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From the Desk of the Editor This month I revamped our MLM Woman Bulletin Board with a new look and new software. I made this change because as most of you know, our bulletin board was off our web site on another server, which is not as fast nor as reliable as I would like. So I finally decided to buy my own software and install the board on my own web site. This new software allows us to add some new features such as searching on all messages, viewing all the messages posted each day, and previewing messages before they are posted. We also now have a Frequently Asked Questions page. All of the messages on the old board have been archived and are available for viewing via a link on the new Bulletin Board. I am constantly amazed by how much great information can be shared in a forum like this and how freely and unselfishly people share their experience and knowledge with others. Between this newsletter and our bulletin board, I think we have more business building MLM information per electron than any other MLM site on the Net! If you haven't visited the new board, please come and say hello and ask a question or offer some assistance! Click Here to Visit the New MLM Woman Bulletin Board
Yours in Success!
Losing Prospects Through Procrastination By Rozey Gean I'm certain you have heard the expression, "don't put it off til tomorrow, what you can do today." Knowing on a daily basis what is expected from you - will most certainly enable you to be more efficient in your business. The necessity of becoming accustomed to doing your "business to-do list" on a systematic level - will definitely increase your consistency and your sales! If you're the type of person that "forgets things easily", you are the person I am talking to right now! Write it down and attach it to your hip if you have to, but do it! One of the most common reasons we lose clients or new prospects, is by way of procrastination. The art of not following through on what we started. The "playing for time" syndrome. The disease of not being properly prepared. You may be smiling at my matter-of-fact nature, but the truth is, it doesn't make good business sense, when you don't portray yourself as HAVING "good business sense." I'm sure you will agree, when you were a child and touched a hot match - you learned not to do it again. Perhaps we need to take this same basic principle of learning - and apply it to our business? What doesn't work the first time - probably won't work the second time around, unless we have learned from our misfortune - and change the process. I've had several cases of procrastination that has caused me to lose jobs - as well as, my clients losing faith in my ability to perform as promised. Have I learned from these mistakes? You bet! Will I be more careful in the future to see they aren't repeated? Count on it! I've learned I can not take on "every job" that is given to me, for the simple reason of becoming overwhelmed with work - and falling short on my promise to deliver. I've had to change some avenues within my business system in order to achieve better results for myself - and to be able to satisfy my clients' expectations. Learning How To Achieve Better Results The idea that any one of us will delay what needs to be done is a very costly price to pay in business - especially when it results in a loss in sales and the inability to increase or retain your client base. What I am referring to here is the need to get your business lives in order. A plan of action. A timely presentation which will bring you additional sales during slow periods or give you the ability of foresight. If you find yourself in a predicament where you do not have the ample time to complete your work as promised - you must make a list and set a priority for each task. After writing down every job you need to complete - and following your prioritized list, will you find the jobs getting done, through implementation of your plan! However, this is not an easy task! With perseverance, and patience - you will see light at the end of the tunnel. A Perfect Example of Procrastination I hear it all the time, "my business was slow this month" or "this is our slow period and a drop in sales can be expected." What is this sort of thinking? It makes perfect sense to me, if you realize your business has a slow period in March, you would have an advantage. The advantage is "you know when your slow periods are" and can work through January and February of the previous months to make certain your sales will increase. There is a warning signal so apparent - you should already be preparing (months in advance) to increase your sales, for when your slow period arrives. You need to prepare!! Get out your "to do pad" and start writing!! Perhaps, it is time to introduce a MARCH SPECIAL for your products or services that will help bring awareness to your products and services? Announce every month - 2 or 3 months before March about the SPECIAL OFFER your company will be giving to customers! Make your clients AWARE of what is available - and ONLY available - in the month of MARCH! It's so easy to increase sales in a "usual slow month" and there are no exceptions - the question is, why are you procrastinating? Rozey has been working with a home-based business for 13 years, and publishes a "How To" Newsletter for small business owners. Currently, she mentors others to help them concentrate on effective telemarketing skills through "Women Entrepreneurs Online Network. Subscribe to her FREE newsletter and learn how to generate leads, build your referrals and produce sales with less traffic on your web site! E-mail: subscribe@weon.com or visit her web site at http://www.weon.com today! Copyright © 1988, Rozey Gean, All Rights Reserved
How to Create a Captivating Headline
By Bob Leduc You're reading this article because the headline captured your attention. It sparked your desire to know more about creating headlines. That's the mission of an effective headline. It captures the reader's attention and provides a compelling reason to read whatever follows. The headline is the most important part of any ad or sales letter. It determines whether or not people will read your message. You may have the best written copy in the world but you've wasted your time if your headline doesn't excite readers enough to read your message. Here are some examples of effective headlines I found in the classified ad section of a popular website: * Lose 15 Pounds In 30 Days... And Keep It Off * Submit Your Ad To 200 Websites With 1 Mouse Click * Instantly Increase Your Orders By 29% * How To Make $2,000/Month At Home With Your Computer * Discover How To Reduce Your Fuel Bills By 43% Each of these headlines clearly states the benefit I can expect to get from the product, service or business opportunity promoted in the ad under the headline. If I am interested in gaining the benefit, I cannot resist reading the entire ad to find out more. A SIMPLE FIVE STEP PROCEDURE I've used the following 5 step procedure many times to create powerful headlines. It's simple and easy to follow. Even someone without special talent, skill or previous experience can use it to create a captivating headline. STEP #1. Define in writing the ideal prospect you want to capture with your headline. Be sure to include the characteristics that make your product or service valuable to this prospect. STEP #2. Personalize this ideal prospect by visualizing them as one person you want to attract with your headline. Keep this vision of one person in your mind whenever you're writing a headline. Your ad or sales letter will be read by one person at a time. Therefore, you'll find it easier to produce an effective headline by visualizing just one person and writing to that person. STEP #3. Determine the most valuable benefit this person will gain from the product, service or business opportunity promoted in the message under your headline. STEP #4. Write as many one sentence statements as you can about this benefit. Use one or more of the words from the following list in each statement. There are many other power words you can use in your headlines. However, many years of trial and error have taught me these 12 are the most effective: You, Free, New, Guaranteed, Fast, Easy, Discover, Proven, How-to, Save, Increase, $7953 (any exact amount of money) STEP #5. Select the most powerful statement on your list. If you have several that seem equally powerful, try combining them into one statement and use that as your headline. That's it! You've just created a powerful headline to capture your reader's attention and provide a compelling reason to read whatever follows your headline. Here are some examples of effective headlines I developed using this 5 step procedure. * Easy Way To Increase Your Sales 60% or More This Month! * Discover How You Can Reduce Arthritis Pain FAST! * You Can Earn 50% More Commissions This Year - Guaranteed! * How To Save $1,329 On Your Next Printing Job! * NEW Free Report: 10 Proven MLM Recruiting Ads YOU Can Use * How To Build Your Small Business FAST - Guaranteed! Use this simple 5 step procedure the next time you want to create a captivating headline. It's easy to follow and you'll create a powerful headline to attract your reader's attention and compel him/her to read your ad or sales letter. Bob Leduc retired from a 30 year career of recruiting sales personnel and developing sales leads. He is now a Sales Consultant. Bob recently wrote a manual for small business owners titled "How to Build Your Small Business Fast With Simple Postcards" and several other publications to help small businesses grow and prosper. For more information...Email: BobLeduc@aol.com Subject: "Postcards". Phone: (702) 658-1707 (After 10 AM Pacific time) Or write: Bob Leduc, PO Box 33628, Las Vegas, NV 89133
Do Potential
Customers
Forget About You? With a web business you probably have customers inquiring about your products or services from around the globe. When you get an inquiry via email or your website you try to rapidly send more information to that hot prospect. By satisfying that person's need for information quickly you can dramatically increase the likelihood of making the sale. Once you deliver the first bit of information to your prospect do you send any further information? Most Internet marketers do not. When you don't follow up with additional information you are letting valuable customers slip from your grasp. These are customers that may have been very interested in your products but simply lost your information or were too busy when your first information letter was sent. Some customers even purposely wait to see if you find them important enough to follow up with. When they don't receive a follow up message they take their business elsewhere. Are you losing profits due to inconsistent or ineffective follow up? Follow up is more than just a process, it's an art. To do it effectively you need a system and then you need to stick to that system EVERY DAY! If you don't follow up with prospects consistently and in a timely fashion regarding their INDIVIDUAL information request then you might as well forget the whole process. Consistent follow up gets results. When I first started marketing and following up with prospects I used what I call the "list technique". I had a large database of names and email addresses of people that had specifically requested information about my products and services in the past. Since they had already seen my first letter when they made their information request I usually used the latest news from the company for a follow up piece. Once I had my follow up letter written I would send it to everyone that had previously requested information from me. While this gained me a few additional orders it wasn't totally effective. Let's look at why this method is not effective. * It wasn't consistent because I only sent it when the company had "big news". * It didn't give the buyer additional information about my services so they could make an informed buying decision. It merely told them about our latest news. Why should they care if we just moved into Canada when they wanted to use our service in California? * The "big list" mentality. When I wrote the followup message I was writing a bulletin to everyone, not the individual that made the information request. OK, so what method have I discovered that really works? Individual followup at preset times with pre-written messages will dramatically increase your sales. I have spoken with several others who use this same technique and they have all at least doubled their sales of various products. To set up this system you need to do some planning. First you'll need to develop your follow up messages. If you've been marketing on the Internet for any length of time then you should already have your first information letter. Your second letter (or first follow up) should go into more detail than the first letter. Fill in with additional details where you didn't have space to do so in your first letter. Make sure you stress your product or service's BENEFITS. Your next 2-3 followup messages should be rather short and stress the benefits. Make lists of benefits and potential uses for your product and services. Write the letters so your prospect can skim the contents and get the full force of your message. For your last couple of followup messages you should create a sense of urgency in your prospect's mind. Make a special offer to give them a reason to order now instead of waiting longer. The key is creating urgency so you'll need to look at your product or service and see how you can make your prospect want to order immediately. The final 1 or 2 follow up messages should be in the form of a question. Ask your prospect why they haven't ordered? Try to get them to respond. Ask if the price was too high, the product wasn't the right color, not the right features, or were they looking for something else. By this time it's unlikely the person will order from you but their feedback could help you modify your followup letters or product and services so that other prospects will order from you. The timing of your followup letters is also important. You don't want to have one prospect receive a followup the next day when another prospect waited over 3 weeks for a follow up. You should always send the first followup 24 hours after the information request. You want a hot prospect to have more information quickly so they can make an informed buying decision. The next 2-3 followup messages should be sent between 1 and 3 days apart. Your prospect is still hot and is probably still shopping around for information. Provide them with the benefits they want and you will make the sale. The final followup messages should be sent with much more time in between them. You don't want to annoy your prospect so make sure the letters are at least 4 days apart. Tom Kulzer is the creator of AWeber Systems a unique autoresponder system that actually follows up with prospects automatically. To see a demonstration of this technique in action email affaweber@aweber.com or visit our website at http://www.aweber.com/?2695
Dr. Nunley's Biz-Tips Hook them with a FREE Report! People often ask, “How can I get more prospects...interest more customers...build my mailing list?” Everywhere you go, people want more information. We live in a “knowledge” society where information is power. Just think how out of touch you would feel if you never turned on the TV, never picked up a newspaper, never clicked on the radio. People want and need information--a steady stream of it day in and day out. You can become an in-demand source of information when you offer customers and prospects a free report. This report can be as short as a single page, and it can cover anything that relates to your business and interests your prospects. Ralph had his wife (who is a pretty good writer) put together a special report on the various kinds of cabinets that people have custom built for their kitchens. Ralph hands it to people when he goes to bid on home kitchen remodeling jobs. When advertising on the Internet, don’t miss the opportunity to offer a free report to attract customers. Words that Sell! Some words sell better than others. If you’ve experimented with advertising copy, you know this. Nothing gets attention like the word “FREE!” You don’t need to give away anything of great value, just have an aspect of your business that you can offer “FREE!” It could be as simple as a “FREE” report or a “FREE” consultation (which will, of course, lead to a sale.) Pack your ads and sales letters with action words that convey the idea of getting the job done and having success. In ad copy it’s good to start sentences with action words. “Grab the success you deserve. Take a step toward financial independence. Give yourself the opportunity of a lifetime.” Keep your sentences short and conversational. It’s usually best to use simple words. Instead of writing “assist,” write “help.” Rather than “automobile,” write “car.” Companies that do lots of advertising experiment with different versions of their copy. If you are sending out a sales letter, send out two versions to find which is best. Kevin supplies marketing advice and copywriting fast and at low cost. Reach him at (801)253-4536 or DrNunley@aol.com. See his Marketing Info Supersite: http://www.DrNunley.com Ask for his FREE report.
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