Making "Business Time" More Profitable

One important thing in any business is to have good time management. Whether it is MLM, internet marketing or conventional business, the more time you waste, the longer it will be until you are making money. The way to start is to organize your "to do" tasks into 3 different groups.

1. Work activities
These are activites that actively grow your business. Usually, that means that it is some form of prospecting. So, these could be writing articles, calling people, writing on your blog, following up with people via phone or email, designing ads, advertising, or other things relating to exposing people to your information

2. Growing activities
This group of activities are things like doing research, planning, following up with business partners or associates, goal setting, and other things of this nature.

3. Learning activites
This would be working on personal development, learning about new ways to market, going to training seminars or listening to them, reading others blogs, going on forums, or anything else that helps you gain more intellectual knowledge.

Now, you have to break down these groups into different percentages of business time.

1. Work activities - 70%
2. Growing activities - 20%
3. Learning activities - 10%

Now, if you are just starting out, your learning activites and growing activities are going to be a lot higher. However, once you know the basics, keep those things to a minimum. Many people don't want to do actual work activities, so they spend all of their "business time" not doing money making activities. Then, they ask, "I am spending 20 hours a week on this, how come I'm not making anything?" That's because all of your time is spent around planning to do and learning to do, not DOING.

The Perfect Network Marketing System

This was a great article about marketing your MLM online.

By Daegen Smith

"Network marketing is hard. Don't kid yourself and truthfully don't even attempt a network marketing venture unless you either have or plan to put into place a highly potent and highly duplicatable network marketing system geared for 2005 and beyond.

Before I tell you what a perfect network marketing system should look like let's talk about what doesn't work for most network marketers. As I'm sure you probably know, network marketing is notorious for having a 95% failure rate. Let's talk about why.

Have you ever heard of Occam's razor?

Basically it states that the simplest explanation for a phenomenon is usually the best. We'll use this theory to explain why more than 95% of network marketers fail.

Ready?

Most network marketers fail because the marketing methods that they are taught don't work 95% of the time. Pretty simple right?

So we're led to ask the logical next question, what are most fledgling network marketers taught?

Well, I can only speak from my experience, but what I was taught was to buy and cold call leads.

Now, I'm not going to say this doesn't work, but I will say is that after six months of cold calling leads for 3 hours a day with very little success this tactic doesn't work for me. Don't get me wrong some people are very good at cold calling leads, but most people aren't.

What happens to most people after they've spend thousands of dollars on leads with very little success after months of effort?

They give up.

Another factor contributing to why most network marketers fail is the type of leads they use. Why does the type of leads make a difference?

Business opportunity leads, the leads most new network marketers are told to use, are generic. These leads answer an ad that just asks them if they want to be financially free, or make money from home or something like that.

Well . . . of course they do!

But that doesn't mean they want anything to do with YOUR network marketing program. When the average network marketer calls these generic bizz opp leads the leads don't know anything about the network marketer's business and for the most part honestly don't care. This leads to the fledgling network marketer hearing a lot of "NOs".

Hearing NO all the time leads to quite a bit of self doubt, both about the network marketers own ability and the validity of their association with their network marketing company. Negative feelings begin to harbor and as I said before eventually the network marketer gives up, usually with 3-6 months.

The fledgling network marketer's perception of their business goes from one of opportunity to one of complete doubt and negativity. Reality follows perception, so because the fledgling network marketer believes both themselves and their business as having little hope this becomes TRUE.

That's basically why 95% of network marketers fail if you asked me.

So how do we change this paradigm?

We build a Perfect Network Marketing System!

Now we get to the good stuff! What does a perfect network marketing system look like?

For the average home based network marketer to be successful certain thing MUST be in place. I will list them here:

o Lead capture page designed specifically for specific Network Marketing Company:

This page must contain strong sales copy that tells the prospect why he wants to opt in for more information. The best way to do this is to offer a High Value Free Report in exchange for there contact information.

o Free Report specifically designed for Network Marketing Companies Opportunity:

The free report must be highly informative. It must explain all of the features and benefits of joining the network marketing organization as an independent distributor and must focus on the support and resources available to the new recruit should they choose to purchase a distributorship. The company's products and compensation plan must be clearly explained here as well. If possible, testimonials should be used, as they are extremely powerful sales conversion tools in this portion of the sale process.

o Follow up Email System:

Attached to the Free Report there must also be a follow up system that continually markets through email the program to the lead. Most leads don't act immediately and must be marketed to at least 7 times before they take action. The email follow up system must have strongly worded sales copy and must have a system for getting through spam filters.

o A Continual Feed Back System that uses the Fear of Loss:

Along the with email follow up system there must be a feedback system that will alert the prospect by email when new prospects opt into the system and invoke the fear of loss during this process by telling the prospect that if the next prospect in line upgrades to a paid position before he does then he will forever loose commission on that prospect. This is an extremely powerful psychological tool.

o Strong Support:

It's one thing to get someone to buy a distributorship, but it's a totally different thing get them to work the business effectively. There must be an email follow up system once a new distributor signs on to ensure that he receive adequate training on how to market successfully. There must also be human support at this point. So, there must be strong relationships built between upline and new distributors.

o A Good Product or Service:

In order for this entire marketing process to work, the system must be back by a strong and ethical network marketing organization that sells a high demand product that people need and would purchase even if there were no compensation plans attached to it.

o You:

You must be an active part of your business. You must be willing and open to learn new ideas and tactics at all times. You must have a passion for your business and truly believe in the product that you plan to build your organization around.

In Conclusion:

I've listed the basic component's a of a perfect network marketing system. This system will involve NO cold calling because the prospect will opt in to request more information specifically about your business before you even talk to them.

Cold calling generic bizz opp leads and hearing a lot of NO's is what causes most network marketers to fail. We want to avoid this at all cost. This is what this system is designed to do!

By having your prospects opt in specifically for more information about your product and business plan and then by giving them a detailed report explaining all of the above before you even speak to them your chances of a successful sales conversion will greatly be increased. The email follow-up and fear of loss systems will increase your chances successful sales conversion even further. These factors will cut down on the number of NO's that the you must endure before success. This will increase your home business's duplicability vastly.

Further, having uniform training and exceptional support are the basics and must be present.

So,

Before you spend another dollar on your network marketing efforts ask yourself if you're using a perfect network marketing system. If your answer is no and you aren't having any success then ask yourself what you can do to change your system to one that will work for you and your future distributors using the principles that I have detailed above.

I struggled with network marketing myself using the old fashion methods, but as soon as I studied internet marketing and how to apply it to network marketing things got a lot easier. I was able to spot network marketing organizations that were specifically positioned for internet marketing and earmark what I thought to be the best of the bunch. After that, it was simple a matter of choosing the one that with what I though had the "best product".

You can view my choice here: http://www.the1andonly.biz. As a result of making this choice I recruited new members my very first day without having to call anyone or hear thousands of NOs. All I do is get traffic to my website and I make money.

Network marketing can certainly make you rich, that is… if you have the perfect system in place!

==========================================

Wanna Learn the Secret of Creating Passive Income Online
From a man who made $3,244,842.32 from the Internet in Only 27
months? => Internet MLM Success"

Any thoughts?

A Little Help With Google Adwords - Targeted keywords

If you are trying to make money online by using Google Adwords or any Pay Per Click Search engine for that matter, you want to use keywords that are highly targeted. Meaning, that if you are bidding on a phrase like "make money online," then you are going to be low on the list of sponsored searches, or you are going to have to pay a fortune for clicks.

So, lets say that you are going to market a weight loss product. You wouldn't want keywords like "weight loss." You would want to say things like "weight loss supplements." This may not be the best example because weight loss is a very competitive industry, so both may be costly per click.

Another example is instead of using "make money online," use something like "how to make money fast online" or "making money online using affiliate programs" or "how to make money online using [your product]."

The reason to do this is because when you use realy broad keywords like "make money online" or "make money from home," you will be paying for clicks by people that are just surfing or browsing or don't know what they want. Also, when you have a bad click through rate because you have a keyword that gives you 1000 impressions a day at 20th position, it will make your CTR (click through rate) very low. The higher your CTR is, the higher relevancy Google gives your site, and thus, will lower your CPC or Cost per Click.

Hope that helps.

The Downline Teaser - An MLM Documentary

Does anyone know anything about this? I can't figure out if its for or against MLM. Here's the teaser:

Hello everyone. Here is a review of Myron Golden's Super Speed Sponsoring Success Scripts Talking Ebook.

http://reviewmyrongoldenspeedysponsor.blogspot.com/

Good Rich People, Bad Rich People, And Poor People

I was listening to someone today that was talking about the stereotypes of being rich and being poor. He was saying that many rich people think that they are "better" people than poor people. And that many poor people think that rich people are just evil and greedy people. But there are actually good rich people and bad rich people, and good poor people and bad poor people.

A bad rich person would be one that is greedy, takes advantage of people's time or money, uses trickery or lying to make money, and things of that nature. This is the boss who cuts hours, jobs, or pay of his employees to save money. Or the business owner that makes fake accounting numbers to get more stock holders in his company. Or it could be the MLM/Network Marketing associate that lies about what a product does, or about how much money someone makes (like themselves) to recruit people. These will never pay off in the long run, and are wrong in and of themselves. People's MLM companies have had many lawsuits because of associates "misrepresenting" things about the product or opportunity.

A good rich person is generous, wants to help others, honest, and hard working. Any good rich person has probably worked hard for their money, or worked hard to grow money they inherited. They are also givers. Bill Gates has many charity organizations and gives a lot of money away, but many would call him greedy and evil. And if you market your product or opportunity in an honest way, your downline will grow continually, you will get referrals, and people will trust you. Building trustworthy relationships is at the core of MLM. Stay away from any leader thats telling you how to make the quick buck off of people.

A bad poor person is a lazy person. This is the person that is always sleeping, barely keeps up on the bills, and won't do anything to improve himself. His family suffers because this person doesn't provide for them, and will not put effort forward to do anything but the minimum required to get by. He spends every penny he makes. This is the guy who drives the 87 Buick junk bucket with chrome wheels and has a $2000 stereo.

A good poor person is someone that is in a poor country, or is disabled, or has chosen to follow a career path that correlates to their passions, but isn't that well paying (like a pastor). We should help these people out and take the opportunities we have to give to them. A good rich person is generous.

Its important in any business venture to not look down on others for what they do, but to look at ourselves and make sure that we are trying to be good rich people. And we should help to educate those that are bad poor and rich people. Good lasts, but bad always fades away and leads to trouble.

Business Mindset vs. Employee Mindset - If you don't get this, you won't make much money

If you have read Cashflow Quadrant, by Robert Kiyosaki, then, you've probably read about the different quadrants, that is, those of the rich, and those of the poor or middle class. I'm not going to get into to it too much, but there is a difference between an Employee or Self-employed, and with Big Business/Business system or Investor. Lets talk about the characteristics of the Business/Investing side of the quadrant here because I hear too many people complaining when the start off in business that they aren't making any money or that when they do start making it, they can't stop working or their pay stops.

Building a business that is going to give you money every month is a system. Its not where you go and do all of the work yourself. You have to leverage yourself out by paying someone else or being able to have a system pay you. If you don't build a system, where money is created without you being there and always actively working it, it is still as though you have a job. Build a system.

If you have to work 5 days a week to keep money coming in, then you still have a job, not a business system. For network marketing, this is having a consistent system of getting people, exposing them, following up, enrolling, etc, and passing this on to your team.

For affiliate marketing, you want to set up campaigns that are going to consistently bring money in. For example, if you have one site bringing in $2000 a month, and you have not automated it with autoresponders, easy downloading, outsourcing, etc. you will have to work at it everyday just to make sure that you make any money. But what if you could set up 10 sites bringing in $1000-$2000? All you would have to do is answer emails here and there. Find a system that works, and duplicate it.

The last thing I will talk about is that the employee mindset wants to put a dollar amount on hours of work. However, you are in the system when you are an employee, not the owner of the system. When you create a system, you shouldn't expect any pay at first. You might work hard for no pay for a little. But once the business system is built, it will pay you whether you work or not if you set it up right.

...Hope that helps some for all of you....

I took the weekend off...

I have been so busy lately, that I took the weekend off. I am going to make some posts later today.

One Minute Manager, Has Anyone Read This?

I just bought One Minute Manger by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson. Has anyone read it? I will do a review soon about it. Its a pretty short read. Brian Tracy and some other big names recommend it.

Prospecting Tips Article

This is a good article, especially if you are a beginner.

9 Tips for Prospecting in Network Marketing by Sanjay Johari


Network marketing is a system in which marketing messages are transmitted through a network of distributors. Each person in the network is a marketer who attempts to find customers as well as other network marketers to expand the marketing net.

The compensation system in the network marketing is such that a network marketer earns not only from sales initiated by him but also from sales brought in by his sponsored network marketers. Therefore the sponsor has a vested interest to see that his sponsored networkers perform well.

Network marketing is also known as relationship marketing or referral marketing. For a network marketer the most important part of his business is recruiting new network marketers or prospects and ensuring that they are able to earn well from the program.

How can a network marketer ensure that more and more prospects join his business?

Here are some tips on prospecting effectively.

1. Shift your Focus from Yourself to Your Prospect. This is perhaps the most important step and calls for a basic change in the mindset. Every network marketer wants to earn and grow his business. However, while communicating with your prospect you should completely forget about your earnings. Instead, you should only think of helping your prospect to earn for himself.

2. Build a Rapport. Building a rapport is the basic prospecting principle. This opens up the prospect and establishes a channel of communication. Present yourself as a friend and not as a salesman.

3. Understand What Motivates the Prospect. Any prospect will be inclined to join network marketing business only in the hope of meeting his unfulfilled desires. He may be looking for financial security, additional income, freedom from daily grind, business ownership and so on. While communicating with your prospect you should try and understand rather quickly what he is looking for and what motivates him. When you focus on your prospect rather than on your business you are in a better frame of mind to get this information.

4. Listen to Your Prospect. It is important to listen to the prospect in order to understand him. As a general rule you should allow your prospect to speak for more than three-fourth of the time.

5. Ask Open-Ended Questions. This is a way to encourage your prospect to speak. Without being offensive you can ask open-ended questions to keep the interaction going, such as why, what, where, when. Your prospect will feel more involved.

6. Match Expectations of the Prospect to Your Offer. Ask yourself honestly this question. Can your offer be used to satisfy the expectations of the prospect? If yes, then you may be on the right track. Just show the prospect how your program is going to help him.

7. Respect the Decision of the Prospect. The prospect will make decisions based on his reasons, not yours. There is no point in trying to force your decision on him. Respect his decisions and you will remain friends even if he does not join you immediately.

8. Build Credibility. Be honest, whatever may be the outcome of your interaction. Your prospect should develop faith in you and trust you to help him in growing his business.

9. Contact the Prospect Frequently. If a prospect is non-committal or even if he says no first time it does not necessarily mean no. He may later decide to join you provided you remain in contact with him. This is particularly true in email marketing where prospects are convinced enough to join the program only after being reminded several times.

There you have the clue to successful prospecting.

Network marketing provides one of the best opportunities not only for massive earnings but also for personal development. Your life is transformed and you get the power to transform lives of other people. You get a deep satisfaction when you are able to give another person a life changing experience. All you need to do is develop a proper mindset and you are on your way to prosperity.


About the Author
Sanjay Johari regularly contributes articles to several ezines. Discover how to work the powerful combination of network marketing and a proper mindset to attain financial freedom and success in life. Visit his website on Network Marketing.

How to Attract People To Your Organization

Whats is the difference between someone that prospects other people, and someone that attracts prospects?

Its not with a new product or system that you can buy and you will attract people. It is by being a leader. You have to assume the role of being a leader before you can attract people. You can't say,"I'll become a leader after I attract people." You have to start becoming a leader to attract people.

This involves putting oneself out there and being vulnerable in many ways. The system and structure of your organization/company and other generic training is helpful, but if you don't step up to the plate, you won't see results. Also, when you become a leader you have to attract other leaders. Needers attract needers. Leaders attract leaders.

I used to get so sick of people that were followers, couldn't think or do anything without my or other upline members help, didn't show up when they needed to, talked and didn't do, and the list goes on. If you are sick of bringing these types of people into your organization and having to replace them every month, assume the role of leadership. DECIDE to risk messing up here and there to lead your organization and others in your life.

I used to think that I would start being more of a leader/top-producer, when I could show others that I was because of my position in the company or by my paycheck. The truth is that you have to believe in and of yourself as a leader before anyone will see it. Or maybe you don't see yourself as a leader. You have to have belief without sight. You have to believe that you can become a leader because you WANT to. Then, you and others will SEE it.

John C. Maxwell has some really good books on leadership that talk about these concepts in detail. But for now, remember, lead first, then attract.

Changes In Google Adwords

Well, if you are using Google Adwords, you might have noticed the minumum bids go up a lot for your keywords. There has been a lot of discussion about this. But from my research, it seems that a lot of it has to do with ad relevancy and user experience.

For example, if you have a landing page or other page, that is low on relevancy to your ad or the keywords you are using, they are trying to weed you out. So, if you have a keyword that is not in your ad, or anywhere on your page, they are going to charge you a lot just to be listed. They way to beat this is to keyword optimize your page and ads by using many of the keywords in them. Also, don't have too broad of keyword lists because your minimum bids are going to go up, and also, you won't be receiving targeted traffic anyways.

The focus of Google's changes are "user experience." If you just have a squeeze or opt in page that your ad links to, that is going to raise your bids as well. So, when designing your pages now, think of user experience. Once again, make it keyword rich, and don't just try to get an opt-in, and then take them to a sales page.

I hope this helps for some of you Adwords users.

MLM Promoters Often Recruit the Wrong People

I thought that this was a good article. I agree as well.

by Roger Ellerton
"MLM, which stands for multilevel marketing, is a genuine and potentially profitable business opportunity. Yet, before getting involved, you need to understand if it is congruent with your personality.
At one time or another, each of us has been approached by someone promoting an MLM product or business opportunity. Some familiar MLM companies are: Mary Kay, Amway, NSA, Herbalife and Nu Skin. For those involved with MLM, there are primarily two ways to make money: sell product or sign-up someone to sell product as part of your organization (often referred to as a downline) - the latter often being the more profitable.
Frequently MLM promoters focus on the wrong personalities when recruiting individuals to be part of their downline. In fact, it is estimated that only about one in ten people recruited succeed at making a full-time living with MLM. To help explain this poor success ratio, let's consider the Options - Procedures meta program from NLP.
In NLP, meta programs are filters that operate at an unconscious level and determine how you perceive the world around you. They have a major influence on how you communicate with others and the behaviors you manifest. For this article, we will focus on the Options - Procedures meta program. This meta program is based on the question: Does the person prefer to keep their options open and explore alternatives or feel most comfortable following established procedures?
The terms Options and Procedures describe two ends of a spectrum. On one end, we have Options people who are motivated by the possibility of doing something in an alternative way. They are the type of people who will develop procedures, yet not follow them. They enjoy breaking or bending the rules. Exploring new ideas and possibilities is of great interest. They may begin a new project and not feel compelled to finish it. It is often said of these people that if someone gave them a guaranteed way to make a million dollars, the first thing they would do is look at ways to improve the process. These people are motivated when they hear words or phrases such as: alternatives, break the rules, choice, flexibility, unlimited possibilities, the sky's the limit, expand your choices, let's look at other options. These people do well in situations that require developing solutions or alternatives to current systems - fashion designing, process re-engineering.
On the other end of the spectrum, we have Procedures people who like to follow established rules and processes. Once they understand a procedure, they will follow it repeatedly. They have great difficulty developing new processes and feel lost without a clearly defined procedure. They are more concerned about how to do something than about why they should do it. For them, bending or breaking rules is sacrilege! They are motivated by words and phrases such as: correct way, tried and true, first ... then ... lastly, clearly defined path, proven methodology. Procedures people do well in a structured environment with clearly defined processes, for example bookkeeping or commercial airline piloting.
In a general work context, about forty percent of the people have a preference for Options, forty percent for Procedures and twenty percent are fairly evenly balanced between the two.
Now, let's return to looking at MLM. Of the two types of people, which one will most likely be successful as an MLM distributor? I suggest that MLM organizations have been successful because they have developed proven, successful ways to sell their products and to build an extensive and profitable downline. In other words, their ideal candidate is someone who follows a proven set of procedures - a Procedures person!
Yet, when I am approached by an MLM distributor or attend an MLM recruiting meeting, I repeatedly hear words such as: the sky's the limit, gives you freedom, you are your own boss, flexibility, explore the possibilities, keep your options open, ... . That is, they are speaking to and attracting Options people. Options people are attracted by the freedom and flexibility of the opportunity and readily sign-up. The first time they market the product or business opportunity, they may follow the proven process, the next time, they will probably do it a different way and different yet again the time following that. At some point, they may develop a brilliant way to develop their business. However, they don't take time to fully develop the procedures before moving on to something new. Thus, they do not achieve the full potential of the opportunity.
On a related note, it has been discovered that telemarketers with a preference for the Procedures pattern sell about three times as much as Options people. Simply because sales (and MLM) is a very structured process.
About the Author
NoneAuthor: Roger Ellerton is a certified NLP trainer, certified management consultant and the founder and managing partner of Renewal Technologies. He can be reached at Renewal Technologies www.renewal.ca. The above article is an extract from his book Live Your Dreams Let Reality Catch Up: NLP and Common Sense for Coaches, Managers and You.

Good Sites for MLM and Internet Marketing

I usually like to read and sometimes post on:

MLM.com

Warrior Forum

TalkGold

Rich Dad forum

OnlineMLM.com

Wealthy Affiliate - this one costs money, but there's some good information on it

The Power of Networking

Whether you are in Network Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, or any type of business or marketing, you must build networks. What do I mean by networks? I mean that you want to connect with networks of people and make your own network.

For example, if you are in Network Marketing/MLM, you want to build relationships with many people, especially other networkers. Don't do it to recruit them. Instead to it first to build friendships. Secondly, if either of you is going through a company change, or you have any marketing materials to give or market to one another, you will have people to go to. Its also just good to be around like minded people. You also want to have a network of friends, family, co-workers, etc. Always get names, numbers, and emails. If you build rapport with them, then when you need something, or have something to promote/market, you already have a list of people that trust you.

With affiliate or internet marketing, your network might be other marketers like you. You can cross promote products with them, do joint ventures, promote to eachothers opt-in lists, and things of that nature.

Some places to network are forums, blogs, interest groups, your job, your church, the gym, and many other places.

ALWAYS be networking and building relationships. In real life, on the internet, and everywhere else. You never know when you might be able to help these people or them to help you

Network Marketing and Internet/Affiliate Marketing

This blog has been created to give people information on MLM/Network Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Internet Marketing, and other things related to those subjects. All 3 of these subjects intertwine, and hopefully you can learn a lot here.