A Match Made In Heaven?
Why would a 38 year old NYSE company like Prepaid Legal Services, Inc hook up with a brand new internet start-up company like the Blastoff Network, the internet equivalent to a Home Shopping Network?
An Overview Of The Leading PrePaid Legal Services Provider
The inspiration behind the founding of this 38 year old NYSE company known as PrePaid Legal Services, Inc was a car wreck involving Harland Stonecipher back in 1969. While the other driver was determined to be the cause of the accident, she none-the-less initiated a frivalous lawsuit against Stonecipher that cost him thousands in self-defense legal fees.
Mr Stonecipher had car insurance and health insurance which covered all related expenses but the legal fees to defend himself from a baseless lawsuit which he ultimately won, were all put-of-pocket expenses for Stonecipher and left him nearly broke and searching for some type of legal coverage that would have minimized those expenses as well.
With no existing providers of legal expense coverage, Stonecipher decided he would start his own company that would provide individuals with an insurance-like product that would help individuals with some reimbursing of designated legal expense costs. Today, Pre-Paid is a public company traded on the New York Stock Exchange and advertises 1.5 million members all owners of Pre-Paids legal expense and/or identity theft plan making Pre-Paid the undisputed leader in the legal services industry!
So what is it that would inspire a unique and largely successful company like Pre-Paid Legal to combine forces with an internet startup like the BlastOff Network?
The Answer May Lie In Blastoff And Its Marketing Strategy
The idea for the Blastoff Network came from William Rodgers, Scott Berman and Adam Smith whose combined vision it is to provide Blastoff members with a cash-back online shopping experience involving over four hundred internet merchants like iTunes, Macy, Southwest Airlines, Best-Buy and hundreds more. Blastoff members can build a network by inviting people to join them in the Blastoff experience where they too can share in savings and cash rebates from shopping online.
According to Harland Stonecipher, CEO/Chairman of the Board/President/Director of Pre-Paid Legal, “When you combine the rewards-based, ‘viral’ nature of the Blastoff platform with the large, well-developed and powerful direct selling organization of Pre-Paid Legal Services, it’s a combination that offers incredible potential.”
The partnership of Prepaid Legal and the Blastoff Network provides Prepaid with a link on the Blastoff homepage advertising Prepaids legal expense plan membership where anyone can sign up to become a member and owner of a Prepaid Legal membership plan.
How Much Does Prepaid Legal Stand To Gain?
That being the case, it’s not hard to understand why Pre-Paid Legal has struck an
million member mark? We’ll see! After all, it is all about exposure! Whoever can deliver their product to greatest number of consumers at the least cost wins! And Pre-Paid just might be a big winner in this game but only if its sales force is motivated enough to push existing sales way beyond where they are now, namely the 1.5 million member mark! Time will tell!
Show Me The Money!
I guess what all the associates with PrePaid need to be asking is whether or not they will be able to create an income stream from Blastoff without any significant effort or involvement on their part?
The real money will be made by savvy Prepaid Legal representatives who take advantage of the Blastoff website to drive traffic to it with the idea of exposing someone new to the PPL membership link and then following up with them to get them signed up as a new member. As always, the fortune is still in the followup!
Network Marketers Are Already Best At Viral Marketing
The Network Marketing profession has always be one of hype and exaggeration my opinion. Not that hype and exaggeration are not present in other industries or businesses but they seem to be a staple in MLM. Sorting thru the hype and having some real down-to-earth expectations of the effects of viral marketing will go a long ways towards producing solid and lasting results with Prepaid Legal and the Blastoff Network.
Check out my most recent piece on viral marketing, Viral Marketing Puts MLM On Autopilot! to learn more about how Attraction Marketing and Social Media can add value to your marketing strategies, click on the link at the bottom.