Home Page MLM Woman Newsletters MLM Talk Bulletin Board Sponsor Profile Listings Check out Our MLM Distributor Listings Business Classifieds Advertise on MLM Woman

MLM Woman Issue 107 December 2005 This FREE newsletter is made possible by our advertisers and customers. We thank them for their support! From the Desk of the Editor Welcome to the 107th issue of the MLM Woman Newsletter. This month we feature articles on 10 tips for holiday business builders, how to build your ezine list from zero, how to market your business effectively during the holiday season, how an Internet mom builds her business from home using two way communication, how to overcome your fears of failure and rejection, and 7 small business marketing tips. What's New?? There's been a lot of new stuff going on here at MLMWoman.com recently. If you haven't visited our MLM Talk Bulletin Board in a while, then come on over and visit our new improved board and say hello. There is no need to register if you don't want to, but if you do you can use the new profile feature to put a link to your site and other contact information if you like. Here's the new link: http://www.mlmwoman.com/phpBB2/index.php We also started a new MLMTalk Blog too that features tips, articles and other good things to help you build your business. You can check it out here: http://www.mlmtalk.com Happy Holidays to ALL! Linda Locke, Editor MLM Woman 10 Tips For Holiday Business Builders by Jackie Ulmer The holiday season can mean a real slow down for home-based business owners, but only if you let it! With a holiday plan for business and some organization, you can keep your business thriving, and propel yourself into the New Year! Here's how - 1. Do some follow up now with past contacts. Schedule a phone or face-to-face appointment to review your program or products. 2. Do you have a product or service that might be perfect for holiday gifts? Schedule some lunch time or afternoon showings for people to preview. Make gift suggestions and offer to gift wrap. Send out email greeting cards to remind people to buy from you! 3. Offer a discount coupon to anyone who refers a friend who also purchases between now and the first of the year. 4. Begin setting appointments now for January. Let people know that you realize they are busy and suggest a date in January. 5. Put yourself in power momentum by scheduling blocks of time daily for contacts and follow up. What is realistic each day? 5 of each? 10 of each? Set the pace and stick to it! 6. Go on a mission to pass out as many flyers and business cards as humanly possible over the next month. And you do, have a 30 second "commercial" ready that may appeal to what they need right now. Extra cash for the holidays? Convenient and secure online shopping with no crowds, hassles or parking? 7. Going to a lot of holiday parties and events? Use this time to meet as many people as you can. Ask lots of questions and collect business cards and email addresses. Ask each person if they mind if you keep in touch with them. If they begin asking you questions, be prepared with short, intriguing answers. If they show an interest, schedule a time to contact them in the next few days. Try to avoid saying too much about your business at the party. Schedule, schedule, schedule and then be sure to follow up! 8. Include a business card, flyer, post card or some bit of "shameless promotion" in your holiday cards and correspondence. Don't send cards? Now you have a good reason to start! Check on that tax deduction! 9. Begin reviewing your past year's goals and accomplishments. Where can you improve? In what ways can you push yourself on to bigger and better next year? Have your next year's business plan concrete before January 1! 10. Keep your focus, remember CANI (constant and never ending improvement) and enjoy the season, knowing that you are doing and being the best you can be! About the Author Jackie Ulmer, a veteran Home Based Business Owner, has coached and trained thousands of representatives both inside and outside of her sales organization. One of her primary goals is to help others succeed. She can be reached through her web site at: http://www.streetsmartwealth.com/ Subscribe to her FREE newsletter by email to streetsmartwealth@quicktell.net How to Build Your Ezine List from Zero by Suzanne Falter-Barns Yesterday I was coaching a client who presented me with a not-very-unique problem. We'd just put the finishing touches on her website and blog, and were about to embark on promoting her new workshop series. "Just one problem," she said. "I have absolutely no one to promote them to." "Well, surely you have someone - like maybe a thousand? Or 500?" I asked hopefully. "Nope," she replied. "I have … like, zero." Wow. OK, I thought, let's just put together some speedy and highly visible ways to get folks on your list. And as I thought about it, a number of excellent ways leapt to mind. Here's my foolproof way to build your list to thousands in a relatively short time. (But you do have to do these steps ... like, REALLY, honestly do them ... or it won't work.) 1. Get a kick-ass bonus. There's just no other way to put it. Your bonus has to be something everybody wants and simply can't resist. Mine for this newsletter used to be a list of '25 Top Self Help Literary Agents'. Which worked pretty well, except that this limited my market to self help authors. Then I changed it to the more general 'Suzanne's Top 50 Media & Publishing Contacts' and that works MUCH better. If folks want your bonus, they'll also get your ezine - because you'll be adding them to your list. 2. Hold a contest. Last spring I doubled my list and my web visitors by inviting 12 partners to help me put a $4500 Marketing Makeover contest. They all got lots of exposure, and I got lots of entries - almost 1500. And you can bet every one of those entrants got on my ezine list as well. I let them know that joining was the 'price' of entering the contest. And they were happy to do so! 3. Announce your contest or other ezine give-away event on prweb.com or any other press release submission service on the Web. But be sure to only plant press releases that are truly newsworthy, and thus likely to get press attention. Even if the media don't use your words this time, they'll hopefully file you as an expert for future use. 4. Give away a bonus for other sites to use based on your ezine. A popular web marketing technique is the special one or two-day promo that offers big bonus lists when you buy a certain product on those particular days. So collect some of your best ezine essays, pack 'em up in a downloadable PDF-based e-book, and offer it as a bonus these sites can use in their special promos. Don't forget juicy descriptive copy about your ezine, and a subscribe link at the end of your e-book. I've gotten hundreds of new readers this way, and plenty of hits on my sites. 5. Sponsor other people's contests. Give away copies of your bonus (and ezine) to pertinent groups, contests, and conferences that request it, regardless of size. (Make sure their target market matches yours.) Simply run an announcement in your ezine that you'd be happy to sponsor comparable events. Ask them to provide a URL for an event description so you know it's legit. Then offer up your gifts, and ask for a plug for your ezine on their site and in their materials (i.e. handouts, goodie bags, etc.) and for them to talk up your dazzling freebie, as well. 6. Give away something totally unique in your content. Who's not covering something important in your world? (And remember, your ezine can be really short.) One of my favorites - at tut.com (Totally Unique Thoughts) - is only a few sentences long. But it's got GREAT pass-along value, and has a huge list of 40,000 because of it. Think about what info you could offer that would REALLY motivate folks to forward the email to friends. And make sure your 'Join Here' info is really prominent in each email. 7. Brevity is key. As Tut.com proves, brevity is key. Make sure your ezine doesn't blab on forever but is so pungent, and boiled down to the essence that in our time-pressed era, anyone can make time for it. 8. Feature the bonus attached to your ezine in all of your email signatures. Again and again and again. And be sure to make it sound tantalizing AND hyperlink it. And while you're at it, load the graphic of that bonus up high on the typelist (margins) of your blog with a direct link to sign up. 9. Consider Google Adwords or other pay-per-click search engine listings. Google's got the biggest, and for many categories, the most expensive ads but you can't beat the traffic. (There's some great information on how to manage this business at perrymarshall.com/google for free pointers on how to use Google Adwords effectively.) ©2005 Suzanne Falter-Barns LLC. About the Author Download Suzanne's free list of 50 Top Publishing & Media contacts at www.getknownnow.com . Drop by her blog at http://www.painlessselfpromotion.com for almost daily tips on how to get known now … the easy way! ‘Tis the Season... by Wendy Weiss The holidays loom… Office parties, family celebrations, religious celebrations, celebrations with friends… Meetings are cancelled. Decisions are postponed. Too much to do, no time to do it. The sales process turns to sludge. The holidays can be a frustrating time for sales professionals. Telephone prospecting calls end with no appointment the prospect instead saying, “call me in the New Year.” Proposals languish. Decisions are on hold. During that time from Thanksgiving through the end of the year, how do you keep from losing your momentum and how do you keep the sales process moving forward? If you are not able to keep the process moving, January can feel almost like starting over. Instead of leaping into the New Year with prospect meetings and starting new customer projects you are busy following up with all of the prospects who said, “call me in the New Year.” Here are two steps that you can use to keep your sales process flowing, not only over the holidays, but also year round. 1. When prospecting by telephone for new appointments do not tamely accept the standard response, “call me in the New Year.” Instead, suggest to your prospect that you schedule a meeting in the New Year and promise to call to confirm that meeting. (In the “old days” prospects would frequently say they didn’t have their New Year calendar. In these days of palm pilots and contact management software that doesn’t fly. After all, January is only next month!) At least 50% of your prospects will go ahead and schedule the meeting leaving you with 50% less follow up calls to make in January. This is what you say: “Let’s pencil in a date and time for January. It’s not carved in stone, I’ll call you to confirm and if it doesn’t work out we can always reschedule. Is early January good or is later in the month better?” This way you’ll have a series of prospect meetings already lined up for January! 2. When a prospect asks you to submit a proposal, then and there set up a meeting time with your prospect to go over that proposal. Ask your prospect when they want the proposal. When they give you a date or time frame say: “Let’s set up a time for me to come by and go over the proposal. Is (fill in date) good or is (fill in date) better?” It does not matter if your prospect wants to meet in December or in January. The point is that you have kept the process moving forward, you have an appointment to discuss the proposal and you do not have to spend time in January making calls to follow up to schedule the meeting or get a response on that proposal. And remember, on the appointed day, make sure to bring two copies of the proposal, both signed and ready for your prospect’s signature. Happy prospecting, happy closing, happy holidays! © 2005 Wendy Weiss About the Author Wendy Weiss, “The Queen of Cold Calling,” is a sales trainer, author and sales coach. Her book, Cold Calling for Women: Opening Doors and Closing Sales, can be ordered by visiting http://www.wendyweiss.com. Contact her at wendy@wendyweiss.com. Get her free e-zine at http://www.wendyweiss.com. Internet Mom Builds A Profitable Business All Over the World from the Comforts of Home with TWO Way Communication! Copyright © 2005 by Sue Seward. All Rights Reserved. Who said the Internet's dead? The Internet can actually be extremely helpful in building your Network Marketing business. One important key to keep in mind….. Make sure to use the Internet as an effective communication tool. You want to become successful building on the Internet right? Here's the MOST important thing the Internet Mom has done to build a profitable business online…. TWO way communication! The Internet is one of the most powerful communication tools to help us save time and reach more people from around the world! Make sure you're not being mixed up with the millions of bulk email ads promising overnight riches! This is all ONE way communication!! You know all the worthless spam that's filling up millions of email boxes and causing more and more people to use those filter blocking high tech devices that are affecting even those of us who are offering REAL legitimate help to people who actually ARE looking for what we have to offer! Geezzzz.....why can't people just get REAL? It's no wonder we hear people crying…."it's getting tougher and tougher to make money on the Internet"! Well duh!!! This only happens when people try to building a business online without building relationships of any kind. What's worse is most of them don't even care to build relationships because they're only interested in getting what they want! There's no TWO way communication going on! People think an Internet business can be started by putting up a website or by sending out these long drawn out boring emails to people, even the people they've met online and think everyone's going to just jump for joy to get into their great opportunity. This Internet Mom doesn't hide behind a screen all day sending out emails to millions of people that most likely won't even open them, and she doesn't put her Internet business on auto pilot without using the human touch! Anyone still using bulk email to spam people into oblivion might as well just give it up right now because that's not how it works any more! Puke puke puke! With all the new spam filters today, most of these emails won't even make it through to a real person. Not to mention how much spam email gets deleted when it does get through. Anyone using his method to build online will find out just how cold the Internet can be when they get shut down by their ISP because of all the spam complaints! Use caution when buying leads online too because a lot of times people don't remember signing up for something and when they receive information some of them will scream spam! Make sure when purchasing leads that they come with all the documented proof ie: ISP address, date and time stamp. Here's what to look for 151.197.226.88,Name of person,2004-12-28 Those downline building systems have been done long enough too! Using fear of lose tactics don't work long term. Been there done that. These systems are history! So how has this Internet Mom built a profitable thriving business with thousands of distributors from all over the world all from the comforts of her home with the Internet and the telephone? Simply by building a successful long term network marketing business using the Internet as an effective communication tool to build relationships with a few key 'people' that were met online! TWO way communication! What tools are used? Autoresponders are used to help automate information while I'm sleeping, proven leads are purchased (be very careful of this and make sure you have the above information on all of the leads you buy online and only buy leads that have been tested by someone you know and trust), people are directed to websites and email marketing is used effectively with drip campaigns. Online communities and discussion groups have also been very effective when used properly. Building a strong foundation by really getting to know people and what makes them tick and allowing them to get to know us! People like doing business with people they know, like and trust. Don't you? Do business with people that you meet on the Internet by simply developing relationships with them! It's simple but remember getting to actually know people and developing a relationship takes some time! Another very important key is to NEVER GIVE UP! So how is all this done effectively? By turning high tech automation with the Internet into high touch relationships. TWO way communication which builds a thriving profitable Network Marketing business. Be different from all those generic web sites that are pushing products in people's faces and telling them how much they NEED these products and services. Has there been any TWO way communication asking them what they need? Give people something much more than just another web site loaded with facts and figures, search engines, and links to everywhere and everything in the whole wide world. Take someone to a place where they feel comfortable. Where they see you are for real, and not only YOU but an entire TEAM of people then you and they just might start to experience the real beginnings of building a solid foundation for the future. So how on earth does an Internet Mom do this? By being different from all the rest. One solution is to create a sense of identity by branding yourself. A personal web page is a great way to do this! Tell people about yourself, your family, your team, your goals, why you do what you do and how you're going to help them! There are website templates available now that are very affordable and user friendly so you do not have to hire a web designer and pay thousands of dollars for a fancy website presence. Keep it simple, personable and professional so that people can duplicate you! Put your blog on your site, photos of you and your family, your business team, your company convention photos, your products, your dog, whatever you like to show people that you're real! A blog is a great way to do this. A blog is sort of like writing a diary or think of it as your memoirs! A blog is a great way to brand yourself and start building relationships online because it's a way for people to get to know you and start the communication process because they can post back to your blog. TWO way communication! People decide whether or not to read your blog. It's not spam sent to them that they didn't asked for. It's their choice to read it or not and it's also their choice to respond or not. The goal with a personal website is to create a place where people will get to know you a bit better and determine if they'd like to know you even more and most importantly partner with you. You can use your personal website to show people what your values are, what's important to you and use it as an ice breaker to building a relationship with your future business partners. Most people already have websites provided by their companies. These websites are usually very high quality, professionally maintained websites, filled with all the necessary information anyone could ever want to know about a business opportunity, products, services, etc. ONE way communication! These websites are ONLY to send out after you've started your rapport and relationship building with people. AFTER you find out if they are even interested in what your opportunity and ready for TWO way communication! Company websites are used for informational purposes to sell the company and products, not to help people get to know YOU! They don't sell you, YOU sell you! Think of ALL the websites you see all day long and all of the emails you receive? Do you get to know these people from these websites and/or emails? Do you see a REAL picture of the person on there or some model photo? Do any of these people ask, "how can I help you"? ONE way communication! What if you see a personal website and it tells you a little about them as a person, you see their face, and how they are all working together as a team and how much fun they are all having together and of course all the important training content that's important too? What if you started receiving emails from people that are really interested in YOU and how you and your family are doing and asking how can they help YOU? How about personal emails? Who sends those anymore? The Internet Mom does. TWO way communication! Always get the people's permission FIRST! Get invited into their lives! The best way to get invited into THEIR lives is to show them YOURS! TWO way communication! This is how the Internet MOM communicates! Remember its important FIRST to find out where a person is in their life, find out about THEM first and if they are interested in getting to know you and reviewing your information. Developing a relationships also means picking up the telephone and actually speaking with people! This is where the real high touch starts happening! TWO way communication! Picking up the phone and calling to introduce yourself is extremely important and one of the key reasons why the Internet Mom has been so successful in building a very profitable business online! Here's a couple of true stories that have developed through TWO way communication and turned into a true long term passive residual income for the Internet Mom! I have been building relationships online since 1996 and started publishing a newsletter in 1997 before knowing anything about writing or developing a newsletter. Over the years it has evolved with substance and content and has developed into a lot of TWO way communication because of the long term relationships that have developed! In October of 2003 I sent something out to my newsletter readers about a new company I had just joined. Some of my readers had been reading my newsletter for over five years. Well this particular company information hit the hot button of five readers. One of them was an Internet Marketing student from my newsletter for years. From that one mailing the sales force with that company has grown to thousands of people and it continues to grow monthly and provides me with a very nice passive residual income every single month even though I do not work it now! In fact, this company had a convention recently and many people from that sales force were there and I wasn't even present! A lady from all the way across the world in Australia emailed from an online community about the business and I picked up the telephone and called her in Australia, started the relationship and now I have hundreds of people in my organization from Australia! All from one relationship online! Another affiliate income that the Internet Mom has growing with people from all over the world came from building a key relationship with one person met on the Internet over eight years ago! The Internet Mom has developed true LEVERAGE through TWO way communication! A profitable business bringing in thousands of dollars a month has been built with thousands of distributors from all over the world and it was all done by developing a few key relationships online all from the comforts of home. There are so many people out there searching the Internet for REAL opportunities, real people, a real team, a real business with a strong foundation. They are searching for you and want to communicate with YOU! Go out and start some TWO way communication like the Internet Mom has and watch your business grow! Sue Seward TheInternetMom.com Sue is a home based business developer, Internet Marketer, entrepreneur, wife and mom, and has been earning an income from home online since 1996. She is also a published author, speaker and Internet Marketing trainer. She's coauthor of the book 'Build It Big: 101 Insider Secrets From Top Direct Selling Experts'. To find out more and to subscribe to her FitFourSuccess Online Marketing Newsletter please visit http://www.ecommercehomebiz.com Facing Down the Fear of Failure or Rejection with some of the Uncanny "Can's" by Georgia Ana Larson We've all had the experience of being afraid of people and new situations in which we might experience some sort of failure, of dreading having to approach and speak to strangers and having them reject us, of shaking in our boots at the thought of trying to speak clearly and persuasively in front of others in order to present a product or idea. None of us want to fail, to experience rejection or to be laughed at. That's only natural. But allowing these fears to dominate your thinking can keep you from succeeding as a work-from-home business person. Here is a reality-based approach to limiting the degree to which those fears can dominate your thinking or defeat your efforts to promote your business, products or ideas. First, make certain that you know why you're doing what you're doing. I'm talking about your bottom-line motivation here: the smiling faces of your family, the thought of providing for them and yourself well into retirement, the thought of being able to spend more time with them doing things you all enjoy doing, the thought of traveling with your partner or children, of paying for college educations and weddings and business expansions. You know what I mean -- your real, bottom-line WHY. Second, concentrate on what you want to accomplish -- intentional planning, I suppose. I find that if I have set goals for myself that others can block -- like making so many dollars profit in the next 6 hours or selling so many cases of product -- I can get pretty frustrated when other folks don't "make my dreams come true." Instead, I intentionally focus on objectives that depend upon me alone. My fear and frustration levels will be lower and my openness to others can be greater as I do this. With focused purpose, I identify the actions and attitudes that are under my control: - I can show up as prepared and full of energy as possible. - I can reach out to others, offering wonderful products and opportunities and ideas and give my deliberate attention to each of them as people, not as objects. (People can always tell if you're really interested in them or only interested in closing a sale.) - I can refuse to demand anything in return of those to whom I reach out. I will not waste my energy on expectations over which I have no control. - I can be positive with others, relying on the quality of what I'm offering and my personal attention as enough to win over those who can be won over. (Remember others can have things going on in their lives that are so negative and/or hurtful that no amount of sales persuasion will work. It may even backfire as the energy you try to extend is repulsed with even more negativity. A calm, persistently positive spirit is called for here. You may be the only positive input some folks have in a given circumstance -- that alone will make you memorable.) - I can maximize my opportunities for future contacts with those to whom I am offering my products. I can give out samples and business cards (with a smile and a kind word!) and offer information and friendly conversation. - I can have the consistent expectation that the customers I need will come my way, that the contacts that are important will show up because I have also shown up in this positive, open way. Let's face it, if your fear of rejection has left you closed to interactions with new folks, they're likely to pick up on that and avoid you, too. - I can remain open to learning everything, absolutely everything, I can learn from the environment, the experience, the customers, the other people around me, etc. Some of the contacts I've made and some of the ideas that have come to me as a consequence of facing these situations have helped me in ways I could never have calculated or expected beforehand. Do I also set hopeful objectives about sales, prospects, responses to my ideas, etc.? You betcha. But I keep in mind that only my part is really under my control. When I concentrate on what I can do rather than on what other people might do, I have less of a concern about failure -- and so come away from the experience feeling positive and without any sense of having failed at all, even if my ideal goals were not achieved in that circumstance. This kind of intentional concentration on the positive, fun, outreach aspects of your business can have benefits in many areas of your life. Don't let "what-if-they-reject-me" thinking rob you of any of the joy possible to you. Instead, imagine people walking away from you with the idea that yours must be a positive product or idea or opportunity because you're such a positive person. Now, who could ever think of that as anything but being a real success? About the Author Georgia Ana Larson is a writer/editor/entrepreneur and advocate of radical hope. You can read more of her writing at www.aBrighterCandle.com -- and you can find a product and business opportunity she offers at www.GourmetJerkyoftheMonth.com 7 Small Business Marketing Tips Copyright 2005 Bob Leduc Here are 7 low-cost but highly effective marketing tips to help any small business find customers and generate sales quickly. 1. Don't Advertise Like a Big Business Big businesses advertise to create name recognition and future sales. A small business can't afford to do that. Instead, design your advertising to produce sales ...now. One way to accomplish this is to always include an offer in your advertising - and an easy way for prospective customers to respond to it. 2. Offer a Cheaper Version Some prospective customers are not willing to pay the asking price for your product or service. Others are more interested in paying a low price than in getting the best quality. You can avoid losing sales to many of these customers by offering a smaller or stripped down version of your product or service at a lower price. 3. Offer a Premium Version Not all customers are looking for a cheap price. Many are willing to pay a higher price to get a premium product or service. You can boost your average size sale and your total revenue by offering a more comprehensive product or service ...or by combining several products or services in a special premium package offer for a higher price. 4. Try Some Unusual Marketing Methods Look for some unconventional marketing methods your competitors are overlooking. You may discover some highly profitable ways to generate sales and avoid competition. For example, print your best small ad on a postcard and mail it to prospects in your targeted market. A small ad on a postcard can drive a high volume of traffic to your website or generate a flood of sales leads for a very small cost. 5. Trim Your Ads Reduce the size of your ads so you can run more ads for the same cost. You may even be surprised to find that some of your short ads generate a better response than their longer versions. 6. Set up Joint Promotions with Other Small Businesses Contact some non-competing small businesses serving customers in your market. Offer to publicize their products or services to your customers in exchange for their publicizing your services to their customers. This usually produces a large number of sales for a very low cost. 7. Take Advantage of Your Customers Your customers already know and trust you. It's easier to get more business from them than to get any business from somebody who never bought from you. Take advantage of this by creating some special deals just for your existing customers ...and announce new products and services to them before you announce them to the general market. Also, convert your customers into publicity agents for your business. Develop an incentive for them to tell associates and friends about the value of your products or services. An endorsement from them is more effective than any amount of advertising - and it is much cheaper. Each of these 7 marketing tips provides a simple, low-cost way for any small business to find customers and generate sales quickly. About the Author Bob Leduc spent 20 years helping businesses like yours find new customers and increase sales. He just released a New Edition of his manual, How To Build Your Small Business Fast With Simple Postcards ...and launched *BizTips from Bob*, a newsletter to help small businesses grow and prosper. You'll find his low-cost marketing methods at: http://BobLeduc.com or call: 702-658-1707 After 10 AM Pacific Time/Las Vegas, NV Back to the MLM Woman Newsletter Index We want your feedback! Send e-mail comments to Linda at: regent@west.net Copyright 2005, Regent Press