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MLM Woman Online Issue 47 This free monthly newsletter is made possible by our advertisers and customers. We thank them for their support!
MLM Woman Online Issue 47
This free monthly newsletter is made possible by our advertisers and customers. We thank them for their support!
From the Desk of the Editor
Happy Holidays Everyone! Welcome to the 47th issue of the MLM Woman Newsletter. In this month's issue I've included articles on:
Enjoy!
Linda Locke Editor MLM Woman
The Seven Sisters of Success By Philip E. Humbert, PhD. Copyright © 2000
I recently had a chance to interview several groups of extremely successful people. A handful are famous athletes, several are nationally known artists, writers or politicians, and all are multi-millionaires. I asked them for the keys, or essential factors that allowed them to accomplish so much more than the rest of us.
Their answers included a wide variety of specifics, but to an astonishing degree, 7 items came up in every discussion. I've called them the "Seven Sisters of Success", and want to share them with you.
1. Self-awareness.
The first thing that struck me about these men and women was the degree to which they understood themselves. They know their values and goals, and are comfortable with the choices they have made in life. They admitted some regrets and mistakes, but they have made peace with the past and are eager, confident and optimistic about the future.
2. Specific Goals.
Every single one of these 26 people have written goals, ranging from 30-day projects to 10 year programs. I was impressed that their goals are IN WRITING. Athletes had performance targets, and the business leaders had sales goals. They all had family or personal goals that were just as detailed as their professional objectives. The advice we have all heard about writing down your goals really works!
3. Powerful Networks.
They all acknowledged their network of friends and colleagues. Each one gave credit to a mentor or friend who taught them the ropes, opened doors, or gave them a chance when they needed it. They were profoundly grateful and appreciated that success is the result of partnering with many people over many years.
4. Surprising Idealism.
I was surprised at the degree to which these seasoned, mature individuals openly discussed their ideals. Some talked about religious beliefs, others framed it in political or psychological terms, but they all want to make a difference, fulfill a life-purpose, or pursue a dream. They are motivated by a desire to create a better world, to contribute, and to help others.
5. Intense Pragmatism.
Balanced with their idealism, these highly successful people were extremely practical. They are solution-ocused, and use technology, information, and skills to reach their most important goals. They were not interested in theories, or in defending past choices or old traditions. They use practical tools to help them reach their goals.
6. Extraordinary Curiosity.
They observe culture, read the paper, read about their industry, and try to learn about everything around them. They read about politics and religion, they want to know about the stock market and cooking. I was surprised that most of them were not "experts" in the usual sense, but they are extremely educated, bright and curious. They have earned their doctorates in "real life". Very interesting!
7. Personal Discipline.
They don't waste time, and they don't lie to themselves. They don't exaggerate or minimize, and they don't generalize. These people were precise when they spoke about their age, relationships, business affairs or dreams. Numbers and dates, dollars and cents were important to them, and I found them easy to talk with, and very clear in their communications.
What impressed me was that the keys to their success were not related to family or background. They had not been born wealthy, and only about half completed college. They did not seem "driven" for success. They did not make their fortunes in high-tech or by winning a lottery. Instead, they followed a plan that created persistent, high levels of success or a lifetime.
Each of these skills can be learned by anyone! There are no "secrets" of success, and talent, family and luck had little to do with it. These highly successful people knew what they wanted, and used their networks, hard work, patience and discipline to achieve outstanding results. So can you!
About the Author
Visit Dr. Humbert's website for over 250 pages of articles, Top 10 lists, humor, quotes, tips and tools for your success! There's a free book on making (and keeping!) more money, and a FREE motivational newsletter. Check it out at: http://www.philiphumbert.com - Email: Coach@philiphumbert.com
Business Building Ideas (c)2000 by Terri Seymour
With this article, I am going to provide you with some of the best ways to build your online business. There are many ways, some not so good and some excellent! The ideas I have listed below are the ones that have helped me the most.
1. Answering email inquiries quickly and efficiently.
I get many emails asking about how to build a business or where to advertise and so on. I answer all these emails within a 24 hour period and I am as helpful as possible. Remember, you were once a newbie also. More often than not, these people will subscribe to your ezine and/or add your link to their site or whatever they can do to help you. I have emailed others with questions and always end up subscribing to the ones who answer in a helpful and timely manner. This shows a lot about a person's character and business practices.
2. Message Boards
Get involved in a few good message boards. You do not have to just post an ad and forget about it. That is one way to get people to ignore you. What you want to do is get involved in the conversations. It doesn't even have to be about business. The point is to become part of the discussion and answer questions whenever you can. Establish yourself as reliable and trustworthy, not a person who spams and runs. This will provide you with many prospects. I have had many people email me regarding posts of mine on message boards. Some great boards are:
http://www.bizymoms.com/discus/ http://www.momsnetwork.com/cgi-bin/webx/WebX http://www.delphi.com/dir-delphi/
3. Ezine Ad Swapping
If you publish an ezine this is one of the best business builders available. Find other ezines of similar content and email the publisher asking if they would be interested in doing an ad swap. Tell them a little about your ezine and why you think an ad swap would benefit both of you. Here are some places to find publishers interested in ad swaps:
http://Ezine-Swap.com/ http://www.adswappers.20m.com/ http://swap.at/TheSwapShop.com | http://www.swap-resources.com/
4. Ezine Publishing
Publishing your own ezine is definitely one of the best business builder ideas on the net. Ezine publishing is not as hard as it seems. You update people on your site and business and you also provide resources and information. Some sites to help you get started publishing are:
http://www.ezineseek.com/ http://www.e-zinez.com/ http://www.ezineuniversity.com/
5. Building A Good Reputation
It is essential to your business that you present yourself as honest and trustworthy. You must then carry out this presentation and be a person of your word and you must put your customers first. Treat people with respect, the way you would want somebody to treat you. Your attitude and personality will show through and people will respond to you as they see you.
6. Writing and Submitting Articles
Writing articles is a very effective way of getting your business noticed. By writing articles you are sharing your knowledge and experience and this puts stock in your reputation and business. Here are some articles on how to write and submit your articles:
http://www.soaringprofits.com/writing.htm http://www.revolutionteam.com/a3/ http://www.marketing-seek.com/articles/data/20000505091258.shtml
7. Reading Other Quality Ezines
I have obtained unlimited knowledge and information just be subscribing to and reading other quality ezines. Good ezines contain a wealth of information and resources. Some of my favorites are:
RIM Digest - RimDigest-subscribe@topica.com HomeBizJunction Herald - hbjherald-on@mail-list.com WebWorksAtHome Weekly - webworksathome-subscribe@listbot.com AplusBiz News - aplusbiz@post.com?subject=subscribe
I hope some of these ideas will help you in your business as much as they helped me in mine. If you have any questions on any of these ideas or anything else, I will be glad to help. Thank you for taking the time to read this article.
Terri Seymour is the Publisher of Web Success Ezine, a free ezine designed to help people enhance their business success. To subscribe send e-mail to: web-success-subscribe@egroups.com You can find more information and resources at http://www.websuccesscentral.com
Customers Are Prospects Too By Bob Leduc © 2000
Your customers already know you and trust you. It's easier to get more business from them than to get any business from somebody who never bought from you. Their business is also highly profitable because there's no advertising expense involved.
Here are 3 ways you can increase the income you get from your customers. All 3 are effective for marketing online and/or offline ... and they cost little or nothing to implement.
1. UPSELLING
You don't have to wait until after making a sale to increase the income you get from a customer. You can start while the customer is in the process of buying for the first time. It's called "Upselling". Here's how you can use it.
Collect the ordering information from your customer. Then casually offer them an opportunity to upgrade to a better quality product or service -- or to add another related item to the order. Include a special price that's ONLY available if the customer accepts it NOW.
It's surprising how receptive a customer is to an attractive offer when he or she is already in the process of spending money. Most businesses I've surveyed report about 50 percent acceptance of their upselling offers.
TIP: You can even include upselling offers on your web site. For example, I recently ordered a software upgrade at a web site. After selecting the item a pop up message asked me, "Would you like to add (item) to your order for $(special price)? This price is only available if you order now." It worked. I answered, "yes".
2. BACKEND SELLING
Many successful businesses make most of their profit from backend sales -- selling other related products or services to customers who previously bought from them. Once a person buys from you it's easy to get them to buy again.
If you don't have other products yourself, look for companies with products or services related to yours. Make an arrangement to offer their products to your customers for part of the profit.
On the Internet you can sign up with an affiliate program offering products or services similar to your primary product. Just announce the program to your customers and include your endorsement. The affiliate program handles everything else and pays you a commission.
3. REFERRAL SELLING -- PLUS...
Do you have a system to get referrals from satisfied customers? If not, you're losing a lot of profitable sales you could easily get.
One way to get referrals is with a brief Customer Survey. Send it by postal mail, email, fax or post it on a web page. The one I use asks only 3 questions:
1. What did you like best about our product (or service)?
2. What can we do to improve the value of our product (or service) for you?
3. Who do you know trying to solve (state the problem you solved for your customer)?
Or:
Who do you know that wants to (state the benefit provided by your product or service)?
The first 2 questions focus attention on the benefits you provide. Your customer is more likely to volunteer referrals when they're thinking about the value of those benefits.
You'll also gain something from the answers to the first 2 questions. The first question often generates a response you can use as a testimonial (with your customer's permission). The second question may provide an early warning of a problem you need to solve -- or alert you to an opportunity you can exploit.
Start using Upselling, Backend Selling and Referral Selling to get more business from your existing customers. You'll produce highly profitable sales without spending money on advertising.
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
Marketing On-Line
Quick Ways to Get More Visitors to Your Site By Dr. Kevin Nunley
Need a quick boost in web site visitors as we go into the holiday shopping season? Here's how:
1. Offer free software to your customers. Check out tucows.com for software developers who are eager to distribute their work for free.
2. Offer a free course via email. This can simply be a few informative pages that help your target customers solve a common problem.
3. Offer to help or answer questions at no charge. My offer to look at your web site and offer an opinion always draws lots of response (so much so that I'm almost afraid to mention it here).
4. Start your own contest. Have lots of winners of small prizes with each winner eligible to win a much larger prize.
5. Write a press release about all the special promotions you are doing. Put it on it's own web page and register with Alta Vista, Excite, Yahoo, and Hot Bot. Use my free press announcement builder at http://InternetWriters.com/release.htm
Yes! Kevin and his crew write sales letters and website copy fast and at low cost. See http://DrNunley.com/copywriting.htm for sales letters, web copy, and autoresponder letters. Reach Kevin at kevin@drnunley.com.
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