One of the key questions that needs to be answered for the professional network marketer is: "What are you selling?" To put the same question in a slightly different way is: "What is the main thing you are marketing?"

If you are in the industry of network marketing - take a moment and answer the above question. Do it now - before you read on - the rest of the article will mean more to you if you do.

OK. Done? Good.

When posed with this question the vast majority of those whom I have asked this question have had good answers - but not THE right answer. Their answers have included;

A great nutritional product.
An excellent legal service.
Amazing Skin Care product.

The best new MLM company that just launched.

The list is long of what I heard.

What may surprise you is that there is ultimately ONLY ONE correct answer -

The right answer is YOU.

Let that sink in. Unless the light bulb goes on that the main thing that you are promoting or selling is YOU, network marketing will always be a mystery, at best, for you - but most likely a frustrating and confusing journey that leads to failure as it does for well over 90% that attempt it.

At some level many companies and uplines know this - that is why they coerce new representatives to immediately chase their family and friends to expose them to their new venture. With little or no training they are told to approach those whom they have some level of trust with to present the company or product to. The new rep thinks they are marketing what the company has to offer (best pay plan, amazing product, etc.) - BUT what the new rep isn't usually cognizant of is that the friend or relative who is a potential customer or team mate - if they do buy - is really buying THEM! The friend or relative is trusting that this new rep has made a good decision and wants to either join or encourage them by being a part. The company or product usually has little to do with it!

What is tragic and unfair about this is that the company or upline has used this new rep to penetrate the new rep's warm market to expand their sales. The new rep usually learns nothing about true professional marketing in the process and quickly runs out of people to talk to. The new reps choice is either to continue to chase a broader circle of friends where less trust is developed - thus less success in sales results, or quit. VERY few people have the thick skin to handle the deserved rejection from such marketing tactics like the 3 foot rule. The aggressive upline simply reaches through his downline into an expanded circle of someone else's friends (because their own dried up long ago also) to grow their business, while the new rep is used up and unsuccessful. This is known to those of us in the industry who desire to see a true professionalism arise in our industry as "churn and burn" tactics.

So, from the very start, we see that what a network marketer actually has to offer is themselves. If this revelation would be taught, along with solid marketing principles and strategies, a new rep could learn how to market themselves and grow their business WITHOUT outdated and infantile marketing tactics, and more than likely save themselves from the injury and lose of some friendships in the process.

Everyone has an area of expertise or passion that makes up part of who they are! As they learn to take their interests, education, and experiences and offer useful information to those who may be interested in the company or product(s) they are promoting, they will gain a professional edge in moving their business forward.

Many of those in network marketing desire a full time professional level income in the industry. I am old fashioned. If you want an executive level income, you need executive level skills. It takes work and training to get there - just like any other profession. Those who make it big without skills are no different or bigger in numbers than the lottery ticket winners. (I can't stand the lottery either - it is simply gambling, a tax on poor or naive people.)

As a network marketer you are promoting YOU. Primarily it is your expertise and assistance that people are accessing. There are probably hundreds of products like yours on the market. There is only one of you. YOU are your USP - Unique Selling Proposition. The sooner that this light bulb goes on in YOU, the closer you are to the exciting journey of becoming a professional network marketer.