This free monthly newsletter is made possible by our advertisers and our Insider's Bookshelf customers. We thank them for their support! From the Desk of the Editor Just want to take a moment to wish all of you a happy, healthy, and safe holiday season. I am very thankful to all my loyal readers and supporters who make the MLM Woman site possible. This issue of the newsletter marks the beginning of our second year anniversary of MLM Woman Online. If the newsletter has helped you over a rough patch in your business, inspired you to take some risks and go for it, and made your business more fun and profitable, then our mission has been fulfilled. See you in '99! Yours in Success! Linda Locke, Editor MLM Woman Learning Equals Earning By Terri Renaud Why are over 90% of businesses losing money or failing? One big reason: They don't take advantage of the knowledge available to them. If the information isn't free, they won't pay for it. Often if it is free, they won't bother to read it. People skim, looking for that one get rich quick secret that has so far eluded them. When you find it please let the rest of us in on it. After thousands of hours of reading and surfing and listening to tapes I have noted a few things about the biggest money earners. They work hard. They never give up. Successful people are always willing to invest time and money learning how to do things better. The people who read, listen to tape programs, and surf the web for information will have an enormous edge over the just get by crowd. Anybody can spend their evenings watching television and chugging beer. That lifestyle is, I admit, less work and easier. I doubt you'll catch high producers worshipping Sony night after night. Learning is a habit, and I've heard it said that it takes 21 days to form a new habit. Think about it. In three weeks you could be miles ahead of your competition. 11 quick and painless tips on getting the learning habit 1. Buy a month or two worth of reading materials at one time and save on shipping/trips to the store. Always have your next book handy. 2. Only buy books on topics that will help you in your business today, or books you can't wait to get your hands on. Forget what others say is great, or what they say you should read. Please yourself when it comes time to pick a page-turner. 3. Reading how-to's will always put money in your pocket, but grab books just for fun too. Learn more about hobbies you love, or crack open a crime thriller, sci-fi, mystery, or even a cartoon book once in a while. The process is supposed to be fun. 4. Underline important passages while you read and make notes. It's easier to find key ideas later. 5. Forget borrowing books, buy yourself a library. I re-read books I've had more then fifteen years and learn something new. Nothing hurts more then needing access to a specific chapter and not having the book handy. (Hence, the reason I don't lend my books anymore, ever.) 6. Buy tape programs and listen while you drive. If you have to be trapped in your car in traffic, it's far more productive then fuming. Your mind is occupied and you're less likely to want to throttle the next moron who cuts you off. 7. Use the search engines, they're FREE. Surf topics you'd like to learn about for a few minutes each, and bookmark sites for quick reference. Keep a notebook of URLs, and make a note of what info is on the site. None of your surfing time will be wasted. 8. Whether you're surfing or curling up with a book, promise yourself 15 to 30 minutes of learning a day. Missing one half hour show a day is relatively painless. 9. Use tapes while you surf or do mindless chores, the time passes faster. 10. Find someone who has successfully done what you are trying to do, learn how they did it, and copy them. As Anthony Robbins says "don't re-invent the wheel. 11. Invest a few bucks in a speed reading course, you will never regret doubling or tripling your reading speed. Terri Renaud is a profit coach for Biz Wizards Business Solutions in Toronto, Canada. She has given over 200 online marketing, motivation, and increasing small business profit seminars. AOL members can attend her free business chats by emailing BizWizard@bizwizards.net and merely asking to receive the chat memo. Visit her website at BizWizards.net Selling Yourself First By Crystal Ortiz Remember the first time you heard of network marketing? When I was a kid, my parents were Amway distributors, and their sponsors were very successful with Amway. I remember their house, wanting one of my own, and vaguely remember the seemingly constant meetings, the white board and markers with circles all over the place, and an endless library of audio tapes that my mom never seemed to get around to listening. These impressions were with me for about 15 years, before I got involved in Network Marketing. I had never heard of the company, never realized there were so many other companies, but a friend had approached us and told us about a little booklet, how he had checked out the company, and that there was more information we could send for. It was all very exciting, not to mention a FRIEND had recommended it, and he was truly interested in getting involved as well. He was only a few days ahead of us in receiving materials, he didn't have a big downline or a big check to prove how much he was making, but the 3 videos and 2 audios combined with a booklet and a few other sheets of paper were enough to convince us that this was the opportunity of a lifetime. So, how do you sell yourself first? Well, my sponsor knew us, which was a lucky break for him. But, he understood warm marketing. We were so excited that we ordered 4000 volume points worth of product, and he also qualified for the level in the company that pays residual income as well as earning 50% on retail sales. We also spent $1500 on the lead generation supplies, stamps, and mailing lists. We're talking serious money at this point, but our belief in what we were about to do was unshakable. But, our belief came from ourselves, not a bunch of hype. Now, suppose you are talking to a prospect that you don't know, they possibly answered an ad or responded to your lead generation efforts. You don't have the "credibility" of a good friend, and they don't know whether you're one of those Scamsters out there to make a quick buck and disappear. There are so many scams, they have to be cautious. So you have to make them want to join YOU! They don't understand your compensation plan, they've never heard of your product or your company, and who can truly understand earning $20,000 per month from home unless they are a seasoned network marketer? Those numbers can scare new people away. But, there are a few things that will help them to gain confidence in you. First, you have to build a rapport. Call them, and ask questions about them. Remember, this is about THEM joining you, so you should discreetly target your questions. What are they currently doing? Is their spouse or family supportive? Have they ever owned their own business? How much are they willing to invest in themselves in the way of time and money? All of these are good, as you want to "interview" them. Not everyone will be a heavy-hitter, but all of the little guys help build you up. Just stay away from the ones who expect you to do everything for them, and will end up sucking you dry. Remember, as you're asking questions, don't ask anything that can be answered with a YES or NO answer. You want these people to open up to you, and when they ask a question about you, keep it brief and simple. They need to know vital information, and the more they feel they know you without you rambling on about yourself, the more you will gain their trust. If you don't have a big check, or are uncomfortable sharing your income, then tell what the business has brought you so far. My story has always been: "I made more my first month retailing the products than I had in 9 months of owning my own business, in which I was a slave working 10 hour days. Within 6 months, we had bought a 4 bedroom house and moved out of our 2-bedroom "closet", and within a year, I also had a brand-new 1997 Taurus, completely loaded...leather, CD, sunroof, etc." If I had given a dollar amount, they would have perceived that I was unsuccessful, that I had not "gotten rich" with this opportunity. But by showing how my lifestyle had changed, they could see what the extra money would accomplish. In my opinion, DO NOT try to sign them up on this first contact. Plug them into a conference call, offer a fax-on-demand number, send them a BASIC brochure, but if you try to "go in for the kill" on this one, you will lose them. Keep in mind, you are trying to whet their appetite and learn more about why they should do business with you and with no one else. If you make them want the business, but they can't stand to hear from you, they will just find another business to join! Another way to build rapport is by following up with them. Send postcards and newsletters to your prospects. Let them know what's going on in your business, how other distributors are doing, and that they are important enough that you remember them. Prospects will feel that you are not going to just sign them up and forget about them. Some people may take 6 months before joining, but if you keep your name in front of them, you will be the first one they think of when it comes time to Get Busy. Make sure you're plugged into your company's system. DON'T try to provide every answer to every question. Instead, show your prospects, new recruits, part-timers, and others in your downline that the information is readily available through a system that they can also use: conference calls, three-ways, voicemail & fax systems, etc. When they can discover their own independence, they will become even more excited. Network Marketing will show you who your friends are. I am not a warm marketer...I'm not ready to alienate my friends and family the way my sponsor has. He called to chew us out when we first got started for placing a retail ad in the same (only local) daily newspaper that his was running in. The only time he calls now is to find out how much our volume is so that he can calculate his check. Trust me, don't do this to your people! Show them that you are the sponsor they've always dreamed of having, someone they can trust, that will answer their questions, and who truly cares about seeing their check grow. Crystal Ortiz is a full-time network marketer and mother of two toddlers. She is also the webmistress of the MLM Training Center website http://members.tripod.com/~newco4/training/ and publishes two ezines, Mail Order Marketing and The MLM Trainer. She can be contacted by email at mlmtrainer@rica.net. Understanding Your Visitors And How To Listen on the Internet By Wanda Loskot So, you want to know what can make your website really effective? I can tell you what. It is your concern for visitors. It is understanding their needs and their wants. Responding to their wishes. Because you are building the web site for them - not for you, right? So, take a look at your website and examine how does it fit with the psychology of your visitors. Keep in mind that people act and react differently on the web - so much so, that sometimes it is difficult to believe that these are the same people who behave so "normally" in the "real" world. 1. They are always rushing Maybe because they have soooo many places to visit, maybe because they feel guilty that they should be doing something else. Whatever the reasons - they are always in the hurry. They have in their hands a deadly weapon (mouse) and they click away whenever they get bored (and they DO get bored really fast and easily). Make sure then that your pages load fast, that you tell people quickly what and where they can find and provide them with a way to jump to any page from anyplace with really easy navigation. 2. They expect a LOT for free People on the internet ARE on the internet because they know that it is a gold mine of free information. They are expecting to find it - and they will. Once they find it, if the gold mine is really rich - they come back for more. And they send their friends to visit the same places. However, they simply refuse to come back to the place that didn't interest them when they landed there for the first time. Build your offer around the rich, free content. Don't think about selling - but about what you can give. Then, and only then, offer them something so incredibly valuable, that your visitors will be willing to pay for it. 3. They don't trust easily People on the net are often misinformed and even paranoid about buying on line. They are aware that anyone - even a 10 year old kid - can build an awesome website full of unique graphics and they need to be skillfully persuaded before they are ready to leave a name or e-mail address. And they need to be persuaded even more before they will hand you their credit card number. Don't even think about selling anything in the first paragraph - resist selling on the home page at all. Use it to establish rapport and to provide information. Romance your visitor and use as many ways as possible to inspire their trust. 4. They love to click Their mouse-finger is literally begging them to click. They will request and subscribe to just about anything that somehow looks promising - as long as it is offered free of cost and you don't ask for too many information. Your visitors will enter chat rooms even if they plan to remain silent, they will vote, and they will even click on some advertising banners - all for that thrill of clicking. Make sure then that you satisfy their need to push that mouse button while exploring YOUR site. Use that craving to your advantage - ask them to subscribe, to vote, to click for more information, to ask questions, to move from page to page. If you don't give them opportunity to interact, they will satisfy their need to click anyway: they will click to surf away. Don't follow into the steps of those who try to change the surfers habits instead of taking advantage of them - it is a very costly mistake! How To Listen on the Internet Here is a novel business idea that will double, triple, or even quadruple your bottom line. Actually it's nothing new - it is a bread-and-butter of business. Or rather bread without a butter because it is so basic. But even though it is SOO basic I am constantly astonished how very few people understand it! After being on the web for more than four thousand hours I got used to my portion of personal letters, often written in response to my posts on various lists and discussion boards. Quite often writer's comments lead to a business offer. That's perfectly all right, because I need to buy things too and since I respect proactive business people, I'd rather buy from those who write to me than those who don't.... However, it saddens me when they (well, a majority of them anyway) waste the opportunity to score extra points and fail to create a good first impression. Quite often they turn me off because after asking me to help solve their problems and/or offering me their products they raise questions such as: "By the way, what kind of business you are in?" or "Would like to learn more about you" or here is the best one: "Do you have a web presence?" (it came with yesterday's mail - in response to my post on some list seriously!) Why it is so funny? Because I ALWAYS include a signature file which answers those questions. And because my signature has even more: a link to my website, which answers all those questions, asking any of them tells a lot about a correspondent. It tells me that he/she doesn't listen! Not a good sign. You might say "c'mon Wanda, LISTENING on the web??" Yes, listening! If creating our websites is the equivalent of talking, and participating in the discussion lists or boards represents a conversation - then READING someone's post or letter is the equivalent of listening. Keep this in mind when approaching anyone with your offer, proposition or idea. We do create lasting impressions with that first contact! And reading as carefully as we can whatever others disclose helps to make that first great - and most important - impression which demonstrates that we are good listeners. Dale Carnegie once said "You win more friends in life by being interested in others than trying to get others interested in you". It works on the internet, too. To show the other person that you are interested in what he or she is doing. Outside of the web this can be time consuming - but here it is a cinch! Most of the time all you need to do is to click on that link in the signature file, visit a website and take your time to read a little! (of course it starts with READING that signature!) You will find that true heartfelt listening will result in the creation of lasting relationships. And that, my friends will make your business thrive (even without those search engines!) Wanda Loskot - international business coach/writer/speaker. Author of a referral system that will make your business work so that you can rest or play - register to win one month of FREE business coaching! http://loska.com/successconnection. To receive her free newsletter send an e-mail to: news@loska.com and put subscribe in the subject. Go back to the top of the page Back to the MLMWoman Newsletter Index We want your feedback! Send e-mail comments to Linda at: regent@west.net Copyright 1998, Regent Press http://www.mlmwoman.com