30 Tips in 30 Days: Day 3 — When It Comes To Your Marketing Dollars, Spend Wisely
This is Day 3 of our 30 Tips in 30 Days Free Marketing Tips Series. Yesterday we talked about identifying your prospects. Today, we switch gears and talk about MONEY.
How you spend your marketing budget each month will go a long way in determining your success in the MLM/direct sales industry. And how you allocate your dollars when you are just starting out will be vastly different from how you spend your marketing dollars as become more experienced.
One of the most common and, I believe, most costly mistakes that newbies make in this industry is in how they spend their early marketing dollars.
After all, we want to make money, right? :-)
Most new network marketers get flack from their friends and family members about starting a home business, and the natural tendency is to want to prove them WRONG — as soon as possible!
So, the majority of people just starting out in network marketing make a BIG MISTAKE when it comes to allocating their marketing budget. What mistake am I talking about?
They BUY LEADS.
Now I am not totally against buying leads in the right circumstances. But now when starting out. Here’s the problem.
When they are new to the industry, most people have NO IDEA how to actually talk to a prospect. They don’t know what to say, how to say it, and how to avoid sounding like they are begging for a sale.
The result: People RUN from you.
They RUN and they HIDE. You start calling and leaving messages, people don’t show up for followup appointments. You call some more, and then frustration and doubt sets in. You seriously begin doubting your decision to join in the first place.
It is the first step in the cascading process that ends in network marketing failure.
But you need to have leads, right? You need to talk to people if you are going to make money. In the long run, absolutely. In the short term — NO!
It sounds paradoxical, but I believe the worst thing that can happen to a network marketing newbie is to have leads before they are ready.
So how do you get ready?
EDUCATION, my friends… and TRAINING.
Rosemary and I are both huge believers in EDUCATION.
It is the key to being successful in anything.
Just think about it. You wouldn’t try to be a doctor without going to medical school.
You wouldn’t try to fix cars without some kind of training first (well, some would, but that’s another story).
So what makes people think that sales and marketing is any different. If you have never had any training in these areas, you need to get some.
BEFORE you open your mouth to your prospects.
I know some people will disagree with this, but I truly believe that this is one of the major contributing factors to the very large drop off rate in this industry.
It’s fairly easy to start a home-based business. It’s not so easy to be successful.
The BOTTOM LINE!
How would I spend my initial marketing budget if I was just getting started in Network Marketing (and had no previous training)?
Lets say I had $1000 as an initial budget. Here is how I would spend it:
- $800 Marketing Education and Training
- $200 Start up Costs for Home Office, Supplies, and miscellaneous expenses
Notice I did not say ANYTHING about leads or prospects.
That’s because, if you have no prior sales or marketing experience, you’re not ready for them.
What kind of education would I suggest?
Check back tomorrow for Day 4 of the 30 Tips in 30 Days Holiday Special.
To your happiness! (because it’s the only thing that matters!),
Bob
See what business Dr. Clarke has chosen as his primary income stream!
If you have missed any of the previous posts in this series, simply go to the Business and Marketing Tips category in the right sidebar.
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Make Money, Not Excuses
“You can make money or you can make excuses, but you can’t make both.”
These words were written recently in a blog by Karl Bessey, co-founder of a Texas-based finanical education and wealth creation company called Wealth Masters International.
I have been in this industry for more than a couple of years now, and I couldn’t agree with this more.
As I have said on this blog before, 97% of all home-based business owners fail. I take this to mean that 97% of all people who start a home-based business do not make enough money, and most probably spend more money than they make.
What that also tells me is that 97% of these people MAKE EXCUSES.
I have heard a lot of excuses in this business, some rather unique. But most center on the theme of NO MONEY, NO TIME, NO SUPPORT. OK, OK, and OK.
So what? You want to know how many of the 3% of people who make money in this industry had NO MONEY when they first started? Probably 95% of them.
You want to know how many of these people had time issues? Most of them.
You want to know how many had little to no support, and had to find their own way? Probably ALL of them.
That’s right, guys. It’s time to lay down the excuses and start making money.
Don’t let ANYTHING get in your way.
I am changing my mindset on this issue of EXCUSES.
Here are my new edicts:
- You have money problems? So does everybody. You will find the money if you really want it.
- You have time issues? Too bad. Stay up later or get up earlier.
- Your sponsor leave the company? So what, it happens all the time. Find the support you need elsewhere.
- Your spouse giving you crap about spending money? Work it out. Make money.
- You have too many expenses? Life getting in the way? That’s life — work it out (Rosemary and I have 2 kids in college, 1 going next year, and 1 more the year after… make it work anyway you can).
I know this may sound hard ass to many, but I’ve found in building my business with Carbon Copy PRO and WMI that it’s the only way you’ll make money.
No Excuses, Make Money. $$$
Great advice from someone who has “made it” in the Direct Sales industry. Karl Bessey is someone I really have come to respect. His story is compelling…. coal miner turned entrepreneur. So when he speaks, I listen.
And on this one, he is right on the money!
To your prosperity,
Bob
October 24, 2008, Cresskill, NJWhat business am I involved in?
MLM Success: Make the Effort to Attend a Live Event
I’ve heard it stated that those people who attend their MLM or direct sales company’s live events have a significantly higher chance at succeeding than those that don’t attend.
Why would this be true?
I just returned from the Second Live Marketing Event in Dallas, Texas sponsored by Carbon Copy PRO Marketing. I’ve already reviewed the event in a recent post, but today I’d like to get more into the mindset of attending live events.
What do you get at a Live Event that you can’t get sitting behind your computer?
- Informational trainings and company updates
- The ability to put faces to names of those you have become familiar with in your company
- The chance to form friendships and brainstorm with people in your company
- Many times there will be promotional discounts on company materials
- Time away from the drudgery of every day life and, usually a renewed drive to work your business.
These are all great advantages to attending a live event, but I’m not sure they can explain why people who attend these events go on to success at higher rates than those that do not.
I believe that it is not the attendance at the Live Event per se that subsequently drives a person’s success in their business, but rather something far more basic.
I believe it has more to do with a person’s mindset and drive.
This is a person who understands the importance of self improvement, education, and training in building their business empire.
This is a person who understands that no man (or woman) is an island, that we need to work with others to really make our business thrive.
This is a person who does not hesitate to spend money to advance their business.
For all the above reasons, I believe it is not the attendance at the live event that makes the difference between successful and unsuccessful home business owners.
It is the intent and willingness, the mindset if you will, of the person to take their business to the next level by attending an event that really matters.
The event might be fantastic, with exceptional training and full of “golden nuggets” of information to take home, like the Carbon Copy PRO Marketing Event I just attended.
Or the live event might be lacking in substance, a little boring even….. it matters little.
What truly matters is the EFFORT you took to attend.
This is what distinguishes those that succeed and those that don’t in the MLM and Direct Sales business arena.
MLM Success: No Experience Necessary?
If you spend any time on Google or the other search engines, you’ve undoubtedly seen ads for home businesses where it is boldly stated…..
NO EXPERIENCE NEEDED!!!
Well, I guess it is true that you need not have any prior experience in sales, marketing, or business ownership to START your home business. But SUCCEEDING as a home business?
Well, that’s another story.
I consider myself a fairly smart guy. Ph.D. in physiology at the age of 26, postdoctoral research at Harvard Medical School, Associate Professor at Cornell University Medical College.
But when it came time to start a home business with my wife, Rosemary…… I was MYSTIFIED.
I mean, this was a whole new world!
I had never sold anything, never marketed online or offline…. but I was told that there was NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY to start a home business, so I dove right in.
What did I find? What everyone other network marketing newbie finds…
Confusion, Frustration, and Bewilderment.
Listen up guys… NO matter what anyone tells you….
THERE IS A LEARNING CURVE when you start anything new…. including Network Marketing.
How big is this learning curve? That depends.
- It depends on how much time you’re willing to spend learning your new craft.
- It depends on your level of experience when you start your business. Obviously, the more experience you’ve had, the farther up on the learning curve you will be.
- It depends on the business opportunity and how much in-house training they offer, and the quality of that training.
The last one was the reason we chose our current business, because they offered online training and education above and beyond anything we had seen (or have seen since) in the industry (the business is Carbon Copy PRO, and this isn’t a plug, just the truth).
But it still took TIME.
No getting around it… it just does.
Are you willing to invest in YOU, to get the training and experience you need, and be patient for the results?
I hear so many stories of people quitting their home business opportunity just before they are ready to reap the profits of their hard work. They become inpatient and disillusioned.
YOU CAN BE A SUCCESS IN NETWORK MARKETING.
IT MAY JUST TAKE A WHILE.
To your patience and dedication,
Dr. Bob Clarke
October 6, 2008; Cresskill, NJ
MLM Success Secrets: Can I Make Fast Money?
The quick answer to this question is: NOT USUALLY.
You’d be surprised how many people I talk with who really want to start a home business, or so they think. But when I really start asking the tough questions about their motives for wanting to be a home business owner, things often get a little dicey.
My first 3 questions are always the same:
- Do you have any prior sales/marketing/home business experience?
- How much capital are you willing to spend to get your business started and positioned in the compensation plan?
- What is your monthly income goal and how quickly are you looking to attain this goal?
By the time I get to the 3rd question, you can just see the eyes starting to glaze over. It’s about this time that they realize that a home business is going to mean HARD WORK and some MONEY to get it going and maintain it until a profit is seen.
It’s also at this point that I lose alot of prospects, but that’s okay with me. I’d rather find out now than to invest a lot of time in training and mentoring, just to have them drift away from disillusionment.
In the next few blog posts I will examine each of these factors in more detail, but in general, here’s the truth in making money with a home-based business:
- You’ll make money faster if you’ve had prior experience in sales and marketing, or if you’ve owned a business before.
- You’ll make money faster if you buy into the opportunity at a higher level in the compensation plan (consider this your capital investment).
- You’ll make money faster if you have a marketing budget that will allow you to get the word out. In general, the more you can spend in marketing, the more extensively your product will be in front of people, and the more sales you will make.
We’ll discuss these more in future posts, and how you can shorten your learning curve if you are lacking the experience that will put you in the winners circle.
To your prosperity!
Dr. Bob Clarke
October 4, 2008; Cresskill, NJ
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