MLM Home Based Business - Generating The Leads You Need

The biggest challenge for most any MLM home based business has nothing to do with selling its products. The chief hurdle a MLM home based business usually faces involves building a successful downline. Just how do you find recruits who are genuinely interested in becoming part of your MLM home based business sales team?

Well, before you rush out and start trying to generate leads for your MLM home based business, you need to have a plan. It isn't enough to tell people about your MLM home based business and its products and expect them to sign up. You need to know as much as you possibly can about your MLM distributor, the products, and the compensation plan so that you can answer any questions a MLM lead may have.

The more you know and the more comfortable with it you are, the easier it is to make people want to become part of your MLM home based business. Not knowing the answers to their questions or giving vague answers is more likely to make any MLM leads you do generate mistrustful of you and your MLM home based business. And be sure to have a follow-up plan for what you'll do after you've generated some leads and started making contacts because it generally takes several contacts before people take action of any kind, whether buying a product or signing up for a MLM home based business opportunity.

Once you know your MLM home based business inside and out, you're ready to start generating those MLM leads. One of the first places to look, of course, is to your friends and personal acquaintances. Make a list of everyone you know. You'll likely be surprised by how long that list is, and the people you know are a good place to start looking for MLM recruits. A lot of the time, even if your friends and acquaintances aren't interested in a MLM business themselves, they can give you names of people they know who will be interested in your MLM home based business opportunity. And if they don't volunteer any names, don't hesitate to ask them, politely of course, for names of people you can contact.

Another thing you should do to generate MLM leads for your home based business is start collecting. Business cards. Email addresses. Phone numbers. You never know who may or may not be interested in an MLM home based business of their own--and you won't know unless you contact them and ask. Again, the person you contact may not be interested in a MLM home based business himself, but more often than not, the person will know someone else who is. Cold-calling isn't necessarily easy when you first start doing it, but as you gain experience, you'll get more comfortable and confident, and that confidence will ultimately pay off. Just be prepared to hear no and don't take it personally.

MLM trade journals are another good place to generate leads for your home based business. These journals are read by people who are already interested in MLMs which makes them a "warm" market. Including a press release with your ad will greatly improve the number of inquiries you get. And make your ad for your MLM home based business as different from the other ads as possible. This is important so that your home based business MLM ad doesn't get lost in a sea of others.

Buying MLM leads is one of the most popular wayw to generate leads for your MLM home based business. Many companies have email lists and phone number lists for people who have expressed their interest in getting information on MLM opportunities. Often you can even buy MLM leads who want to be involved with your particular type of MLM home based business opportunity. This makes purchasing leads a great option for most MLM home based businesses.

When buying MLM leads for your MLM home based business opportunity, you want to be sure you're getting them from a reputable company. You don't want to buy an out-of-date MLM leads list or one that's been sold over and over. So do some research on the list selling company before you buy. Also, be sure to check any phone numbers you buy in the Do Not Call Registry. Doing this is your responsibility, not the company's you buy the list from, so you need to be sure to check them before you call. It's always better to be safe than sorry.

author: Charles Fuchs

MLM Business - The 7 Business Factors Test of a Multi -level Marketing Business

So many people ask the same question: Is Multi-level Marketing a REAL Business? Is it truly a business that can produce a living and income? Is it a REAL distribution business? It is a business that operates for the customer's satisfaction, and always looks to gain new customers?

Here is the answer: YES.

How and why does it qualify as a business? Every business has certain traits and functions that are needed to do business and stay in business. We have developed what we call the "7 Business Factors Test", and you have to ask these questions to see if it qualifies as a business. All businesses, no matter whether it is a traditional business or a non-traditional business, (such as MLM), answer these questions in the affirmative.

What are the "7 Business Factors Test" Questions?

1) Does the MLM Business distribute goods and services of some type?

Answer: Yes.

In MLM, there are goods and services that are distributed through personal distribution methods, and they are distributed directly to the customer, with no middle man. These goods and services can be manufactured by the MLM company, but usually are not. The goods and services many times are manufactured by an outside source, and then shipped by the MLM Business to the customer or distributor. Then the distributor can take the goods, and re-sell them to their customers as well.

2) Does the MLM Business have an official Office, headquarters, or structure that the business is operated out of, and with an address of some type?

Answer: Yes.

All MLM businesses should have some kind of office or headquarters that the goods are shipped from, or at least in charge of the shipments getting to the customer. This does not have to be a fancy office, but one that can get all the tasks needed to run the business done in a timely fashion. They should have a visible address on all communication.

The distributor's business is usually operated out of the home, and that counts as a structure that the home business is housed.

3) Is there an accounting structure that is set up to run the business effectively and legally?

Answer: Yes.

All MLM businesses should have an accounting function and people set up to handle all business transactions. They not only keep the books for the MLM Business itself, but also the MLM distributor as well. The MLM Business from the home should have some form of an accounting system, for tax purposes, and for profit and loss statements. Accounting also helps keep the Company and distributor aware of the health of the business and how it is doing, or not doing.

4) Does the MLM Business have easy communication to get a hold of someone if needed?

Answer: Yes.

Communication is the lifeblood of any business, and MLM is no exception. MLM Businesses usually not only have an order line, and a distributor line, but a general public telephone number that the public can get in touch with them as well. Usually at the MLM Business Office, there is someone to answer the phone as well.

And the MLM business should also have an email system that is watched, and taken care of, on a daily basis. This is not only for the distributor base, but also the customers and public as well.

5) Does the MLM Business have the needed business licenses and legal structure to do business in the states and countries they operate in?

Answer: Yes.

All MLM Businesses that have been in business for any amount of time, must have the needed legal structure and licenses to operate in every state. If they do not, they will eventually be forced to cease doing business in that state. And most MLM Businesses have some form of a corporate structure that the company operates under. That could include being a C Corporation, an LLC, or a Sub S Corporation.

Even MLM distributor needs a business license to do business in their city, so they will not be penalized if they do not have one and are caught.

6) Does the MLM business operate on a FOR PROFIT basis?

Every successful business structure, traditional or non-traditional, should operate on a FOR PROFIT basis. Even the MLM distributor needs to operate on a FOR PROFIT basis. If the MLM business does not operate in a profit mode, and loses money continually, the MLM business will not be in business for that long.

It is the same way for the MLM distributor. If the distributor does not make any money, then they will not stay in business long.

7) Does the MLM business perform all of the needed business functions to increase business, including marketing, promotion, campaigns, running specials, advertising tools, customer service, brand extensions, research and development, direct marketing, increasing brand awareness, and keeping their vendors at an honest price?

Answer: Yes.

Every MLM business operates to increase business, using all of the functions mentioned, and more. Even the MLM distributor needs to perform some of those functions, to increase their own business in their marketplace. These are functions any business needs to do, in order to stay in business, and enlarge it's operating capacity.

Yes, an MLM Business is a TRUE business that operates to service the customer's needs, bring products and services to the marketplace, and show a profit at the end of the year.

MLM or Multi-level Marketing, has passed the "7 Business Factors Test." If an MLM Business you are considering does not answer all of the above questions YES, then you may want to consider seeking another MLM company that can pass this test as a Multi-level Marketing business.


author: Doug Firebaugh

Online MLM Promotion - The 3 Wrong Ways and 3 Right Ways of Doing it

Contrary to popular belief (or what most MLM people would prefer to believe), online MLM promotion campaign is somehow different from an offline MLM promotion campaign. You can not simply try to apply the same successful offline MLM campaign online and hope that it will be as successful online.

There is basically one major difference between offline and online MLM promotion: one-on-one approach versus one-on-many approach. In offline promotions, one-on-one approach and follow up on each lead is a very crucial factor. If you can follow up on a prospective lead and succesfully educate him about you MLM program, you've got yourself a downline. If not, you'll have to wipe the tears off your eyes and try your luck with the next prospective lead.

An ideal online promotion in the other hand, relies very little on one-on-one follow up. With the power of the internet, it is possible to find people who are already interested in MLM, willing to spend money on promoting it and train them about your MLM program all automatically. This way it is possible for you to have many prospective leads at the same time, train them all at the same time automatically and therefore makes your chance of recruiting downlines significantly bigger.

To do a successful online MLM promotion, it is best to know first what to avoid in doing it. Here are the wrong ways most people are doing in promoting their online MLM program:

1. Promoting an online MLM in an offline media

By offline media, we mean regular magazines or newspapers you usually subscribe to or sold on bookstores. Some people may think that if they promote their MLM program in TIME magazine or Wall Street Journal, they will instantly get thousands of leads who will easily turn into downlines. Anyway, almost everybody read TIME magazine, right? True, but to tell you the truth, almost nobody who is reading a magazine or a newspaper will put down whatever it is they are reading, dash frantically to the computer and type the URL you promote to check it out.

Most people will think "This may be OK to try. I'll browse the site when I get to my computer" then read on. When they finally get to their computer a few hours later, they most probably have totally forgotten about your ad.

2. Promoting an online MLM in an online classified ads site

There are two reasons why this is a bad move: First, because there are now literally thousands of classified ads sites on the internet. None of them is a major player in the field, which means you must try to post to all of them for maximum exposure. Second, because most of the sites don't charge anything to put ads on their sites, a lot of other people are also promoting there.

To get a decent number of people viewing your ad, you must put your MLM promotion ad in at least several hundreds classified ads sites. There are softwares out there that can do this automatically, but if everybody's using a specialized software to do this, then your ad will be competing against tens of thousand of other advertisers' ads, and as soon as your ad appears it will be pushed downward by other ads from other advertisers. The chance of the right kind of lead seeing your ad in the right time and the right mood is very slim if you try this approach.

3. What could make all those 2 mistakes even worse: using long and forgettable URL

This 3rd mistake can only make the previous 2 mistakes even worse. If you are very lucky and an eager lead finally reads your MLM ad and decides to visit the URL you're promoting (let's say it's something long and ugly like yourmlmcompany.com/cgi-bin/prospect1.cgi?sponsorid=1192349&message=1192. If he decides to sign up right there and then after reading the promotional material, you are to be congratulated as one of the luckiest MLM distributor in the history of the industry.

However, if he doesn't sign up directly (which is very normal), he may want to revisit your site later after some deep contemplation. Unfortunately for you, he may not remember your long URL when he gets back from his contemplation. He may only remembers the yourmlmcompany.com part and type it in into his browser. This will bring up the same exact page he visited, but this time you won't be his upline if he signs up. Sad, isn't it?

After looking at the wrong ways to do an online MLM promotion, let's take a look at the correct ways of doing it below:

1. Promoting an online MLM in an MLM/Internet business related ezine

An ezine is an electronic publication sent out by its publishers on a timely basis via email to its readers. Readers of MLM/Internet business related ezines are very interested in the topic, and they are a very responsive market to your MLM ads. Your ads will be put before/after or between articles, depending on how much money you are willing to pay.

Put your ads in one of the MLM/Internet business related ezines, and you are guaranteed many qualified leads who will be easy to convert into downlines if your MLM company has a good follow up system.

2. Promoting an online MLM with pay per click search engines

This is one of the most powerful online MLM promotion method known today. Many well known search engines such as Google now "rent" a portion of their search result page to be used by paid advertisers to put their ads on. For every "click" to your site, you must pay a certain amount of money (starting from as little as 5 cents).

With this promotion method, your MLM promotional ad can show up on the search result page of Google if somebody types in MLM related queries in the search box. Imagine the power of it. A lead wanting to join an MLM program, typing in the word "MLM program" into Google, and reads your ad when the search results are displayed. Will he click to find out more? Most likely.

3. What could make all those 2 right methods even more successful: using short and memorable URL

Which URL is more likely to be remembered by first time visitors to your MLM site: yourmlmcompany.com/cgi-bin/prospect1.cgi?sponsorid=1192349&message=1192 or myownmlm.com?

It is possible to direct every prospect visiting myownmlm.com to yourmlmcompany.com/cgi-bin/prospect1.cgi?sponsorid=1192349&message=1192 without they ever knowing the difference. This way, your prospect can remember your URL much more easily, and whenever they visit your URL again, you'll still be their upline of they sign up.

This very useful feature is now available from as cheap as $8 per year on the internet. Just search in the search engines for "cheap domain name with frame forwarding" (without the quotes) and you'll find many options to choose from.

CONCLUSION:

Most of the wrong ways of doing online MLM promotion are free methods. Avoid this seemingly money free methods. They seem to be free at the first glance, but in the end they bring you very little result and consume very much of your time.

All of the right ways of doing online MLM promotion are paid methods. Most beginners in MLM try to avoid these methods, yet they bring in the most result with no wasted time on your part.

author: Johannis Seumahu

How to Build Your MLM Team

The only way to create solid residual income is to build a big and loyal team. Believing you are right or wanting to be is a trap you can easily fall into. It is a natural human failing, but it comes from the negative emotions and old conditioning. It isolates you from really connecting with those around you. Worse than that, it stops your business partners from developing their full potential.

* Confident you are right

This usually comes from old conditioned opinions. 'Women are over-cautious drivers'; 'Teenagers are so pig-headed'. Feelings like that sabotage all your relationships, not least those with your Network Marketing colleagues. Look at what is behind them and then let it go. You will lose your abrasive edges and people will warm to you. That's good for all your human interaction.

* Get rid of bad thinking

One of the best ways to get rid of negative stuff is to focus on the positive. One way to do this is to look into their soul. The vast majority of associates, prospects and family members aren't being devious. They are just doing what they believe in. If you can look at the other person and see the innocence behind their behaviour, then you can have compassion for them. As you fill your mind with positive emotions and start to look for the good in others - guess what? The good is what you will find.

* Why do my team do that?

They get things all wrong.....Don't go there! Maybe they think the same about you. There is no right or wrong way to build a business. Whatever works for someone and enables them to build good relationships with their downlines - if it can be duplicated - is cool. You might even learn something new yourself. After all once we stop learning, we're finished. If you approach everyone as if they have something to teach you, your team members will feel really validated.

* Celebrate everybody's differences

Variety is the spice of life. It would be a dull world if we were all clones of each other. Sure some people will mess up, but that's a great way to learn and they will be the stronger for it. We all get into grooves caused by past experience. When you see something happening that starts to get your hackles up, take a deep breath, step back and look for why it's a good thing. You might just be surprised to learn a new trick.

* Give unconditionally

Try and give, especially to your downlines who push your buttons. That is a tough one, but it can really turn a prickly relationship round into something good. Suspend your gut reaction judgement. Often we react from fear of how we think what that person is doing might impact on us or on others in the group. Let go of negative thoughts like that. Praise their efforts. They will feel great and you will too. Then if they do need guidance, they will be much more likely to accept it.

You will be amazed how giving to someone who challenges you can completely change your energy and feelings for them.

Building and nurturing a team in this industry is like no other. Think of it like bringing up kids; watching them go through all the stages of growth; finally flying the nest and becoming great leaders themselves. The bigger your team grows, the greater the challenge in managing it and the greater the rewards when you do it well.


author: Charlie Holles

MLM Business Success - 5 Keys of Effective Goal Setting

Grow and transform from a caterpillar to a butterfly and move into the top 3% of network marketers by becoming a goal setter. Most people don't set goals at all and only about 3% of people set goals effectively. There's no such thing as unrealistic goals, there are only unrealistic time frames. There's an opposite for everything so if your goal setting isn't effective, it is defective. Here are 5 keys to effective goal setting every home based business owner should know for MLM business success.

1. Make Your Goals Specific, Very Specific

When you go to a restaurant and your waiter asks you what are you having, do you reply with a general statement, "I'm having a low cal meal," or worst "Just give me whatever." Then you're upset because your waiter gave you the best steak in the house. Why are you upset? Because you're a vegetarian! This is how most people set goals. Most people know exactly what they really, really, really want and because they don't know these 5 keys, they don't get intentional and set clear, specific goals. Because of this, many people end up with "whatever" because "whatever" is what they ordered. Getting whatever happens on a deep subconscious level and getting whatever continues because it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you're making $62,000 a year and you want to make more, does it serve you well to set a goal to make $67,000 when you know you really want $670,000 or $6,700,000? If you are serous about receiving MLM business success, get in touch with what you really want, set a specific goal for it and "get'er done!"

2. Put Your Goals In Writing

How would you feel if your cell phone company gave you a call and said, "We are discontinuing paper billing and we will give you a call and "verbally" inform you of your monthly bill amount." When you receive your phone bill call and they inform you your bill is $37 more than usual, you're irritated that you don't see in writing why your bill is so much. You feel bamboozled! When you don't put your goals in writing, you are bamboozling yourself. When you document your goals, you'll triple your commitment to get them. The action and effort of documenting your goals attaches your importance to them. Put your MLM business success goals in writing because you are worth being documented!

3. Time Stamp & Detail Stamp Your Goals

How would you feel if you bought a plane ticket to go to your best friend's wedding and you received a confirmation back without your seat number, the terminal number, flight number, and even without the date you specified? You are lost because you have know idea where to go and what time to go. You see the "HOW" to get there doesn't matter, which in this case is the plane. Anyone who has accomplished goals didn't know exactly "how" they were going to get there, they just knew the "when, where and what." Do you want your goals to be lost to you? If you don't, state the exact date and details you know you deserve to get! For example, "I will generate 75 leads a day by February 10, 2010." How much MLM business success will you have with 75 leads a day?

4. Prioritize Your Goals

To get anywhere on a map, you got to know your starting point. No matter how painful it is, honestly assess where you are right now. If your starting point is broke, write it. If your starting point is overwhelmed and depressed write it. If you're $80,000 in debt, weigh 300 lbs, going through bankruptcy, going through divorce, a death in the family, anxiety, or hate your job - write down your current situation. Prioritizing your goals is about keeping a score board and knowing where you came from and how far you've come.

5. Strategize Your Goals

All goals are not equal, therefore base them within a specific time frame. A monthly term is for goals you'll get within 30 days. Short-term goals are goals you'll get within 2 to 6 months. You'll get intermediate goals within 6 months to 2 years. Long-term goals are goals you'll get in 2 years or more. Remember there's no unrealistic goal, only unrealistic time frames. There's no reason to sabotage your goal setting so make sure you set realistic time frames.


author: Neef Davidson

MLM Business Marketing Tools to Ensure Success

If you have just recently joined the world of MLM business, you may be feeling a little nervous or overwhelmed with your responsibilities. You may even have the mindset that you must be a people-person to be successful. However, with the advances in technology that are available today, you will find that person-to-person interaction is not required for you to be a success. You simply need to know how to use the tools that are available to you.

Your biggest tool in MLM business is going to be your website. First and foremost, you should create a great landing page for your site. This is the page that visitors will first see. It should be professional and easily guide them to either ordering your products or requesting more information. Your site should be easy to maneuver around, but also maintain a very professional appearance.

Another tool that is going to be very useful to you is an auto-responder. This is a special system for your computer and website that can be set up to automatically respond to any of the leads that are going to be captured by your website. All you need to do is input the information into the auto-responder one time and the rest will be taken care of automatically, saving you a ton of time.

Tracking software can also be a very useful tool in the marketing of your products and opportunity. First of all, it can let you know exactly what advertising efforts are bringing in the traffic to your website and which ones are not working. This will allow you to save time and money and will help you concentrate on the best marketing strategies possible.

Network marketing may seem like a difficult business to get into, but when you have the right tools, you will find it can be very profitable. Keep in mind, however, that no matter what tools you have at your disposal, your business will need time to grow and bring you the success you want.


author: Gerald E. Stidham

Travel MLM Opportunities - Do They Actually Sell Travel?

Right now there is so much hype on the internet about making money in travel. The travel deals are touting that it's an $8 TRILLION per year industry, if you just get the tiny-est slice of this pie, you'll be rich.

The problem is, most of the travel deals are not selling travel - they are just pretending to be. There is nothing wrong with selling travel packages and getting paid a commission. If you can selling a luxury holiday package and save your customers 60% if they had have arranged that package themselves, then more power to ya. But that's NOT where the travel deals are making their money.

There may be a few legitimate online travel deals using a multilevel marketing pay plan, but there not many. Travel MLM's simply can't make money selling travel. They just can't, the profit margins are too low. The industry is too competitive. You can find many great, competitively priced travel deals just by asking Google. The travel MLM's are making their money on selling memberships. Here's how they work...

They sell you a monthly subscription that allows you the privilege of purchasing travel packages at a discounted price. There's nothing wrong with that. Consumer retail stores like Sam's Club and Costco do the same thing. For $40 to $50 per year, you get the privilege of purchasing goods at these stores for less than you would at other retail stores.

The problem is the travel MLM's are putting a compensation plan behind the membership programs. They are not selling travel, which is the real product, but they are selling memberships and compensating their reps on the sale of memberships. It seems legit, but it in fact is a very sneaky way to pass up money from people at the bottom, who pay the monthly fees, to the people at the top, without giving them something of real value.

Yes, the memberships do allow you to purchase travel packages at a discounted price, but that's not where the emphasis is. Most of the emphasis is on the sale of memberships, not the travel packages.

Please understand this - memberships for travel discounts are not real products. They are one step away from the real product, the travel packages. But they can be cleverly disguised to make them seem like they are something of real value, which they are not.

A membership only gives you the privilege of discounted travel, not the travel itself. Therefore it is only valuable when you decide to use the privilege. At all other times, it is worthless. And that is what's wrong with most travel MLM's. They are trying to recruit people into their "travel club" where only a small portion of the people are going to take advantage of the real products - discounted travel.

To give you an real example of this type of business, a well established travel MLM company is currently under very close scrutiny from several state attorney generals because people are questioning the validity of it.

author: Wayne W Wu