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 MLM
Woman Issue 129
October 2007
From the Desk of the
Editor
Welcome to the 129th edition of the MLM Woman Newsletter! If
you enjoy this month's issue, please be sure to let your friends
know about it too and invite them to come and visit us.
Also, if you have comments, questions or something to share
after reading this month's articles, please visit our MLMTalk
Discussion Forum and join in the lively conversation!
And also be sure to check out our MLM
Marketing Blog for lots of additional tips and resources which
are added throughout the month.
Yours in Success!
Linda Locke, Editor MLMWoman
Put Your
Articles on Auto-Pilot!
© Terri Seymour
Writing articles and submitting them for publication is a very
powerful promotion tactic. Website owners, ezine publishers and
site visitors are always looking for good informative content. BUT,
this can be taken a step further by putting your articles on auto-pilot.
Your articles can be promoting you and your business non-stop, 24/7.
First of all, you need to get a good free autoresponder such as
GetResponse or SendFree.
Each time you write an article, go to your autoresponder and open
an account for that article. For example, this article will have
an account named auto-pilot which would make its autoresponder address
something like this: auto-pilot@autoresponder.com
Then you will need to put the article and a short but courteous
thank you note in the autoresponder message.
Here is an example:
Hello,
Thank you for requesting Put Your Articles
on Auto-Pilot. Feel free to use this article in your ezine, ebook
or website. Please include the entire resource box and do not edit
the article in any way. If you have any questions, you can contact
me anytime at me@mydomain.com For a list of other articles you may
be interested just send any email to article-index@autoresponder.com
Thank you for your time.
Warm regards,
Terri Seymour
Put the entire article and resource box here.
You could also add info about the article such as word count, category,
copyright date, etc.
====================
To tie your article library together make one account with a message
that contains a list of all your articles with their autoresponder
addresses. This account could be called article-index or whatever
you like.
This way, people can request all your articles or just certain
ones they might be interested in. You can also give this list of
articles their own page on your website. This will give your articles
additional exposure.
Another thing you should do is add a couple follow-up messages
to each article account. These can be set up on the autoresponder
and be sent out automatically. Follow-up messages are very important
and can increase your sales and business income.
To help promote your new article library add a link to your email
signature tag, mention it in discussion lists when someone asks
for articles, put it in your resource box, mention it in your ezine,
etc. You could even put it on your business card, brochures and
flyers.
Your articles will automatically be giving you free exposure while
you concentrate on other aspects of your business!
And remember, you do not have to be an "expert" writer
to write an effective, helpful article. Do not let your self-doubt
stop you from participating in this excellent marketing tactic.
Write what you know and give the readers basic and straight forward
information. Let your personality shine through in your articles
as well so your readers can get to know you and trust you. This
also will help increase your customer and/or subscriber base.
Ok, so get started and write that first article!
About the Author
Terri Seymour has over ten years online experience and has helped
many people start their own business. Visit her site at http://www.seymourproducts.com
for resources, $1 resell ebooks & software, free tutorials,
affiliate programs, and a free ezine with bonus report: 77 Ways
to Get Traffic! subscribe@seymourproducts.com
 Go
Global -- Network Your Local Business for
Far Away Clients
By Caterina Rando, MA, MCC
While the business world seems to be getting smaller, opportunities
to go global are increasing every day. I recently found
myself chatting with a woman from Australia who owns a speakers
bureau. During the conversation, she pulled my business
card out of her pocket. Her friend heard me speak in Venice,
Italy, last year and gave her my card. Coincidence? Hardly.
Networking? You bet!
If you have an interest in going global, here
are some networking ideas that are simple and easy and will
help you expand your business internationally.
Getting Started
1. Choose a Niche
You can not realistically market to the whole world. Identify
the country or geographic region that you wish to focus
on.
2. Market
Dedicate specific marketing activities to international
business. This can include direct mail, email, phone calls,
articles in international publications and cultivating your
network. Decide what you are going to do and when. Use ideas
that are unique. I send out unusual New Year's cards. Instead
of saying Happy New Year, they said "Make Your Year
Great", followed by several positive intentions for
the year. I chose glossy, substantial-feeling cardstock
to insure the recipient will keep the card. (If you would
like a sample, call, email or fax your request to me.)
3. Do Your Homework
Find out everything you can about business practices in
your international niche. Interview speakers and other business
people who have worked in your target country; subscribe
to English language business publications; take a course
on doing business in your niche.
International Networking from Home
1. Work Your Network
Track the international activities and connections of everyone
you know and everyone you meet. Put on an "international
ear." Ask questions to determine international experience
and interests.
2. Make International Connections
Contact your local chamber's of commerce and trade offices
that focus on your target countries. Get to know the people
who welcome delegations and offer to participate in a business
meeting or reception.
3. Host International visitors
Most states have an organization affiliated with the National
Council for International Visitors. Hundreds of delegations
visit the US each year. In every city they visit, a local
organization sets up business meetings, sightseeing and
dinners in the homes of a volunteer host who is considered
a citizen diplomat. As a citizen diplomat, you will meet
industry and government leaders from all over the world.
This makes for great contacts --and great stories. For more
information on an organization in your area contact The
National Council for International Visitors (202) 842-1414
or email nciv@vita.org.
4. Use your local convention and visitors
bureau
Most convention and visitors bureaus publish a future convention
information schedule, including contact information, number
of attendees and whether the convention is local, domestic
or international. You can use this information to target
domestic events that will be hiring speakers for an international
audience.
5. Create contacts
Find a group or start a group of people who have contacts
and do business in your target country. You will have lots
of fun, learn a lot and make great connections through.
I started DIVA, a group of Italian-American business women
to bring together my love of Italy with my love of business.
Is there a group you could start or find that would allow
you to create international contacts?
When You Go Abroad
1. Find out if there is an American Chamber
of Commerce where you are going.
A little know fact is that your local Chamber of Commerce
will give you a letter of introduction that you can use
to meet with American Chamber officials in your destination
country. These officials will help you connect with companies
interested in your products or services.
2. Know before you go.
Before you go to a country, ask everyone you know for contacts
in that country. Marilyn, a business consultant asked friends
and business associates for contacts before a trip to the
Philippines. Through one of these contacts, she booked international
business and established several business new business.
3. Set up appointments in advance.
Allow advance time when scheduling appointments and confirm
appointments both before you leave home and once you arrive
to ensure you can get in the door.
4. Network through your alumnae association
Carl, a partner in an engineering firm, attributes some
of his international business to networking through his
alumnae association. Meet with alumni in other countries
and once rapport is established, ask them for contacts.
Often international business does not come
as quickly or as easily as domestic business, It is usually
has a longer sales cycle and requires more sophisticated
networking skills. Be patient, apply these strategies and
soon you will be providing value worldwide.
About The Author
Caterina Rando, MA, MCC, shows women in direct selling how
to book, sell, recruit and lead with ease. She is the creator
of the Business Breakthrough Coaching Program to accelerate
your business growth. Visit http://www.directsalescoaching.com
to sign up for Caterina's free monthly business building
tele-classes, read more articles, listen to podcasts and
find out about her coaching programs. Caterina can be reached
at by email at cat@directsalescoaching.com
or by phone at 415 668-4535.
 You
Are Not Alone
By Lisa Martin, The Working Mother’s Coach
When you think about it, no one who ever accomplished
anything great did it by themselves. Other people encouraged
and supported them along the way.
Take Oprah Winfrey, she is a powerhouse woman
doing truly wonderful things for other women. She is able
to do so much for so many because she places her trust in
others to help her make it happen.
The same holds true for working mothers. Having
a support team will make it easier and less stressful for
you to balance the competing priorities of motherhood.
A support network can take many forms and may
include family, friends, book club members, co-workers, business
colleagues, industry associations and strategic alliances.
How your support team is structured will depend on what works
best for you.
You might find that a monthly supper club plus
memberships in a couple of industry associations meets your
needs. Or perhaps weekly email and telephone calls with business
colleagues are ideal. A good support team will evolve with
you. The right people will come and go depending on the current
circumstances of your life. If you experience any major life
changes such as a career transition, birth of a child or move
to a new location you will most likely want to adjust your
support network accordingly.
Women who are the most successful at balancing
work and life have built up a support network, but more importantly
they have established an "inner circle." Creating
an inner circle means surrounding yourself with people you
trust who are invested in supporting you to be your best.
Those individuals closest to you such as your life partner,
a favorite aunt, dear friend, mentor and coach form the basis
of an effective inner circle.
Let these people into your life and ask for
their support. Share your fears, frustrations and dreams with
them. They will provide a different perspective, give you
valuable insight and often make decision-making simpler. Having
an inner circle means you don't have to go it alone.
© Copyright 2007. Briefcase
Moms®. All rights reserved.
About the Author
Lisa Martin is a certified coach who inspires working mothers
to achieve success that’s balanced. Author of Briefcase
Moms: 10 Proven Practices to Balance Working Mothers’
Lives, Lisa is a sought-after expert and speaker on work-life
balance issues. Known for her very personal and practical
approach, Lisa coaches working mothers to know what they want
and get what they want. A mother herself, Lisa’s powerful
presentations and programs have helped thousands of women
define success and balance on their own terms. www.briefcasemoms.com
 7
Benefits of Postcard Marketing
Copyright 2007 Bob Leduc
Postcards produce even better results for marketers
in the 21st century than they did in the past ...especially
when you use them to generate website traffic and sales leads.
Here are 7 of the many benefits and advantages
you gain by marketing with postcards.
1. Postcards Work for Any Business - Including
Yours
Postcards have a proven history of producing
just about any kind of sales activity a business wants. Internet
marketers have used them to generate profitable website traffic.
Direct marketers have used them to generate receptive sales
leads. Retail stores have used them to attract "pre-sold"
walk in customers. And ...well, you get the idea.
2. Postcards Produce Fast Results
Postcards are small so it doesn't take much
time to create a sales message for them. The small size also
makes printing, addressing and mailing postcards a quick job.
Your postcards can be in the mail a few days after you decide
to use them. 2 or 3 days later you'll be getting sales from
them.
3. Postcards Get Read
Postcards get delivered ready to read. They
can't be ignored like other types of advertising. This guarantees
maximum exposure for your sales message. Think about it. Did
you ever discard a postcard without first scanning it to find
out what it was about? You can't do it.
4. Postcards Make a Good First Impression
People like to get postcards - probably because
they get so many of them from friends and relatives. You can
make the most of this positive first impression by using a
personal approach for your postcards. For example, include
the actual name of each person in your message ...as well
as anything else you know about the prospects on your mailing
list.
5. Postcards Are Inexpensive
Postcards are simple and inexpensive to use.
You can print them for just a few cents each. And in the US
You can even send postcards by First Class Mail for only 26
cents. That's 37 percent less than the postage for letters.
You get this special reduced postage rate by
making the size of your postcards at least 3 1/2 x 5 inches
but not over 4 1/4 x 6 inches in size.
6. Postcards are Easy to Test
It's easy to test the profitability of a postcard.
Just send it to a small group of prospects to see how many
reply. If you're not pleased with the results, revise it and
repeat the test. Once you're happy with the results you can
send out a larger mailing.
7. Competitors Can't Copy Your Postcard Marketing
System
Competitors can't copy your system and use it
to compete against you like they can (and always do) with
other types of advertising.
One or two competitors may see your marketing
postcard ...but that's all they will know about what you're
doing. They won't know what lists you're using, how many postcards
you mail, how often you send postcards or anything else about
your postcard program.
There are many more advantages to marketing
with postcards. But these 7 should be enough to get you thinking
about them. If you never used postcards to promote your business
or if you haven't used them recently, test them now. You'll
be surprised at how well they work in the 21st century.
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
 Dream
- Grow - Focus - Achieve!
Copyright © 2007 by Sue Seward. All Rights
Reserved.
Sometimes the true heroes in our lives are those people who inspire
us not with their superhuman accomplishments but simply by their
refusal to give up in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds
and the dignity in which they go about their lives. Bill Porter
is one of those heroes.
Born with cerebral palsy, he was told for many years that he was
unemployable. But with the unwavering support of a dedicated mother
and an indomitable spirit that has become his trademark, Porter
did support himself as a door-to-door salesman in Portland, Ore.
Porter's professional success is all the more amazing given the
fact that his cerebral palsy makes walking extremely difficult and
painful. But for more than 40 years, he walked eight to 10 miles
a day, selling products for The Watkins Company, and along the way
wove himself into the lives and hearts of the people along his route.
Today, he is 69 years old and still sells Watkins products by telephone
and via the Internet.
There's a really inspiring movie that I highly recommend everyone
watch about the life of Bill Porter. It's called 'Door To Door'
with William H. Macy.
A lot of people want to make a million dollars but they won’t
commit to doing a million dollars worth of work.
Bill Porter wasn’t afraid to work, he wasn’t afraid of
hearing nos, or having doors slammed in his face, he knew how to
dream and he FOCUSED intently to get where he was going and he never
gave up! Bill did not allow CIRCUMSTANCES to get in the way of accomplishing
his dream of becoming independent and being a top salesman for Walkins!
Do you consider yourself a DREAMER?
Your Dream is the REAL key to your success. Have a dream that is
So big that you have to become the person to achieve it.
You do this by self-development, decide to change and grow and
constantly be learning. Become a leader. Leaders are readers, leaders
are learners, leaders are constantly changing and growing into their
dreams. Your dream is really just your WHY, your PURPOSE for getting
up every morning!
Everything is about making decisions! Every single day you must
decide what you will do! When you get out of bed in the morning
make a decision to focus on what you want to get out of that day
and don't stop until it's done.
Where you are today is because of decisions you made five years
ago. Where you'll be in the next five years will be because of decisions
you make today! So decide to Dream, Grow, Focus & Achieve!
The BIGGER the WHY & PURPOSE is, the more determined you will
become to succeed!
You more you grow and develop the more frustration, disappointment,
rejection, iscouragement all start to roll off your back like water
rolling down a hill.
One of the main reasons people are not successful in our industry,
and in any business for that matter is simply a lack of FOCUS. It's
not about being the best looking, the most experienced, the most
crediable or the most wealthy. It's about being the most focused.
You can be a jack of all trades or decide to be a MASTER of ONE!
FOCUS is the ability to say NO to many good opportunities so that
you can say YES to only the BEST opportunity!
Some of the distractions that can steal your focus might be Internet
distractions, email, cross recruiters with lot's and lot's of other
opportunities. Your family can even be distracting at times. Laundry
and dirty dishes piling up, spouses, friends, bosses, work, sports
activities, church activities and the list of focus stealers goes
on and on.
The best thing to do is to prioritize these distractions around
your business time so that when you are doing business you are FOCUSING
on business and when you are with your spouse, family, kids, friends,
job, etc., you are FOCUSING on them when it's their time. When you
are spending time with other activities outside your business focus
on those activities at that time.
Focus really does take practice! Once you master it though you
are on your way to achieving your dreams!
Decide on what you really want and how you are planning to get
there.
This is a great time to think back on your DREAM! How are you going
to accomplish it? You accomplish your dream by setting goals. A
goal really is just a DREAM with a deadline. It's great to have
a dream but sitting around all day thinking about it won't accomplish
much accept dreaming. Now you've got to do something about it. Attach
a goal to the dream and then the dream actually becomes real once
you achieve the goal! Does that made sense?
An excellent example of what to focus on would be, how am I going
to move more products which is creating volume and how am I going
to expand the team.
Set a one month, one year and five year goals. Decide where you
will be in one month and then do what it takes to get there! Decide
where you want to be in a year, set that goal and then FOCUS and
do what it takes to achieve it!
Decide where you want to be in five years, set your daily, weekly,
monthly goals and then do what it takes to make it happen! Whatever
happens never quit. Constantly set new goals and when one goal achieves
a dream, then it's time to dream BIGGER!
Do you want to pay some bills, buy a new car with the one payment
plan, build your dream house, provide a college education to your
kids, bring home your spouse, give to charities and ministries,
help the homeless? These are all dreams to accomplish.
If you're not doing what it takes to achieve your dream then the
dream probably isn't big enough so dream BIG! The bigger your dream
the more you will grow to achieve it!
Set a daily routine (Bill Porter had a daily routine and he stuck
to it no matter what distractions or circumstances came his way!)
Here are some great ways to help stay focused:
Use a timer when you're working online. Especially when checking
emails and spending time in message forums and online communities.
Set prorities and time for social and sports activities, family
time. Schedule these on your calendar. Make sure to set aside YOU
time for self-development. Take your books with you wherever you
go to read a chapter or two while waiting on appointments.
Listen to CD’s in your car even while your kids are with you!
They will GROW too!
Listen to positive information on an iPod or CD player before going
to sleep at night or first thing when you wake up. I read a daily
Devotional every morning called 'Battlefield Of The Mind' by Joyce
Myers because YOUR mind can be your worst enemy!!! So feed it positive
brain food constantly! Remember the wise ole saying, garbage in
garbage out! Put the good stuff in your mind at all times! Turn
off the news and stop reading all that garbage in the newspaper.
Start taking on LEADERSHIP roles. Listen to as many conference
calls or recorded calls as you can. Believe it or not these call
are very important for your development. The more you develop into
a leader the more you will be paid! Focus on developing into a leader
and not the money you want to make! When you become a leader the
money will flow in!
Start sharing your story on calls and little by little get out
of your comfort zone and volunteer for calls and soon you will be
up in front sharing your story!
Never stop planting seeds. Be consistent every single day and don’t
stop until those seeds are planted, cultivated and a team is growing
for long term financial success! Become the leader, the teacher,
setting examples for others to dream, grow, focus and achieve too.
Zig Ziglar said "A Goal properly set is halfway reached!"
He also said “If you want to reach a goal, you must see the
reaching in your own mind before you actually arrive at your goal”.
That’s the DREAM, the goal is just the way to ACHIEVE IT!
You CAN DO IT!
If I can do this so can you! If Bill Porter can, so can you!
Don’t stop setting and reaching goals until you achieve the
DREAM! Then set a BIGGER Dream to reach!
Another of my favorite mentors, Mark Yarnell, says.... Do ONE Thing
At A Time....Do It RIGHT & Finish It!
Keep Dreaming, Keep Growing, Keep Focusing & You WILL Achieve!
About The Author
Sue is a wife, mom, entrepreneur, top income earner with her
company, who has been working from home online since 1996. She
encourages millionaire mind thinking and shows people how to develop
valuable connections online and turn them into lasting relationships
for long term business profits. She is also a public speaker and
published author of numerous print and electronic articles as
well as coauthor of the book 'Build It Big: 101 Insider Secrets
From Top Direct Selling Experts'. To find out more about how Sue
builds her business online visit http://www.eCommerceHomeBiz.com
Back
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We want your feedback!
Send e-mail comments to
Linda at: regent@west.net
Copyright 2007,
Regent Press
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