MLM Talk Online

One of the fundamental keys to success in network marketing is learning that your job is to sort people, not to sell them. You won’t be successful if you try to persuade everyone you meet into joining you. You need to offer the opportunity to people and then sort through them, watching and waiting for their responses. If they get excited and “get it”, and they are motivated, then you can work with them.

It’s like the old saying, “Never teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig!” No matter how good your opportunity is there are some people that will never join and don’t want to take control of their lives, so don’t waste your valuable time on them. Just work with the people that have the potential for success.

Linda Locke
http://www.mlmtalk.com

By Teri Samuels

In my years of recruiting, training, and managing sales teams I was fortunate to have worked in both Male and Female dominated Sales organizations. This article was written to identify the best of both styles - and more importantly - the benefit of integrating them to achieve balance and success in sales and communication.

What I learned about sales from Men.

* I learned “It was OK to have emotions but not to express them in business.”

* I learned “How to be strong in adversity.”

* I learned “Self control in business.”

* I learned “How to compete without crying or Getting Out Of The Game.”

* I learned “How to provide solutions not just conversation.”

* I learned “How to not take rejection personally.”

* I learned “How to negotiate my salary and bonus or take what I was given.”

* I learned “How to play to win.”

* “Above all, I learned Men don’t hold Women back, Women hold Women back!”

Thank you Men!

What I learned about sales from Women.

* I learned “To be more open and compassionate.”

* I learned “It was OK to have and show emotions.”

* I learned “The softer approach could be the better approach.”

* I learned “How to receive as well as give support.”

* I learned “It was OK to let others help me.”

* I learned “That I didn’t always have to be right.”

* I learned “That I didn’t have to be the ultimate problem solver and that just listening was helping.”

* “Most of all, I learned Women don’t give themselves enough credit when it comes to their abilities, skills, and talents in the business world.

Thank you Women!

What does all this have to do with sales? Everything!

These opportunities personify the “heart and soul” of sales and communication - “Human Emotions”. They may be expressed differently but are equally important for sales and communication success.

We don’t have to alter our personalities or styles - just “Enhance” them a bit.

About the Author

CEO - United Sales Training (http://www.unitedsalestraining.com), 20 years as a Professional Sales and Marketing Troubleshooter, Trainer, Recruiter, Upper Level Manager, and Consulting Professional. Dedicated to the “keep it simple” approach. Have a sales question? Email me at: tsamuels@unitedsalestraining.com

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Linda Locke
http://www.mlmtalk.com

By Christina L.

I have seen it many times. Join a company one week, and quit the next. Why are there so many mom’s out there joining companies, and then failing so quickly? While there might be plenty of reasons, here are 5 of the top reasons why this is happening:

1. Not treating your new business like an actual job

2. Not giving your new business enough time to grow, giving up too soon

3. Do not know how to market and promote your business

4. Do not really like your new business or service you offer

5. Too expensive to continue, cannot afford marketing materials, supplies, etc..

Now that you have seen the 5 reasons above, does one or more of them sound like something you might be going through right now? Let’s talk about solutions for these problems.

To be successful at your new business, you need to put effort into it. Treating your new business just like a job is very important. Put aside time each day to ‘go to work’ and work on growing your business. Spending a couple hours a week on your business is not going to make it grow into a large income for yourself, so make sure you have enough time devoted to making your business thrive. If you have small kids at home, catch up on business emails during their nap times, or get an hour of work in after the kids go to bed. Or better yet, set up a routine of exactly what your going to work on each day, so you accomplish that task fully and feel like you have achieved and finished a task for the day.

For instance, if you get online and have not set any tasks, you might find yourself answering a couple emails here, doing a little advertising there, and when you get offline after an hour feel like you really did not accomplish anything. You still have tons of emails, and still need to advertise more, nothing feels done. But if you set one single task, like Monday is your advertising day, Tuesday is networking, Wednesday is answer all emails in your inbox, Thursday is offline promotion, at the end of each day you will feel like you actually completed a whole task and you feel like you did so much more! Being organized and setting tasks to complete fully feels great and can increase your chances of being successful at your new business.

Do not join a business opportunity and give up in 2 weeks because you are not a huge success yet. Businesses take time to develop and you’re not going to become an instant wealthy business owner overnight. If you’re serious about making your new business work, you must allow time for it to grow. Do not become easily frustrated that things are going a little slower than planned. Instead, think of what you can do to change it.

If you do not know how to market your business, or you are having troubles, look to others for advice and help! If you are in direct sales, your sponsor will gladly be able to help you, and if they cannot, find help elsewhere, from networking groups, others in the same business as you, work at home resources, from reading articles, message boards, etc. Do not give up because you are new to marketing, everyone had to start as being the new person and learn the ropes, look up to those who have already done it and learn as much as you can from them.

Loving what you do is a huge key factor in becoming successful. Do not join an opportunity just because it seemed like a good idea, or it was cheap or free to join. If you do not love the product or the service, it will probably end up being a failed business venture. For instance, selling pet products when you do not even own a pet is a sure sign of failure down the road, because how interested are you in selling pet toys when you do not even want to own a pet? Loving your products or the service you offer is key to becoming successful. If you do not like the product or service you are selling, finding a new business is for sure something to think about. Don’t settle, find the perfect opportunity for you!

When you join a new business, such as a direct sales company, be aware that you do not have to buy every marketing tool they offer you. You can start your business with very little of that if you are on a tight start up budget. You do not need the company logo pen and other non-needed business tools. Skip that and just get the tools you will need to get started. Once you are earning more money you can splurge on the other tools you want to get. If the company business cards are nice but pretty expensive, make your own business cards with your printer. Cutting down on marketing materials, and even advertising costs can help you create a nice income quicker so you can afford more expensive marketing costs down the road when it becomes more suitable.

If you are promoting your business online, set a monthly budget and after that budget is spent, spend your advertising day finding ways to promote your business for free. Find message boards, networking groups and actively participate as much as you can. Track your advertising by asking any of your leads where they found your ad, so you can know what is working when you do pay for an ad spot online.

Making your business thrive instead of fail can be as simple as taking a few different approaches to how you handle it. Sit down and write out the issues you are facing with your business, and write out the possible solutions and take action to change it. Doing so will make your business take a turn for the better, instead of the worse. Good luck!

Article Written By, Christina L. who is a work at home mom with 3 kids and the owner of www.mommyclassifieds.com

© Terri Seymour

When you are in sales, you have the choice to be successful or unsuccessful. The only one to set limits on your income and success is you! A career in sales is a challenge. Use that challenge to motivate and excite you. Meet and beat that challenge!

There are five basic components to sales:

prospecting
making contacts
qualification
handling objections effectively
closing

Do not fall into the “natural-born salesman” myth. A lot of people feel if they do not take to these components naturally they won’t be able to at all. Forget this myth! You can learn to be a great salesperson - the choice is yours!

Sales is a learning experience. You need to be always learning and reviewing. A very effective method of learning is repetition. Write it, read it, speak it, hear it, and learn it !!

Characteristics of a successful salesperson:

1. Appearance - make the most of your unique individuality and walk into a room with pride and a commanding presence. Take pride in your selling career and in yourself.

2. Confidence - You need to “glow” with a sense of self-confidence. Even if you are not the best in sales YET, you can be. Let this feeling of confidence show through to everyone you talk to.

3. Overcoming fear - Know your fear so you can face it and overcome it! Once you do this, the confidence will shine through.

4. Enthusiasm - In sales, sometimes you will get the sale and sometimes not. That is to be expected. The trick is to stay enthusiastic even when you do not get the sale. Do not let it bring you down. Keep that enthusiasm going for the next prospect!

5. Desire - You have to have the desire to succeed. If you have the desire, you can overcome any obstacle and become a success!

6. Do not take rejection personally - In sales, there will be rejections. Do not let these rejections cause you to doubt yourself. Let them make you stronger and more enthusiastic for the next sale.

7. Caring and warmth - You need to actually care about your prospect and feel right about closing the sale. DO not try to bully people into buying. Lead them smoothly into a closing that will benefit them.

8. Continuing education - You need to always be learning. Invest some time and money into your mind and learn how to be the best salesperson you can be!

Great salespeople are not born great. They have the desire to become great. They take the time and invest in themselves and learn how to become great!

About the Author
Find lots more tips, articles, and resources for your home, family & business at www.SeymourProducts.com Terri and her husband Terry also offer a low-cost, wholesale distributorship with unlimited support, and a complete line of one dollar ebooks and software with full resell rights. http://www.seymourproducts.com/ebooks-resell

by Stefanie Fauquet

Online “Home” Parties have become the latest trend in direct sales. Simply put, an online party is structured like an actual direct sales home party, but thrown in the privacy of your own home, over the internet. Online Parties are hosted in chat rooms, which gives you much more flexibility on who can be invited, and attend.

Here are some basic ideas to make your online party a success:

1. Find a site that offers free online party chat rooms – Doing a little Google search should give you a few different options to choose from.

2. Email out personal invitations to friends – There are quite a few sites that offer this service for free. Check out evite.com

3. Post your online party date on a few of your favorite message boards – You never know who might want to attend.

4. Consider your guests time zones and schedule accordingly. You will want to find a time that could accommodate everyone from the east and west coasts.

5. Make sure to mention that there will be a prize or drawing for those that attend.

6. Give incentives - Offer a discount on products or shipping when ordering during the party.

7. Come up with a clever game that can be played online – Scavenger hunt (give questions, let guests find answers online)

8. Make sure to introduce yourself and your company. Briefly tell about your products. Let everyone know of benefits, etc.

9. Have question and answer time for your guests – Find out what they want to know about your company and products.

10. HAVE FUN!!

Stefanie Fauquet is the owner of top Direct Sales Resource site designed to help Work at Home Moms build a profitable Direct Sales Business, while being able to stay home with their kids. Visit www.workathomemomonline.com today!

Article courtesy of www.ladypens.com - Articles by Women

Linda Locke
http://www.mlmtalk.com

If the thought of developing a full-blown marketing plan for your networking business seems like too much time and trouble for you — here’s an idea that’s easier and just as effective — developing your own marketing calendar.

Now this isn’t the usual everyday to-do list type of calendar. No, this is one you create specifically for your business marketing.

First, buy one of those large desk calendars with plenty of room for writing. Then, take a colored pen and highlight all the upcoming holidays and any other business special events you want to plan for. Then decide what your marketing plan will be for the upcoming months. Decide on a target date when you’d like to get out an offer to your current customer list to announce an upcoming event or special product offer. For example, you might want to do a postcard mailing featuring some of your specials for the season or an open house you have planned.

After you’ve decided on the target date for the mailing, you can then look at the calendar and mark in the date to start preparing your marketing materials to be ready to mail. Also indicate on your calendar the days when the mailings are likely to reach your customers and then plan to be near the phone on those days and waiting for all those calls to come in.

This is a simple but effective technique that can also be used for publicity and other marketing efforts as well. You’ll be able to see your marketing plan at a glance, boost your sales, and be organized too!

Linda Locke
http://www.mlmtalk.com

If you’ve been wondering if you really need a website to market your MLM business and need help cutting through all the hype out there, here’s some tips from C.J. Hayden on the pros and cons of using web technology.

Web Technology in Marketing

Linda Locke
http://www.mlmtalk.com

By Tom Richard

How effective are the messages that YOU leave for your prospects? Your prospects form an opinion about you and your company every time you contact them. In fact, the messages you leave on their voicemail or e-mail may be a determining factor in their decision to call you back and consider doing business with you. So make a good impression!

The Voicemail Message

Recently, I had the experience of shopping for a car. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the pleasure of buying one. Although I knew the exact car I wanted and was ready to buy, not one car salesperson was willing to give me any personal attention.

To begin, I followed a “get a quote” tool that was available online and filled in exactly what I wanted in my next car: the type, the color, the features, and even additional comments. I couldn’t have made it much easier for a car salesperson to sell me a car that I already knew I wanted.

With the five requests that I sent online to different car dealerships in my area, I received five phone calls within 12 hours of my request. All of them went directly to my voicemail.

Here is the basic script to four of the messages I received:

“Hello, this is (insert name of salesperson) calling from (insert name of car dealership). Please call me back at (insert telephone number that I have yet to call).

BOOORING! And talk about impersonal! Did they even read my request? Do they even know what kind of car I am interested in?

When a prospect goes out of their way to contact you in regards to a sale, the last thing you want to do is leave them an impersonal or automated message!

What’s the purpose of a voicemail message?

There is only one objective to leaving a voicemail: get them to call you back. Be creative! Use humor! Show them you are different from the competition!

Distinguishing yourself from others DOES NOT mean telling your prospects how great and wonderful you and your company are. DON’T tell them that your company is the biggest, the best, that it always puts the customer first, has a 99.6 percent customer satisfaction rate, was the first to do something, or how long you’ve been in business and how many awards your company has won. In fact, don’t tell them ANYTHING remotely similar to anything on that list!

True Story: While attending college at Bowling Green State University I made a significant observation: all seven pizza companies in town printed “voted #1 pizza in town” right on their pizza box. Why? The same reason you tell your customers how great you are—because you think people actually care.

How do you differentiate yourself from the competition?

Your prospects know what they like and what they want. They don’t want to dance around with you or play games. They want to be treated like an important customer and not like the next sale towards quota.

So try leaving a message that is actually to the point. Try to sound like a human being and not a salesperson. Leave a message of value, where you tell your prospect something they might actually want to know. This will entice them to return your call. (Want more examples? Send a blank e-mail to voicemail@tomrichard.com)

The e-mail message

After sending in my online quote requests for a car, I also received an automated e-mail. I know that you’ve probably received one sometime in your life, too. They’re easy to spot as soon as you open the message: a letter full of misspellings, asterisks and exclamation points; sent from a nameless person promising to give you an incredible deal on a sale.

These types of e-mails almost always end up in the trash folder. Why? Because they’re garbage, and you know it! So, why are you using this garbage to reach your prospects?

Voicemails and e-mails should always be sent personally from a real human being, with the intention of creating a relationship with your prospect. Get to know your prospect so you will understand them and discover their motivation for their interest. When you know why they are interested, you will find out how they will make the decision of whether or nor to buy from you.

Be persistent!

Although all five dealerships reached out to me within the first 24 hours of my inquiry, not one person has followed up with me since then (with the exception of automated e-mail blasts, like I mentioned).

A clear and simple way to separate yourself from the competition is to be pleasantly persistent with your follow-up. You are NOT creating a favorable impression with a prospect if you can’t take the time to contact them on a personal level after your first attempt.

When I sent out my initial online inquiries, I was ready to buy a car. I took the first step to contact five different car dealerships in my area. However, the impersonal and ineffective follow-ups of these dealerships have reminded me of why I don’t like purchasing a car, and now I am considering keeping my old one.

I didn’t make the sales process difficult, the follow-up system of the car dealerships did!

So consider this: is your follow-up system killing your chance of making sales? Do you send messages to your prospects? Are they personal? Are they effective? Remember, the point of the follow-up is to establish a relationship that will eventually lead to a sale. So be personal, be persistent, and be happy you’re changing a prospect into a customer!

Tom Richard is the author of Smart Sales People Don’t Advertise: 10 Ways To Outsmart Your Competition With Guerilla Marketing which can be found at http://www.tomrichard.com where you can also sign up for Tom’s free weekly ezine.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/