Friends,
First of all, I know you get a lot of crap. People sharing unsolicited opinions about your businesses. I find that far too many online opinions are not well explained, but are snippy and rude. I’d like to take a little time and write you a well thought out response. Keep in mind that this is generalized, and each thing I say may or may not apply to you and the way that you run your business.
First of all, if you are SINCERE in your attempt to help people improve their lives by improving their health and fitness, then I applaud you. We need multiple, simultaneous movements to really help a lot of people get on the right track fitness-wise. If you’re doing that, then thank you. You are part of the solution.
I'd like to address in long form a few of the issues I see with the way the health MLM friends of mine present themselves and their products. This is not for the purpose of attacking you, but is rather a clarification. An attempt to get you to think about things in a way that perhaps you haven’t before.
I see two main problems, and they don’t always happen at the same time, although they are closely related. They are a lack of explanation, and a lack of understanding. I’ll tackle each individually.
Lack of explanation: There is a reason that most of my fitness posts are pretty long form and probably don’t get read by as many people as the shorter posts you often put out. The reason is that most people don’t understand much about their own health and fitness, and they need a solid explanation. Too often, I see my MLM friends make short posts with a pretty background and a billion emojis.
Here’s an example: “Want to burn fat!? Message me and let’s talk about our line of Keto products!” Let me explain to you what happens here: you have presented an idea, and that idea is “keto burns fat.” Why is this a problem? Well, because “Keto,” here referring to the Ketogenic Diet, does not in and of itself , burn fat. People burn fat when they are in a calorie deficit. If someone ALSO does the keto diet in a consistent calorie deficit, then that fat loss can be accelerated, because the body, in the absence of glycogen stores from carbs, will turn to fat stores for energy instead, therefore expediting fat loss.
That would be too much to type and still have the pretty background on Facebook, but it would give your potential clients a much better understanding. You may be thinking “This is just a quick post to get them to contact me, then I will give more details.” To that, I will tell you that 98+ percent of people who see, read, and even think about your post will NOT contact you. This means that you are just one more person who has thrown incomplete info out and added to the confusion that people have about their fitness, thereby setting them BACK in their fitness journey, NOT FORWARD.
Listen, I know that your workshops and uplines tell you that these posts work and this is how you should do it. But listen, lots of things work. Force chokes and drug deals work. It doesn't mean they’re right. I’m asking you to break the mold. Give detailed posts about WHY your products work, so that that vast majority of people who won't reach out and who you won't have the chance to explain to will at least have some more knowledge that they can use, not more confusion. This leads to my second issue.
Lack of understanding: Every now and then, when I see a person do a post like what I’ve described above, I’ll POLITELY engage them and ask questions. What I’ve found is that most of the people APPEAR to not understand the science behind the products that they are selling. They tout butter coffee, for example, as a great thing that helps burn fat, but when I really dig and and try to uncover WHY, they don’t know. Shoutout to Matthew Noble who has been the exception to this with me.
I want to be clear on this: if you know a product works but can’t explain how, then you are doing a disservice to yourself and to your clients and followers, because you are giving them information that they don’t understand and does not create sustainable habits for them. I’m pleading with you, if you sell a product and can’t explain it, or you just regurgitate what you’ve heard others say without an understanding, please fix this. Study it. Research. Ask people who are knowledgeable on the topic. If you do this, one of two things will happen. You will either understand WHY it works and can now explain it and add value to your customers, or you will learn that it DOESN’T ACTUALLY WORK and can redirect your efforts to something that does. Because at the end of the day, I know you want and maybe need to make money from this, but I also believe that you want to help people. And if you don’t, then you probably haven’t gotten this far into my post, and I honestly hope that you fail miserably in your endeavors.
Because people are so lost in this fitness thing, and they need help. Real help. From people who both understand the stuff, and are willing to take the time to explain it to them.
I hope something here is helpful to you. My intent is to help, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts!
Sincerely,
Brandon
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