# Archive > Open content archive > MLM Industry Forum >  Branding

## TrumpNetworkSA

Haven't you heard so many people say "This is the one!" I don't really like that, it seems as if every new networking company that pops up is "The ONE". I do believe that different people enjoy doing different things and for that I am grateful there are so many different Network Marketing companies out there. I am also grateful of the fact that there are so many people on this planet we call earth! And respect peoplefor what THEY *CHOOSE* to do!

So, I will NOT be telling you that THIS IS THE ONE! I do know that there are going to be a plethora of people attracted to this Network of Donald Trump and that there are also going to be a lot of wealthy people because of it. Having a "brand" name does make a difference though, no matter how you try to argue the fact, and besides the product, the compensation plan, which The Trump Network offer, they also have the branded name of Donald Trump. Now that does make a huge difference!

And that is why I am so excited about this opportunity!

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## MichaelB

Neil, I could not agree with you more! The personal branding that goes with Donald Trump is indescribable. It doesn't matter whether you like him or not...you still know who he is. 

The fact that he is standing behind his own company can only auger well for the company itself as well as the network marketing industry as a whole. The other thing we all need to remember, is that although the company officially launched on 13th November 2009, it has been in the market for a good few months already in the USA. So it is not entirely "new". Donald Trump also did not start the company, but purchased over an existing company that he identified as having the product range that he wished to personally endorse.

Fact remains, as far as I'm concerned, if Donald Trump is standing behind this company, then I know that I can invest in it as well. I would not be at all surprised if this company grows to be the giggest & the best network marketing company the world has ever seen. We should not even be questioning whether to become a part of it or not!

We South Africans have always been playing "second-fiddle" to the rest of the world when it comes to getting in at the right time. Like any business, timing & positioning can be important. The Trump Network is scheduled to launch internationally in the first half of 2010, but South Africans with vision can get in now, & start building an international business using the internet. I sure don't need to explain how that could play out!

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## wynn

Not forgetting that a few years back 'The Donald' was broke as broke can be, in the hole for a couple of billion and should really have been had for trading recklessly.
But with luck he pulled through and that is where you may come in, helping him out of the next hole??? and what if you invest blindly and it is not his and your turn to get lucky this time around???

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## Dave A

> Not forgetting that a few years back 'The Donald' was broke as broke can be, in the hole for a couple of billion and should really have been had for trading recklessly.


That thought did flit through my mind. And this one:

We've had a few threads on this now - on Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki's endorsement of MLM as such a great business model. Neither have done MLM. And now that Donald Trump *has* entered the fray, it's as the provider company, *not* as a distributor.

If you ever doubted the power of branding, this proves it. The lack of track record of both of them in the field would ordinarily mean their opinions would mean no more than any "normal" person's. But because of their brand power, we're expected to take them seriously as experts.

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## MichaelB

I don't think we're expected to take them seriously as _experts_, all we're saying is that Donald is a very capable businessman. Yes, he did take a knock a few years back - & then came back even stronger...which speaks to his business acumen. If any of you have ever watched the TV program "The Apprentice" you will have realised that Donald surrounds himself with people who CAN do the work, reason being, he cannot do it all. I'm sure the businessmen on this forum will agree.

He does not need to have been a distributor in network marketing to make a success of a network marketing company, as long as he & his management team can manage the company into a position of strength, it is the responsibliity of the independant associates to move the products. Donald has proven that he is capable of building businesses into a position of strength. He has also publically extolled the brilliance of the network marketing model, in interviews & in his books...perhaps he has decided to prove to the sceptics & naysayers of the world that he has been right. Perhaps he knows something we do not.

I for one am prepared to take the risk! Like the saying goes - be like the tortoise, he doesn't get anywhere until he sticks his neck out!

If we are going to go through life questioning the validity of every opportunity, who runs it, where it comes from or by asking a million other questions, then we are never going to get anywhere. All opportunity comes with some risk, so does all business...& at the end of the day, nobody is holding a gun to anybody's head. We are all entitled to our opinions - what is good for the one, may not be good for the other! It's up to the individual - it's called freedom of choice!

By the way...luck has got nothing to do with it! Like any business, the level of input by the individual will determine the level of success. To put it in perspective - what if it _is_ our turn to reap success through our input & hard work into a company that is poised to take the network marketing world by storm? I guess then we would not have invested so blindly after all...

Wishing all an inspired and productive day, Michael

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## TrumpNetworkSA

This reminds me of something I read in the book "The Business School For People Who Like Helping People" by Robert Kiyosaki and this is an excerpt from the book.

"One of my favourite stories of Henry Ford was when he was asked to submit to a test by so-called smart people from the world of academics. On the appointed day, a group of smart people came in to give him an oral test. They wanted to prove he was ignorant.

The test began by one scholar asking him a question such as, "What is the tensile strength of the rolled steel you use." Ford, not knowing the answer, simply reached for one of the many phones on his desk and called his vice president who knew the answer. The vice president came in, and Ford asked him the question. The vice president gave him the answer the panel wanted. The next smart person then asked another question, and again Ford, not knowing answer, called someone else from his staff who knew the answer. This process went on until finally one of the smart people on the panel shouted, "See, this proves you are ignorant. You don't know the answers to any of the questions we ask you."
Henry Ford reportedly replied, "I don't know the answers because I do not need to clutter my head with the answers you seek. I hire smart young people from your schools who have memorized the answers you expect me to have memorized. My job is to not to memorize information that you think is intelligence. My job is to keep my head clear of such clutter and trivial facts so that I can think." At that point he asked the smart people from the world of academics to leave"

Yes, just like MichaelB, I am also willing to take the risk and run with this. I know 2 things that are important in starting *any* business, which is *timing* and *branding*. Why would the majority instead of starting their own business look into rather bying into a franchise like McDonalds or KFC or Spur. When I was busy on a project in Paarl I used to drive home passing a well known franchise, there was a similar shop about 2 blocks away selling the same food. On Fridays before supper time I would drive passed these shops and the well known franchise had a string of people going all the way out of the shop, and the one a couple of blocks away, in the same busy main street had 2 or 3 customers in it. 

IF Donald Trump has a team together here that can pull this one off, I have no doubt that this is going to be the biggest Network Marketing Company in the world, and that is why I am willing to take this risk.

At the same time, I respect anybody to take on whatever business venture they want, because we are all very different after all. I do not think any less of a person who does not agree with what I do, I don't mind wholesome, intelligent debate neither.

Regards,
Neil

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## Dave A

I've always loved that Henry Ford story  :Thumbup: 

And I hear where both of you come from - I'm certainly not trying to knock the opportunity that may exist here. However, the discussion is about branding and given where the thread is posted, in an MLM context.

Can we agree that the stock in trade for building a successful MLM business is credibility? It is arguably a more important component in the business than the product. 

Of course the product is a factor in the credibility equation, so we can't ignore the product completely. Same goes for the supplier. But it is the manufacture and passing of *credibility* that ultimately builds an MLM distributor's business.

So how credible are the views of Robert and Donald? I'd suggest much the same as *anyone* with a reasonable amount of business acumen putting MLM under the microscope from the outside. You can't argue with the numbers - from the outside it looks simple, mathematically sound and low risk in all kinds of ways. It comes with a growth formula that doesn't need refinancing and can ultimately produce a residual income. 

It's only once you get into it that you really learn about the people factor and the challenges that come with that.

Are people going to jump on this because it's Donald Trump? Some probably.
Are people going to jump on this because it's "new?" Some probably.

Will it be any different from any other reasonably well-financed, well-managed MLM start-up over the medium term because it's Donald Trump? You'll have to pardon me for this one, but my prediction - Probably not.

The Trump brand is already built and along with it the character of his ventures. I can't see the passion and deep sense of caring coming out of Donald Trump that have made a few other MLM companies extraordinary as opposed to also-ran. 

Not that that will bother anyone who makes some money along the way too much. A profit is a profit, ou pal.  :Wink: 

On the strength of the Trump brand it's a fairly safe bet it will be solid. Perhaps that's enough.

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## wynn

APAPOP
Seeing that 'the Donald' is throwing his lot in with a health brand we hope he does not lose his hair and get a dread desease.
You sense I don't like Mnr. Trump?
He has the cajones to carry a business but I worry he is in it for himself and is not going to worry how many 'worker bees' die along the way.

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## MichaelB

Wynn, show me a businessman who risks all to own his own business, who is NOT "in it for himself".

The only difference is that in this country you cannot just say "you're fired" - for that we can blame the trade unions and organised labour, & the fact that business, both big, medium & small has allowed them to get away with it.

What about the millions of jobs lost worldwide over the past year, so called due to the worldwide recession. WE created our own recession! No one gives a continental about those poor souls - at least the Don is trying to help those very people by introducing them to an opportunity that may enable them to earn a respectable living & restore their self-esteem. I say may - because it will be up to them to decide if they are going to make the opportunity work for them.

Or...will they continue to live in hope while they seek out another "job" where the boss will fire their asses at the first sign of trouble in his company? So..who's actually killing off the worker bees?

Your cynicism astounds me.

Wishing you an awesome & enriching day, Michael

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