MLM
Woman Issue 59
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  From
the Desk of the Editor
Welcome to the 59th issue of the MLM Woman Newsletter.
This month we offer articles to help you to get ready for a brand
new year. I wish all of you a very happy holiday season. Be safe out
there!
Developing a Marketing
Calendar
for Your Business
If the thought of developing a full-blown marketing
plan for your networking business seems like too much time and trouble
for you — here's an idea that's easier and just as effective
— developing your own marketing calendar for 2002.
Now this isn’t the usual every day to-do list
type of calendar. No, this is one you create specifically for your
business marketing.
First, buy one of those large desk calendars with plenty
of room for writing. Then, take a colored pen and highlight all the
upcoming holidays and any other business special events you want to
plan for. Then decide what your marketing plan will be for the upcoming
months. Decide on a target date when you’d like to get out an
offer to your current customer list to announce an upcoming event
or special product offer. For example, you might want to do a postcard
mailing featuring some of your specials or an open house you have
planned.
After you’ve decided on the target date for the
mailing, you can then look at the calendar and mark in the date to
start preparing your marketing materials to be ready to mail. Also
indicate on your calendar the days when the mailings are likely to
reach your customers and then plan to be near the phone on those days
and waiting for all those calls to come in.
This is a simple but effective technique that can also
be used for publicity and other marketing efforts as well. You’ll
be able to see your marketing plan at a glance, boost your sales,
and be organized too!
Linda Locke, Editor MLM Woman
Persevere
And Fly!
By Mary Holzrichter
"The Wright Brothers created the single greatest
cultural force since the invention of writing.
The airplane became the first World Wide Web, bringing people, languages,
ideas, and values together."
~~~ Bill Gates, Microsoft
I had the opportunity to recently visit the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
One of our stops was at The Wright Brothers National Memorial at Kill
Devil Hills.
The Wrights, Wilbur and Orville, were the first to design and build
a flying aircraft that could be "controlled" while in the
air. No one up to this point had used the three control factors; roll,
pitch, and yaw. These three dimensions make it possible to fly from
place to place. The aerospace business depends on this simple but
brilliant idea. So do spacecraft and submarines.
This changed the way we view our world. Seen from above,
distances shrink and the horizon stretches. The world seems grander,
more vast and three-dimensional. Open to endless possibilities.
We talk about the perseverance needed to make our niche
on the internet today. Just think of Wilbur and Orville.Their accomplishment
certainly didn't happen overnight!
Wilbur and Orville were 12 and 8 years of age, respectively,
when their father brought home a simple toy rubber band-powered helicopter
made in France. They were so intrigued by the concept and playing
with it, it broke! Immediately, they began building copies.
They were hooked on aviation!
In 1900, as young men, having built their first glider,
they decided to try it out at Kitty Hawk on Kill Devil Hills. It provided
consistent stiff winds, and the somewhat cushioning effects of sand
and water. That first flight was unsuccessful, but it didn't deter
them.
After several more tries, on December 17, 1903, with
a much improved bi-plane, they risked their lives and threw caution
to the wind. They ended up flying the world's first powered airplane.
(Beginning at 10:35 a.m. that day, Orville flew it about
120 feet in about 12 seconds. About 12:00 p.m., Wilbur flew it 852
feet in 59 seconds)!
Johnny Moore, one of five men who helped them that morning
drag the contraption across the frozen sand for positioning, ran to
the village of Kitty Hawk crying, "They done it! They done it!
Damned if they ain't flew."
The birth of aviation!
At this time, Wilbur was 36 and Orville 32. Roughly
24 years had passed since their father gave them that toy!
I got to thinking as we walked around the monument (with
40 mph steady winds and pelting sand adding to the mood!) of how they
never gave up. The exhilaration they must have felt when they realized
they'd done it! Their perseverance had paid off.
If you have a dream, work at it. If it doesn't turn
out as expected the first time, don't give up! Try again! Who wants
to live and say somewhere down the road, "if only" or "what
if?" Stick to what you want to accomplish. Don't ever give up!
"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.
Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with
talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
~~~ Calvin Coolidge
About the Author
Mary Holzrichter can show you how to build ANY business you want,
just the way you want it, with only pocket money. http://sitetipsandtricks.com/cgi-bin/aff/g.o/win
First Impressions
Turn Fear into Courage
By Peter Murphy
The top producers all say the same thing show
the plan to one person a day. Sounds easy, and it is easy for those
few who can start a conversation with just about anyone, but how many
people do you know who are like that?
On the other hand when you're shy it's easy to avoid
other people, shyness automatically comes with a PhD in how to creatively
avoid people, especially strangers! However this tendency can prove
detrimental to your business especially when you consider that your
ultimate success depends on approaching people and making a great
first impression.
There is a better way; it is possible to use your mind
in a simple yet powerful way that will make it easy for you to make
a fantastic first impression. It involves applying peak performance
principles in a special way.
Here's what I do when I´m walking about town and
I spot someone I know that I ought to say Hello to although my initial
tendency is to just avoid them and hope that they don't see me.
First of all, feel yourself standing tall, just pretend that you feel
dynamic, powerful and enthusiastic and take on that posture. Breathe
deeply, chest out, and smile so wide that you can feel the stretch
in your cheeks. Even if you make believe you will still tend to come
across far better with whoever you approach.
Then, as you approach him or her, hear yourself saying
HI or HELLO inside your head. The key is to make the sound very, very
loud inside your head, really exaggerate it to impress your mind with
your intention.
Finally, visualize that person smiling as they recognize
you and make sure to go overboard with the imagined picture in your
mind as well. Make the picture twice as big as life size, make it
3D, in rich color and very bright and up close in your mind's eye.
All this takes just a few seconds when you get good
at it, at first you may find it tricky, practice it with people you
see about town and you'll soon find yourself greeting more people.
I also use this technique when I'm waiting in line at
the bank, in a store etc. That way you get an opportunity to be friendlier
with whoever is serving you and with the other people waiting in line.
In a short time you will find it easier and easier to
start conversations with people you would not have dared to approach
in the past. Do this day after day and the cumulative effect on your
business will be staggering.
Keys to success:
-
Practice this skill daily until it becomes second
nature to you.
-
Teach your downline how to approach people as well,
by teaching this skill you will become even better yourself.
-
Remind yourself of the negative implications of
not approaching more people and the long-term effect on your business.
About the Author
Peter Murphy is a peak performance expert and published
author. Subscribe FREE to his upbeat newsletter and get a FREE e-book,
Abolish Shyness Steps to Success, which reveals secret strategies
for turning fear into courage. To join send an email to: AbolishShynessToday-subscribe@topica.com
Giving As A
Marketing Tool
By Joan Sotkin
A policy of giving can accomplish a great deal if you are building
and running a business. You've probably heard the expression, "You
get what you give." It is very true. If you give freely, you
will get abundantly. Conversely, if you are stingy or afraid to
give, you won't get much.
Here are some suggestions for giving.
Give free samples. This can be in the form of goods or
services. You can give samples of your product or samples of your
work. Shareware is a free sample of a product that often has something
missing, or it will stop working after a specified time. Sampling
the product invariably increases usage and sales.
Give referrals. Look for opportunities to recommend other
business people. Ask the person to whom you give the referral to
mention your name.
Give more than your customers or clients expect. If you
are shipping goods, include a free gift that you can make part of
your offer. If you provide a service, such as Web site development,
include something extra -- an extra graphic, registering with search
engines or something else of value.
Give love and trust. Many people in the business world
have an attitude of distrust. This isn't a good idea if you want
your customers to trust you.
You have to trust first. I have always trusted that my
customers will treat me well. Doing this allows me to love and be
open with them. As a result, in the last few years I have only had
four bad checks and one charge back. The four bad checks came at
a time when I was mailing out 50,000 catalogs (snail mail) every
few months and processing about 700 orders a month. My merchandise
return rate was under 1%!
Give your attention. How many times have you been to a
networking function and felt as if the only reason anyone wanted
to talk to you was to sell you something. When you are at one of
these functions, forget about selling and concentrate on meeting
people. Ask them questions about them. Find something about which
you can honestly compliment them. If you pay attention to them you
can not only qualify them to see if they really are a potential
customer, but you will foster good will. When they see your business
card, you will be remembered.
Give information. Keep your eye out for tid-bits of information
that could help one of your clients or potential customers. Send
it with a note saying, "I thought you would find this interesting."
If you have a Web site, you can give, give and give some more. All
it takes is the time to do the HTML coding. The more you give, the
more people will come to appreciate what you do.
Giving can be an important part of your marketing strategy. However,
the secret to successful giving is not to expect anything in return.
Learn to give for the sake of giving. When you no longer expect
anything, much will come to you. That's one of life's paradoxes.
About the Author
Visit Joan's Web site at http://www.prosperityplace.com
for lots of helpful business advice and resources for entrepreneurs
or e-mail her at joan@prosperityplace.com.
Profitable Prospecting
By Eileen Snover
One of the most important aspects of being involved
in a successful MLM business is also one of the most challenging,
especially for the newly sponsored. That is the task of finding others
who will be sincerely interested in the business opportunity you now
represent.
Once we exhaust the list of friends, acquaintances
and relatives, we sometimes find ourselves stalled with the thought
of who to approach next. It is extremely important to our eventual
success that we not stop at that point. We must reach outside of our
normal “comfort zone” to find others who will be interested
in duplicating our business.
One answer is to find people outside our normal circle
and to build a relationship with them. Be a joiner or volunteer to
organizations that interest you or that you support financially. Don’t
even think about selling your product or mentioning your business
opportunity when you first meet. Get to know them first. Build a rapport
until you feel comfortable with each other. Then, and only then, mention
your product or business.
Attend free classes or seminars offered in your community
such as business opportunity seminars, or anything at all remotely
entrepreneurial. Tax seminars, retirement strategies, career fairs
looking for sales reps of any kind are all great places to find people.
Show up about a half hour early, be friendly, move close to one and
ask, “What brings you here?”
Regardless of the strategy you use, the following acrostic
should be helpful in any situation where you are meeting people for
the first time.
Polite. When meeting new
people for the first time, don’t be overly anxious to talk about
your product or opportunity. No matter how wonderful you think it
is, you’ll only succeed in frightening them off.
Respect other’s personal
space and opinions. Don’t get too close and violate their
personal space. Give them and you time to get to know one another
and develop a rapport. Depending on the circumstances, you’ll
have time and opportunity to introduce your business, especially if
you know how to steer the conversation. “So, what do you do?”
and “Do you like it?” are only two such questions that you
can start a conversation with. These and other such questions will
not only elicit an answer that will clue you as to whether they might
be interested in your opportunity or not, it will also usually require
them to ask the same question of you.
Organize. When going out
with the express purpose of meeting new people, take time to organize
your thoughts and company materials you’ll be carrying with you.
Review your company’s manual for additional tips, check business
card supply, sample supplies if applicable, and any other printed
materials you’ll be carrying. Practice a 30-60 second personal
introduction that quickly tells people who you are and what you do.
Silence. Remember that
listening is often more appropriate and appreciated than speaking.
Let the new person you’ve just met have an opportunity to talk;
about their job, their children, even their dog. Listening will give
you valuable insight into their personality, and clues as to whether
they might be open to your business.
People. There are all
kinds of people in the world, and as you get out there to meet them,
you’ll see them all. Some will turn into wonderful friends, others
great contacts. Yet others will regale you with stories of Aunt Minnie’s
quadruple bypass surgery in detail, monopolizing all your time, leaving
you with no opportunity to meet others. Your time investment will
pay off with a handful of prospects you find.
Evaluate. At the end of
your time evaluate the contacts you’ve made. Make notes of those
you want to follow up on with a telephone call or mailing of business
information if applicable. If you committed to a follow-up call or
mailing, then be sure to do it as soon as possible. Any delay may
cause you to lose that person’s interest in your product or opportunity.
Commitment. Most people
who get involved in any type of business want to see early and easy
signs of success. They don’t make the time or financial commitment
it takes to see any new venture through. A successful business takes
time - time to grow and develop. There will be setbacks. There will
be lulls when nothing is happening. Commit to staying the course,
come what may.
Trust in yourself, in your
product whatever it may be, and in the law of averages. You will
suffer many rejections and setbacks on your road to success. Persistence
pays off. The sheer number of people out there will work for you and
so will a “can’t quit” attitude. When things get rough,
and they will, most people quit. Will you quit too? Or will you stick
to it and make it to the top?
About the Author
Eileen Snover is an independent fashion consultant
with Multiples At Home. MAH offers “real clothes for real women.”
Easy care, easy wear with sizes ranging from petites to plus. If you
would like to receive more information regarding the clothing, or
are interested in a fantastic business opportunity, you can drop her
a note at esnover@fast.net or
mail her at 119 Independence Ct., Bethlehem, PA 18020.
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Copyright 2001, Regent Press
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