I was reading a conversation in an online discussion forum today. It was about "hype" in marketing. And the more I thought about the word "hype", the more I recognized it for what it is: it's really just a word that's designed to get a knee-jerk (and negative) reaction.
The biggest challenge seems to be that no one can agree on a definition.
For instance, let's say that someone says you can earn $10,000 in a single month within your first 90 days in a home business. I think most of the people in the conversation I was in would probably say that's an example of "hype".
And yet, I earned much more than that in my first 90 days in our business. So, obviously, it can be done.
So, I think the issue with the word "hype" is that people use it when they see something that is either A.) outside their own experience, B.) outside their willingness to accept it for themselves or C.) outside their belief that it's possible for them.
This is probably best illustrated with a simple example.
Let's use a wild analogy and imagine there's a guy stranded on a deserted island with nothing but a typewriter and thousands of sheets of paper. And with nothing else to do, our guy teaches himself to type with his two forefingers. In other words, he's using the "hunt-and-peck" method.
And so, day after day, our guy types stories and his journal entries with just two fingers. And, as is the norm, he averages around 7 words a minute over time.
Then let's imagine that he gets rescued and comes to civilization. One of the first things he sees is an advertisement for a typing class that says:
"Learn To Type Up To 70 Words Per Minute. Only 30 Minutes A Day."Our guy reads the sign and says, "
Hogwash! I've been typing for years and I've never been able to type more than 7 or 8 words a minute. These people are just trying to get my money. This is all HYPE."
But he's wrong.
It's not hype.
Millions of people type 70 words a minute or more.
And the ONLY thing that will keep this person from becoming one of those people is that he's already made up his mind about what is possible for him.
Typing 70 words a minute is outside his experience.
Typing 70 words a minute is outside his beliefs.
And so, he will forever type only SEVEN words a minute because he is unwilling to accept this new possibility for his own life.
So, how does this relate to "hype in network marketing"?
Simple: most people in network marketing aren't making a lot of money. In fact, many are making next to nothing. Many of these people have been in or around the industry for 5, 10 even 20 years and still have never made any significant income.
To compound the problem, they tend to gravitate toward each other. And so, to add to their own personal experience, now they are part of a larger group of people who ALSO have never had any significant results in the business.
So -- like our friend on the deserted island -- they just "know" that earning a multiple six-figure income is something that takes a long time to achieve.
And they just "know" that it cannot be done within one's first year.
And they just "know" that it takes a lot of work.
And they just "know" that it requires a massive downline.
And they just "know" that only a handful of people will do it.
Heck, everything they know is wrong. But they go on "knowing" it. Day after day. Week after week. Month after month. And year after year.
And anytime someone shows them a way to create a larger result in a shorter amount of time.......well, they're just as closed-minded as the prospects they complain about. And some of them will even go to the Internet and complain about all the "hype" in the industry.
They'll write long essays about how bad it is for people to talk about large results....how immoral it is for someone to suggest that one can earn a huge income in as little as 6-12 months.
And it will never occur to them that they're very much like the man on the deserted island who is determined to stay "stuck" while simultaneously claiming that they want to be able to get better results.
So, where does this leave us?
Does hype exist? Sure it does. I'm sure there are people out there who are claiming that they'll "guarantee" that you'll make a certain amount of money. But do you really see that happening very often? I'm sure they're out there but it's not something I see every day.
But more often than not, when someone criticizes something as being "hype", what they're probably saying is "I'm not ready to play at the level of the game yet. I'm not ready to be on that rung of the ladder."
And that's okay, too.
It's all about choice.
The most important thing is that we don't remain "stuck" where we are because we think that our perspective is the only right one. Especially when there is evidence that some of the people we accuse of "hype" are actually getting the results we claim to want.
So, if you're a network marketer who's been around the industry for 3, 5, 10 or 20 years....now is a good time to ask yourself:
"When am I really going to start getting the results that I say are available in this industry? And at what point am I willing to accept something new in my life that I might have rejected in the past?"Food for thought.
Tony Rush
Liberty League International
Pssst.....
That's George Bernard Shaw over on the right, there.
This is where most people operate. They spend all their mental resources thinking about food, shelter, clothing, and paying the bills.
