The Ultimate MLM Giveaway?

A new Giveaway event launched last Thursday, 21 May — The Ultimate MLM Giveaway. It claims to be the first MLM giveaway event online and, for all I know, that could well be true. But you have to wonder about a fledgling event that positions itself as the ultimate!

I’m sceptical of any Giveaway events these days.

The concept is sound enough: download free products — ebooks, reports, software, graphics, audio and video files, memberships, etc — in exchange for subscribing to each contributor’s mailing list. The quid pro quo (fair exchange) is that the contributor gets to build their mailing list faster and bigger in exchange for giving away free products or services.

What tends to happen, unfortunately, is that very few big names in marketing choose to allow their names or products to be associated with Giveaway events because of the poor reputation of Giveaway events, with a couple of notable exceptions.

So Giveaway events tend to be full of unknown contributors, desperate to build their mailing lists (prospect lists), who toss in over-exposed, out-of-date or poorly written and presented products that they’ve bought PLR or MRR rights for (Private Label Rights and Master Resale Rights) — along with thousands of other hopefuls — and then wonder why visitors, who come looking for quality products, free of charge, become disappointed, then sceptical, then cynical about what’s on offer.

Is it any wonder that they refuse to subscribe to most of those lists?

This reality highlights the fundamental flaw in the current Giveaway model:

• Get as many contributors as possible.
• Contributors have to earn points to get their product accepted, and to prevent their product from being removed after launch.
• They earn points by recruiting other contributors before launch, and by promoting it heavily after launch so that as many visitors come to the Giveaway event as possible.
• It’s all about QUANTITY — of products, contributors and visitors. (As inevitably happens when quantity is the real priority, quality quickly nose-dives. This is a clear indicator that the organizers haven't a clue about real leverage.)
• Contributors can usually BUY a secure place in Giveaway events (upgrades), so they don’t have to promote as heavily or recruit other contributors. This is especially common if those with large lists don’t want other contributors “leeching” off those large lists to get their own lists started or growing.

This seriously-flawed model is perpetuated by the software created to run it

There are several packages available, but they’re all variations on the same basic strategy.

Sadly, The Ultimate MLM Giveaway is no different. It uses the most popular Giveaway sofware package. It features 153 products, of which only 13 actually relate directly to MLM. That’s all I could count in three visits to the site following launch. The rest are mostly about Internet marketing (indirectly relevant to MLM) or about motivation and personal development.

Overall, the quality of the products is mediocre to poor, with a few stand-outs. One of the stand-out products, to me, is a free autoresponder system — but it’s basically a working demo version with strict limitations. (The full version is only $50-$60, so it’s worth considering.)

The Bottom Line:

Any Giveaway event is a question of balance in the end: which items are worth trading your name and email address for? And what will happen once you’ve accessed the free product? Will you be bombarded by amateurish, hype riddled email pitches every day from would-be super affiliates for products you already have or know about? Can you unsubscribe easily?

Any event like this is only as good as what YOU get from it, so it’s worth checking out. But be aware that Giveaway products are typically bait for a bigger hook — the inevitable One-Time Offer that immediately follows, usually at a higher price.

But that’s okay...

Value exchange is the name of the game

A single valuable product is well worth your time and personal information. More than that is usually a genuine bonus.

Just be sure that you enter any Giveaway event with your eyes wide open. Especially if you decide to become a contributor.

Understand that PLR and MRR products are unlikely to result in thousands of hot new subscribers to your list. (Giveaway promoters are as ready to bury you in hype and exaggeration as any other online sellers.) You can find yourself competing with others promoting the exact same product under different names and packaging (PLR).

If you have your own integrated products (a giveaway version, a more complete or extensive back-end version, then a membership program or home-study course, etc) you’ll do significantly better from Giveaway events than by using unrelated PLR or MRR products.

So are Giveaway events doomed?

I suspect not. But they’ll eventually suffer a serious fallout as the target audience becomes jaded and cynical. This will force some major changes in strategy.

These are already beginning to appear, if you know where to look. (Clue: They’re only just beginning to surface, and they focus on turning QUALITY products, contributors and promotions into massive QUANTITIES of prospects, subscribers, buyers and profits. And you don’t need a list, you don’t need to recruit other contributors and you don’t need to promote the event! It’s called multi-tiered or compound LEVERAGE.)

There’s a LOT more to this concept — and there are NO gimmicks or fads involved (fad = flawed and doomed!)

Google "red hot runout" to learn more.

John

PS: I believe The Ultimate MLM Giveaway event ends Thursday 29 May 2009.

Thanks for the information realnetworkmarketing!!

Realnetworkmarketing...are you going to participate???

I thought long and hard about it, but finally decided not to. Apart from the reasons I set out above, I wasn't satisfied that I had a set of offers that I was fully satisfied would meet the needs of visitors to the event.

This reflection led me to a series of decisions, including doing something constructive to raise the standard of these types of events, and developing a series of products that would suit them.

John Counsel

I like this about you. You seem like a guy that tells it straight.

I am not much for these PLR and MRR type products as trying to build value of an offer. Like you said, most are poor quality anyway. I think they are great for giving you a place to start when developing your own bonus products. I would be especially leery of PLR that is Internet marketing related. Most of the ones I have seen are either outdated, have bad information, or both.

Thanks Ace

Yeah, I have a habit of calling it as I see it. Gets me into trouble at times, but I don't know how to do it any other way. The people I offend tend to have something to hide, I find.

My REALnetworkmarketing blog is loaded with my straight-talking views, especially on dodgy stuff.

John Counsel

That is the way we like to keep it over here. Good post.

I agree with the PLR and MRR material. However, I like to keep this stuff around because it is great for quick "landing site" creation for PPC. If I decide to stay in a market, I will usually swap the content out for unique quality content.

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Honesty is always the best policy...it's not good to beat around the bush because it doesn't help anyone in the long run.

this infornation it really good

We've missed seeing you around here REALnetworkmarketing! I liked your input in the forum...I think you contributed a lot!! Hope all is well!