MLM Woman Newsletter Issue 139

How to Stop Failing at
Network Marketing
by Sandy Braccey

Network marketing is presented to you as an easy, effortless business. A business that you can work part-time and create a huge income for yourself. This sounds great since you are sick and tired of working long hours for someone else. So you go for it. You sign up with the great company that has great products. Your sponsor tells you to make a list of family, friends, and acquaintances to share this great opportunity with them. They sign up and in a short period of time you and your massive downline will be rich. So you seem to believe based on what your sponsor and upline sponsor tells (hypes to) you.

Soon you realize that network marketing is not easy and effortless. You have no downline. Your sponsor has left the company and the upline sponsor is not helping you. He/she thinks you are not putting in enough effort into building your business. That your belief is not strong enough. In addition you are in debt a few thousand dollars due to buying product, attending every company meeting, and buying worthless leads. You are frustrated and angry. What am I doing wrong?, you keep asking yourself. You receive no answer. You quit network marketing. Now you are in the 97% who fail at network marketing group. So what!? You have had enough!

Yet you still believe in the concept of network marketing. You join one company after another hoping things will change. Nothing changes except you are deeper in debt. Deep down inside you believe a successful business is waiting to come forth. One not built on hype, friends, family, acquaintances or bad leads. You know something is missing, but what?

Change your Focus. You were told to focus on the business and the products. Which means the focus is on you. You want the huge downline and residual checks. You want the big house with the Olympic size pool and six cars. You need to change your focus. First, network marketing is not about you. It is about providing solutions to people's challenges. How you can help them. Be of service to them. Remember the people you talk to do not care about you, network marketing, or how great the company compensation plan is. They need solutions.

Listen to people. Second, you must listen to people. Ask them questions. How can you provide a solution to their challenges if you do not know what they are? People will not openly tell you their challenges. You may have to ask a lot of questions to find out what they need and what they fear. This process is building a relationship. People have to be comfortable with you. They have to like you before they tell you any information.

Give away Information. Third, give them information to look over. Not information about you business opportunity. This information must be generic and it should address or touch on the person's needs. Give away the information in the form of an e-book, cd, dvd,mp3, etc. An example of this is on my site at http://www.mlmgoodies.com A book about the seven lies in network marketing. I follow up with the person(s) who receive the free information and begin to build a relationship with them. You should do the same.

Network marketing is changing. The business is no longer about products, opportunity meetings, and the compensation plan. Making lists and harassing family, friends, and acquaintances is old school methodology. The new way of building a business is about providing information to people who need solutions to their challenges. Listening and asking questions helps us build relationships with people. Remember this business is not about us. It is about the other person.

About the Author
Sandy Braccey failed at Network Marketing for ten years and decided a change was necessary. She does not make lists, contact family/friend/acquaintances about her business. She practices Attention/Permission Marketing. Her website is http://www.mlmgoodies.com

Effective Online Business
Strategies For Success
by Annette Novoa

Many network marketers are stuck in the stone age. They're told to buy product packs, pay enrollment fees, meet monthly purchase quotas, buy leads, make cold calls, push product. Maybe you've gone through something like this. It's time wake up.

Out With The Old
This is the age of the internet, the world wide web. Learn to leverage the power of the greatest advertising medium in the world. But setting up a website and telling a few friends isn't going to work. It's like only rowing a short distance out to sea then hoping that large schools of fish will find you and hop in.

Setting up your online business presence today is very easy. Some good places to start are Microsoft Office Live and Homestead.com. Three basic elements of a good site are:

A lead capture page that will attract and hold your online visitors attention.

A sales page encouraging visitors to take action (i.e. sign-up for newsletters, buy a membership, buy a product, etc).

Last and perhaps most importantly, is your business' automated email system that keeps your consumers and affiliates in touch with your business.

Research, Plan & Write
In order to succeed, you must know how to use the internet to create leads for your online business through many different mediums. You can generate your own leads by writing keyword specific articles, ezines and blogs, then submit them to every reputable online directory and newsletter you find. This method is very effective and free.

How does this grow your online business traffic? Ezines and online newsletters are very popular mediums. The long-term traffic comes when people search keywords that are in your article and Google pulls it up.

Writing an article does not have to be complicated. Pick a topic that is relevant to your business, do a little research on it and then write a small article about it. Such as "Most Common Mistakes First Time Investors Make", or "Easiest Way to Train Your Dog". Articles should always provide useful information while also establishing yourself as an expert in your field.

Use keyword analysis tools like www.live-keyword-analysis.com. Strategically place two or three keywords often in your article while still maintaining overall integrity. In other words, it's must read well without sounding overly redundant.

Shorter articles (500 words or less) get better results overall. Be careful not to make it sound like one long advertisement. Make sure your grammar and spelling are up to par.

Resource Box
The resource box is where you place a brief paragraph about yourself (three or four short sentences). This is where you plug your business products/services and include a link to your website. This information will appear at the bottom of your articles so that readers can click on the link, and they do!

Syndicate Your Articles
Syndicating permits other websites to find and use your article as content for their pages. This gives you added exposure because along with your article is your contact information and online business URL. You can have the same article distributed worldwide thus, increasing visitors to your site exponentially. I suggest you start out with five or six well written articles first, then keep track of all the different ezines you are publishing to. Then watch your link popularity grow, slowly at first but then quickly builds momentum!

Incorporating these suggestions to build your online business, is time well spent. As you repeat the process, you'll quickly become more efficient. With a little know how, you can generate your own leads and create targeted prospects to your online business. This is not difficult or complicated. Another good suggestion is to find out where your prospects are. Hang out where they do. Go to online forums, business blogs and get your articles on industry specific newsletters.

About The Author
Annette is a writer and journalist specializing in internet marketing industry spotlighting business opportunities, highlighting the best and worst business practices. She is determined to replace hype with honesty, sensationalism with substance, and exaggeration with integrity while bringing extraordinary value to the marketplace. Visit www.buildmynetwork.org and utilize the MLM Plan Directory to compare popular business opportunities, read informative articles that help ordinary people to achieve real, quantifiable success with their online business ventures.