|
|
|
|
From the Desk of the Editor
Five Success Secrets Every By Linda Locke, Editor MLM Woman 1. Leaders Build Relationships with People - Network marketing success is built on good relationships and leaders know that to be a success you must understand how to really connect with people. People like to do business with people that they like and trust. People know when someone really cares about them and their success and when the don't. It's been said before - if you help enough people to get what they want - you'll get what you want. Leaders know that building relationships takes time and effort, but it's an investment in your future and theirs. 2. Leaders Stay Connected - Regular communication is essential to building a business. Leaders keep in contact in a variety of ways using newsletters, telephones, e-mail etc. They know that staying connected with their downline is one of the most important responsibilities of being a good upline leader and that regular communication shows the commitment they have to their downline's success. 3. Leaders Keep Learning - Leaders know that they should always keep learning so they can continue to improve their leadership and business building skills. Leaders are constantly reading books, magazines and newsletters, listening to tapes and sharing what they learn with their downlines. 4. Leaders Take Time for Themselves - Taking time off to replenish your batteries is a must for Leaders. They know that taking short vacations, exercising, doing something fun with their families or having a hobby helps them to relax and stay healthy and energized so they can keep themselves and their business in top shape. One of my rejuvenation secrets is to go to a great hotel close to your home for a couple days for a mini vacation (you feel like you've been far away from everything even if you are only 5 miles away from home). 5. Leader are Good Listeners - Leaders listen to people and really hear what they say about what's important to them and what their goals are. They know that if they find out what motivates their downline, they can help them to achieve their goals.
An Alphabet Soup of Marketing Tools By Barbara J. Winter Attention-getting device - grab people's attention with a unique approach: color, a catchy name or provocative headline are a few ways to get noticed fast. Business cards & brochures - these most common marketing tools deserve to be memorable. A good card or brochure should serve as a mini-billboard, going beyond the bare facts. Customer mailing list - keep building a list of names and mail to them when you have something special to promote or just want to remind them you're there. Demonstrations - television is a powerful medium, because it allows us to see events and products in action. Find ways to show, not just tell, your story. Easy to Find - ask yourself this question: "If a newcomer arrived in my city and needed my services, how would they find me?" If you're hard to locate, you'll miss opportunities. Freebies - can you create a mini-sample to give away? Everyone loves to get little perks. Gift Certificates - an easy way to suggest to your customers that they share your product or service with others. Host an Event - use your imagination to come up with a celebration or appreciation event. Invite lots of people. Impeccable Service - a commitment to fabulous service will make you feel good...and earn you a ton of word-of-mouth advertising. Joint Projects - look for ways to multiply your efforts by joining forces with another entrepreneur to create a special project that will benefit both of you. Klassified Ads - (okay, so I'm stretching here) these inexpensive ads can keep your message in front of thousands of people for pennies. Learning to write a good one takes practice, but it's worth it. Letters to the Editor - an overlooked tool for getting your ideas and name in print. Manners - if yours are wonderful, people will be amazed. Make politeness one of your trademarks. Newsletters - almost any kind of business can benefit from a customer newsletter. Although these take time to produce, the resulting surge in business will make you a believer. Offer - give your customers an incentive for acting quickly or buying a certain amount. Postcards - a wonderful way to communicate with your customers and save postage at the same time. Quality - this important ingredient doesn't necessarily have to cost more money, but in order to build quality, you may have to spend more time and attention to details. Radio, TV and Newspapers - never underestimate the power of a media story to build your bottom line. Look for ways to be newsworthy...and let the media know. Surprise - customers love the unusual and unexpected. Try dazzling yours! Teach & Talk - if you have something to teach, you'll not only create a profit center, you'll also meet new customers for your other ventures. Think of all those program chairpeople looking for a fresh speaker. It could be you. Ubiquitous - a grand word meaning "appearing to be everywhere at once." Keep it in mind as you go about your marketing and find many ways to appear. Variety - try different ways to get your message out. Most businesses get stuck in one way of doing things and miss the fun of trying new approaches. Write - establish credibility and visibility by putting your ideas on paper and getting them published. You might even consider doing a regular column in your local newspaper. X - some extra ideas include...get yourself listed in local and/or national business directories... gather testimonials and use them on promotional pieces and ads...put together a tip sheet of useful info to give out. Yellow Pages - not an inexpensive way to advertise, but many businesses report it is their single best investment. Zest - we all love to do business with people who are enthusiastic about the service or product they offer. If you love what you're doing, everything will fall into place. Barbara J. Winter is the author of "Making a Living Without A Job" and is the editor of Winning Ways Newsletter, P.O. Box 39412, Minneapolis, MN 55439.
"You've Got to Have RUSS in Your Business" By Marlee Huber While cooking dinner one night, I was interrupted by the ring of the telephone. Thinking it might be a business call, I promptly answered it, and found my sponsor on the line. He said, "Marlee, do you have RUSS in your business?" I don't I have a Russ in my business," I quickly answered. He implored, "You've GOT to have RUSS in you business. Everyone needs RUSS in their business." Somewhat baffled I curiously asked, "Who's Russ?" He responded, "Regularly Use, Sponsor, and Sell." Laughingly, I told him, "Yes, I have RUSS in my business." I hope you do, too. RUSS is the one who will keep you in front of the pack. If 90% of success comes with just showing up, the other 10% is having RUSS in your business. Regularly means daily. Become an everyday user of your product, possess an everyday sponsoring mentality, and everyday offer your products to someone who would find them tremendously beneficial. Keep RUSS busy. Never let him be idle. RUSS will be your best business partner. And remember, you're not working unless you have RUSS in your business. Marlee Huber is a full-time independent consultant with Noevir, U.S.A. and the mother of two daughters.
Marketing Help for Biz
Use Email Newsletters to Market By Dr. Kevin Nunley If you're promoting your small business on the Internet, you aren't alone. The latest surveys show that small businesses outnumber larger firms on the Internet by a margin of four to one. Corporations are advertising on the Net just like they do with other media: contact an Internet ad agency, buy banner ads, and watch results come in. That works fine if you've got thousands of dollars to spend each month on advertising. But what if you're going it alone and your advertising allowance has to come out of the grocery money? E-zines are the answer. E-zines (short for email magazines or newsletters) are quick and cheap to produce and often go to huge numbers of eager subscribers. Publishers don't have to pay for postage or printing, and the savings are passed on to advertisers in the form of extremely low ad rates. For inexpensive Internet advertising, it's very hard to beat classified ads in e-zines. Here are just two examples to give you an idea. DEMC will include your ad in an issue to 300,000 subscribes for about $35. Your ad includes a live link to your email and web site for some of the best response available anywhere (contact Gary Christensen at gapach97@aol.com). Kevin Needham's A.I.M. Newsletter goes to a rapidly expanding subscriber base of 33,000 and also gets excellent results at very low cost (see Kevin's site at inetexchange.com) There are literally thousands of e-zines, some specifically targeting your best customers. For a list of several hundred of the best, send email to the autoresponder at new@yoken.com (the list will be sent back to you via return e-mail). Maximizing Your E-zine Classified. As is the case everywhere on the Internet, your ad's first line is what makes or breaks it. Use the first line to announce your most important customer benefit. And don't forget the two most powerful words in advertising: "you" and "free." The sentence-- "You can get my FREE report"--always gets big response. Sometimes e-zine ads bring disappointing results. If at first your ad doesn't succeed, try and try again. There's an old saying in marketing that the first ad never works. Advertising brings home the bacon when you smartly repeat your ad week after week. It takes time (sometimes as many as seven times) before your ad gets the prospect's attention. Go One Better--Write For E-zines. The beauty of email publishing is that it works so quickly. I often write an article in the morning, send it to an e-zine in the afternoon, and see it published in a new issue by evening. Responses flood in by midnight. On the Internet, there's no wait-time while printing presses roll, trucks make their way through town, or mail waits to be sorted. If you need marketing results fast, write an article for e-zines. Keep your article short. One or two pages is fine. Tell readers how to do something that will interest many of them. Keep sentences short, informal, and talk directly to the reader. If you don't feel comfortable with your writing skills, have a local English teacher or journalism student look over your article for you. Also be sure to include four to six lines at the end promoting yourself, your business, your offer, and your contact information. Because you won't get paid for your article, publishers don't mind allowing you a personal plug at the end. The article makes you look like an expert in your field. Your contact info at the end urges thousands of impressed readers to contact the expert. Put Out Your Own E-zine. A lot has been written lately about the importance of networking to build your business. When marketing expert Leslie Speidel polled hundreds of successful entrepreneurs on what they attributed their growth to, most replied "networking!" Nothing helps you network like your own email newsletter. Your ideas and expertise along with product news and tips from customers go out to everyone you know and do business with. It's also OK to include some ads for yourself and associates. Readers don't seem to mind ads if they're packaged along with helpful articles. People on the Internet are usually in a hurry, so keep your e-zine short. One or two articles coupled with two or three short ads may be all your e-zine needs. Keep lines short enough to fit into an email browser and put a hard return at the end of each line (to keep them from breaking up when emailed). For starters, you can send your e-zine out with your favorite email program (a good free one is Eudora Lite--http://www.eudora.com). Later, when your subscriber list grows, you may want to upgrade to a majordomo provided, most likely, by the same company that provides your web site space. Get subscribers by placing free ads on classified sites, ads in appropriate newsgroups, and announcing your new e-zine to firms that specialize in keeping track of various lists of subscribers. Start with liszt.com and The List of Lists (Listserv@LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU). Send a description of your newsletter to gapach97@aol.com for inclusion on the "Yoken" list. Be sure to mention your new email newsletter in all your print and broadcast advertising and add a place for people to subscribe on your web site. Your subscriber list can easily grow to include a few thousand within a year. An audience that size will be a continuing source of sales, contacts, and insights. Consider how to incorporate e-zines into your on-line marketing. Start with consistent e-zine advertising, progress to writing articles (or having them written for you), and on to putting out your own newsletter. It's currently the best marketing tool available for small businesses. Kevin Nunley helps businesses with marketing advice, copy writing, Internet promotion, and web design. Reach Kevin at DrNunley@aol.com or (801)253-4536 or at his website at: http://www.DrNunley.com
Go back to the top of the page Back to the MLMWoman Newsletter Index
We want your feedback!
http://www.mlmwoman.com |
Send
e-mail comments to