MLM Success – The Tools You’ll Need – Part 1!
MLM Success, from the time that you start your new business, is reliant upon many things. One major factor in MLM success are tools out there that are available that you may not be aware of. With these tools at your disposal, you can properly coordinate your plan of attack.
When I first started in MLM, I was besieged with all this great information about the company and about the products they sold. But no one gave me any specific tools on how to proceed. My upline was doing things the old fashioned way; meet people, tell them about the product. We gravatated to doing conventions and doing public demonstrations that garnered us a little business as well. We hit the phones afterwards to respark the energy the people had when they met us. For me, however, being a mostly introverted person, “eagerly” meeting people only goes so far before I burn out.
Disclaimer: I don’t want to pitch you on any specific company here, I just want to introduce you to some of the companies out there that can assist you with your workflow so you don’t waste countless hours of your time waffling around.
1) AWeber – AWeber is an email marketing software that generates email autoresponses for you. By setting up an account with AWeber ($1, 30 day trial period, afterwards, $20+/mo.), you can create email campaigns for your company. It works by autoresponding (sending out emails) to anyone (your new lead) that signs up to receive new information from you. I was receiving a new email every 3 days from my upline before I got started and each email had some new information in it that I got curious about. After about 10 of these emails, I signed on. Pretty powerful communicating with people while you sleep. www.aweber.com
2) WordPress – WordPress is a blog tool and personal publishing platform. You must have a blog to communicate your business and help funnel people to your product. I like WordPress because it has a myriad of tools and widgets you can incorporate to assist you in getting ranked on the search engines. A WordPress blog is free via their website, but it is recommended you use an online provider like GoDaddy or HostGator to host it. That way, you have full access to all the tools WordPress has and you’re not limited in your creativity by the WordPress site itself. (See my blog entry entitled, “Will Your Blog be Deleted”.) Cost – $4.95 – 9.95/mo ISP (internet service provider)hosting costs, plus domain name registration. WordPress installation thereafter is free. If you don’t use HostGator or GoDaddy as your ISP, be sure to ask the company you use if WordPress is accessible through them.
3) Onlywire – Onlywire is a service that allows you to spread your content to multiple social sites at the click of one button. Getting the word out to everyone is the name of the game and Onlywire does this wonderfully. With one click, your information is sent to and automatically posted on dozens of social networking sites instantaneously. Onlywire is free and only takes a few minutes to set up. www.onlywire.com
4) Speaking of social networking sites, you need a Facebook account at absolute minimum. Facebook is number 3 overall in search engine rankings and is a self-marketer’s and promoter’s dream come true. With over 100 million users, 10 million active users each day, 375,000 new accounts each day, it’s crazy not to utilize this amazing platform to promote your message. Other people out there use MySpace, too. I’m a bit older than the typical MySpace user, so I stick with Facebook. Either way, use these, and other social networking sites to your advantage! www.facebook.com, www.myspace.com.
My second portion of the tools you’ll need for MLM success is next. Get the rest of the story by going to part 2 right now!
MLM Success – Learn the Basics FIRST!
MLM Success, plainly put, depends upon your understanding of the basics when you enter into your online or home business. A lot of information is going to be thrown your way very quickly and if you don’t know or understand the terminology, or aren’t able to quickly grasp presented concepts, it all may become very daunting to you. That is, at best, you’ll struggle for hours getting into the swing of things or at worse, it will all become so daunting that you quickly give up on it.
So here are the basics:
MLM Success depends upon a 4 tiered foundation:
1) Lead Generation
2) Conversion
3) Training
4) Retention
Lead Generation. The word “Lead”, is derived from the early days of sales. Salesmen would go door to door selling their products and when they found someone that was interested, they called them a “lead”.
What’s Lead Generation all about? Simply put, the more leads you can bring to your business, the higher the percentage of people that will join you and/or buy your product. Just like in a store. Who’s going to do more business? The store with a lot of customers in it or the one with very few? There are two categories of lead generation. First is face-to-face (or, “off-line” lead generation) and the second is online lead generation. There are endless methods for obtaining leads in both areas; what is most important is to find the method that works best for you and the one(s) you are most comfortable with.
Conversion. Conversion basically means, once you find someone who is interested in your product, how do you get them to sign up and/or buy from you. The MOST important fact to remember here is, people do not simply buy your product, they buy YOU as well. They buy your energy, they buy your passion, they buy from you because they *trust* you. Never, ever, compromise your integrity. It’s not worth it. Ask yourself, are you more likely to buy something again from someone you trust, know and respect? Absolutely. Congruently, you’re more likely to send them referrals, too, aren’t you?
Conversion also requires knowing your product and the how and why of it all. The more you know about what it is you’re selling, the more confident you are in making the sale. Your confidence breeds confidence in your buyer and hopefully a new and budding relationship will ensue. Finally, ask for the sale. In sales terminology, this is known as “closing” the sale. If you’re face-to-face (or on the phone), how can you make the sale if you don’t ask for it? Because if you don’t, your customer will simply think you were having one big informative chat on your product between the two of you. Seriously! Online leads may be a bit different in that your lead may actually have the gumption to click a button to sign up, but if they’re on the fence, it will do you a WORLD of good to get on the phone, have a nice (but brief) conversation with them and then ask them to sign up. Chances are, they won’t think anything of it and they will!
Training. Once you have someone signed up, you have to keep them fired up about the business. The best way to do this is keep them informed and keep them trained. The MLM I am involved with has weekly face-to-face AND a weekly online webinar to keep us all up to date and up to speed. Fortunately, for me, the founders of the MLM success system I belong to incorporate these type of meetings into the business and it’s a gas to tune in. Your knowledge base, skills and passion will continuously grow within you AND your new teammate by keeping the information flowing on a continuous basis.
Retention. Retention goes hand-in-hand with training. If you and your new teammates are fired up about the business, chances are they’ll be fired up to stay for the long-term and be equally as fired up about recruiting new leads to generate more prosperity for both of you.
That’s it in a nutshell. If you truly want MLM success, learn the basics first. Understanding these 4 principals will establish your MLM foundation and hopefully allow you to begin your new business by heading in the right direction. Get started in the right direction right now by going to my website and providing your name, email and phone number in the form at the bottom of the page and I’ll begin showing you all that I’ve learned on getting started and prospering with your new MLM.
OnlyWire
Blog Catalog
Octobot
Host Gator
Go Daddy
Follow Me Here!
