What's so wrong with MLM? There are a lot of people who won't get involved
with MLM plans because they lack the deep down enthusiasm that's needed for
the long term in a MLM environment.
A lot of people who want to try a product being sold by MLM sometimes get
turned off because of the "networking/business" aspect of MLM. Why can't I
just be a consumer without becoming a "network" participant, without being
assigned to a marketing level.
MLM businesses can be better off if only they advertise their product and
have less emphasis on recruiting their down line.
In fact, I never see advertising for products _ just the invitation to
join someone's down line. It's because most MLM organizations are set up
with "money" being the deriving force in their business.
They make more money by recruiting people into the program and the purchase
of marketing materials and sales aides. While this is not true with all MLM
companies _ it is true for most of them.
Did you ever get one of those announcements in the mail for free tickets
to a seminar that claims to set you up in business? Have you ever attended
one? Well let me tell you _ the speaker is trained to push and motivate
their audience. Most people are hit with such a sales pitch that they
almost run each other over buying the starter kit for $349.95 at the end
of the meeting. Then, when they get home they want to shoot themselves for
buying something that still doesn't put them in business. It's sad for the
average guy or gal who really just wants to make some honest money in a
business of their own.
Wouldn't it seem logical _ if someone put together a catalog of products
that other people could purchase WITHOUT joining into a MLM program? In
fact, they could generate some sales for their products instead. What
holds them back from doing so? It is the fact that the organization wants
people to sell the $349.95 package today because the $5.95 order for the
product itself doesn't make them any money?
Please understand that I'm not talking about every company out on the
market. Watkins, NuSkin, Nutrition for Life and Golden Pride/Rawleigh
each have catalogs of products you can buy without joining their program.
The only problem is that you don't see very many ads for them. Instead you
find ads that state "Make money with me and increase your income." or
"Earn a new car within the next 24-hours!"
Back in the 1940's if you picked up a mail order magazine you saw REAL
products you could order from REAL people. If you wanted a saw blade for
your saw, you sent in a check and ordered one. You didn't join down lines
to sell the saw blades to others in your area. Now _ if you want a blade
for your saw you'd have to either wade through so much hype and bull that
you may never find one. Instead, you just rely on Montgomery Ward or Sears.
See people _ money is being lost in the regular world of mail order simply
because their are no REAL ads being run for REAL products. Pick up a mail
order tabloid and you'll see immediately what I'm talking about. Why is
everyone selling everyone else's stuff? What happened to our individual
creativity? Most of the answer lies in the fact that so much hype is being
pushed on the general public it is ridiculous. People come on TV and tell
you that you can make millions of dollars by running tiny little classified
ads. They show you scenes of people relaxing on their yachts and making
huge bank deposits. Society makes the mail order business world look like
something easy, carefree and non-tiring!
But perhaps, if I purchased a REAL product and loved it so much I might
be enthused enough to join the MLM concept later on down the road Wouldn't
the ultimate goal of building a down line be accomplished also while at the
same time selling the product?
Me And My Best Friend
A Day At The Office!
Monday, May 28, 2007
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
A Beginner's Checklist to Promoting an Online Business
A Beginner's Checklist to Promoting an Online Business
(Part 3)
By Angela Wu
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For those of us who operate Internet home businesses,
'cyberspace' is so convenient that it's easy to forget
that people still exist out there in the 'real world'.
Part 3 of our 'checklist' series on promoting your online
business provides you with a few tips on how to reach
your audience offline.
[ Note: Parts 1 and 2 are available online at:
* http://onlinebusinessbasics.com/art...checklist1.html
* http://onlinebusinessbasics.com/art...checklist2.html ]
PART 3: Marketing Techniques for the 'Real World'
1. Business cards. Leave a few in the local library or
with other local businesses where prospects gather
(with permission, of course); include a card in your
postal mail; tack up a card on the bulletin board at
your grocery store, etc. One place that offers quality,
professional business cards at reasonable prices is
ExtraValue.com, http://www.extravalue.com/ . On a
tight budget? Go to VistaPrint for free trial cards:
http://www.vistaprint.com/ .
2. Direct mail. Flyers, brochures, catalogs, coupons....
there are all sorts of things you can send through the
mail. Need help? Freelancers can create pretty much
any type of direct mail promotional items for you at
competitive rates. Try
http://buildyourhomebiz.com/rd/gethelp.html .
3. Use your car! How much time do you spend driving (or,
unfortunately, sitting stuck in traffic)? Take advantage
of this opportunity by placing your URL on your car for
everyone to see. Web Decals offers custom-printed
decals that quickly and easily attach to your car's
windshield: http://buildyourhomebiz.com/rd/webdecal.html
It's also a good idea to keep a few business cards,
brochures, flyers, or other information in your car
that you can give out to people who stop to inquire
about your business.
4. Newspaper advertising. Keep in mind that classified
ads are usually extremely short; you'll need a punchy,
compelling ad that fits into just a few lines.
Nationwide Newspapers offers classified advertising
in over 8000 newspapers across the United States:
http://www.nationwideadvertising.com/
U.S. Media Inc., http://www.usmediainc.com/ ,
specializes in many types of 'offline' advertising,
including newspapers, radio, TV, magazines, and more.
5. Get to the 'heart' of your audience by advertising
in a quality magazine with loyal readers. U.S. Media Inc.
lists a wide variety of trade and consumer magazines and
publications. Contact their reps for more information:
http://www.usmediainc.com/
6. Participate in trade shows. Get exposure by networking
with others in your industry. While you're there, you can
even make a pen and paper available to collect the email
addresses and/or postal addresses of people interested in
receiving your newsletter or additional information about
your product or service. Visit the Trade Show News Network
to search for trade shows of all types in industries
worldwide: http://www.tsnn.com/
7. Visit your local Chamber of Commerce. They may be able
to offer you suggestions on where you can promote your
business locally.
8. Send out postcards. Postcards are short, attractive, and
readers can easily see your information 'at-a-glance.'
Don't forget to display your URL! Extravalue.com is a
great place to get professional, quality cards at very
reasonable rates.
9. Put your URL on every piece of printed material that
leaves your office. This includes brochures, business
cards, flyers, faxes, labels, letterhead, invoices,
cheques, envelopes, and anything else you can think of.
10. Consider using promotional items such as notepads, pens,
mugs, etc. Imprint these items with your URL. Give some
away as gifts to your best clients. You can even sell
them online! iPrint is one place you can find 'do-it-
yourself' promotional items, including t-shirts, golf
balls, pens, mugs, clocks, tote bags, and much more:
http://www.iprint.com/ . And at CafePress.com you can
upload your artwork, set your prices, and you're ready
to sell.
11. State your URL on your voice mail message. Say your
standard spiel, then add something like, 'For more
information on [your product], visit our website at
http://www.MyDomain.com.' uReach is a service that offers
all-in-one communications service that includes voice
mail, email, and faxes. http://www.ureach.com/
12. Seek potential partnerships with complementary
businesses. For example, let's say you sell a dog
training video. You could approach local groomers or
dog agility centers and offer to share the cost of
their next direct mail campaign: when they mail a
postcard or letter inviting their clients to return,
you also offer their clients a discount on your dog
training video. This way you both reduce your costs...
you reach a targeted audience quickly, easily, and
through a trusted party (the other business)... and
your business 'partner' can make a valuable product
available at a discount to their customers.
==============================================
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Angela is the editor of Online Business Basics, a practical
guide to building a business on a beginner's budget. It's
a proven hit with beginners, for the down-to-earth style
and loads of instantly useable tips! For details, visit
http://www.ExclusiveInfoProducts.com/obb
OR request a series of 10 free reports to get you started:
mailto:businessbasics@w...
==============================================
(Part 3)
By Angela Wu
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For those of us who operate Internet home businesses,
'cyberspace' is so convenient that it's easy to forget
that people still exist out there in the 'real world'.
Part 3 of our 'checklist' series on promoting your online
business provides you with a few tips on how to reach
your audience offline.
[ Note: Parts 1 and 2 are available online at:
* http://onlinebusinessbasics.com/art...checklist1.html
* http://onlinebusinessbasics.com/art...checklist2.html ]
PART 3: Marketing Techniques for the 'Real World'
1. Business cards. Leave a few in the local library or
with other local businesses where prospects gather
(with permission, of course); include a card in your
postal mail; tack up a card on the bulletin board at
your grocery store, etc. One place that offers quality,
professional business cards at reasonable prices is
ExtraValue.com, http://www.extravalue.com/ . On a
tight budget? Go to VistaPrint for free trial cards:
http://www.vistaprint.com/ .
2. Direct mail. Flyers, brochures, catalogs, coupons....
there are all sorts of things you can send through the
mail. Need help? Freelancers can create pretty much
any type of direct mail promotional items for you at
competitive rates. Try
http://buildyourhomebiz.com/rd/gethelp.html .
3. Use your car! How much time do you spend driving (or,
unfortunately, sitting stuck in traffic)? Take advantage
of this opportunity by placing your URL on your car for
everyone to see. Web Decals offers custom-printed
decals that quickly and easily attach to your car's
windshield: http://buildyourhomebiz.com/rd/webdecal.html
It's also a good idea to keep a few business cards,
brochures, flyers, or other information in your car
that you can give out to people who stop to inquire
about your business.
4. Newspaper advertising. Keep in mind that classified
ads are usually extremely short; you'll need a punchy,
compelling ad that fits into just a few lines.
Nationwide Newspapers offers classified advertising
in over 8000 newspapers across the United States:
http://www.nationwideadvertising.com/
U.S. Media Inc., http://www.usmediainc.com/ ,
specializes in many types of 'offline' advertising,
including newspapers, radio, TV, magazines, and more.
5. Get to the 'heart' of your audience by advertising
in a quality magazine with loyal readers. U.S. Media Inc.
lists a wide variety of trade and consumer magazines and
publications. Contact their reps for more information:
http://www.usmediainc.com/
6. Participate in trade shows. Get exposure by networking
with others in your industry. While you're there, you can
even make a pen and paper available to collect the email
addresses and/or postal addresses of people interested in
receiving your newsletter or additional information about
your product or service. Visit the Trade Show News Network
to search for trade shows of all types in industries
worldwide: http://www.tsnn.com/
7. Visit your local Chamber of Commerce. They may be able
to offer you suggestions on where you can promote your
business locally.
8. Send out postcards. Postcards are short, attractive, and
readers can easily see your information 'at-a-glance.'
Don't forget to display your URL! Extravalue.com is a
great place to get professional, quality cards at very
reasonable rates.
9. Put your URL on every piece of printed material that
leaves your office. This includes brochures, business
cards, flyers, faxes, labels, letterhead, invoices,
cheques, envelopes, and anything else you can think of.
10. Consider using promotional items such as notepads, pens,
mugs, etc. Imprint these items with your URL. Give some
away as gifts to your best clients. You can even sell
them online! iPrint is one place you can find 'do-it-
yourself' promotional items, including t-shirts, golf
balls, pens, mugs, clocks, tote bags, and much more:
http://www.iprint.com/ . And at CafePress.com you can
upload your artwork, set your prices, and you're ready
to sell.
11. State your URL on your voice mail message. Say your
standard spiel, then add something like, 'For more
information on [your product], visit our website at
http://www.MyDomain.com.' uReach is a service that offers
all-in-one communications service that includes voice
mail, email, and faxes. http://www.ureach.com/
12. Seek potential partnerships with complementary
businesses. For example, let's say you sell a dog
training video. You could approach local groomers or
dog agility centers and offer to share the cost of
their next direct mail campaign: when they mail a
postcard or letter inviting their clients to return,
you also offer their clients a discount on your dog
training video. This way you both reduce your costs...
you reach a targeted audience quickly, easily, and
through a trusted party (the other business)... and
your business 'partner' can make a valuable product
available at a discount to their customers.
==============================================
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Angela is the editor of Online Business Basics, a practical
guide to building a business on a beginner's budget. It's
a proven hit with beginners, for the down-to-earth style
and loads of instantly useable tips! For details, visit
http://www.ExclusiveInfoProducts.com/obb
OR request a series of 10 free reports to get you started:
mailto:businessbasics@w...
==============================================
A Beginner's Checklist to Promoting an Online Business
A Beginner's Checklist to Promoting an Online Business
(Part 2)
By Angela Wu
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This week we continue with Part 2 of our 3-part series on
how to market your online business. Part 1 is available at
http://onlinebusinessbasics.com/art...checklist1.html .
As much as we all love free stuff, an Internet business is
still a business and you can reasonably expect to invest
in marketing. Fortunately, online marketing can be quite
affordable -- even to beginners on limited budgets. Here's
a quick list of some of the more popular paid methods for
small businesses.
PART 2: Effective Fee-Based Online Marketing Methods
1. Search engines. Web surfers typically use the large
search engines such as Google, MSN, and AOL to find
the information they want. If you can manage to get
a good ranking for some of your top key phrases, you
can get a steady stream of traffic. Expect to invest
funds for review/submissions, and possibly even for
hiring an optimization expert or for self-education.
A great site to learn about search engine optimization
is Search Engine Watch, http://searchenginewatch.com/ .
2. Major indexes. Yahoo [ http://yahoo.com/ ] and Open
Directory [ http://www.dmoz.org/ ] are two of the best-
known indexes. Both of them can significantly increase
your link popularity, and provide you with additional
traffic. At the time of writing, Yahoo charges an annual
review fee for commercial websites. Submissions to Open
Directory are currently still free.
3. Pay-per-click search engines. With these search engines,
you literally pay a certain amount of money for every
click they send your way. The more you bid, the higher
you'll rank for your search term and the more visible
your link will be. The largest and most popular PPC SE
is Overture, http://www.overture.com/. A list of PPC SEs
is available from http://payperclicksearchengines.com/ .
4. Ezine advertising. Although this takes a fair bit of
practice and experimentation, ezine advertising is
potentially one of the best and most profitable ways
to promote your business online. The editor has already
done the hard work of putting together a list of opt-in,
interested prospects; you just take advantage of it.
Search for complementary ezines at NetterWeb.com,
http://www.netterweb.com/ or use the excellent
Lifestyles Publishing Directory of Ezines at
http://buildyourhomebiz.com/directory.html .
5. Direct email campaign from a reputable list broker.
There are companies on the web that specialize in
building permission-based email lists, targeted to
each subscriber's area of interest. This is true
'opt-in', unlike the endless stream of spam email
that implores you to purchase '30 million addresses
for only $99!' True opt-in lists are not cheap by any
means, but they have the potential to yield great
results. Check out http://www.postmasterdirect.com/
as an example.
6. Press releases. Your newsworthy press release could
generate loads of free publicity for your business.
Invest some of your marketing funds in educating
yourself on how to generate publicity; an excellent
source of information is Paul Hartunian's website at
http://www.prprofits.com/ .
7. Advertise on a targeted website. Find complementary
but non-competing sites and check their rates for
advertising. Banner ads are the most common type of
advertising permitted; however, they're usually not
very effective. Text ads or endorsements typically
perform better.
8. Mini-sites. These small sites (typically around 3 or
4 pages) are focused on selling one product. There's
usually no free content; just a sales letter, perhaps
a FAQ and some contact information. Mini-sites are an
excellent way to get your prospect to do just one thing,
whether that's order your product or sign up for your
newsletter. The costs to create a mini-site would
include domain name registration and hosting fees.
9. Experiment with some of the promotional services
offered online. The only way to know for sure whether
or not they'll work for you is to try them (and track
the results). Use discretion -- be careful not to
associate your business with promotion services that
are nothing but 'disguised' ways to spam! Before you
shell out the cash for these types of services, ask
around for first-hand experiences.
10. Hold a conference. A great credibility builder is to
offer a web or phone conference for your visitors.
Use it to offer helpful information -- for example,
you could open the conference to questions from the
audience -- and generate additional interest in your
product or service. Two sites that offer conference
services are http://www.easyconference.com/ and
http://www.bridgerentals.com/ .
Don't be afraid to invest in marketing your online
business. Effective 'free' promotion is always wonderful,
but there are many equally effective paid methods that
can result in a great return on your investment. Be
sure to track the results for each method you use; that
way you'll be able to concentrate your efforts on those
methods that work best for *your* business.
Stay tuned next time for a checklist on promoting your
Internet business in the 'real world'!
==============================================
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Angela is the editor of Online Business Basics, a practical
guide to building a business on a beginner's budget. It's
a proven hit with beginners, for the down-to-earth style
and loads of instantly useable tips! For details, visit
http://www.ExclusiveInfoProducts.com/obb
OR request a series of 10 free reports to get you started:
mailto:businessbasics@workyourleads.com
(Part 2)
By Angela Wu
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This week we continue with Part 2 of our 3-part series on
how to market your online business. Part 1 is available at
http://onlinebusinessbasics.com/art...checklist1.html .
As much as we all love free stuff, an Internet business is
still a business and you can reasonably expect to invest
in marketing. Fortunately, online marketing can be quite
affordable -- even to beginners on limited budgets. Here's
a quick list of some of the more popular paid methods for
small businesses.
PART 2: Effective Fee-Based Online Marketing Methods
1. Search engines. Web surfers typically use the large
search engines such as Google, MSN, and AOL to find
the information they want. If you can manage to get
a good ranking for some of your top key phrases, you
can get a steady stream of traffic. Expect to invest
funds for review/submissions, and possibly even for
hiring an optimization expert or for self-education.
A great site to learn about search engine optimization
is Search Engine Watch, http://searchenginewatch.com/ .
2. Major indexes. Yahoo [ http://yahoo.com/ ] and Open
Directory [ http://www.dmoz.org/ ] are two of the best-
known indexes. Both of them can significantly increase
your link popularity, and provide you with additional
traffic. At the time of writing, Yahoo charges an annual
review fee for commercial websites. Submissions to Open
Directory are currently still free.
3. Pay-per-click search engines. With these search engines,
you literally pay a certain amount of money for every
click they send your way. The more you bid, the higher
you'll rank for your search term and the more visible
your link will be. The largest and most popular PPC SE
is Overture, http://www.overture.com/. A list of PPC SEs
is available from http://payperclicksearchengines.com/ .
4. Ezine advertising. Although this takes a fair bit of
practice and experimentation, ezine advertising is
potentially one of the best and most profitable ways
to promote your business online. The editor has already
done the hard work of putting together a list of opt-in,
interested prospects; you just take advantage of it.
Search for complementary ezines at NetterWeb.com,
http://www.netterweb.com/ or use the excellent
Lifestyles Publishing Directory of Ezines at
http://buildyourhomebiz.com/directory.html .
5. Direct email campaign from a reputable list broker.
There are companies on the web that specialize in
building permission-based email lists, targeted to
each subscriber's area of interest. This is true
'opt-in', unlike the endless stream of spam email
that implores you to purchase '30 million addresses
for only $99!' True opt-in lists are not cheap by any
means, but they have the potential to yield great
results. Check out http://www.postmasterdirect.com/
as an example.
6. Press releases. Your newsworthy press release could
generate loads of free publicity for your business.
Invest some of your marketing funds in educating
yourself on how to generate publicity; an excellent
source of information is Paul Hartunian's website at
http://www.prprofits.com/ .
7. Advertise on a targeted website. Find complementary
but non-competing sites and check their rates for
advertising. Banner ads are the most common type of
advertising permitted; however, they're usually not
very effective. Text ads or endorsements typically
perform better.
8. Mini-sites. These small sites (typically around 3 or
4 pages) are focused on selling one product. There's
usually no free content; just a sales letter, perhaps
a FAQ and some contact information. Mini-sites are an
excellent way to get your prospect to do just one thing,
whether that's order your product or sign up for your
newsletter. The costs to create a mini-site would
include domain name registration and hosting fees.
9. Experiment with some of the promotional services
offered online. The only way to know for sure whether
or not they'll work for you is to try them (and track
the results). Use discretion -- be careful not to
associate your business with promotion services that
are nothing but 'disguised' ways to spam! Before you
shell out the cash for these types of services, ask
around for first-hand experiences.
10. Hold a conference. A great credibility builder is to
offer a web or phone conference for your visitors.
Use it to offer helpful information -- for example,
you could open the conference to questions from the
audience -- and generate additional interest in your
product or service. Two sites that offer conference
services are http://www.easyconference.com/ and
http://www.bridgerentals.com/ .
Don't be afraid to invest in marketing your online
business. Effective 'free' promotion is always wonderful,
but there are many equally effective paid methods that
can result in a great return on your investment. Be
sure to track the results for each method you use; that
way you'll be able to concentrate your efforts on those
methods that work best for *your* business.
Stay tuned next time for a checklist on promoting your
Internet business in the 'real world'!
==============================================
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Angela is the editor of Online Business Basics, a practical
guide to building a business on a beginner's budget. It's
a proven hit with beginners, for the down-to-earth style
and loads of instantly useable tips! For details, visit
http://www.ExclusiveInfoProducts.com/obb
OR request a series of 10 free reports to get you started:
mailto:businessbasics@workyourleads.com
A Beginner's Checklist to Promoting an Online Business
By Angela Wu
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Internet's full of hyped-up promises of the 'ultimate'
marketing secret that will singlehandedly skyrocket your
business to instant success.
Naturally, this is ALL it is: hype. There's no single
'secret' that will magically transform a fledgling business
into a powerful money-maker. Instead, every business owner
is responsible for testing and refining various techniques
until he or she has developed a solid, effective base that
produces the desired results.
What works for one business may not work for another!
Likewise, another business may have poor results with
one method, while others experience great success.
Here's a quick checklist of some of the more popular
-- and completely free -- marketing techniques to help
you build your online business (note: this is a 3-part
series).
PART 1: FREE ONLINE MARKETING TECHNIQUES
1. Build and use your own opt-in list of targeted and
interested prospects. Offer a free newsletter that
provides fresh, interesting, and relevant content.
You'll receive feedback from your readers about what's
important to them, and over time they'll come to know
and trust you. Your products, services, and even
recommendations will then be taken much more seriously
because you've developed credibility with your readers.
2. Contribute to newsgroups or discussion boards. Establish
yourself as a helpful member of a community. Other
members of the community who come to know and respect
you will often refer you to others.
3. Niche directories or search engines. Find all the
highly-targeted directories and SEs for your market,
and then work to get listed. You'll be surprised at
how many niche sites there are! Good places to start
looking are http://yahoo.com/ and http://www.dmoz.com/ .
4. Build your link popularity. For example, you can trade
links with other businesses in your market so that you
can 'share' each other's traffic. Most of the major
search engines take link popularity into consideration
when ranking your site.
5. Endorsed mailings to other lists. Find the editor of a
great newsletter, and offer your product or service to
him for free in return for a review or an endorsed ad
to his list. Endorsements from the editor can far
outperform regular 'ads', since they come from someone
they know and trust (the editor).
6. Testimonials. It's fine for you to say that your product
or service is wonderful... but there's far more 'punch'
when someone else says it! Testimonials show prospects
that you have happy customers and helps them to make
the decision to buy.
7. Use autoresponders to follow-up with your prospects. It
has been proven time and time again that autoresponders
can dramatically increase your profits! They're also
great time-savers, saving you from following up with
each prospect manually.
8. Ad swaps. You can get extra exposure for 'free' (no
out-of-pocket expenses) by swapping ad space with another
editor that caters to your audience. Plus it's a great
way to put 'remnant' ad space to good use.
9. Join a webring. Link to other sites like yours and
build an online 'community.'
10. Offer coupons or gift certificates to entice visitors
to make a purchase *now*.
11. Make good use of referral marketing. Ask happy
customers to refer prospects to you. Many people are
so busy these days that they're willing to rely on a
trusted friend or contact's advice -- it saves them
the time necessary to do all the research themselves.
12. Write and distribute articles in your area of
expertise. This is a great credibility-builder!
People who appreciate what you have to say are much
more likely to check out your business. Another 'bonus'
is that articles are often archived on websites for
visitors to refer to time and time again.
13. Become an 'expert'. If you like to write and have the
time to do so, consider partnering with a high-traffic
site within your niche market and offer to write a
regular column or article. You establish credibility
and get exposure; your partner site and their readers
get great content.
14. Use a 'Recommend-It' or 'Refer-A-Friend' script. These
scripts let visitors send your URL to friends.
15. Make it easy for others to link to your site. Consider
adding a 'Link to Us' section where you provide the
HTML that visitors can simply cut and paste to their
own web pages. Again, this helps to build your link
popularity (see point #4).
16. Hold contests. For example, every month you could give
away one of your products to a lucky subscriber or
customer.
17. Use a signature. Also known as 'sig files', a signature
is a brief blurb about your business along with your
URL and/or contact information. Put a signature on
every piece of email you send out, as well as on any
message board posts (if appropriate).
18. Give away a quality free eBook or report. eBooks and
reports can be excellent viral marketing tools. You
can even offer them as a 'premium' to other businesses
within your niche, so that they can give it away to
their own customers or subscribers. This is an
effective way to build a network that will willingly
promote your business for you! More on promoting free
eBooks and how they can help you can be found in the
article, '10 Quick Tips on How to Create, Distribute,
and Profit from Free eBooks':
http://onlinebusinessbasics.com/articles/ebooktips.html
Hopefully this has given you a few helpful ideas on how
to market your online business. In the next installment
of this series, you'll read about several marketing
techniques that may cost you money, but that can be worth
the investment many times over. The final installment is
all about marketing your online business in the 'offline'
world! Stay tuned!
==============================================
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Angela is the editor of Online Business Basics, a practical
guide to building a business on a beginner's budget. It's
a proven hit with beginners, for the down-to-earth style
and loads of instantly useable tips! For details, visit
http://www.ExclusiveInfoProducts.com/obb
OR request a series of 10 free reports to get you started:
mailto:businessbasics@workyourleads.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Internet's full of hyped-up promises of the 'ultimate'
marketing secret that will singlehandedly skyrocket your
business to instant success.
Naturally, this is ALL it is: hype. There's no single
'secret' that will magically transform a fledgling business
into a powerful money-maker. Instead, every business owner
is responsible for testing and refining various techniques
until he or she has developed a solid, effective base that
produces the desired results.
What works for one business may not work for another!
Likewise, another business may have poor results with
one method, while others experience great success.
Here's a quick checklist of some of the more popular
-- and completely free -- marketing techniques to help
you build your online business (note: this is a 3-part
series).
PART 1: FREE ONLINE MARKETING TECHNIQUES
1. Build and use your own opt-in list of targeted and
interested prospects. Offer a free newsletter that
provides fresh, interesting, and relevant content.
You'll receive feedback from your readers about what's
important to them, and over time they'll come to know
and trust you. Your products, services, and even
recommendations will then be taken much more seriously
because you've developed credibility with your readers.
2. Contribute to newsgroups or discussion boards. Establish
yourself as a helpful member of a community. Other
members of the community who come to know and respect
you will often refer you to others.
3. Niche directories or search engines. Find all the
highly-targeted directories and SEs for your market,
and then work to get listed. You'll be surprised at
how many niche sites there are! Good places to start
looking are http://yahoo.com/ and http://www.dmoz.com/ .
4. Build your link popularity. For example, you can trade
links with other businesses in your market so that you
can 'share' each other's traffic. Most of the major
search engines take link popularity into consideration
when ranking your site.
5. Endorsed mailings to other lists. Find the editor of a
great newsletter, and offer your product or service to
him for free in return for a review or an endorsed ad
to his list. Endorsements from the editor can far
outperform regular 'ads', since they come from someone
they know and trust (the editor).
6. Testimonials. It's fine for you to say that your product
or service is wonderful... but there's far more 'punch'
when someone else says it! Testimonials show prospects
that you have happy customers and helps them to make
the decision to buy.
7. Use autoresponders to follow-up with your prospects. It
has been proven time and time again that autoresponders
can dramatically increase your profits! They're also
great time-savers, saving you from following up with
each prospect manually.
8. Ad swaps. You can get extra exposure for 'free' (no
out-of-pocket expenses) by swapping ad space with another
editor that caters to your audience. Plus it's a great
way to put 'remnant' ad space to good use.
9. Join a webring. Link to other sites like yours and
build an online 'community.'
10. Offer coupons or gift certificates to entice visitors
to make a purchase *now*.
11. Make good use of referral marketing. Ask happy
customers to refer prospects to you. Many people are
so busy these days that they're willing to rely on a
trusted friend or contact's advice -- it saves them
the time necessary to do all the research themselves.
12. Write and distribute articles in your area of
expertise. This is a great credibility-builder!
People who appreciate what you have to say are much
more likely to check out your business. Another 'bonus'
is that articles are often archived on websites for
visitors to refer to time and time again.
13. Become an 'expert'. If you like to write and have the
time to do so, consider partnering with a high-traffic
site within your niche market and offer to write a
regular column or article. You establish credibility
and get exposure; your partner site and their readers
get great content.
14. Use a 'Recommend-It' or 'Refer-A-Friend' script. These
scripts let visitors send your URL to friends.
15. Make it easy for others to link to your site. Consider
adding a 'Link to Us' section where you provide the
HTML that visitors can simply cut and paste to their
own web pages. Again, this helps to build your link
popularity (see point #4).
16. Hold contests. For example, every month you could give
away one of your products to a lucky subscriber or
customer.
17. Use a signature. Also known as 'sig files', a signature
is a brief blurb about your business along with your
URL and/or contact information. Put a signature on
every piece of email you send out, as well as on any
message board posts (if appropriate).
18. Give away a quality free eBook or report. eBooks and
reports can be excellent viral marketing tools. You
can even offer them as a 'premium' to other businesses
within your niche, so that they can give it away to
their own customers or subscribers. This is an
effective way to build a network that will willingly
promote your business for you! More on promoting free
eBooks and how they can help you can be found in the
article, '10 Quick Tips on How to Create, Distribute,
and Profit from Free eBooks':
http://onlinebusinessbasics.com/articles/ebooktips.html
Hopefully this has given you a few helpful ideas on how
to market your online business. In the next installment
of this series, you'll read about several marketing
techniques that may cost you money, but that can be worth
the investment many times over. The final installment is
all about marketing your online business in the 'offline'
world! Stay tuned!
==============================================
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Angela is the editor of Online Business Basics, a practical
guide to building a business on a beginner's budget. It's
a proven hit with beginners, for the down-to-earth style
and loads of instantly useable tips! For details, visit
http://www.ExclusiveInfoProducts.com/obb
OR request a series of 10 free reports to get you started:
mailto:businessbasics@workyourleads.com
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Creating An Effective Lead Capture Page
There are many companies on the internet that collect and sell leads for you to market your business to. The questions that comes up often are “which companies have the best leads.” Or “How do I know if this company is legit?” Though the answers to those questions would make an excellent topic for discussion, for now, let’s talk about how you can organically capture your own opt-in leads using a lead capture page that you will create.
A lead capture page or teaser page is a web page that advertises your business in a direct or indirect way. Its sole purpose is to offer the reader something of value (usually information) in return for their contact information.
I’m sure that many of you are involved with a business that you found on the internet. For example, you may have come across a web page that gave you some information on how “the wealth in this country is held by only 5% of the population. And we have the 5%’er secret to attaining that wealth. This is a coveted secret that is reserved for only those who are motivated entrepreneurs, who are serious about making no less than $100,000 per month! To discover the 5%’er secret, all you have to do is take the first step! Fill out the form below and start living the life of the top 5% of the wealth holders of our country!”
This page may go on to quote the likes of a Warren Buffet or Bill Gates to solidify their point.
The bottom line is when that person fills out the contact information form at the bottom of the page, the owner of that web page has themselves a fresh lead that they can follow up with through e-mail, phone or post.
THAT’S IT!
Lead capture in a nut shell. Now, you can do the very same thing. Of course, my example is pretty outrageous, but that was for illustrative purposes only. The fact is, a simple form with a simple offering will bring you amazing results.
To create a quality lead page, you may want to keep the following in mind.
1) Don’t advertise your business directly. This will look like the hard sell and will turn a lot of quality people off. Instead offer something that can be of use to your market. For example, offer a report or other free information that has a tie to your business offering. If your business is health supplements, don’t directly sell the supplement. Instead give them a free report on the health benefits of lycopene. Then offer a link to your website that sells lycopine. Once that person becomes a customer, then you can offer them the biz-op.
2) Target your lead capture pages. If your page is in front of stay at home moms, then speak to the needs of stay at home moms. If your page is in front of other business owners, then speak to the need of other business owners. Offer something of quality of value.
3) Don’t even attempt this strategy without a quality auto responder. You will have schedule a good portion of time to contact these new leads by phone if your lead capture page includes a phone number field. An auto responder will follow up over and over again without you! You need to stay on their mind, that’s what an auto responder will do. Also an auto responder will help you create the actual “sign up” form in an html format that you can cut and paste on your page. Once a prospect fill out that form, they will be automatically placed into an auto responder e-mail campaign that you will create.
4) You need a way to create and host your lead capture page. This is what we use:
Global Domains International.
It’s low cost and easy to manipulate. There are other sources of creating and hosting your page. I like this because I can earn money on the referrals. (This is purely a business decision. If I can find a source that is easier and cheaper then I will use it!)
The last thing to keep in mind is this: Don’t make crazy offers like the one in my example. If you make poor offerings then you will get a poor leads. But if you are sincere and offer something of value, then you can eliminate the “looky-Loo’s”, “tire kickers” and time wasters.
Take Very Good Care
Terrence Sanders
The Pro Profit Team
www.TheProProfitTeam.Blogspot.com
“Believe It, Then, You Will See It”
A lead capture page or teaser page is a web page that advertises your business in a direct or indirect way. Its sole purpose is to offer the reader something of value (usually information) in return for their contact information.
I’m sure that many of you are involved with a business that you found on the internet. For example, you may have come across a web page that gave you some information on how “the wealth in this country is held by only 5% of the population. And we have the 5%’er secret to attaining that wealth. This is a coveted secret that is reserved for only those who are motivated entrepreneurs, who are serious about making no less than $100,000 per month! To discover the 5%’er secret, all you have to do is take the first step! Fill out the form below and start living the life of the top 5% of the wealth holders of our country!”
This page may go on to quote the likes of a Warren Buffet or Bill Gates to solidify their point.
The bottom line is when that person fills out the contact information form at the bottom of the page, the owner of that web page has themselves a fresh lead that they can follow up with through e-mail, phone or post.
THAT’S IT!
Lead capture in a nut shell. Now, you can do the very same thing. Of course, my example is pretty outrageous, but that was for illustrative purposes only. The fact is, a simple form with a simple offering will bring you amazing results.
To create a quality lead page, you may want to keep the following in mind.
1) Don’t advertise your business directly. This will look like the hard sell and will turn a lot of quality people off. Instead offer something that can be of use to your market. For example, offer a report or other free information that has a tie to your business offering. If your business is health supplements, don’t directly sell the supplement. Instead give them a free report on the health benefits of lycopene. Then offer a link to your website that sells lycopine. Once that person becomes a customer, then you can offer them the biz-op.
2) Target your lead capture pages. If your page is in front of stay at home moms, then speak to the needs of stay at home moms. If your page is in front of other business owners, then speak to the need of other business owners. Offer something of quality of value.
3) Don’t even attempt this strategy without a quality auto responder. You will have schedule a good portion of time to contact these new leads by phone if your lead capture page includes a phone number field. An auto responder will follow up over and over again without you! You need to stay on their mind, that’s what an auto responder will do. Also an auto responder will help you create the actual “sign up” form in an html format that you can cut and paste on your page. Once a prospect fill out that form, they will be automatically placed into an auto responder e-mail campaign that you will create.
4) You need a way to create and host your lead capture page. This is what we use:
Global Domains International.
It’s low cost and easy to manipulate. There are other sources of creating and hosting your page. I like this because I can earn money on the referrals. (This is purely a business decision. If I can find a source that is easier and cheaper then I will use it!)
The last thing to keep in mind is this: Don’t make crazy offers like the one in my example. If you make poor offerings then you will get a poor leads. But if you are sincere and offer something of value, then you can eliminate the “looky-Loo’s”, “tire kickers” and time wasters.
Take Very Good Care
Terrence Sanders
The Pro Profit Team
www.TheProProfitTeam.Blogspot.com
“Believe It, Then, You Will See It”
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
MLM SURVIVAL GUIDE
This is the first of a series of articles designed to help anyone who is considering an online MLM or affilliate marketing business. Check back often for updates in this series.
WHY MOST PEOPLE FAIL IN MLM
MLM is an explosive growth opportunity and it is here to stay. Like it or not! Let's review some MLM facts. There appears to be thousands of MLM companies. Some of these are MLM companies, while most of them are not. Many people have become wealthy in MLM, but about 97% of the would be MLM'ers never make it! Therefore, before we go blindly into MLM, let's analyze why 97% of the would be MLM'ers don't survive. Then let's see if we can minimize or eliminate any of these problems. Let's break down the problem in three categories.
1. MLM'ers can't EFFECTIVELY recruit new members.
2. MLM'ers can't keep his program going. It runs out of
gas and dies a natural death.
3. MLM Company has serious problems.
I believe that sums it up. Either the MLM'er can't get his program started, can't keep it going, or the MLM company itself goes "belly up."
WHY NEW MLM'ERS CAN'T EFFECTIVELY
RECRUIT NEW MEMBERS
1. THE MLM PARADOX
According to Webster, the word "paradox" means, "something with seemingly contradictory qualities or phrases." In MLM, there is a paradox that causes major confusion that must be understood and dealt with. Here is the problem. MLM companies by law cannot aggressively "push" the MLM opportunity as the main reason for joining their program. They must emphasize their products and services and explain the MLM opportunity as only a nice extra benefit. If they don't, all kinds of local, state and federal government officials will attack them. Therefore, they must be extremely careful about what their literature, advertising and promotions material states, what they say in meetings, etc. That is why we normally don't mention the MLM company name when we use examples in these reports. We do this just to avoid this kind of problem.
All MLM'ers are aware of the MLM "paradox" problem. Look, everyone knows, including the MLM companies and all the distributors that the real reason most people get involved with MLM is for the opportunity! Yet, the MLM literature and the MLM distributor cannot tell you this directly without crossing over the fine line of being illegal. In other words, it is illegal to promote a MLM company if the sole purpose is to earn profits by signing up new distributors with no regard to the usefulness of the product or service.
Where does this leave the new MLM distributor? Well, no one is officially allowed to tell him how to go out and aggressively recruit new members! Instead, he is always taught how to "promote" the product and then "as an after thought" explain the opportunity! All up standing MLM companies will follow this procedure.
TIP: Keep your lead generating methods separate from your MLM promotions. In other words, it is perfectly legal to promote an opportunity any way you want to as long as you don't tie this directly with a MLM company. That means that you can write your own advertisements, etc. and generate all kinds of leads. But when it comes time to discuss a particular MLM company, then use the official MLM literature, guidelines, etc. when presenting that particular company, products, and opportunities. In that way, you are making a clear distinction between "lead generating" and promoting a particular "MLM company opportunity."
TRICK Use an e-book/newsletter as your lead generating vehicle. That the "back bone" purpose of the e-book/newsletter campaign to generate MLM leads! The e-book/newsletter is not speaking for any particular MLM company. Instead, it provides a method of operating a lead generating "core" business that will pay for itself in qualified leads. When it comes time to "promote" a particular MLM company, let your customers request visit your MLM company(s) web page. If the MLM company you are affiliated with is worth its salt, then it will more than likely have an impressive site that will sell itself.
TRAP Don't attempt to promote and advertise a particular MLM company's opportunity before explaining the product or service. This is in direct conflict with the MLM Company’s guidelines. Instead, find people who have a sincere interest in MLM opportunities, and then direct them your company’s website.
2. MLM CONCEPTS ARE WAY TOO COMPLICATED
When most people are first exposed to their first MLM opportunity, they are over powered by the complexity and newness of MLM concepts and terms. They are confused with all those new terms such as "Network, down line, up line, Organization, Levels, Etc." Then there is the specific MLM plan that is being presented that is always anything but simple. There is too much to absorb quickly.
Then there is much suspicion. Is this a pyramid scheme? Is it legal? They have probably never heard of the MLM Company that adds to the problem. They find it hard to believe that they can really make the kind of money being discussed. They probably suspect the MLM distributor. And on and on. Right? So what happens? In most cases, nothing! They simply don't sign up'!
TIP Sell or give away your e-book or newsletter! That way, your potential candidate has been educated, and most of the initial education problems have been overcome.
TIP Be selective! Don't try to sell your MLM program to everyone. Instead, spend your time selectively by e-mailing or phoning if you like, to only those that have already requested your e-book/newsletter.
3. POTENTIAL MLM MEMBER CAN'T DECIDE WHICH MLM COMPANY
TO JOIN
Put yourself in his shoes. If he has been investigating MLM companies, he is sure to be confused with all those offers and different companies! If he can't decide, he just doesn't sign up with any MLM company! Does he? Well, if you a strong e-book/newsletter package, and you are promoting only to those that have it and read it, you have a very important advantage.
TIP There are literally thousands and thousands of MLM distributors who will jump at the chance to tell you which companies you should get into and promote. If you want more "advice", there are many books written by the "experts." Understand one thing, every book and magazine article that you read and everyone that you talk to will almost assuredly have some sort of "vested interest." In other words, they are either openly or subtlety trying to get you to sign up in their program! They will be quick to explain that there are "golden rules" and guidelines to follow. Some will tell you to stay away from "ground floor" opportunities since they are too risky. Others will explain that this is where the big money is. Some will explain why matrix MLM programs are better than others - and visa versa. Some will adamantly advise you to be active in only one MLM company - "be loyal" is their motto. Others try to sign you up in multiple companies. Still others have put together "Down line Building Teams," and will invite you to join them. They do all the work (You simply send them money). With all this "good" advice, what is correct?
I have noticed one thing about all these "good" advice sources. They never seem to ask me what my goals are. What is it that I want? How in the world can someone give another person advice before he understands what the objectives are? What is it that that you really want? When? How much can you afford to spend? How much risk are you willing to take? What MLM programs and products do you like? Before we even think about selecting a MLM company, let's review the real world about MLM companies and opportunities.
Most new MLM companies never make it through their 2nd year. This is because they are not properly financed, don't really have a good offering, or the federal (FED's) government shuts them down! The reason that the FED's shut down some of these companies is that there is a lot of unscrupulous people in MLM, mail-order and in fact, all kinds of business.
MLM is no different from other companies that frankly have about the same survival length. New companies in any business, MLM or not, have a tough time getting through the first few years. The people that promote MLM companies never seem to get around to explaining the real facts to you. But you need to understand the dark side as well as the "rose colored glasses view." Sound scary? Well, if you were to invest $5,000 to $25,000 like some MLM companies would like you to do, yes it would be scary. The correct word is probably "foolish." Now let's take these facts and see if there is really a low risk, high potential waiting for you.
So, back to the question, "How Do You Select The Right MLM Company?" This is like asking. "What stock should I buy?" Brokers, advisement firms, and the like will be quick to give their advice. Wouldn't they? And why not - they all earn a fat commission or other fees. Do you think any of them really care about you? And if they really believed in their own "advice." why don't they mortgage their homes and buy in themselves? The fact is, "No one knows!" And that is true with MLM companies and buying stocks! A standard solution does exit however: Diversify! Spread your investment around! Why put all your eggs into one basket?
Now all of this doesn't mean that you should select your MLM company(s) with your eyes closed. There are some fundamental rules and guidelines for you to consider.
1. Enroll into at least 2 or 3 MLM programs. This just makes good business sense. There is no guarantee that any MLM program will survive, so let's not be naive about this. Safety is in numbers! Although we have chosen these companies, one could go sour. But they all won't go sour... at least at the same time. And in the
mean time, you should be making money with the one or two companies that you're in.
2.Make your core MLM company one that is at least five years old and is the best one that you can find.
3.Get into MLM companies that you have total confidence in. There is nothing quite as frustrating as trying to promote a product or a company that you don't really believe in. Stick with the winners with a few years of success behind them!
4.If you are interested in hard offline advertising, make sure that the MLM company(s) that you select have inexpensive literature that you can send by mail in a cost effective manner. This just makes good mail-order sense!
TIP Concentrate on your method of lead generating, instead of trying to sell everyone your MLM company. Let the MLM MACHINE do your lead generating and "selling."
TRAP Don't be a "MLM junkie" without a plan. Human nature is to entice you into many different exciting "ground floor" MLM opportunities. These can be fine, but you will lose your shirt if you don't have a coherent plan that makes sense. Work this program and its offering to the fullest before you take off in other directions.
WHY MOST PEOPLE FAIL IN MLM
MLM is an explosive growth opportunity and it is here to stay. Like it or not! Let's review some MLM facts. There appears to be thousands of MLM companies. Some of these are MLM companies, while most of them are not. Many people have become wealthy in MLM, but about 97% of the would be MLM'ers never make it! Therefore, before we go blindly into MLM, let's analyze why 97% of the would be MLM'ers don't survive. Then let's see if we can minimize or eliminate any of these problems. Let's break down the problem in three categories.
1. MLM'ers can't EFFECTIVELY recruit new members.
2. MLM'ers can't keep his program going. It runs out of
gas and dies a natural death.
3. MLM Company has serious problems.
I believe that sums it up. Either the MLM'er can't get his program started, can't keep it going, or the MLM company itself goes "belly up."
WHY NEW MLM'ERS CAN'T EFFECTIVELY
RECRUIT NEW MEMBERS
1. THE MLM PARADOX
According to Webster, the word "paradox" means, "something with seemingly contradictory qualities or phrases." In MLM, there is a paradox that causes major confusion that must be understood and dealt with. Here is the problem. MLM companies by law cannot aggressively "push" the MLM opportunity as the main reason for joining their program. They must emphasize their products and services and explain the MLM opportunity as only a nice extra benefit. If they don't, all kinds of local, state and federal government officials will attack them. Therefore, they must be extremely careful about what their literature, advertising and promotions material states, what they say in meetings, etc. That is why we normally don't mention the MLM company name when we use examples in these reports. We do this just to avoid this kind of problem.
All MLM'ers are aware of the MLM "paradox" problem. Look, everyone knows, including the MLM companies and all the distributors that the real reason most people get involved with MLM is for the opportunity! Yet, the MLM literature and the MLM distributor cannot tell you this directly without crossing over the fine line of being illegal. In other words, it is illegal to promote a MLM company if the sole purpose is to earn profits by signing up new distributors with no regard to the usefulness of the product or service.
Where does this leave the new MLM distributor? Well, no one is officially allowed to tell him how to go out and aggressively recruit new members! Instead, he is always taught how to "promote" the product and then "as an after thought" explain the opportunity! All up standing MLM companies will follow this procedure.
TIP: Keep your lead generating methods separate from your MLM promotions. In other words, it is perfectly legal to promote an opportunity any way you want to as long as you don't tie this directly with a MLM company. That means that you can write your own advertisements, etc. and generate all kinds of leads. But when it comes time to discuss a particular MLM company, then use the official MLM literature, guidelines, etc. when presenting that particular company, products, and opportunities. In that way, you are making a clear distinction between "lead generating" and promoting a particular "MLM company opportunity."
TRICK Use an e-book/newsletter as your lead generating vehicle. That the "back bone" purpose of the e-book/newsletter campaign to generate MLM leads! The e-book/newsletter is not speaking for any particular MLM company. Instead, it provides a method of operating a lead generating "core" business that will pay for itself in qualified leads. When it comes time to "promote" a particular MLM company, let your customers request visit your MLM company(s) web page. If the MLM company you are affiliated with is worth its salt, then it will more than likely have an impressive site that will sell itself.
TRAP Don't attempt to promote and advertise a particular MLM company's opportunity before explaining the product or service. This is in direct conflict with the MLM Company’s guidelines. Instead, find people who have a sincere interest in MLM opportunities, and then direct them your company’s website.
2. MLM CONCEPTS ARE WAY TOO COMPLICATED
When most people are first exposed to their first MLM opportunity, they are over powered by the complexity and newness of MLM concepts and terms. They are confused with all those new terms such as "Network, down line, up line, Organization, Levels, Etc." Then there is the specific MLM plan that is being presented that is always anything but simple. There is too much to absorb quickly.
Then there is much suspicion. Is this a pyramid scheme? Is it legal? They have probably never heard of the MLM Company that adds to the problem. They find it hard to believe that they can really make the kind of money being discussed. They probably suspect the MLM distributor. And on and on. Right? So what happens? In most cases, nothing! They simply don't sign up'!
TIP Sell or give away your e-book or newsletter! That way, your potential candidate has been educated, and most of the initial education problems have been overcome.
TIP Be selective! Don't try to sell your MLM program to everyone. Instead, spend your time selectively by e-mailing or phoning if you like, to only those that have already requested your e-book/newsletter.
3. POTENTIAL MLM MEMBER CAN'T DECIDE WHICH MLM COMPANY
TO JOIN
Put yourself in his shoes. If he has been investigating MLM companies, he is sure to be confused with all those offers and different companies! If he can't decide, he just doesn't sign up with any MLM company! Does he? Well, if you a strong e-book/newsletter package, and you are promoting only to those that have it and read it, you have a very important advantage.
TIP There are literally thousands and thousands of MLM distributors who will jump at the chance to tell you which companies you should get into and promote. If you want more "advice", there are many books written by the "experts." Understand one thing, every book and magazine article that you read and everyone that you talk to will almost assuredly have some sort of "vested interest." In other words, they are either openly or subtlety trying to get you to sign up in their program! They will be quick to explain that there are "golden rules" and guidelines to follow. Some will tell you to stay away from "ground floor" opportunities since they are too risky. Others will explain that this is where the big money is. Some will explain why matrix MLM programs are better than others - and visa versa. Some will adamantly advise you to be active in only one MLM company - "be loyal" is their motto. Others try to sign you up in multiple companies. Still others have put together "Down line Building Teams," and will invite you to join them. They do all the work (You simply send them money). With all this "good" advice, what is correct?
I have noticed one thing about all these "good" advice sources. They never seem to ask me what my goals are. What is it that I want? How in the world can someone give another person advice before he understands what the objectives are? What is it that that you really want? When? How much can you afford to spend? How much risk are you willing to take? What MLM programs and products do you like? Before we even think about selecting a MLM company, let's review the real world about MLM companies and opportunities.
Most new MLM companies never make it through their 2nd year. This is because they are not properly financed, don't really have a good offering, or the federal (FED's) government shuts them down! The reason that the FED's shut down some of these companies is that there is a lot of unscrupulous people in MLM, mail-order and in fact, all kinds of business.
MLM is no different from other companies that frankly have about the same survival length. New companies in any business, MLM or not, have a tough time getting through the first few years. The people that promote MLM companies never seem to get around to explaining the real facts to you. But you need to understand the dark side as well as the "rose colored glasses view." Sound scary? Well, if you were to invest $5,000 to $25,000 like some MLM companies would like you to do, yes it would be scary. The correct word is probably "foolish." Now let's take these facts and see if there is really a low risk, high potential waiting for you.
So, back to the question, "How Do You Select The Right MLM Company?" This is like asking. "What stock should I buy?" Brokers, advisement firms, and the like will be quick to give their advice. Wouldn't they? And why not - they all earn a fat commission or other fees. Do you think any of them really care about you? And if they really believed in their own "advice." why don't they mortgage their homes and buy in themselves? The fact is, "No one knows!" And that is true with MLM companies and buying stocks! A standard solution does exit however: Diversify! Spread your investment around! Why put all your eggs into one basket?
Now all of this doesn't mean that you should select your MLM company(s) with your eyes closed. There are some fundamental rules and guidelines for you to consider.
1. Enroll into at least 2 or 3 MLM programs. This just makes good business sense. There is no guarantee that any MLM program will survive, so let's not be naive about this. Safety is in numbers! Although we have chosen these companies, one could go sour. But they all won't go sour... at least at the same time. And in the
mean time, you should be making money with the one or two companies that you're in.
2.Make your core MLM company one that is at least five years old and is the best one that you can find.
3.Get into MLM companies that you have total confidence in. There is nothing quite as frustrating as trying to promote a product or a company that you don't really believe in. Stick with the winners with a few years of success behind them!
4.If you are interested in hard offline advertising, make sure that the MLM company(s) that you select have inexpensive literature that you can send by mail in a cost effective manner. This just makes good mail-order sense!
TIP Concentrate on your method of lead generating, instead of trying to sell everyone your MLM company. Let the MLM MACHINE do your lead generating and "selling."
TRAP Don't be a "MLM junkie" without a plan. Human nature is to entice you into many different exciting "ground floor" MLM opportunities. These can be fine, but you will lose your shirt if you don't have a coherent plan that makes sense. Work this program and its offering to the fullest before you take off in other directions.
Monday, January 22, 2007
MLM Food For Thought
The idea of using a multi-level marketing program to produce extra income - to attain total financial freedom - has taken North America by storm! More and more people from north to south and from east to west are looking around, and attempting to find a real winner.
The problem is, multi-level marketing companies are sprouting up all over the place, and there's just too many of them to keep up with, for the average extra-income opportunity seeker. This makes the choice of the best one or ones to "hook up with" a frustrating and time-consuming process.
Before you "hook up with" any multi-level company, we advise you to run through this check-list.
Think about the product. Is it a product that you would use regularly, and freely recommend to your friends? Does it have lower-prices? Is it more convenient to use than similar products available elsewhere, particularly at the stores in your area? And finally, what about delivery - How much of a time interval is involved from when your customer orders until he receives the product?
Find out as much about the operation as you possibly can. Beware of chain letters, pyramid scams, and exorbitant claims relative to distributor profits. Be sure to find out exactly what you'll be getting in return for your initial sign-up fee. Make sure the company provides you with professional sales aid materials, and that they're reasonably priced - many MLM companies rake in tremendous profits just selling brochures and/or other sales literature - check with your local printing outlets and determine your actual cost. Find out about the company's financial backing and corporate officers - are they in it as full-time professional sales people. Be sure to understand/know how the company keeps track of all the incoming orders and when, as well as how, you'll be paid.
In essence, before deciding to become involved in a multi-level marketing company and expect to make a profit, it is essential that you understand:
It is a selling proposition - you will be required to do at least some face-to-face selling - and it will require a lot of your time.
You must have a product line that appeals to most people - in other words, information or program/help that will enable people to fulfill their basic wants such as become rich.
Selling vitamins, wrinkle creams, even food, will NOT fulfill those needs because of the intense competition; but, appealing to those people who are already selling a product with a sales improvement or training program can make you rich.
In addition to understanding what's involved, and a product line that most people want, and will buy from you, you need assistance - instructions and help - in not only selling the product or products, but in how to find new customers on an ongoing basis.
Once you've decided to try your hand at multi-level marketing, and you've become affiliated with a company that has a product line you feel will appeal to most people, and you have your advertising/sales materials, the next thing is to determine how YOU want to sell it - will you be selling door-to-door, via home parties, public seminars, by mail, or a combination of all these methods.
Remember, the amount of time you spend in actually trying to sell the product will determine the amount of money you make. The more presentations or sales calls you make, the more money you're going to make - but unless you make those sales calls, you won't be making any money.
It's up to you to decide just how much time you'll spend with your extra-income producing project.
The Pro Profit Team
Pass2Pro@Yahoo.com
www.TBoner1.PayItForward4Profits.com
The problem is, multi-level marketing companies are sprouting up all over the place, and there's just too many of them to keep up with, for the average extra-income opportunity seeker. This makes the choice of the best one or ones to "hook up with" a frustrating and time-consuming process.
Before you "hook up with" any multi-level company, we advise you to run through this check-list.
Think about the product. Is it a product that you would use regularly, and freely recommend to your friends? Does it have lower-prices? Is it more convenient to use than similar products available elsewhere, particularly at the stores in your area? And finally, what about delivery - How much of a time interval is involved from when your customer orders until he receives the product?
Find out as much about the operation as you possibly can. Beware of chain letters, pyramid scams, and exorbitant claims relative to distributor profits. Be sure to find out exactly what you'll be getting in return for your initial sign-up fee. Make sure the company provides you with professional sales aid materials, and that they're reasonably priced - many MLM companies rake in tremendous profits just selling brochures and/or other sales literature - check with your local printing outlets and determine your actual cost. Find out about the company's financial backing and corporate officers - are they in it as full-time professional sales people. Be sure to understand/know how the company keeps track of all the incoming orders and when, as well as how, you'll be paid.
In essence, before deciding to become involved in a multi-level marketing company and expect to make a profit, it is essential that you understand:
It is a selling proposition - you will be required to do at least some face-to-face selling - and it will require a lot of your time.
You must have a product line that appeals to most people - in other words, information or program/help that will enable people to fulfill their basic wants such as become rich.
Selling vitamins, wrinkle creams, even food, will NOT fulfill those needs because of the intense competition; but, appealing to those people who are already selling a product with a sales improvement or training program can make you rich.
In addition to understanding what's involved, and a product line that most people want, and will buy from you, you need assistance - instructions and help - in not only selling the product or products, but in how to find new customers on an ongoing basis.
Once you've decided to try your hand at multi-level marketing, and you've become affiliated with a company that has a product line you feel will appeal to most people, and you have your advertising/sales materials, the next thing is to determine how YOU want to sell it - will you be selling door-to-door, via home parties, public seminars, by mail, or a combination of all these methods.
Remember, the amount of time you spend in actually trying to sell the product will determine the amount of money you make. The more presentations or sales calls you make, the more money you're going to make - but unless you make those sales calls, you won't be making any money.
It's up to you to decide just how much time you'll spend with your extra-income producing project.
The Pro Profit Team
Pass2Pro@Yahoo.com
www.TBoner1.PayItForward4Profits.com
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