Succeeding At Network Marketing » business opportunity

Unbeatable Offer From Sundance Global

Alan — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 04:13:19 +0000

FREE FOOD, FREE Sign Up, and FREE Website NOW!!

For 28 years, Sundance Global has been improving the foods families
can depend on in good times and hard times.

Our mission is to help YOU earn FOOD and MONEY!
Share our incredible message with those you care about the most.
We are helping millions become FOOD and FINANCIALLY independent.

People are accumulating food supplies and reserves for different reasons.
Our lives are dependent upon having quality food to eat.

Having nutritious, long-lasting food reserves provides YOU a SAFETY NET.

So many people are challenged with . . .

• Unemployment
• Unforeseen Hardships
• Poor Economic Times
• Shift in Politics
• Natural Disasters
• Lack of Independence
• Debt

FOOD IS THE NEW CURRENCY!
Better than gold or silver . . . great for bartering!

Today and up to OFFICIAL launch on 10/20/2010, Sundance is offering . . .
FREE Sign Up, FREE Website, and yes, FREE FOOD!

Please go to the pre-launch website and secure YOUR FREE position NOW!

Then, order 6 FREE meals to enjoy!

Isn’t that an unbeatable offer?

Click on this link:
AlanEames.MySundanceGlobal.com

By acting TODAY, you are among the first to order your FREE FOOD — a $20 value!

1) Ready-to-eat meals with proprietary recipes
2) Ultra, high-quality ingredients (no MSG, no trans fats)
3) Incredible taste
4) Easy preparation
5) Convenient portions and packaging . . .
AND a 15+ year shelf life!

We know with the current economic situation your cost of food will continue to rise and shortages are a real possibility!

The compensation plan is generous and easy to understand.
Benefit from the lifetime Founders Pool . . . ONLY for the people who build
an organization during our pre-launch period of NOW to 10/20/2010.

This is exciting and there is urgency in getting started.

Sundance Global has 60,000 product users who will be integrated
into our NEW Sundance Global organizations.

I urge you to secure your FREE position TODAY
and order the FREE 6 meals of food.

Then YOU can decide YOUR best course of action . . .

• Build a winning team!
• Become a satisfied customer.
• Help others you care about start a solid FOOD SAFETY NET just like you.

You’re joining an experienced, dynamic organization . . .

• Proven team-building system!
• FREE training!
• Ongoing support!
• Career professionals teaching you the business.

I encourage you to join with me in Sundance Global . . .
. . . . . and change YOUR life forever!

Click on this link:
AlanEames.MySundanceGlobal.com

Now . . .
Isn’t that truly a no-lose,you-can-only-win, irresistible offer?

And, if my years of experience, success, and analysis of the industry is at all on track, you can win BIG!

Alan Eames
http://alaneames.com

818-207-7688

If It’s Network Marketing,

Alan — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 08:17:12 +0000

Why Aren’t We Taught How To Market?

If you’ve read some books on network marketing, you will probably have noticed that very few, if any, of the books out there mention what marketing is. Does anyone else find this strange?

We work in an industry called network marketing, or multi-level marketing and nowhere within the industry does anyone explain what marketing really is. I have read a couple blogs where other people have noticed this lack, but it’s actually pretty humorous that this seems to have gone undetected for so long.

Kind of like a dog groomer not knowing what grooming is (caring for an animal’s cleanliness and appearance). Or an airplane pilot not knowing what pilot means.

Seems sort of silly when you apply it to other industries, doesn’t it?

What Is Marketing

Let’s start with the easy, my Encarta Dictionary says marketing is “the business activity of presenting products or services in such a way as to make them desirable.”

The Oxford Dictionary says “the action or business of promoting and selling products or services , including market research and advertising.”

From BusinessDictionary.com we get “As a practice, it consists in coordination of four elements called 4P’s: (1) identification, selection, and development of a product, (2) determination of its price, (3) selection of a distribution channel to reach the customer’s place, and (4) development and implementation of a promotional strategy.”

Now, if you look over those four elements, in network marketing we are left with number four as the only area we normally have any control over.

The purpose of marketing is to create a want or a desire and to sell something to the people in whom you’ve created that want or desire.

So What Is Sales

This is another oddity that I’ve noticed in network marketing, we’re selling a product or service, but we’re not supposed to say that’s what we’re doing, we call it sharing or telling a story.

So let’s define sales and selling. Sales is the exchange of goods or services for an agreed-upon amount of money. That seems safe enough, I have a car, you want the car, offer me $2000 for it and I agree. You get the car, I get the $2000.

Okay, selling; the process where the salesperson ascertains, activates, and satisfies the needs or wants of the buyer to the mutual, continuous benefit of both buyer and seller.

Or, as I like to put it, selling is a conversation designed to help the buyer acquire what he needs or wants.

I think the problem arises, and where most people’s dislike of sales as an occupation comes from, is most of us have experienced the salesperson who did not have the intention to help, but only wanted your money, and would do pretty much anything to get it.

I used to hate sales, with a passion, but since I found and understood these definitions, I actually like selling. It’s enjoyable helping people acquire what they need.

What Does This Mean?

Once you’ve joined your company, what do you do? You have to market yourself and your company/product/service/opportunity.

The almost universal method that we are all taught in network marketing is to make a list of friends, family and acquaintances, the longer the better. Then learn how to approach these people and present your company/product/service/ opportunity. I don’t know that this is the best method of marketing, it certainly is easy enough to learn and practice will improve your skill at it.

You can apply the three-foot rule and talk to anyone within three feet of you. This requires developing a speedy method of communicating what you’re all about to a stranger or good skills at developing conversations with strangers.

You can hand out business cards or flyers to people in shopping malls or grocery stores. You can post flyers, you can put ads on Craig’s List, start a blog, there are probably hundreds of methods of getting your name in front of other people.

A whole new world has opened up in the form of social media, Facebook, Twitter, Linked.com, MySpace, etc. These are valuable ways to market yourself and your company very cheaply.

The whole point is to get your information in front of someone who’s interested so that they can act on it.

The best way, in my humble opinion, is to find or pick a certain type of people, or a certain occupation, or people in a certain location, find out by asking people what they think is good, bad or indifferent about green apples (or whatever product/service/opportunity you’re asking about). Ask enough people and a pattern will emerge. Use that pattern to your benefit and grow your business.

Marketing Is Valuable

People spend years learning marketing and business colleges teach it for one reason, it’s good business. Network marketing companies depend on you for the majority of their marketing and they pay very nicely if you figure it out. Are you interested enough to figure it out?

One of my favorite blogs for marketing is the RealWebMarketing Blog, written by John Eberhard. He writes about once a week on topics of great relevance to what we are doing as network marketers. I urge you to check it out and add more knowledge about marketing to your arsenal along with the motivational and inspirational to keep you going and growing.

Quote

If you’re attacking your market from multiple positions and your competition isn’t, you have all the advantage and it will show up in your increased success and income. – Jay Abraham

Happy 4th of July!

Alan — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 07:16:26 +0000

Celebrate The Reason For The Day

I want to wish all my friends the best Independence Day ever. Before I move on to the topic of network marketing and working from home, I want to remind everyone why we celebrate this day, so bear with me for a small demonstration of my love for the good old USA.

The Declaration of Independence

“When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. …”

Thus began the grand experiment in self governance that is the United States of America.

Begin Your Own Grand Experiment

Network marketing can provide you your own personal declaration of independence. Lest you jump into network marketing thinking you’re going to get wealthy overnight, let me remind you that there was a long road to hoe between the Declaration of Independence and actual independence. This little thing called the Revolutionary War, or the War for Independence, came before actual independence, and so did the intra-colony squabbling over what type of government we should have. There were many heartbreaks, heartaches, losses and setbacks between the Declaration and the reality of Independence.

Do you think you’re going to go from where ever you are right now to where you want to be overnight? The odds are against you. But, are you willing to suffer through your own war for independence? Are you willing to suffer the slings and arrows of loved ones who don’t believe in you? Are you willing to search for the right mentors who will help you learn what you need to learn to achieve your independence?

Do you know what independence means to you? What type of freedom are you looking for? The Declaration was a statement of where we wanted to go as a country. Have you stated where you want to go with your independence? What do you want independence from? Independence from the 9 to 5? Independence from having a boss? Independence from a job you hate? From a job that you think makes no difference in the larger scope of things?

Are you willing to fight for your independence? Are you willing to work and learn and fail and work and learn and work some more to make your dreams come true?

Your Why

You may have noticed from all my questions in the previous section that being willing to start on your path to independence and success, and stick with it till you reach it has a lot to do with your why. Why do you want what you want? Is it strong enough to keep you motivated through whatever self-imposed barriers you’ve created or the doubts of others, or the rejections you might get. To help you figure out your why and locate what will drive you to success, see my earlier blog “Why, Oh Why.”

Once I Know Why, What’s Next?

Once you know why you’re going into business, you have to figure out what you’re going to do and who you’re going to do it with. In other words what home business or opportunity are you going to go to work with. You should find a company to work with or a business to do that aligns well with your why for doing it and thus increase or maximize your chances for success.

To get assistance on this, go now and sign up for the free newsletter 7 Days – 7 Insider Secrets newsletter. It gives you some tips on things to look for and think about before jumping in with a company on your road to independence. Good luck and may the force be with you!

Quote

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” – from A Return to Love, by Marianne Williamson ©1992

Duplication

Alan — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 07:24:00 +0000

Who Wants To Duplicate

Whether you’re a network marketing veteran or you just signed up with your first opportunity, you’ve probably been told that the big money comes from duplication or that everything we do has to be duplicatable.

Duplication gives you leverage which multiplies your time, effort and money (instead of your blood, sweat and tears). For more on leverage, see my earlier post “What Else Do I Need To Know.”

Too many people, I think, believe this means to do everything exactly as your sponsor, mentor or trainer does everything. Even though I can already feel the slings and arrows headed my way, I disagree.

But I Don’t Want To Be Like ______

I spent several years trying to figure out why it seemed like I was doing everything that my sponsor asked me to, but it just didn’t seem to be happening for me. Of course, there were all those things that they told me to do that I just wouldn’t do; like harassing, haranguing and hassling my friends and family to come to a meeting or let me give them a presentation.

I would have rather failed than do that. I didn’t do that with my earlier electronics business, why would I do that with my network marketing business. With my electronics business, I told all my friends and family that I was in business and what I was doing and they came to me when they needed something I had. Why wouldn’t I do the same thing with my network marketing business?

You can probably see why I didn’t want to be like _______ because _______. Fill in the blank with whoever you didn’t want to be like; with whatever reason you didn’t want to be like them. Mine was chasing friends and family, what’s your “I don’t want to do that?”

The first key to understanding this for me was watching all the successful people up on stage giving their stories; some of them did chase their friends, some started there and moved on, some never did chase anyone. Hmmm, what’s that all about?

So, if duplication is not “duplicating everything your sponsor or mentor is doing,” what is it? Let’s kick off from there.

Definition

Duplication, according to the dictionary means the process of making an exact copy of something, or identically copied from an original. It comes from the Latin duplicare “to double.”

So, if it’s not your mentor or sponsor you’re supposed to duplicate, what are we supposed to duplicate?

What Do Most People Mean When They Say Duplication

I get the feeling sometimes that too many people in this business actually think we should duplicate our mentor or sponsor. I’ve met people who started talking and acting like their mentor to the point that I started wondering where did Bill go, this guy looks like Bill, but he sounds like Mr. Mentor.

Just because Mr. Mentor has a spiel that works for him, doesn’t necessarily mean it will work for everyone else. It might, but if it’s out of character for you to the point where people wonder when and how you got possessed, it probably isn’t going to work for you. People like to feel like they’re talking to someone that cares about them; that they can know, like and trust. If you’re not being you, they’re not going to know, like and trust you.

What IS The Big Deal About Duplication

The big deal about duplication is that more so than any other business model, network marketing depends on duplication. What is network marketing? It’s the movement of goods or services to people via person-to-person or word-of-mouth marketing. It requires customers and it requires customer finders.

When I say that network marketing depends on duplication, I don’t mean can they duplicate you or duplicate exactly what you did or duplicate what the latest trainer on stage said or what the company literature says to do.

You want to find people who can find a few customers and a few more customer finders. That is what you want to duplicate, and that is the big deal about duplication. HOW you do that is not as important as whether you do that.

Michael Clouse says duplication is the ability to get someone to do something, whether you’re there or not.

So, to wrap up, can you train your recruits in a way that’s realistic with their current skills to talk to people about their business in a way that they will do whether you are there or not? In a way that people will get interested in the product or the opportunity?

Duplication and The Company You Work With

Aligning with my continuing theme of how to select a company to work with, you might ask “What does the company I’m working with have to do with the duplication that occurs under me?” Remember, to be successful, you have to have your team duplicating success. Or, in the words of Zig Ziglar, “If you help enough people get what they want, you will get what you want.”

If the company violates or doesn’t meet any one or more of the 12 critical success factors™, the likelihood that the company will be there to allow you to have duplication goes down with each missing factor. If your company survives and thrives, this allows the duplication to continue and grow. And we’re back to leverage and that long-term, stable, residual income.

Another point that enters in here is the training that your company makes available. Does it really teach you all about the product? Does you it make you aware of all the ways that others are using to make their business grow? Or does the training raise more questions than it answers?

To find out more on what questions to ask, go to www.AlansMLMTips.com and sign up for the “7 Days, 7 Insider Secrets” email newsletter. (It’s still free… )

Quote

People prefer to do business with those they know, like and trust. You can’t get that through mindless duplication! You’ve got to leave room for the personal in your system. You’ve got to establish yourself as someone who’s likable and trustworthy. And you’ve got to teach your downline to do likewise. – Joan Linwood

Pyramid, Scam, or For Real

Alan — Mon, 31 May 2010 08:50:33 +0000

What Are They and What’s The Difference?

I sometimes wonder why there is any confusion on these terms as they apply to working from home, but then other times I think it’s just par for the course. There seem to be people on this planet who enjoy denigrating, confusing and muddling up the issues. So, to piss off those types of people (who like to denigrate, confuse and muddle up things), I am going to inject some clarity into the subject. All right?

I guess being the unserious type; I should inject my humorous look at it first. The difference is in who gets screwed: with a scam everyone gets screwed (except the guy who thought it up); with a pyramid, the latecomers get screwed; and with a real business or opportunity – no one gets screwed.

Definitions

Scam – A fraudulent business scheme; a swindle. An illegal plan for making money. A scheme for making money by dishonest means.

Pyramid – An illegal scheme in which participants give money or other valuables in exchange for the opportunity to receive payment for recruiting others to participate in the scheme. A fraudulent money-making scheme in which people are recruited to make payments to others above them in a hierarchy while expecting to receive payments from people recruited below them. Eventually the number of new recruits fails to sustain the payment structure, the scheme collapses with most people losing the money they paid in. From the Federal Trade Commission – “Pyramid schemes now come in so many forms that they may be difficult to recognize immediately. However, they all share one overriding characteristic. They promise consumers or investors large profits based primarily on recruiting others to join their program, not based on profits from any real investment or real sale of goods to the public. Some schemes may purport to sell a product, but they often simply use the product to hide their pyramid structure.” – http://www.ftc.gov/speeches/other/dvimf16.shtm, paragraph 4

Network marketing – Most definitions of network marketing get way too complicated; here’s my favorite simple definition: “Any method of marketing that allows independent sales representatives to recruit other sales representatives and to draw commissions from the sales of those recruits.” – Wave 3 The New Era in Network Marketing by Richard Poe ©1995 “Network marketing is a form of distribution of products and services that, through word of mouth promotion, uses the power of duplication of effort.” – The New Entrepreneurs by Rene Reid Yarnell ©1999 “Some people confuse pyramid … schemes with legitimate multilevel marketing. Multilevel marketing programs are known as MLM’s (or network marketing) and unlike pyramid … schemes, MLM’s have a real product to sell. More importantly, MLM’s actually sell their product to members of the general public, without requiring these consumers to pay anything extra or to join the MLM system. MLM’s may pay commissions to a long string of distributors, but these commission(s) are paid for real retail sales, not for new recruits.” – http://www.ftc.gov/speeches/other/dvimf16.shtm, paragraph 7

Another way to define it is who gets paid; in a scam, the originator gets paid; in a pyramid, the early birds get paid; in network marketing, anyone who makes a sale gets paid.

Examples of Scams

If you get an email from Nigeria wanting you to send money to prove you’re worthy of helping them transfer money into the U.S.; delete immediately, it’s a scam.

If you get a check from anywhere that you weren’t expecting, and when you call to verify, they ask you to send them the cash in exchange for the check; call the authorities – it’s illegal and is called bank fraud & mail fraud; and yes it’s a scam.

Examples of Pyramid Schemes

If there is a one-time fee to buy into the program or “business,” and there are no ongoing product sales, it’s most likely a pyramid. If all recruiting stopped today, where would the commission payments come from?

If most of the money comes from recruiting someone and the actual residual income comes from a tiny percentage of an ongoing purchase of a product or service, that is probably a pyramid even though it is well disguised.

If the ad says “One-time fee, no buying, no selling, no recruiting, we build your organization for you.” RUN quick like a bunny! If they don’t need you to sell or recruit or buy anything, why do they need you? (Hint – it’s your money) Your money/cash/commissions are only coming from the people that join after you. It is a pyramid.

If the start-up fee is your cost to purchase a report, and you make money by selling others the report to get them started; look out Martha, it’s a pyramid.

Examples of Network Marketing

Okay, I’ll admit I’m only going to pick obvious companies here that have stood the test of time. The whole point of this series of blogs is to teach you how to pick a good and worthwhile company that you can use as your vehicle to create that stable, long-term, leveraged, residual income.

Disclaimer: I am not recommending any of these companies as your home business opportunity, if you are looking at joining any of them, it is up to you to research them and do your due diligence and figure out if it’s the right company for you.

Amway, Herbalife, Mannatech, NuSkin, Pre-Paid Legal, Shaklee, Visalus, Xango are all network marketing companies.

Mary Kay Cosmetics and Melaleuca are not network marketing companies, but if they were, I would put them on the list too.

If you want to be amused, check out how many company names are on a reasonably current list of network marketing companies at: http://www.mlmconsultant.com/mlm_company_list_directory.htm

Now That You Know The Difference

You have learned one more of the basics, for more info, go to www.AlansMLMTips.com and sign up for the “7 Days, 7 Insider Secrets” email newsletter. (No money down, no obligation, it’s freeeeeeee…)

Quote

“If I had to do it all over again, rather than build an old style type of business, I would have started building a network marketing business.” – Robert T. Kiyosaki, entrepreneur and author