Lists versus Community

Anyone who has been around internet marketing for any length of time has heard the saying, "The money is in your list".  For some businesses this is true - especially affiliate offers or an Amazon or Shopify store.  Or, for information and private label products.  There are more...

Many of these list advocates (you guessed it) market their list-building funnels with an attached affiliate opportunity to push their funnel.  This convenient and ultimately symbiotic function is great for low cost and "free plus shipping" deals, however, they are not necessarily what is needed to build an organization that is built upon a community, support, and interdependence - with a higher ticket, lower volume numbers.

Large lists work for what they are intended to do - and many people make a ton of money with this strategy.  However, many would have you believe that the "be-all-and-end-all" in internet marketing is building a large list.  This is simply not true.

Our model is building a strong community.  On average, replacement incomes can be achieved with groups as small as 40-60 people depending on the income being replaced.  Our model places a higher value on the higher value.  That is to say higher-value relationships, higher-value investment levels, and overall higher "lifetime value" - spread over a much smaller number of people.

This is not to say that many of the same skills used to build a large list are not employed to build a small list.  Mass marketing is mass marketing and the more eyeballs you get your message in front of, the higher potential for your success.  Therefore, I am not discounting sales funnels, but challenging the end result that you are trying to achieve.

We do not see the large list as an asset.  We see the value of people we pluck off of the list and those we work with and help develop - as the asset.

The money-in-the-list advocates have their reasons for saying so... and the skills they teach are fundamental to internet marketing.  However, how we monetize the list is where we diverge in terms of the value and depth we build in the business partners we attract.  As such, if people are on our list, but not active participants in our community, there is a re-marketing opportunity, but essentially are just names until they engage and choose to learn about what we do.

Transcend the Place that Holds You

The title of this piece is from The Hurricane, a movie about the boxer Reuben Carter who spent a couple of decades in prison for crimes he did not commit.  Peoples' circumstances are their prison and have the same limiting effect.  Our evangelism about changing peoples' lives speaks to this notion of transcendence through shining a light on an alternative.

Most people readily admit they need or want more money.  This is somewhat universal.  At the same time, they are "stuck" in the patterns of their lives.  The lack of awareness of viable alternatives is a prison for some.

This being said, we fully recognize that what we do is not for everyone.  The "prison effect" is just one factor.

Our mission is to educate people and raise their level of awareness to an alternative.  We then guide them through an information acquisition process and serve as a consultant in their decision-making process.

The end-game in our business is to provide a vehicle - for those who choose to get in - to transcend the place that holds them.  Our job is to point to the car and encourage them to take it for a spin.  For some, it enables them to put their prison in the rearview mirror.  Many think our car is like any other car.  And, just as many - are content riding a bicycle for the remainder of their lives.

The Priorities of What We Do

It is with a degree of pride that we accentuate our differences from many other marketing groups. Our"targets", that is to say, who we choose we want to work with are reasonably specific. This is conscious and intentional.  Our business stability is much stronger if people "join" who are well-grounded in what makes us different.  This blog articulates many of these.

However, although we talk about incorporating change into lifestyles, mindset, business models, compensation structures and the like, there are three guiding priorities that build one atop the next (or) are attached in consecutive layers.  The first and most foundational is:

1. A Philosophy of Life and Doing Business - Our goal is to help people and in so doing, help ourselves.  We do this by being as honest and transparent as is humanly possible. We do not sugarcoat the realities but at the same time posture that what we do benefits individuals, families and ultimately society.  As such, on this foundation is built the next layer:
2. Community - The social group is also the business community.  We talk extensively about competence being achieved through learning and then teaching  Ultimately, one's success in our community is a function of increased levels of competence (knowledge and skills) that can be transferred to others... and this process of learning and teaching needs to perpetuate itself.
3. A Way to Make Money - This is a paradox.  It is both last but most important.  The reason for this is that although the money "vehicle" could be just about anything, the money will never happen unless the first two are in solid focus.  

However, having said this, the money is the most important part, right? The point here is: if you start with the money, the probability of the money happening is quite low without a foundation of why and how to make it happen.

Working Poor No More provides this foundation.