athletes and the like for years. But for the most part, it was out of reach for the masses. Ideal Health made it affordable for average people.
2.) Branding. Trump is one of the most recognized brands in the world. A new anti aging product line was rolled out recently, called BioC. If I were to come across a landing page for this product, and see the name Trump as the brand behind the brand, it would be instant credibility for me. At this point, my ego probably wouldn't allow me to buy an anti aging product, but for women, it would seem to be an outstanding product. Also, If you buy top of the line products, you tend to have a bit more of a bounce in your step when using same. A suit would be a good example. Why would someone spend 1-2K ( or more ) on a suit? Because it says Trump, Klein or Lauren on the tag. And, right or wrong, you feel better wearing that suit. If an anti aging product works for a customer, guess who's going to notice first? That's right, her friends. Boom, instant sales, for the most part. And the product itself, based on my view, is at a very good price point. Hell, every time I go to Nordstrom with my wife, and just look in the general direction of the beauty counter, it costs me $500.00! That's why I always try to enter Nordstrom from somewhere other than where the beauty section is located. Good idea, but it doesn't work.
3.) Retail Price Point: The perceived ( and sometimes true ) problem inherent in some network marketing products, one which hinders actual, real retailing of the products, is retail price. Often the retail prices of network marketing / mlm products are inflated to pay commissions. But the Custom Essentials vitamin regimen, which is based based on your individual biochemistry, retails for around $70.00 per month. You can easily spend $100-200.00 per month on regular, one size fits all vitamins at a nutrition store. The BioC anti aging kit retails for around $300.00. Again, ( refer to my Nordstrom story above ) I can drop that in a New York second at one of the upscale department stores. These price points compare favorably with the other brand name, comparable products available today in the marketplace. Again, assuming that these products perform as advertised, there should be plenty of repeat orders.
As far as the concept of network marketing and / or MLM, I won't even attempt to justify the concept. You either get it, or you don't. If you don't, that's your decision. The only thing that I can say is that Donald Trump is a billionaire, which means that he knows roughly a billion more things about business than me or you. Common sense tells me that he probably knows what he's doing and understands a viable marketing concept when he sees it. If you think you're smarter than Trump, then there's nothing I can say. Then again, if you think you're smarter than him, you probably would not be reading this article.
To your success.
Source...