Archive for December, 2009
The MLM Conspiracy
The MLM Conspiracy
Ive been spending the weekend doing some research on our industry and I tell you what; it just seems to get more and more confusing here!! Talk about confused.com An annoying advert here in the UK
Everyone and his brother is claiming to be an expert and whichever internet route I meandered through to learn more about attraction marketing I just kept coming up against conspiracy theories. We have the The 7 great lies of network marketing and all of those ominous sounding google ad words adverts that go with these endless conspiracies. You know the ones.. all about your nasty upline and what he or she doesnt want to tell you. Golly and those upline guys seemed so genuine in every other way. Is it possible these people are living a wicked double MLM life?
I absolutely love the principles of attraction marketing but all of this hype saddens me and confuses the socks off all the newbies. Not to leave it there though as the plot thickens. For those who cant implement the ideas in Anne Siegs Renegade Marketer e book right off the bat there is a next step Of course Mike Klingler who seems like a pretty genuine and good guy to me has come up with something called the Renegade University which helps one learn how to implement the geeky stuff discussed in her book. It all looks pretty cool but of course what everyone seems to forget to mention is just how looooooooooooooooooooooong this stuff takes to implement. I was reading one of the mentors blogs and she wrote that it took her 6 weeks to set her site up. 6 weeks!!
If thats not your cup of tea well you can always sign up with a secondary MLM as well to compliment it. Thats if you havent got your work cut out with the first one! Also dont forget to check the company rules of your primary MLM because many dont allow it but the online guru may forget to mention that as it would get in the way of income streams.
We have people in our industry whom reach the top level of the pay plan in 3 months. Is it just me or does the geek route sound like a recipe for showing someone how to get into the rat race?!! On paper or on the screen these systems of course always look really impressive with testimonials of guys sponsoring 1050 reps a month. Im not sure about you but personally i.e. personal enrolees I dont think I could handle 50 reps signing up whom I have attracted to me because of my amazing IT and teaching skills. Of course I would always have to be on call as well. I have declared myself to be their saviour and superhero for all things they cant understand or work out on their blog. Lord help me please dont let it be a Word press or Im stuffed! Its all I can do to run my own. So that kind of messes with my 4 Hour Work Week mentality!! Sorry Tim. In this industry if we build it once and build it right were promised walk away income and freedom to travel the world with 24/7 residual cheques while we sleep. I dont recall signing up to be an IT support engineer do you? Or perhaps a Virtual Assistant would be more on the money. I would certainly need to get outsourcing ASAP!! I didnt want the hassle of employees though did I?
I have ranted slightly on my blog about this before because it irritates me that these guys use negatives to draw people into their own names list. They use standard adverts and really have no idea what each company or sponsorship line is teaching but lump them all together in one old school pile. I hear now they are under fire from the DSA for exactly this reason. If only they would go about implementing these new principles with more finesse that wouldnt be necessary but they seem to live and die by the philosophy that they are singlehandedly saving the MLM world from the upline demons who dont want to work on the internet all day and insist on actually talking to people they know and trust about their business. Honestly whatever next?
The irony is that there are great principles and systems contained within both styles of marketing. To cut out the basics is like throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Likewise to say attraction marketing working doesnt work is just plain silly. The guys who moan they dont know anyone when they do their warm list will be the equivalent of the guys who moan I dont know how to do all this IT stuff. The point being this is a challenging industry where we need to talk to people in one way or another. What concerns me is that many of the timid I dont know anyone people are hiding behind their computers building websites and have been in the business with their new company whilst their wicked sponsor calls them repeatedly trying to work out why they havent exposed their exciting business to even one person yet for months without getting into action. Meanwhile they are spending money faffing about learning social book marking and watching more gurus videos. By the time these poor folk work out how to generate a lead theyll have lost heart and talked themselves out of their opportunity.
So whats the secret? As one of my very successful and surprisingly truthful !! upline said there are no secrets when there is a pay plan this good as there is no benefit to stopping your people doing well.
If youre still sharpening your pencil picking up that heavy phone and putting it down again after giving it a quick polish and in confused.com land I recommend not reading every conspiracy report that comes your way. It is a basic principle of this industry that mindset is a key element to your success and so therefore dwelling on what you dont have cannot be a positive thing. The sensible and sane thing to do is to follow the basic plan from your successful sponsorship line which is active in the field today and most companies dont have one so dont be confused by those glossy brochures Your warm list may be of great value to you and the people on it need to be told what youre doing and given an opportunity to review a 3rd party tool. Note 3rd party tools deliver the business message instead of you begging pleading and whining! Then you can focus on meeting new people as you go about your life and learning the very complex strategies needed for online attraction marketing. The point being that you are already in action whilst you learn. If youre not excited enough to whiz over a video link to a friend to let them know what youre doing then maybe you should rethink your career path!
The 3 foot rule does not exist anymore except for MLM psychopaths this is a relationship business and if you focus on expanding your network both on and offline you will be moving in the right direction to becoming a Professional Network Marketer. Social Networking has opened up a whole new world for those who want to build online but also to keep it simple.
If you want to advance beyond the basics then I favour Mike Dillards attraction materials because in a confusing world they are simple to obtain and easy to absorb. They are also very good value for money and Mike spreads a positive message. For more info on Magnetic Sponsoring and how you can apply it to the business of your choice visit http://www.ATeamLeads.com
About the writer:nbsp;nbsp;Rachel Henke coaches people to work from home with a proven system. For more info on Magnetic Sponsoring visit Magnetic Sponsoring Videos
Putting Sponsorships To Work For You
Putting Sponsorships To Work For You
Businesses are constantly solicited for sponsorships for all types of causes some for charity and some for profit. While both can yield a return for your business if you do not receive anything in return it is just a charitable donation or a waste of money in the case of a forprofit sponsorship. So once you have made the decision to sponsor something it is time to put it to work for you.
Usually when you are a sponsor you receive name mentions and signage. These come in the form of logos on all literature banners prizes etc. You may be sponsoring a certain segment stage person or item and you name is mentioned as the sponsor. Many times in the case of charitable sponsorships you get a table for you and a few guests and the table will have your name on it. The list goes on but you get the point. Most people who ask for a sponsorship know you need to get something back in return.
At this point most people stop. They writeoff the expense of the sponsorship to advertising or charity and move on but why stop now? Even if your company has a sponsorship ledger it is probably a subledger of advertising and/or promotions. If you include it in this category why not treat it like the other expenses? Why not use it in conjunction with your other advertising and promotions? If you take some time to think about how you can coordinate other advertising strategies you will find a lot of opportunities available.
The first place to start is the event itself. Just because you have sponsored a certain person place or thing doesn’t mean they will prohibit you from being at the event promoting. If you don’t ask they can’t say yes. Sometimes you may have to opt for a larger sponsorship but this can bring some negotiation. Here is an example: a community fair. You are considering a small to medium sponsorship but you want to incorporate other promotions with it. You ask the coordinator what is available to the largest sponsors and it means more signage and mentions. You ask how many of the large sponsors they have and you can tell they have room for a lot more. This is the time to ask “If I commit to your large sponsorship can I have my employees pass out flyers at the event?” The coordinator is looking at the dollar signs you have just suggested and is a lot more susceptible to say “YES!” You may even be able to offer a few more dollars to receive this opportunity. Why would you want this opportunity? A personal connection with a potential client is worth 3 times if not more what it costs to run a magazine ad or buy a billboard. You now have handtohand promotion and it is better if you can get your employees to hand out the flyers because these are the people the potential customer will see when they do business with you. Also how hard would it be for you to get a large group of people together so you could tell them about your business?
But wait. There’s more! There are other things you can do with the sponsorship. I am coordinating a charity poker tournament and many of the sponsors are my vendors because my company is a distributor. One opportunity I am making available is promotional materials. All of the participants are receiving gift bags filled with promotional items coupons brochures etc. Just about anything a sponsor will give me will go in these bags. This gives you as a sponsor another avenue to reach an audience who has seen your logo and heard your name. Once again you are given access to potential customers that you may have never known existed. By offering giveaways and coupons you are helping out the cause more than just the sponsorship and you are completing more interaction with your potential market. There are all types of ways to add to your regular sponsorship and they will all vary according to what you are sponsoring so just be creative.
After you have your business in front of the sponsored audience as much as possible it is time to look to how else you can put this sponsorship to work for you. Many sponsored activities are for a charity or some type of fundraiser. How customers feel and think about your company is very important to the loyalty of your company and any time you can let them know that you help the community is another opportunity to tell your existing customers that you do more than just your business. An example for this is a sponsorship of an organization that helps disabled kids. Since you are probably sponsoring a fundraiser coordinated by this organization you have the opportunity to advertise this. Any newsletters instore signage or other regular advertising is a chance to let your customers know that you are giving back. Get the organization’s and event’s logo for your advertising. This is also another chance for negotiation with the event’s coordinator. Crosspromotion is important to everyone no matter what you are doing. It would be valuable to the organization to have additional advertising for free. You may be able to settle for a less monetary donation in exchange for advertising to your customer base and this is just on advertising you were already sending out.
You also have a reason to send marketing communications to your customers. Since you are sponsoring something you want to tell them about it and while you are at tell them about your business: maybe you have a new product or you just want to remind them of what you have to offer. You can also structure specials and promotions around the event. You could coordinate with the organization to offer something for you to give to you customers like tickets to the event or a stuffed animal if they purchase a certain item or dollar amount. You will probably have to discount the item or service to cover the cost of the promotional item but this gives you an opportunity to make a sale promote it make your customers feel good for helping a charitable cause receive something extra and attribute some good will to your company. The list is long but all of this is possible with the right coordination.
When you sponsor something you should look at it just like you would any other form of advertising. How is this going to fit into your marketing mix. Make it a part of your current campaigns or create a new one based on the sponsorship. Regardless of how it fits into your marketing plan make it work for you. No matter how big or small your sponsorship is you must receive something in return or you are just making a donation. Finally always be creative. Just like in any other promotion creativity has a much larger impact than the common promotion. Creative coordination is an excellent way to make a sponsorship work for you!
About the writer: Nate Stockard is the owner of Stockard Associates Inc a marketing and design firm in Houston TX specializing in small business solutions. He is also the author of The Market Seedling an informative source of information articles tips and advice for small business owners and marketers.
8 Breakthrough Ways To Bring Free Visitors To Your Site!
8 Breakthrough Ways To Bring Free Visitors To Your Site!
Many websites have great ideas excellent content brilliantdeals and terrific potential. However the truth is themajority of these sites fail. This is for the simple reason thatthese sites can not get sufficient visitors.
I hope to address this problem with 8 surefire ways to bringguaranteed visitors to your site within a matter of days:
1.Write your own articles
Increase traffic to your site immediately by writing your ownarticles and publishing them in relevant ezines or on relevantwebsites. At the beginning and end of your article include alink to your site and a small sentence explaining how it wouldbenefit the reader. This is a proven way to achieve tremendoustargeted traffic from all over the web. Do not be afraid tocontact owners of large ezines. These ezine publishers needarticles especially if they publish a daily ezine. Just sendthem a polite personal email with your article neatlyformatted. Writing your own articles also has the benefit of along lasting effect. Once your article has been published in abig ezine many readers of that ezine will use your article intheir own ezine. Your article could be circulating around theweb for months.
2.Create your own ebook
Create your own ebook relevant to your site’s subject matter.Include a link back to your site on every page of the ebook.Make sure it is clearly stated on your ebook that it can befreely distributed so long as it is not altered in any way.Then give it away on your own site and distribute it to otherrelevant internet sites. These sites will probably be happy todistribute it for you seeing as big sites are always lookingfor new ebooks to give away to enhance their popularity. You canthen stop distributing your ebook after a while and then sitback and watch traffic pour into your site. A benefit is that ifyour traffic flow ever decreases again then you can alwaysdistribute your ebook again.
3.Search engine optimisation
A high ranking on the popular search engines is one of the bestways to achieve incredible traffic within a couple of days.However getting a high ranking on the top search engines iseasier said than done. Briefly these are the ways to get highsearch engine ranking:
Having a large number of links to your site all over the webHaving a large percentage of keywords in your content Usingeffective meta tags good keywords etc… Using keywords inheadings or in bold type Using clean code with no unnecessaryjargon
4.Using an email signature
This is possibly the most underrated way of advertising on theinternet. Think about how many emails you send a week. If you’rea webmaster who is trying to get rich you should be sending alot! Just use a small signature at the end of each email such as:
==================================== 100s of free ebooks andsoftware products Go to http://www.infoebooks.co.uk====================================
This will alert everyone you email whether it be familyfriends or prospective customers that you have a site which isworth visiting. Notice how I have used the =’ sign to highlightmy signature. This stands out much more than the sign andwill allow for maximum visibility. If you have family or friendswho do not use an email signature then ask them to have asimilar signature as yours at the end of every one of theiremails. You’ll soon see an influx of visitors.
5.Link exchanges
Link exchanges are great because they cost nothing are verylong lasting and also bring in extremely targeted traffic toyour site. Link exchanges work by you and another website ownerputting a link on each other’s site so that each of youbenefits. When choosing a site to link with be careful aboutchoosing a site very similar to yours. In this way the othersite’s link does not look like an advertisement on your siteand you will also receive plentiful targeted traffic. Linkexchanges also have the benefit of helping you increase yoursearch engine rankings seeing as you are increasing the amountof links to your site all over the web.
6.Autoresponder advertising
If you want to be a successful internet businessman you need tohave an autoresponder. It is an essential tool which will saveyou hours of precious time. You can set your autoresponder up toemail your prospects at certain intervals and so takeadvantage and send your new prospects emails about your newproducts your special deals and your unique selling point whichwill benefit the reader. Alternatively if you use yourautoresponder to send out your special email course make sureyou have a small advertisement at the bottom and top of theemail. Either way this is a way to get great traffic withoutyou having to do any work.
7.Using the power of recommendation
Nothing will make people come to your site more than having afriend recommend it to them. Everyone respects their friend’sopinions and if you can get people to recommend your site thenyou’re very likely to achieve a maximum amount of traffic. Wordof mouth is a very common way of spreading the best new thing’.To get a recommendation script to put on your website so thatvisitors can recommend your site at the click of a button go tohttp://www.cgiresources.com or http://www.hotscripts.com.Generally I find that people will not recommend your siteunless there is an incentive. Therefore offer a free reward ifpeople recommend your site such as a free ebook or freesoftware product. Also make sure that your recommendation formis on lots of your web pages and that it is very visible. Soonyou will have a large number recommending their friends to yoursite.
8.Holding a contest on your website
Holding a contest is a concept which has been highly neglectedeven though it has tremendous traffic building potential. Hold acontest on your site for something that your site is basedaround. For example if your site is based around video gamesthe prize could be the latest video game which you knoweveryone who visits your site will be interested in. Often youdon’t have to pay for the prize either. Many companies would behappy to give you a free prize because the company wouldreceive free advertising. People will come to your site see thecontest and if they like it which you have to make sure theydo they will almost certainly tell a friend about it. This wayyou will collect a load of email addresses which you can mailto to tell them about product updates. The potential fortraffic is unlimited. Plus by offering competitions like thisyour site will gain popularity from winners and you could alsooffer a consolation prize to those who haven’t won so that youget popularity from all the losers of the competition too.
For more information on this subject or about making moneyonline go to
Thank you for reading
William Johnston
About the writer:nbsp;nbsp;Author: Corey Morehousehttp://freewebbizsolutions.wordpress.com/2006/02/04/viralmarketing/