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!
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Two Essential Skills You Must Master To Be A Successful Network Marketer
I’ll never forget when I joined my first MLM company quite a few years back.
I was told that I only needed 2 things to be successful:
- Have a big enough “WHY”
- Just tell my story
Well, I had a very big “WHY”, knew exactly why I wanted to be a network marketing success. I didn’t have much of a story to tell, since I was just getting started, but I did my best…. and I floundered… BIG TIME.
Fast forward 5 years and the scenario is much different.
I’ve accumulated enough knowledge and experience to understand that there are 2 things you need to know to be a successful network marketer... but they weren’t what I first thought.
But I soon realized that, if you can master these 2 skills, you will be well on your way to network marketing success. They may not be what most people think. But here they are……
- Copywriting. If you can write your own ad copy and website story effectively, you are the expert that everyone wants to talk to. Now, I don’t profess to being an ad copy expert, but it is one of the areas that I am actively studying and receiving training.
And until I am that copywriting expert, I am lucky enough to be involved with an automated marketing system that provides professionally written websites, autoresponders, and ad copy.
Even so, it is a skill that I want to master so that I can be successful with any sales venture in the future.
- Effective Communication. We spend so much time figuring out how to get prospects — learning how to market, how to get our message out, figuring out the right message, planning a great website to which to send our prospects once they opt in to our system. What we forget sometimes is learning how TALK and COMMUNICATE with our prospects once we have them.
There are a ton of books, CDs, and DVDs on various aspects of Effective Communication.
I want to share with you today one that has changed the way I deal with prospects and, indeed with people throughout my life.
Jerry Clark, creator of Club Rhino, is a master communicator who lectures and teaches throughout the world in the field of effective communicaton. I was driving quite a lot lately and, as we always do, Rosemary and I popped in some CDs to turn our car in to a travelling university.
We had just purchased a CD series by Jerry Clark, The Magic of Colors that just struck a cord with us. Presented in an easy-to-understand and entertaining manner, Jerry described the 4 personality types that are found within all of us.
The fun-loving, energetic BLUES, the relationship-driven and empathetic YELLOWS, the fact conscious, introverted GREENS, and the hard driving REDS, with a CD devoted to each.
This information is not new. In fact, it’s decades old and has been described by various scientists since the 1930s.
But what is DIFFERENT about The Magic of Colors is that, for the first time, Jerry Clark has presented this material totally related to NETWORK MARKETERS.
In other words, how to access your prospect, how to play to his/her needs and wants based on the personality type, and how to get them what they need to make a decision about joining your team.
And about YOUR TEAM. This CD series allows you to access the strengths and weaknesses of your team members and how to get them to interact in a productive manner.
Pick up a copy of The Magic of Colors today. It will be a great addition to your business library and give you a whole new understanding and a different approach to communicating with your prospects and team members.
To your success!
Dr. Bob Clarke
November 16, 2008, Cresskill, NJMLM 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.
Carbon Copy PRO Marketing Event — New Strategies, Inspiration, and a New Porsche
Wow! I just got back from a live training event and here are the details….
That’s all I can say. I have been in the Network Marketing industry for quite a few years now, and I have never been to company live events that actually TEACH people HOW TO MARKET. Until now.
Carbon Copy PRO’s Second Live Marketing Event in Dallas was held on Saturday and it was an amazing mix of new strategies, tips, and great discounts on coaching from experts in the world of marketing.
And they even gave away a new Porsche!
Here’s a glimpse at the schedule of events (non-inclusive):
- M.J. Durkin of Sales Judo Academy started things off with terrific tips on how to prospect, build your list, and secrets of leaving great voice mails. Many nuggets here, folks.
- Jimmy Davis and Dennis Karganilla of MLM Goldmine, the masters of Web 2.0 provided their own gold nuggets for the audience with their tips on making MySpace and YouTube work.
- Howie Schwartz of Conversation Domination continued the Web 2.0 theme and showed everyone how he routinely ranks on the first page of Google using Web 2.0 methodologies.
- Cherie Yvette, the Urban Cowgirl, unveiled for the first time her new Pay Per Click software that will revolutionize the way everyone optimizes their PPC campaigns. Amazing stuff at an amazing price.
- Natalie Stahl of Platinum 7 Consulting presented her Weekly Action Plan, providing consultants with a formal plan that will turbo charge their online businesses. Natalie also outlined the outsourcing services available exclusively for Carbon Copy PRO members.
- Kep Herriage and Karl Bessey, co-founders of Wealth Masters International, provided an overview of WMI’s unbelievable financial education and wealth creation products available to Carbon Copy PRO members. Given the current financial climate, these products and strategies couldn’t be more important.
My point is two fold, here:
- If you are a member of Carbon Copy PRO or Wealth Masters International, you missed something HUGE here. You missed a chance to pick the brains of some of the absolute experts in online marketing, providing THE MOST CUTTING EDGE STRATEGIES.
- If you are a member of other network marketing opportunities, think very strongly about attending a live event. Statistics show that new members of an opportunity that attend a live event within the first few months of joining have a much higher chance of success than those that do not attend a live event.
Oh yea, I almost forgot. The leaders at Carbon Copy gave away a prize for the person who sold the most Business in a Box product since it’s introduction a few months ago. The winner got…. well, you can see it. Again, WOW. Lucky guy!
Glad to be back, guys. And ready to roll.
To your success!
Bob Clarke
October 19, 2008, Cresskill, NJ
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