One-to-One Marketing

The one-to-one marketing concept is nothing novel - it's simply the formal way of saying "personal referral." It's something people do every time they talk about good experiences they've had with a product, service, or business. We do it constantly... looking for a good plumber? Ask your neighbors first. How about a new car? When I had to replace my poor Honda Civic, I did my homework. I checked Consumer Reports, read online reviews, and quizzed everyone in my family and office. I gathered volumes of information, but the experiences of those I trust carried the most weight.

Like I said, it's a simple concept, but that doesn't mean it's easy. First off, I'm not going to recommend a product to someone, especially a friend or family member, if I don't really believe in it. So before I do anything else, I'm going to start by trying out the products. Prior to becoming a distributor, I had a really good experience with one of the products (OPC-3), so at least I wasn't completely ignorant when I signed on. I'll be posting product reviews in their own category as I go.

The Partner Stores are already brand names that everyone is familiar with, but the brands that are exclusive to Market America are largely unknown. They are not advertised in traditional media or sold in stores. In fact, if an existing distributor or customer doesn't mention them to you, you'll never even know that they exist. When I first heard that, I thought that Market America was really limiting itself with this approach. When I stopped to think about it, though, it's really no different than Craftsman Tools being exclusive to Sears or Pampered Chef using house parties as their sole distribution method. And as a distributor, it works to my benefit because I'm not competing for sales with established store fronts.

Aside from the products, there is also the business itself. This is the part that requires a small leap of faith in that you learn as you go, so I have to start out talking to people without being able to say "this worked for me, and you're in a similar situation, so I wanted to recommend it to you." What I can say is that I understand the concept and have spoken with dozens of people for whom it does work. Given the relatively low investment, that's good enough for me. That being said, I'll be approaching the most adventurous and open-minded people I know first. There are always tons of people who are happy to jump on the bandwagon once they've seen someone else succeed first, but everyone has to make a start somewhere, and this is mine.