One of the major strengths that women have traditionally brought to their network marketing business is their advanced social and people skills. The current rage of “Relationship Marketing” just puts a new label on the tools that women have always used to build their business.

Many people believe that network marketing is a “selling” business, but women know that it’s really about sharing and building long-term relationships that last. And successful women use these “sharing and caring” skills as a major tool in the recruitment process.

The recruiting techniques that work best for women center around their ability to develop long-term relationships with people in both business and social settings. They do this by listening to prospects, asking questions, sharing information, and finding out what the prospect wants from their business and then helping them get it. The bottom line is that MLM is a people and communication business and women shine in these areas.

Women use several “soft” methods of relationship marketing to make contact with prospects that might be potential new recruits for their business.

Many of these methods may seem too slow and too time-consuming for many people to take them seriously. But just like in Aesop’s fable “The Tortoise and the Hare”, it’s the slow and methodical tortoise that wins the race over the frenetic and aggressive hare. And so it is in building a relationship.

Building Relationships

How do the successful networking women cultivate these relationships? There are several relationship-based communication tools they use.

One is to be a product of the products. They tell their story. They share it with others. (Women share things all the time. If they see a movie they like, they tell people about it. If they discover a restaurant they like, they tell others.

If they discover a product they like, they tell others. It’s that simple.) They follow up. Once they share a product with someone, they follow up.

They know that if they wait by the phone for people to call them, they will die a lonely person. They know that people’s lives are ruled by inertia. They know they must take the first step and call their prospects to ask how they liked the products.

Another communication based tool that women use is the FORM method. That stands for Family, Occupation, Recreation, and Money. When they engage people in conversation, they don’t talk about their business right away, they ask about:

Family: When they ask questions about family, they ask because they are truly interested. And to find out if they like this person enough to work with them. (After all, if they sign up in their business, they’re stuck with them.)

They also ask questions about family to find out if they are likely to be users of their company’s product. (If you’re selling high-tech security devices and they live in a rural “leave the doors unlocked” small town, they may not be prime prospects.)

They also want to find out what their dreams and goals are. Do they like where they live? Do they want to move somewhere better? Would they like to quit their job and have more time for family or stay home with their kids?

Occupation: Where do they work? (If they are an airline pilot, for example, they might not be interested in getting travel discounts.) Do they like their job? What is it they would really like to do, if they could?

Recreational Activities: What do they do for fun? Do they do it as often as they’d like? If not, is it because of lack of time, or lack of money, or both? If time and money were not limiting factors, what would they really like to do?

Money: Do they make as much as they’d like? Do they work an extra job to make more? How much more would they like to make? Have they ever thought about starting a home-based business?

And why do they ask these questions? Well, because they are women and it comes naturally to them. They find out lots of neat things about people they talk to. They make new friends. They know that people like people who are interested in them. And when they get the answers to these questions they know exactly what to say when people ask them about their business.

In other words, they know exactly how to present their business so it will be exciting to that person and fit their needs. They don’t have to worry about when to start talking about their business.

Because people ask them (“Well, hey, tell me about yourself! What do you do?”) The bottom line is that if you have made a real connection, they’ll want to know about you. And because they are now a friend, people will listen to what they have to say. And even if the person is truly not right for their business, at least they have made a new friend, who may later refer them business.

Putting the Focus on the Prospect’s Point of View

Women tend to focus more on their prospect’s point of view. They talk about the benefits of the business and solicit feedback from their prospects. They don’t let their own wants and needs get in the way. They don’t use hard sales techniques and closes. They let the prospect decide. They know that they really can’t “talk” someone into this business. The prospect has to want it for themselves.

Getting Contacts through Networking

Women have always been consummate networkers. It’s a skill they use every day. They share information and referrals at business networking organizations such as their local Toastmasters or Leads Club, social organizations, religious organizations etc.

When they start their business they can just plug into their network and get the word out about what they do. After all people like to do business with people they already know, like and trust.

Do all women work their business this way? Of course not! No two people ever build their business in the exact same way. But these methods take full advantage of the many inherent strengths that women already possess.

Recruiting through relationships is not the quickest way to build a business, and some people are more comfortable with traditional sales oriented techniques that focus on faster growth.

But as many successful women network marketers (and now many men as well) have found, building a business through relationships works best for building a business that lasts.

Linda Locke is the editor of MLM Woman. You can reach her via e-mail at regent@west.net

“I’m at a loss on how we can properly market our business on the Net,” Karen explained. “We’ve established an impressive marketing presence in print media and I don’t want our home page to look shabby or sit there with no response.”

Karen’s words sound familiar to many entrepreneurs. By now just about everyone knows that a website alone will not draw many visitors. Your online presence must be promoted tirelessly. Free classifieds are everywhere. They also take hours each day to place.

Posting to newsgroups can be profitable, but it’s important to know the group. Willy-nilly posting of commercial messages can get you into trouble fast with the online community. The same goes for broadcasting hoards of unsolicited email messages.

Rather than finding lots of interested prospects, you may well find your mailbox jammed with hateful replies and a suspension notice from your provider.

What’s a busy small business person with limited resources to do? Thankfully, there are several very effective online marketing methods that are relatively easy and quick. Here are three of my favorites, all well regarded by people who do lots of online marketing.

Promote Off-Line.

Include your URL in all the printed and broadcast advertising you do. Don’t just add your website address in tiny print at the bottom, as some businesses do. Spread it across the page so it can’t be missed. Tell the reader or listener WHY they should check out your online presence. Give them a benefit for finding your page.

Supply them with helpful information or a discount that they can’t find out about any other way. Hand out a one-sheet about your website. Include your URL on your telephone hold message.

Use the public’s current interest in exploring the Net. Whereas many people won’t read your brochure or analyze your newspaper ad, many will enthusiastically click through your website. Use the opportunity to expose more people to lots of details about your company, services, and products.

Build an Email List of Your Customers.

While a great many people hate unsolicited email, it’s perfectly OK to send email notices about your products or services to people who have shown an interest in your company or bought from you in the past.

Recently, when I called a self-publisher to order a book, he asked me my email address along with my credit card information. At first I thought he might want it just for notification of delivery purposes. But a week later I started receiving his email newsletter providing me with helpful tips and information on his latest publications. I find the newsletter helpful and am more likely to remember him and buy from him in the future.

Email newsletters are very simple affairs. Simply write a letter to your customers providing them with helpful tips. Include information on your products and services.

Remember that letters are still regarded as personal forms of communication. Make your newsletter’s tone conversational, friendly, and informal.

Electronic mail is the marketing tool of the very near future. We haven’t gotten all the bugs sorted out of it and many people do get irritated at receiving mail they aren’t interested in. BUT, email is cheap, conserves natural resources, and doesn’t pollute the environment. That’s a combination of strengths that will ultimately overcome all challenges in a very, very big way.

Write Articles.

Finally, write articles for one or more of the thousands of new on-line publications. The Net is about information. People come to their computers to learn something. Use what you know about your business to be the expert that many people are looking for.

It doesn’t matter what your area of expertise is--baseball, auto repair, tax law, growing beautiful flowers--there are hundreds of thousands of potential customers online interested in learning more.

“But I’m no writer!” I hear you exclaim. You don’t have to be. As veteran online freelance writer Gary Christensen says, “Look at it as writing a page of instructions.” If you can write a page of instructions on how to do something, you can be a published expert. (By the way, check out Gary’s marvelous list of links to the editors of online publications at http://www.homeincome.com/ writers-connection).

If you still don’t feel comfortable putting your wisdom down on paper, call your local college English or Journalism department and ask for a capable student to “ghost” write it for you. Take a cue from the many celebrities and famous business executives who write books with the help of a professional author.

Before you get discouraged over the difficulty of getting the word out about your business online, consider adding these three marketing options to your promotional arsenal. There are more than a few entrepreneurs doing very well by using nothing more than one or two of these smart and efficient techniques.

Kevin Nunley helps small and mid-sized businesses build effective marketing. Reach him at DrNunley@aol.com or at (801) 253-4536. Ask for his free list of Special Reports and Tapes that make you a marketing whiz in dozens of areas. Also ask how he can help you build your online presence.

“I can’t fit it all in!” We’ve come a long way baby, but we haven’t come far enough. Did you know that women still work 30 hours a week more than men — after a full-time job? Time management for moms is a real trick. With this in mind, here are some suggestions for using your calendar to structure and leverage your time:

Have a planning session at the end of each month in which you get out your calendar and mark off all your personal and family activities for the next 30 days. This includes children’s practices and games, weekly date night, PTA meetings, baby showers, worship services, and so on.

Then write in the business briefings, trainings and conference calls.

Next, schedule your “calling hours.” These are set times when you call new prospects, follow-up leads, and touch base with your downline.

Fill up the rest of your remaining time with as many appointments as humanly possible. Part-time networkers can fit in at least 2-5 appointments a week. Try to hold appointments in your home so you don’t have to find child care or spend too much time on the road.

Finally, use your calendar to create a routine schedule around these working hours. With young children, you can squeeze more work time into your day by keeping a routine. For example, if you allow your children to watch videos, you can increase your productive time by scheduling a video right before or after a nap. I’ve also noticed that if I start the morning with quality time — reading to the children, baking with them, or going for a walk together — they are less needy and more independent the rest of the day.

A friend of mine, Mary Beth Rosato, is a mom and a leading consultant with BeautiControl; she saves prime work time by scheduling lunch and snack preparation during the early morning before phone calls start coming.

Your calendar can also help you combine important time with your children with other things you have to get done. I let each of my children decide what’s for dinner one night a week, and on that night, the child helps me prepare it and clean up. This teaches the child responsibility and gives us valuable talking time when I can’t work anyway. And it’s just as easy to double the recipe, make two meals, and place one in the freezer to be zapped in the microwave when I need to save time later.

Sure it’s hard trying to be Network Marketing Supermom. But no matter how difficult your circumstances are, remember — someone else will have it even harder and still succeed. Working with your calendar may feel tedious at first, but it can make all the difference to your business when you use it to leverage time.

Christine Marie is the President of Applebrook, a direct sales company providing family enrichment and educational products. She is a single mother of four, as well as a comedienne, ventriloquist and motivational trainer. She has published 26 books on motivating and teaching children. She lives in Fremont, Michigan.

Reprinted with Permission from Upline/November 1996, 800-800-6349.