My Internet Marketing Adventures

As one might surmise from the title of this blog, not all of my Internet Marketing Adventures are about blogging. I've been involved in network marketing as a distributor on a number of occasions and on the Corporate side as a strategic planner and CFO. I'm naturally a bit leery of many MLMs as they don't favor conservative, play-by-the-rules type of owners...at least the ones I was hired by. Yet, there is no denying the power of networking and earning some money by recruiting others to join in the fun. We see it now in the Affiliate Referral Programs that are popping up to compete with AdSense for blog ad space.

I joined Direct Matches for free and quickly upgraded to a paid position due to the vibrancy and activity on the site. Most everyone who shows up at Direct Matches has been in network marketing for years and did not get the results they had hoped for. Direct Matches provides a venue for folks to promote their MLM or money making deal of the day and connect with like-minded entrepreneurs. There is no obligation to upgrade to the paid program where income is earned based on others' activities, but with the monthly cost set at $29.99 it's not too painful to give it a try.

My timing wasn't great in that I signed up in mid-December and then got distracted by the holidays, only to be further distracted by my blogging activities. So this morning I made the decision to call up and cancel my paid membership, having not really given it my best effort, but somewhat concerned about money going out every month that I wasn't doing much to leverage.

Turns out that when you call to cancel you end up talking to Bill Weber, the president of Direct Matches himself. I guess I wasn't really ready to quit and after spending 30 minutes talking to Bill I was ready to give it another try. He shared some insights about how others are experiencing success with Direct Matches, but what struck me the most was that he was willing to spend the time talking with me when such a small amount of money was at stake. He wasn't hustling me or trying to pull a fast one, just explaining how he has been able to earn 7 figures in network marketing for many years. But he could have been talking about the weather...because what I really heard was the sincerity in his voice. That's what got me to stay.

I liked what Bill had to say about the people he likes to work with: 1) They have a good attitude; 2) They have a high belief outlook; and 3) They have a good work ethic. He said that he gets 20-30 calls a day from people wanting to cancel their memberships and with most he just takes their information and lets them go. The others (like me) he senses something about that causes him to deliver a little pep talk.

Networking and talking to people on the phone or in person about signing up for your deal isn't for everyone, and I suspect that many bloggers prefer writing over striking up a conversation with a stranger. However, for those of you who are looking for a dynamic, free, social network where you can promote your business to lots of people, please check out Direct Matches. And if you talk to Bill, tell him that Kent sent you.