MLM
Woman Issue 70
November 2002
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From
the Desk of the Editor
Welcome to the 70th issue of the MLM Woman Newsletter.
This month we offer articles with lots of successful marketing and
motivational techniques to keep your business growing during the
holiday season and beyond.
Five Holiday Business
Tips for Network Marketers
As an experienced network marketer,
it's a good bet that you probably have noticed or are expecting
a dramatic slow-down in your business around the holidays -- especially
in December. Why? The main problem is that most people just stop
doing business during the holidays, which is why their business
slows down. But savvy networkers know that the holidays are the
perfect time to do business, and they just need to adjust their
marketing strategies to fit the season.
Here's some ideas to keep
your business warm and perking throughout the busy holiday season...
Tip #1: Holiday
Time is Great for Prospecting! Holiday Time usually means parties
and lots of socializing -- why not use this to your advantage and
do a little informal prospecting.
Here's some advice that Kristen
Barron, a National Director of Training with TeamUp, gives about
prospecting during the holidays:
"The kids are home from
school, family is in town, or people are traveling. The trick is
not to look at these things as reasons to stop doing business, but
rather, as opportunities to expand business. When the kids are home
from school, they're usually doing activities. These normally include
other children, and therefore, other parents. Instead of talking
about the kids and "things," expand your conversation
a little. Talk about Family, Occupation, Recreation, and Money.
FORM for short. People usually open up if you're a good listener.
At some point, they'll ask about you and yours. Don't go into a
heavy sales pitch. Remember, you're just having a nice conversation.
If you feel like you've made a new friend and sparked their curiosity,
you've done your job. And remember, new people can be found anywhere
— standing in a long line at a theme park or at a social event or
family gathering. If you are constantly talking and planting seeds
during the holidays, your business never has to slow down."
Tip #2:
Cash in on the Gift Giving Season
-- Tis the season for gifts, so get creative! Here's a few ideas
to try:
--Put together some gift baskets
of your company's products that are ready to go and that appeal
to a variety of customers
-- Everyone gets stressed out
trying to find just the right presents, so offer them a stress free
shopping solution that's hard to refuse -- set up personal appointments
with your customers at their convenience -- visit them at the office,
take them to lunch, or come to their home on the weekend or evenings.
Make it easy for them to do business with you.
-- Sell gift certificates! Call
your customers or drop them a holiday postcard and tell them that
you have gift certificates on sale.
Tip #3
- Get a Jump on January: Do some
business planning in December to get ready for business in January.
January is the single best month for doing business. Get a special
mailing ready to go to your prospects and customers and have it
in the mail no later than December 30th.
Tip #4
- Keep
On Doing What You've Been Doing: Don't abandon your business during
the holidays. Try to stick as closely as you can to your regular
schedule -- and if you just can't keep up the pace -- at least decide
to accomplish something every week that keeps your business humming.
It'll be a lot easier to gear up in the new year if you do!
Tip #5
- Say Thanks! Be sure to send a
holiday greeting letting your customers and downline know that you
appreciate them. It takes some time to do this but the results are
well worth it!
Linda Locke, Editor MLM Woman
Keep Your
Momentum
Going with the Big Three
By Becky
Jones
If you're in a party plan business, and you don't leave
every presentation with at least one new booking, one potential recruit,
and as many referrals as you have guests, it is probably because you
haven't asked for them! If you are new to the business, you are learning
that people rarely approach you about hosting a show or joining your
team. The key to maintaining momentum is to ask everyone the Big Three
Questions that will keep your business going.
1. Would you like receive free products by hosting a
show?
2. Would you like to take home some information about
the business opportunity?
3. Do you know someone who would like to see our catalog?
Notice the wording here. Most companies offer hostess
rewards. Asking if the guest wants something free is more effective
than "Would like to be a hostess?" Guests will often say
"no" to being a hostess, but "yes" to receiving
free items.
Secondly, the business opportunity offer is non-threatening.
You haven't asked the guest to sign up on the spot. Usually you will
have at least one person per show who is curious about the opportunity,
but needs more information and time to think about it.
Finally, notice that the request for a referral says
"someone who would like to see our catalog". The guest could
probably think of several people who'd love the products, but if asked
"Do you know someone who would want to host a show or become
a consultant?", the guest may be reluctant to give you names.
Don't allow the guest to be the judge of who would make a good hostess
or consultant. You will find this out for yourself when you follow
up with the referral and ask her the same Big Three questions! By
doing this, you will have an endless chain of referrals.
If you have a fear of asking everyone, then you can
overcome it by creating a consequence for not asking that is harder
to live with than your fear of asking. I personally like to keep a
sign on my table that says "If I don't ask you about hosting
a show, the business opportunity, and a catalog for a friend, then
you get shipping and handling free!" Eventually, asking will
come naturally, and so will your bookings, recruits, and referrals.
About the Author
Becky Jones, 770-354-9558. BUY stylish home decor inspired by Southern
Living magazine. RECEIVE free products by hosting one of my decorating
demos. EARN $100-$1,000 per week by working 5-25 hours from home.
For more details, visit me on the web: www.southernlivingathome.com/becky
How to Succeed
in
Business During a Recession
(c) Wanda Loskot
During hard economic times your business depends
on marketing more than ever. Don't just give up and wait for the
recession to pass. Your business can thrive even during the recession,
but you need to do MORE marketing than you do when the economy is
booming.
I was recently consulting an artist specializing in
drawing quite unique type of portraits -- portraits of houses. Like
so many other business owners she was struggling with attracting
enough clients willing to buy her art.
When I asked how she markets her talent and art pieces,
she answered that she belongs to a leads club and to the Chamber
of Commerce. She also had a yellow page listing but it was generating
calls from people shopping by price, not for high quality art pieces.
No wonder her business suffered. It was not NEARLY
enough marketing to make any business thrive!
Sadly, it is not an isolated case. Chances are that
you too have no consistent marketing strategy. Are you using just
one or two, sometimes three tactics, rather haphazardly? That kind
of scattered approach produces low quality leads. Don't get surprised
that the orders or inquiries are not from your ideal type of client.
The key to marketing is to focus on the most desired
segment of your possible prospects and to expose them to your marketing
message repeatedly. It takes on average seven times for your prospects
to SEE your message before you are able to overcome their natural
barriers of mistrust, apathy and lack of interest.
Here are my favorite Marketing Pillars -- to succeed
in difficult times, set a goal to implement all of them in your
marketing plan:
1. Direct mail -- regularly send to your target market
letters, cards, coupon books, postcards, etc.
2. Print advertising -- targeted newspaper advertising
is essential for most types of business and produces excellent results
if done properly.
3. Directory listings -- although the yellow pages
is not effective for every business (rarely for an artist), there
are some specific directories in which you should be listed.
4. Telemarketing -- make it a part of your marketing mix as well.
Quite often the ONLY way to reach the best type of prospects is
by phone!
5. Referral System -- structured referral program
and personal endorsements can bring you new business predictably
and consistently. But the process needs to be orchestrated, not
left to a chance.
6. Customer education -- give before taking. Offer
special reports, booklets, brochures and educational seminars. This
is an extremely powerful way to generate leads and to establish
yourself as the expert in your field.
7. Public Relations - frequently send press releases
to the publications your prospects read. Having your name in print
is a powerful (and low cost) method of keeping your name in front
of your target market.
8. Internet marketing - keep in mind that just having
a web site is not nearly enough. You need a web site that consistently
generates leads. And you need to combine it with effective e-mail
marketing.
Putting to work all those different marketing methods
will create a consistent flow of qualified leads for you and your
business. And that will not only protect you from a dry spell, but
it will catapult your business to the orbit of success. Even during
the recession.
About the Author
Wanda Loskot is business coach, marketing wizard and host of
a weekly Radio Show - http://GrowYourBusinessRadioShow.com
- for a cornucopia of free business tips, strategies and marketing
tips, visit her at http://MakeYourBusinessWork.com
Opportunity DOESN'T
Knock But Once
By Anita Foley
Have you heard the expression "Opportunity Knocks
But Once"? Whoever said that was wrong! Apparently that was their
belief; and, unfortunately, that belief probably resulted in a lot
of missed opportunities!
I believe there is no shortage of opportunities. In
fact, opportunities abound. This is not only a belief, but it is a
truth I live by.
Last week I was driving through a neighborhood that
I hadn't been to in a while. Suddenly I came upon a development of
huge, beautiful, brand new, million dollar homes being built. I remember
thinking to myself, "What recession? There is no shortage of
wealth for some people."
What is it that makes some people able to have whatever
they want in life? Simple. They took advantage of an opportunity somewhere
along the way that resulted in wealth. They found an opportunity,
they made a decision, and they took action.
At one time I believed that the only opportunity to
make a living was to work a conventional 9-5 job. After being downsized
twice in 4 years, I decided to be open to other possibilities.
At one time I believed that anything which sounded too
good to be true was probably a scam. After missing out on several
opportunities that ended up making huge amounts of money for other
people, I decided to be open to other possibilities.
Once I made the decision to be open-minded, I have come
across more opportunities than I can count, and more come my way every
day.
Just yesterday I got a call about an investment that
offers a possible 1400% return. That is not a misprint! Obviously
there are risks involved, but the point is, there are multi-million
dollar opportunities out there! All I have to do is decide whether
it's the right opportunity for me.
So my friends, keep an open mind and pick the opportunities
that are right for you. Remember, opportunity doesn't knock but once
- opportunities abound - multi-million dollar opportunities abound!
Once you create this belief for yourself, the opportunities will come
to you!
Make a decision to attract multi-million dollar opportunities
into your life. You have the same rights to wealth as anyone else.
Wealth is not reserved for the rich. Wealth is an equal-opportunity
opportunity!
About the Author
Anita Foley publishes Wealth Happens Ezine - Get MBA in every
issue. What's MBA? Subscribe and find out: http://www.wealth-happens.com
Here's an opportunity - what will you do? http://www.wealth-happens.com/gasupusa
The Principle
of Vacuum
By Michael Angier
They say that nature abhors a vacuum. And so it is with our lives.
Everyone is busy--everyone. Ask any retired people you know and
they'll tell you they don't know where the time goes. Their life
is full. And they're RETIRED.
You can't put any more into a full cup. And when our LIVES are
filled to the brim, there's no room for anything else to come in.
As our lives become more and more frenetic, we often become stressed,
our health suffers, we have less fun, and we feel more and more
powerless. Our lives may feel out of control.
I think the idea of controlling time is a myth. There's no way
to control time. All we can do is attempt to control EVENTS--and
even many of THEM are out of our control.
What we need to do is take charge of the things over which we DO
have control. This takes discipline. And it's not easy. With a finite
amount of time available to us, we need to choose very carefully.
This is our LIFE. It's not a dress rehearsal.
The same virtue of which we may be proud--that of sticking to something
we've started--CAN work against us. Just because we elected to take
something on, doesn't mean we have to do it forever. We can make
new choices, negotiate new agreements and still maintain our integrity.
In order to make room for what we want, we need to get rid of what
we DON'T want. This is the principle of vacuum. Our lives fill up
by choice or by default. And we need to choose. This requires a
ruthless evaluation of everything we do and why we do it. We can
make more time for ourselves by delegating, reducing or eliminating
things we're now doing that we either don't like or don't provide
the payoff we want.
It may not seem immediately apparent what or how something can
be eliminated, but it can be done. It starts with making a list
of everything you do that you don't like doing and everything that
no longer has real value to you. Don't let the thought of, "But
I have to do this," get in the way of making the list. Figuring
out how you'll get it handled is another step. Simply make the list
and be honest.
Once you've made the list of hate-to-do's and non- or low-payoff
tasks, it's time to start prioritizing. One way is to think about
what you'd do if you became incapacitated. How would these things
get done? WOULD they get done? What would happen if they didn't?
Who else might do it? Be sure to ask yourself what you're getting
out of it, and compare it to other things you could be doing that
would produce more or better results.
Like I said, it's not easy. But you can do it. Look for at least
three things you're now doing that you will stop doing or have done
by someone else. Think of how you'd feel if you were no longer obligated
to do this thing. If it's one of relief, then that's one to go for.
Wayne Dyer says relationships that operate from obligation lack
integrity. I agree. Your relationship with yourself and with others
should be ones of integrity. We want to eliminate the feeling of
obligation. This is being truly responsible.
Create some vacuum in your life. Make some room and watch new and
better things flow in.
Questions to Ponder
What do you have in your life that you no longer want? Are they
things? Obligations? Jobs? Problems?
In our complex world, it's more important than ever to simplify
our lives. Getting rid of things that no longer serve us is one
way we can do that. What are you ready to eliminate?
