Michael Force, Carbon Copy Pro and Pro U leader. Here’s an interchange that I had awhile back with him.

It was January 2008. During the economic downturn I had lost my dream home.The bank wouldn’t agree to restructure a loan on a house that had lost 40% of it’s value

The year before I had joined EDC Gold. A direct sales affiliate program that sold PLR products for $1,000.

My thought was, if I could make a couple thousand more a month on top of my teaching job I could save the house and my world would be right again.

Like a lot of these technology affiliate programs, they’re here today and gone tomorrow. I was probably one of the last suckers to buy that damn program.

I was pissed. That money was supposed to make me more money, not loose me money.

I told myself that if I joined something again it would have to be a reputable company, strong leadership and longevity.

In addition, I would find a mentor who already was successful and could help show me the ropes. My margin of error was razor then. I would have to charge whatever I got and didn’t need another bill. I wanted to make money and just needed the right vehicle.

I had been hearing alot about Carbon Copy Pro – a marketing funnel designed by Jay Kubassek and Aaron Parkinson. Several components of that now defunct system stood out to me; namely, it streamlined the entire marketing process → marketing, video sales presentation, application, professional follow up, and duplication.

It just looked and felt ‘rock star meets marketing.‘

The CCP back-end affiliate program promoted Wealth Master International, an educational product that taught sound financial advice and revealed little known investment opportunities. The introductory product was $1,995 of which the affiliate made $1,000.

The Michael Force Incident

I discovered that one of the up and coming Carbon Copy Pros leaders, Michael Force,  lived in my own backyard; literally, he was 2 minutes away from me (his address was listed in his emails).

I contacted him and he instructed me to listen to an MP3 entitled the Million Dollar Game Plan as he was Jay’s featured guest. Michael’s WMI business had recently exploded and even his recruits were having success.

On the MP3, Jay asked Michael “What are you doing for others?”  Michael responds by explaining how he’ll assist his new reps getting everything all set up properly and guide them in getting their PPC marketing established. Michael went on to say, “when you help others, you get what you give.’

In my mind I thought, ‘This is perfect. A great product, a slick marketing system, and six figure earner that I could network with right down the street.’

Now, as I explained I had lost a few thousand dollars with EDC Gold (product and marketing). I was a little wary of making the same mistake twice.

After submitting the Carbon Copy Pro application, I called up Michael on the phone. I asked him if he wouldn’t mind meeting me at Starbucks for a chat.

He responded that if I wanted to meet with him in person I would have to get the M1 package first.

I was ready to earn the guy $1,000 and he refused to meet me for a cup of coffee. I thought, ‘what an a**hole. I’m sick of these type of marketers – show me the money first and then I’ll help.’

Well, that was my perception any ways.

I didn’t join CCP and shrugged off MLM and network marketing and focused on blogging- which I became good at and able to routinely rank on page 1.

What did I take away from the Michael Force incident? For one, I don’t think he’s a bad guy for saying no to coffee. His posture was you’re in or you’re out. I don’t meet with people until they prove that they are serious. It’s obviously worked for him because he’s gone on to bigger and better things like Pro U.

I think posturing is important but it’s also important to ask some qualifying questions. When you take a moment to ask questions you’re able to discover t a little more where your prospects head is at.

Now, when I speak with prospect on the phone, I’ll now ask them about their background is with network marketing, what’s worked – what’s failed, and why they are looking to make a change in their life at this particular moment, and their long term hopes and dreams.

The conclusion, people don’t care how much you make until they know how much you care.