Archive for February, 2009

What to promote Products vs Business – A response

This is a response I wrote to a question I received this week (by the way, a lot of really great ones and I'm still finding time to write back to a few others :)

but I thought I would share this one with everyone.  Here's the question:

"Given your experience in MLM what do you feel about a business that appear to only be building their customer base for their product with only the distributors being the customer?"

Hi Dave,

This is a really good question regarding how people build their MLM business.  First, it has to be crystal clear that a prospect who is interested in the products is vastly different then the prospect looking for a business.
I know it seems obvious, but so many times people mix the two together.  They are separate prospects - with VERY different desires.

That being said, it's important to promote to the people differently.

To lead with products or business? that is the question

To lead with products or business? that is the question

You bring up a good point that most companies really focus on getting new distributors.  That doesn't mean that's what you have to do, but the benefit of growing your business through other partners is duplication. (as you know).

So, if you're left with a decision moving forward how to build either a) attracting business partners who take the products and build the business   or b) product users ... most opt for the business prospects.

But as you seem to have noticed - Product users ARE the life-line to our business.  If you get a happy customer on your products... they will be on them for a very long time.  Whereas, the business partner might get discouraged and quit.

So I definitely do recommend building the business by connecting customers with the product.
So to answer your question how do I feel about businesses that appear to only promote the 'opportunity'...  I would be cautious.  At the end of the day, the products are what drive our business.

You see, you can have a network marketing business for ANY product - but if it doesn't fit the model for network marketing and if people are not happy with the products - one little hiccup can really do damage to the business.

So is it normal for companies to go this way? - Well, yes and no.  Distributors end up really promoting the business because of the growth potential in it...  but hopefully our company stand behind the products more than anything.

I recommend dividing your marketing efforts to attract both product customers and business partners into your business.  Whether that's 50/50, 30/70 or 10/90  (customers / business partners). ... depends on your goals and comfort level...

We have a powerful way of bring the products to the market. If you're passionate about the products build with the products!  It can be slower growth - but still rewarding.

I hope that helps.

Taigh
"The Personal Trainer for Network Marketers"

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Knowing the numbers. Get your business “paying for itself”

This is such an important aspect of running our business, but for some reason we often times skip this and wonder why our business is in the red...

What it means to know the numbers is to know what it's going to take to make your business profitable.  In business this is call a "Breakeven Analysis" but simply put... it's how many units of X do you need to sell, to start making money.

calculating-numbers

Let's make sense of this for us Network Marketers.  Often times there's bonuses for signing on a new business partner, but for the sake of simplicity lets just talk about our business in terms of breaking even on residual income ...

So what you need to do, is map out how many customers and distributors you need to have in your organization to make your business profitable.

It's actually pretty easy to do:

First- layout all of your expenses, the things that cost you money to run your business (on a monthly basis)

Second - Figure out exactly how many customers and distributors you need to make that same amount.  Here you can run different senarios with a different mix of customers and distributors.  If you're focused on building with distributors... then use that.

Why is this important?
Well, this is going to help you know exactly what you need to do to make your business "Pay for itself".  Once you hit this mark - the products you purcahse on a monthly basis will be free... forever!

Also, you will know how to set your advertising budget.  If you know how much a new recruit brings into your business, you will know how much you can spend on advertising to get a new recruit.

That will be your magic number... if you can break even or make money on the front end of your marketing efforts. as little or big of a profit it might might - keep the marketing going!  It takes time to build the big residual income... but if you're profiting up front... it's all good.

This is just one piece of the puzzle.  Make sure you fully understand the different options available to you to grow and expand your business.  A good place to start is by picking up the 7 Fatal Mistakes of a Network Marketer... lots more valuable info in there that will help you avoid the fatal mistakes I've made while building my business.

Cheers to Development and Success,

Taigh
"The Personal Trainer For Network Marketers"

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Join me in saying, “I quit”

Now I don't watch a whole lot of TV ... but watching the News or even clips on the internet can be right out Depressing.  So today, I want to say... I Quit!

I QuitI quit listening to the God-awful news of all of the doom and gloom.  Yes, I do agree that one should stay on top of the news and whats happening in the world - but watching too much of this shite is really going to bog us down.

You see, in any state of the economy, some people are going to loose money, and some people are going to make moeny - whether it is a recession or boom.  You see, while there will definitely be more struggles for people then usual - We are witnessing a time of Massive Opportunity.

Why?  Well, people are now going to being looking for what we have to offer.  An opportunity to work for themselves...

So join me in turning off the negative news - and lets look for all of the ways we can position ourselves to have the best year ever.

I was listening to an audio the other day and it was saying how money doesn't jsut 'Disappear' it's just moving.  So what we need to do is get in its path - position ourselves and offer people what we have with our businesses - a financial opportunity.

So lets continue on with our heads held high knowing that we are faced with a huge opportunity to help many people out there.

To you success!

Taigh

"The Personal Trainer For Network Marketers"

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Looking to become a Mary Kay consulatant or Avon rep ? 3 things you should know.

If you are looking to build a Mary Kay business, or become Avon representative you'll want to listen up.  I'm about to share with you three resons why you might want to re-consider such a business.  And hey, if you decide it's the right business for you - all the power to you, at least you will be well informed.

So there are some practices that I don't particually enjoy when building a home based business such as Mary Kay business or a Avon business. Let's jump right into them;womenathome1

Home Parties -  This is where you invite your friends and family to come and checkout the new products you are working with.  You offer free facials, and massages.  The reason why I'm not a big fan of this (though it does 'work') is because often times people feel obligated to attend.  And for most new to the business it can seem a bit intemmidating to present to people in a half freind / half professional way.

Delivering Products - One of the requirements that you should have for a business venture is that you should not have to drive around any products.  Why? This wastes a whole lot of time and at the end of te day you will not be paid for delivery time.  The company that you decide to join should have the shipping and handling of money all taken care for you.  You are paid for two things when building a Home Based Business, connecting customers with the products, and building a team of distributors to do the same.  That's it.  As a Mary Kay consultant or a Avon representative, you will be expected to deliver some products to your customers...  which will eat up your time!

Residual Income -  This means to have income rolling in for work you did in the past.  With a Mary Kay business or a Avon business, the products can last a few months therefore taking away potential revenues compared to a product that is ordered on a monthly basis.  The more consistent your customers are, the better residual income you and yoru team will be able to build.

Both the Mary Kay business and the Avon business are great opportunities to get a good feel for what it means to be in business for yourself.  But because of some of these limiting factors, I would encourage you to continue your search for that perfect home based business.

To Your Success From Home,

Taigh
"The Personal Trainer For Network Marketers"

P.S. If you haven't already, make sure you sign up for my Free Report on the 7 Fatal Mistakes of a Network Marketer.  I share with you some valuable lessons that have help me bring my business into a full time passion.  IntegratedMLMStrategy.com

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Tim Sales – A Review of his Products, Are You Wasting Your Money?

I wanted to write a quick post on Tim Sales and my thoughts as to whether or not he has useful materials, or if people are just wasting their time and money.

Tim Sales is a head trainer for the network Marketing industry.  He started off by building his own organization that has grown into the tens-of-thousands and now has expanded his business to teaching others what the industry is all about, and how to build their organization. Tim has broken this industry down into 3 main activities - Invite, Present, Train.   BY THE WAY, make sure you read the whole post before buying up all his products :)

I have purchsed all of the following products from Tim Sales, and here are my ratings...

Professional Inviter -  5/5 This is a 7 CD  audio set that cost $130 and for people who are unsure of what this industry is all about, and are not comfortable talking to others... this is a fantastic training package.  Tim is very methodical and breaks down the "approach" step-by-step.

Brilliant Compensation - 5/5 For $11 you can get a crystal clear understanding of what this industry is all about, and better yet - share that with others.  Seriously, I have yet to run across a better explanation of what the Network Marketing industry is all about.  Check out the example videos to see what I mean...

Brilliant Communicator- 3/5 Well, I had to think about that rating. It really depends on where you're at. This is a more detailed description on "How to say it", when speaking to a prospect face-to-face. If you feel you're weak in your communication skills, then yes, it's a good buy at $49 but it's not going to show you "How to build your business", but more on the in a bit.

Brilliant Questions- 3/5  For the same reasons above, depending on where you are at. If you enjoy building using the traditional face-to-face methods and have run out of ideas on how to "spark up a conversation", then yes this would be a good purchase.  It costs $40 and it covers topics like, how do you handle the MLM objection? to, should I be buying coffee or a meal for a prospect?  (lol, again read on for I'll address why this didn't get a perfect 5/5)

Pocket Tracker - 4/5  This is a really cool tool for peopel wondering where they are going wrong in their daily activities.  This lays out exactly what you should be doing on a daily basis --- Using traditional methods, and does help out pin-pointing where you are going wrong.  Fundamentally there are a few activities in the pocket tracker that will slow down the growth in your business, but again - more on that later..

Non Fluff Goal Training -  5/5  Without a doubt this is a great training helping you figure out HOW to set goals, and get an action plan for implementation. One suggestion Tim gives is to get out from your office / house and go some place where you can get inspired.  I've used this in my business (and continue to) and some great things have happened as a result.  For $8 bucks, a great training material.

Hot Prospecting tips - 2/5  You know what, this is a good training but again, there's a big flaw in that Tim is training you to go chase prospects. Well, he wouldn't put it like that - this is a business just like any other. But he doesn't cover the ONE critical part of this business - Marketing.

So that's it, that's the MAJOR downfall with Tim Sales.  He doesn't teach people how to Market their business.  Why is this SO important? Well, you can know all of the skills of inviting, presenting, and training - but if you don't have qualified prospects to talk with - you now have a skill that you can put to use.

As you can see I'm serious about training. I've gone through a lot to be able to say that one of Tim's major flaws is teaching people that Cold Calling unqualified prospects (leads) is a viable way to build a business.

It's not. Calling leads is not fun, it costs a lot of money, takes a lot of time, positions you poorly, AND it's not duplicatable.

To get some training that will fill in a few gaps of Building this Network Marketing, MLM business, go here now -
IntegratedMLMStrategies.com

To your Training and Success,

Taigh
"The Personal Trainer For Network Marketers"

P.S. Don't get me wrong - Tim Sales is great in what he does,  check out his video on "Do Most People Fail"  and you'll see why I think he has some great material...

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