Linda Locke, Editor MLM Woman
Confidence
in Networking
on the NET
By Sue Seward
Personally I believe that people have more confidence
in themselves than they think they do.
After all we go about doing all kinds of jobs, run companies,
corporations, medical practices, law offices, make friends, run households,
bring up kids, develop social relationships, etc, etc. etc........
It may really be Network Marketing or marketing on the
Internet that we do not have belief and confidence in.
In the minds of many people MLM is still a scam. And
we know there are a lot of scams on the Internet. They're popping
up everyday!
Until we cut through the myths, get out there and educate
ourselves and other people about what network marketing AND Internet
marketing really is and to let them know that there really are legitimate
online opportunities for them, people will keep on believing like
they do.
It's up to us as professionals to educate, teach and
help other people!
Marketing on the Internet is not about selling or being
a good salesperson, or using cheap, hypey, tacky sales techniques.
It's still about building relationships with people, which we all
do in our everyday lives anyway. We're just building them online with
folks all over the country and the world!
Timing in a person's life is always an important factor
too.
Start asking people questions about their lives. Take
an interest in people and what they WANT not necessarily what they
need!
Find out where they're hurting and see how you can help
them.
Maybe yes maybe no. But at least give them a chance
to tell you what they're interested in.
If they're not interested in what you're doing try not
to take it personally.
What you're doing just may not be for them.
Or it just may not be the right time in their lives.
Make sure you find out if it's OK to keep them in the loop. Put them
on your mailing list.
This is where Group Mail comes is real handy! I organize
people into certain groups depending on what they're interested in.
I can then send out a message to that entire group with the name merged
in automatically. This way I can keep in touch with them.
Group Mail is a very inexpensive, one time fee to purchase
the software. It's been a real time saver for me! There's a free version
and a paid version. The free version only allows you to send out a
certain number of emails at once. I have the paid version because
some of my groups have over 1,000 folks on them.
I highly recommend that people start a newsletter or
EZine as some call them.......and invite people you meet online to
subscribe so they can stay informed on business issues of importance
to them. This is one of the very best ways to build your people list!
And believe me your people list is your gold folks!
It's always good to find other people with large people
lists to join you in your business too....
they are out there....believe me...I've been fortunate to have found
some of them and they are in my downline.
You can send your newsletter out on your group mail
account or there are some free areas such as Yahoo that you can use
to send out your newsletter.
Be a good influence to the people and give them valuable
information and they'll most likely stay on your people list!
If they do want you to remove them, respect their wishes
and remove them promptly! Remember it's not personal...they most likely
just have a lot going on in their lives and just might be on information
overload!
We all have busy lives with jobs, business, spouses,
kids, activities, church, parents, our homes to care for etc.
Remember to respect people at all times and think about
THEM and what they WANT! People are important! Treat them like you
would want to be treated!
About the Author
Ms. Seward is an Internet Business Consultant, entrepreneur,
wife and mom, and has been earning an income for five years from home.
She is also a published writer and speaker. She is a member of PANM
"Professional Association of Network Marketers" and also
a member of the Brazosport Area Chamber of Commerce. She resides in
Lake Jackson, Texas with her husband and two sons. To find out more
about how to earn an income on the Internet: Contact Sue at: eCommerceHomeBiz.com
or email her at: SSeward930@aol.com
She also publishes a weekly Network Marketing newsletter email to:
suespowerteam@lb.bcentral.com
What It
Takes
© Rebecca Wheeler
Doing business on the Internet is in many ways a brave new world.
When business people attempt to take what works offline and apply
it online, they quickly discover that the transition is not always
a smooth one. Many of the old rules no longer apply. Doing business
online is different. We need new and different ideas. We must use
different tools, use technology to our advantage. We must learn
to make our way in this brave new world. When we do, the rewards
are incredible.
One of the major differences between doing business online and
offline is in building rapport with clients and prospective clients.
While some products are sold simply on price, many (if not most)
of the products and services sold online require a trust relationship
before real business can be done. People need to feel comfortable
with us before they pull out the plastic and go to our secured server.
The problem is that the Internet doesn't offer us the ability to
speak with customers face to face. Since you can't spontaneously
drop by to say "hello", build good will, and reinforce
your sales message, you must continuously market to ever larger
groups of prospects. That's a very hard and expensive level of effort
to sustain.
The good news is that there are things we can do to fill this gap
and make the Internet a strong ally in our business efforts. Let's
look together at three ways to fill that gap by using technology
to our advantage.
First, a simple thing: we must handle our email quickly. Online
businesses deal with two realities: #1: there is what is reasonable
to us. #2 there is what the customer expects. In the online game
only reality number two counts. That means while an email response
in 24 hours should suffice, an email response in one hour is often
required. There are ways to do this and keep our sanity too. We
can use autoresponders for routine questions and provide a very
rapid response even while we sleep. We can create email templates
for responding to commonly asked questions and save ourselves hours
of typing. And we can use cell phones when necessary to respond
to honestly urgent requests.
Second, we can offer more information than ever before. Now that
hard drive prices are low, web hosting companies offer unheard of
amounts of space for pennies a day. Use that space to your advantage.
Put up pages of information that will guide your prospects to become
clients and inform clients of exactly how you can serve them. It's
often been said that if prospects only know what you know about
your product they would all become clients! Use today's amazingly
low web hosting rates to educate them.
Third, we must embrace new technologies that give us the upper
hand. Instant messaging means we can offer immediate response. While
not comfortable for some, it's the 21st century telephone. Voice
technology has now become reliable and affordable. Holding huge
promise for our businesses, the technology is now mature enough
to use everyday. Having a client hear your voice goes a very long
way indeed toward building that important trust relationship.
Many offline principles, like honesty and great customer service,
are absolutely essential online. Yet the Internet calls us to a
higher standard. We have the greatest opportunity in the history
of mankind to begin a business on a shoestring and grow it to impressive
heights. Great products are available to sell. The market is global
in scope. The tools are ready. Success can come very quickly on
the Web. Begin today to make technology work for you and make time
your ally, not your enemy.
About the Author
Rebecca Wheeler was bitten by the internet bug in 1996. She
recommends this technology for others working online: Orbitalk Conference
Rooms, real-time, private, quality voice rooms with integrated text
chat and web browser. For a free demonstration, contact Rebecca
work2me@cox.net or visit http://www.orbitalk.com/wheeler
Getting Down
in the Dirt
By Michael Angier
Have you ever had a house built? If not, surely you've
watched one go up.
For a long time, it seems that nothing's happening. The site preparation,
excavation and foundation-building seem to take a long time with
little noticeable progress.
Then the framing starts--and things take on a faster pace. Or does
it?
It's true the erection of the walls and roof happen quickly. The
shape of the new structure looks more familiar and there's more
"bulk" to the project. Progress is more noticeable, but
appearances can be deceiving.
Foundation work may not be very sexy or show progress as much as
framing does, but we all know it's necessary.
Just imagine if we were to start putting up walls and hanging floor
joists with the sills just sitting on the ground? It would be silly,
wouldn't it? We wouldn't think of building our house without first
building a firm foundation.
And yet, I see people's lives and even large companies built with
little or no thought to a foundation. In the rush to make things
happen, to create products and turn a profit, they build
on weak footings.
In the past few years, we've seen thousands of dot-coms become
dot-gones. They shot up quickly much like a house being framed.
Things were happening so fast in the late nineties that few looked
to see if there was any kind of a foundation supporting these structures.
One has only to look at the Enron mess to see that even extremely
large and apparently well-established companies can be easily toppled
by having weak foundations.
The foundation I'm talking about for people as well as large organizations
is values and purpose.
We're now six weeks into our Core Values eCourse and those who've
taken it have not found the task easy. And I didn't promise it would
be. Getting down in the dirt and making sure the foundation is solid
is not easy, fun or particularly dramatic.
It is, however, worth it.
By getting clear on our values, knowing who we are, what we're
about and what we stand for, we can have something to stand ON.
We have a foundation for our efforts.
This process makes it easier to make decisions, because we have
a framework with which to evaluate our decisions.
It also saves us time because we can focus in on what really matters
and not waste time chasing after things that don't serve our purpose.
We have a clarity and a power that's tangible--we can feel it.
And in the process, we can ATTRACT success instead of PURSUING it.
Not only do we know ourselves better, but others know us. We become
known by our values and our purpose. It's part of our identity.
In the case of a company, it becomes our corporate DNA--it's our
reason for being.
Yes, it may sometimes seem slow and we may not always see rapid
progress, but building a firm foundation of core values and solid
purpose will provide the support for lasting success.
About the Author
Copyright 2002 Michael Angier & Success Networks International.
Success Net's mission is to inform, inspire and empower people to
be their best--personally and professionally. Download their free
eBooklet, KEYS TO PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS from http://www.SuccessNet.org/keys.htm.
Free subscriptions, memberships, eCourses, eBooks and SuccessMark
Cards are available at http://www.SuccessNet.org
-- InfoPlease@SuccessNet.org
Managing Your
Downline
By Cas Amato
So, you've joined that great money making program, and
you've even got a few members in your downline. So, now what? How
do you keep your sign-ups interested and working for you? And, yes,
I DO mean working for you. When you start out on a program, you are
effectively becoming the MD of your own organisation, and all of those
below you need your motivation, guidance and assistance if they are
to make money for themselves and, in turn, make money for you.
The biggest mistake you can probably make is to think
that once you've got your sign-up, the hard work is over. You've got
your sign-up and you've made a couple of dollars, so why worry? Well,
as any experienced marketer will tell you, a sign-up commission is
fine, but the real bucks are made when your sign-ups start signing
up, and the residual bonuses start pouring in. Therefore, when you've
recruited someone into your program, the work has only just begun.
One of the biggest problems you will find is that people
join your business, and then do nothing. It is surprising, but as
much as 90% of your downline will probably remain inactive. So, why
do these people join? Well, there can be many reasons. Some people
join programs out of curiosity, some to get the freebies that were
on offer, whilst others just don't know what they're doing!
It's up to you, therefore, to motivate your recruits
into action. Now, this is not necessarily as difficult as it may seem,
provided that you remember the 3 golden rules:
1. Communication.
2. Communication.
3. Communication.
There is nothing worse than joining a new program and
being left to it with no advice or help from anyone. So, it is important
to start off on the right footing, by communicating with your new
program member from the outset - and keep it going. Here are 5 ways
that you can achieve this.
1. Send a welcoming letter to all new sign ups.
If someone has joined your program, thank them for doing
so. Let them feel welcome and a part of your team. Make sure that
they are fully aware of how the program works, and offer help and
advice if they need it.
2. Answer all queries quickly.
If somebody DOES ask for help, don't ignore them, or it will be the
last you'll hear from them. Even if you don't know the answer immediately,
a quick note back to say, "I don't know, but I'll find out",
will be much appreciated. But, do remember to get back to them as
soon as you can.
3. Don't get frustrated with basic or idiotic questions.
Bear in mind that what appears to be a "stupid"
question to you may not be to somebody new to the Net - we are not
all HTML/marketing geniuses! Just remember, if they are contacting
you, then at least they are they are communicating with you.
4. If your program has a "Email your downline"
facility - use it!
Email your people often. Tell them the latest news on your program
or give them hints and tips. If you haven't got much to say, then
tell them a joke - tell them anything. Just remind them you are there.
5. Don't be afraid to repeat yourself.
It's always a good idea to save some of your messages, and repeat
them periodically. Remember that your more recent recruits won't have
seen your earlier messages, and it never does any harm for your long-time
downline members to re-read an earlier email. Conventional wisdom
states that a person needs to hear a message SEVEN times before they
will buy into it.
As stated, communication is the secret to managing your
downline. Your Internet program is a business like any other. Like
all businesses, its most valuable resource is the people who work
for it. Therefore, since people like to talk, talk to them!
About the Author
Cas Amato, Internet Marketer. Great site, but no hits? Get them
by the 1,000. For information visit: http://www.roibot.com/w.cgi?R22292_EBRArt
From
the Desk of the Editor 
