Jen Zondlo breaks down network marketing for us today and gives advice regarding how to evaluate a network marketing business if you’re looking to start one as a business yourself. Also known as an MLM, we dig into the difference between compensation structure, longevity, and values that should impact your decision.
Welcome to Business Talk Sister Gawk. I’m Bekkah! And I’m Ruthie! And today’s episode title is “What is Network Marketing?” With us today we have Jen Zondlo and she has had a variety of experiences in life. Just talking with her a little bit earlier about being an Uber driver and having a limo company and now she’s doing a whole bunch of other things and we’re super excited to get into that. Thanks so much for being here with us today!
Jen: Thank you! It’s wonderful to be here with the ladies. We’re rocking it! Definitely in this world and taking on leadership by storm so I’m just grateful!
Ruthie: Yeah, you said that you just splashed some water on yourself. I don’t know if that was an accident or not!
Jen: Yeah you caught me by surprise there so I’m refreshed and ready to go!
Ruthie: Perfect! Well, tell us a little bit about what you do!
How Did You Get Into Network Marketing?
Jen: Well, previously, my background was in social work and also counseling. I worked in that area for six years helping men and women with substance abuse. I’m also the host of Number One Encourager podcast that I started this year, January 1st. I’m also a full-time entrepreneur which leads me into being involved with network marketing for over a decade now.
Bekkah: Wow! Okay, so tell me why. What’s the why behind how you started doing this?
Jen: Oh, that’s a big one. Actually, that starts with me sitting Indian-style on my bed in my early teens writing on a notebook the word “psychology” on the top of it, and wanting to actually help my friends and my family solve their problems. So that led me into counseling but not too many years after that I realized that I had a bigger calling. I just needed to stand taller on something else.
My brother actually opened a door to me and introduced me to his mentors at the time. Who, later on, I didn’t realize would change the entire trajectory of my life. That “why” was all-encompassing around helping people. I realized that I could be able to do that within this business model and I was excited about being able to tweak my mindset. One of my mentor’s mentors said, “The highest reward for a man’s dedication to excellence, or a woman, is not what one gets from it but what one becomes through it.” That was impactful to me and that’s why I’m in this industry today.
Ruthie: Wow! There’s so much there to unpack and I love that! I love your heart in that. That’s so cool so tell us a little bit about how you do what you do. How does network marketing work?
How Does Network Marketing Work For You?
Jen: Well, it’s changed throughout the years. This is not a soap business, knocking on doors, hype up, sign up, recruiting kind of thing. This is about leveraging the internet in the 21st century. I mean this business model started out 60 years ago and today it is totally – yes, it’s transformed lives but it’s transformed as an industry as a whole. Because the key factors really are building relationships and educating people.
Not just on different products and services but also educating them inside and out. We believe in the four pillars of life and actually helping people in those areas. Which are finances, relationships, spirituality, as well as health. I would also like to say health is connected to your mindset. That’s a big part of how we do what we do is helping people to understand that they can grow in their mindset and they can do and be whatever they want to be.
Let’s think about it like this: we already are brand ambassadors for different brands. The only difference is one of us is getting paid and one of us is not. It’s the ability to get compensated to move a product, share a product, use a product, just as someone would be on a commercial talking about a vacuum. Every time that commercial place they get paid for and compensated. The other way of how we do it is having exclusive rights to move those products and services, getting an LLC, being able to be registered, and also build a team of people who benefit and profit together from their purchasing power.
Are Network Marketing and MLM’s The Same Thing?
Bekkah: Yes, okay, so let’s back this up a little bit because I’m like, “Okay, this is a little bit different than what I was thinking it was originally.” Because I’ve heard network marketing as interchangeable with like an MLM or multi-level marketing or all these different things so are they the same or are they different?
Jen: People call this many different things. Network marketing, MLM, direct sales, they’re all pretty similar. They’re just different names that people have called it. Even dates back to a name called distributorship or being a distributor. I mean we’re dating ourselves back to the days of Avon. That’s the same idea. That’s still considered an MLM or a network marketing company. You know, but then there’s also affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing, it’s just promoting someone else’s product but having no legal binding or LLC attached to it. With network marketing, there is a legal binding and there is an LLC. There’s the ability to also make money in three different ways.
Ruthie: Ooh! Tell us what those three different ways are!
Jen: Absolutely! Well, first of all, being a prosumer. And people say, “Woah! What’s a prosumer?” Just think pros and cons: consumer is not a bad thing. We’re consumers for the rest of our life. That’s what we will do. We will need to consume. We will need to drink. We will need to eat. We will need to buy things to live, but a prosumer has the perks on their end. They have the ability to get paid for all of those things I just mentioned.
That’s number one: becoming a prosumer. Number two is servicing customers and being able to receive a commission on the back end for that. Number three is building a team and being able to not just profit from someone, but profit as a whole with one another working together in a team atmosphere. It’s what you guys do in collaboration together. You make a small profit.
Where Should You Start If You Want to Do Network Marketing?
Bekkah: Okay, if someone decided to do network marketing where would they start?
Jen: Well, let’s just start with you don’t wake up in the morning and say. “I want to be a network marketer. I want to go into network marketing.” I don’t think anyone thinks that but we’re in 2021. We’re in the middle of a pandemic still and we have to think, “Do I want to own something? Do I want to have a business? Would I like to work from home?” I think a lot of people have been thinking that over the past year. “You know what? How is there a way that I could generate an income?”
I mean what we’re doing right here, you are in a completely different state than myself. You can do the exact same thing and build a business and a network and relationships right through your computer. You don’t even have to leave your house or change your clothes! The first thing, though, I would like to say for where do you start is: identify do you want to own a business? Number two: identify do you like working with people, because that’s going to be really hard if you don’t. Then number three: do some research. Preferably with credible sources.
Be mindful when you’re Googling or looking up at Wikipedia because most of the time that’s nothing but people’s opinions. You want to get the facts for what they are and there is a resource I would like to recommend. It’s called The Business of the 21st Century by Robert Kiyosaki. He wrote this a couple of years back sharing the concepts of network marketing and why you should or should not take a look at it. Why it may or may not be good for you. He lays it all out in black and white for you. It’s the best book I could ever offer or suggest for someone to read who is thinking about it or looking at creating a business of their own at home. And, I would say let’s stick with those for sure.
What Type of Personality Excels in Network Marketing?
Bekkah: So what type of personality do you think does well at network marketing?
Jen: That is a great question. I think some of us might think it takes a certain personality. It takes a certain kind of way about you, but truthfully anyone! This business can be for any personality extrovert, introvert – it doesn’t make a difference. It doesn’t take a certain race or creed or ethnicity, honestly, it’s more so than ever a business for women because women what are we good at? We’re good at talking. We’re good at promoting. We are good at building relationships, but I’m not leaving the men out of this because this is a business that has been built with a lot of successful couples as well.
I believe it takes someone who’s hungry, humble, smart, and appreciative to take hold of this kind of business opportunity. If anyone who’s listening right now feels that they’re a hungry individual they want more, they’re humble, they’re willing to put their ego on the shelf, they’re smart enough to decide the facts versus opinions and not just listen to their relatives or their friends because, first of all, you need to decide whether those individuals have what you want first of all.
And lastly, you know it’s just this accountability, this teachable spirit, this appreciation, and that’s a lot of things right there, but being appreciative is a very important thing. Because, honestly, that’s something we are looking for in an individual when we decide to take them through a process and launch them in business with us, whether they’re willing and appreciative of that information we’re going to share with them.
Are All Network Marketing Companies Created Equal?
Ruthie: Okay, so let’s break this down or make it – maybe not break it down, but build it up to be even broader here. Are all network marketing companies created equal?
Jen: No! Not at all.
Bekkah: I was like, “I think it’s gonna be really good.” What are differentiating factors? Yeah, go ahead.
Jen: Some have quotas, others have income cut-offs at certain tiers. Some are unfortunately pyramid schemes where there’s actually no product or service exchanged for money. It’s just money being moved around. Then there’s a stair-step breakaway system and that’s actually one that our business is incorporated with. A stair-step breakaway system gives people the ability to build a team as big as they wish and they can out-earn anyone’s profit potential within that network.
It’s really about an equal equity playing field and that’s what you’re looking for you need to decipher through a couple of different things. In that book that I just mentioned he goes through what differentiates a good network marketing company from a bad one. It’s like the first thing is who’s running this ship? Who are the individuals that are speaking? What kind of success do they have? What kind of credibility do they have amongst their peers and their families and so on.
It’s not just necessarily about a product, because products you can get anywhere but you do want it to be a good one to share with others. You don’t want to share one that’s not a good one. Also, the longevity – how long has this business been around? Because we know that the average business doesn’t last any more than about two to five years after opening? You want to make sure this is not just the new startup.
Some people think, “Well, I want to get into a startup. I want to start from the top!” But that’s not necessarily true. There’s a different angle you want to look at this from. If you’re looking at a network marketing business that has a stair-step breakaway system that means that you can come in at any level and you can out-earn the person above you.
How to Stay Motivated in Network Marketing
Bekkah: Okay, so how do you stay motivated to do network marketing?
Jen: That’s a great question. Well, my significant other and I would like to start a family soon and have the ability to give them a life we didn’t have. Not to spoil them but to provide them with opportunities and choices. We believe in focusing on the dream, on the bigger picture, on our “Why”. That “Why” has to be strong enough of why we get out of bed in the morning and do the things. That we do but that “Why” is for knowing that we have a responsibility to continue to help other people that initially have asked us for help and for guidance. We also have to uphold that responsibility to them.
What Are the Pros of Network Marketing?
Ruthie: You’ve kind of talked about the logistics behind this and what people do well in it but tell us about the pros and cons of network marketing.
Jen: Absolutely, so the pros when we’re talking about a conventional business, actually unlike a conventional business you do not have to take out a six-figure loan and leave your job to run it. This is something that’s built on a part-time basis. That’s a pro. When I say “part-time” I mean about five to ten hours a week. Maybe you know those hours that you put into a little bit of Netflix, TV watching, and other things you can put into an hour to a day into growing you and growing your business.
The other pros of network marketing is there’s no inventory. You don’t have to have inventory. There’s no office. There’s no warehouse. There’s a low start startup cost. There’s really little to no risk. Especially with our network marketing company, we have up to six-month money-back guarantee. That’s kind of unheard of and it’s a very low monthly investment to continue building upon month to month. You don’t have to take out loans or do anything crazy.
Another pro is you get paid to shop. You know, I’ve told people that if I ever decided, crazy me! to say, “Oh, you know what network marketing is not for me.” Guess what! Shopping is. I would never quit shopping from the current company that I am affiliated with because they pay me and I get points. I get paid on top of those points every single month.
Another pro is personal development, assisting people in coaching them in their journey back to those four pillars I mentioned earlier. I think that’s a big difference between some other network marketing companies. I see a strong emphasis on education here.
Another pro it is also we’re looking at to help people build a big business network marketing company not a small business network marketing company. Small business network marketing is focused on selling and recruiting. Big business network marketing is focused on education and mentorship and growing as an individual before growing in your bank account.
Ruthie: Wow! Which I feel like kind of boils down to what you were even at the beginning of our conversation you’d said that you had your mentor’s mentor was telling you about stuff and I feel like that just kind of plays into this really well.
What Are the Cons of Network Marketing?
Bekkah: Yeah, I want to touch on the cons real quick. I know we’re getting short on time but I wanted to hear those, too.
Jen: Oh, absolutely! People. That’s like my answer. There are good and bad people in any industry. Okay? And that’s that is okay! Another con may be putting too much pressure on recruiting your friends and family when maybe it’s best to start on your personal development or utilizing other ways to generate leads.
That is the direction in which my significant other and I are moving into. Really starting to automate everything that we do up to 80% of it in the leads department in sales. There are just so many other options to be able to put those different programs in place to really make it overall a business that is leveraged on the internet. Yeah, that is the biggest con though.
Bekkah: Yeah, so there’s a lot of people that would consider network marketing like a scheme, right? Where does that reputation come from?
Jen: The ponzi scheme. People who scammed back in the day others just by saying, “Hey, you give me a dollar I’ll give you this back.” And they never ended up getting back because eventually at some point there’s just not enough to go around. It ends up that people end up losing money along the way because of the structure and the way it was built, to begin with.
How to Know If a Network Marketing Company Is a Scam or Not
Bekkah: Okay, and following up with that, how do you evaluate which one is legitimate or not?
Jen: That is a great question. Again, it goes back to doing your research. That’s why I refer back to that book it’s almost the bible of network marketing to me because you need to go through a couple of different areas and evaluate those areas of who is running the ship? What kind of product line? What’s the compensation plan and structure? What’s the longevity? How long has this business been around?
If it’s been around only a couple of years you might want to reconsider. You want to ask more questions. You also want to see how much money are you getting back in return for your product usage and services or those in which you are selling and promoting to other people. If it’s lower than 25% you need to evaluate that compensation structure and it might not be worth your time.
Ruthie: That is a good number of reference 25%. Okay, so what tools or resources would you recommend to anyone who’s interested in knowing more about network marketing?
Jen: The Business of the 21st Century by Robert Kiyosaki. He gives a great overview and understanding. Also, we have a free report that we give out and you can actually go to our website www.daneris-jen.com and you can go to the “Work With Us” page and we will have this available. The network marketing burst everything else it shares the difference in about 15 to 20 pages. A full breakdown of network marketing versus real estate, stocks, and even college education. Down to each one and why you would choose which might be the best fit for you or maybe both multiple arenas, but I think it’s a really great understanding of why you should choose network marketing or choose maybe stocks or real estate as your way of creating passive income.
Bekkah: Awesome! Well, I’m excited that you have a resource already ready to go on that! Give us like a little bit more detail about where people can connect with you. Do you have any like social media or anything like that?
Jen: Absolutely! It’s @jzondlo. That is my Instagram and also @1encourager through Instagram as well.
Bekkah: Oh, for your podcast?
Jen: That is also through my podcast. Which somewhat – I do talk a little bit about network marketing, but much like yourselves I do talk to a lot of the entrepreneurs and those looking to go in that direction. Just encouraging them there and so those are two good spots to be able to DM me. Also, our website which I’m sure you’ll put somewhere in the description here so be able to get the correct spelling there.
Bekkah: Yeah, for sure! Alright, well, thank you for talking with us today about this! We’ve been like – I have so many more questions that we’re not going to be able to get to!
Jen: Thank you, ladies, so much for taking time out of your schedule to ask me to come and speak. I really appreciate it.
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