About once a week, I
get someone struggling to build an on-line network marketing
business come to me for advice. They want me to take a look at their
website, and how they are doing business, and tell them WHAT they're
doing wrong. They want suggestions on how to grow their
business faster.
Let's begin by
acknowledging that network marketing is nothing new. It's just
telling acquaintances and prospects about products and services that
you use and like. This is something that you do everyday. You
enjoy sharing great discoveries with those you care about. The twist
is that network marketing companies have formalized the
referral system and compensates you for those referrals.
There is something KEY in the above definition that points to the
first reason many I advise are struggling. Many people promote
businesses that they don't honestly believe in. They don't
honestly believe that those whom they introduce to the opportunity
will benefit. Therefore, it feels like a SCAM to them ... since it
is, according to their OWN definition, a scam... and that very
subtle message is conveyed in their every communication.
People communicate on many different levels. Our body
language, and even our "tone" in our emails, says a lot
more than most of us realize. If you want to get scientific
about it, we're electro-magnetic creature who do give off
electrical vibrations that others can sense. When you promote
something that you don't honestly feel good promoting, you give off
bad vibes... you produce bad karma that others pick up on.
Have you ever noticed that some people "make the hair on the
back of your neck stand up?" You're picking up and
responding physically to a very powerful communication. Don't
ignore it!
The simple solution to the whole problem described above is to not
promote anything (whether it's network marketing or using
other methods of marketing) that doesn't positively impact
everyone concerned! There are a lot of great products and
services out there that do just that. I'll share with you a
personal example...
If you've read my background, you'll know that I am a literal
welfare to riches success story. I grew up so poor that at times
we'd run out of kerosene to heat the house in the winter, and we'd
go without heat until our next government subsistence
check arrived. Growing up in that environment with my grandmother
and two younger brothers, I didn't learn proper money management. I
had no role models!
Naturally, when I discovered an on-line service that taught me that
missing skill, and prevented me from squandering my growing wealth,
I eagerly shared this with others that I knew needed this
critical knowledge. There are so many people who don't know how to
make money work FOR them. I now feel very good sharing that
knowledge with others from my website at:
http://www.eliteteammarketing.com/13310/
Take a few minutes and study that website! It's incredibly
well-structured and works great. It doesn't have any of the problems
I see with the websites that my clients struggle with.
If you have any of
these common problems on your website you need to correct them
immediately. If you can't correct them, then you need to build you
own website rather than using the company-provided website. If the
company won't let you create your own site, then you need to find
another company since the one you're with is PREVENTING you from
succeeding. Here are the common website errors we observe:
1) No clear explanation of what the website or business is
about. Internet surfers are very impatient and if they can't
figure out what the site's about in a few seconds, many will simply
click away.
2) Forms asking for contact information without telling them
what you're going to do with their information. People aren't going
to give you their phone number and address, or even email address
unless they know that they're only going to get information they
want to receive. You have to sell them on the value - the
"What's In It For Me?" - of having you follow
up with them. You also have to assure them that you respect and will
protect their private data.
People understand that you're asking for their contact information
so that you can follow-up. Clearly tell them how you're going to
follow-up and why they want you to do this. Explain precisely what
benefit is in it for them?
3) No indication
of who, or WHAT, is behind the site. Your website should have very
clear contact information on it. A name, email address, phone
number, and if practical a physical address should be on the site.
Letting people see that there is a real person behind the site is
what builds that essential trust. A photo on the site further
builds the connection and lets them see that a real, ordinary person
runs the business.
4) Proof that what the site says is true. Your making a
statement does not provide proof. Others saying it, does provide
some "proof." So you need testimonials and
statements from a variety of people verifying and validating all of
your assertions. These testimonials should have name, company, city
and state, website url, etc. Vague testimonials with only a set of
initials merely create suspicion. A testimonial with a photo
is even more credible.
5) An understandable explanation of the compensation plan.
I'm a college graduate with about 20 years of FORMAL schooling.
Many of the websites that I read leave me totally CLUELESS as to how
I would get paid and how much. If your explanation or
illustrations of your "payment plan" leave people
confused, it will also leave them unsure. This is another area
where, if the company provided website doesn't "cut
it," then you need to create you own.
Take another look at how clearly things are explained at:
http://www.eliteteammarketing.com/13310/
Study this business model. It was put together by a very brilliant
friend from Indonesia. It works so well that she is frequently
featured on television, in magazines and newspapers as the COUNTRY'S
foremost Internet business expert.
After you've looked at the company, product or service, and website,
then you need to look at your follow-up. This is one of those things
that the Internet allows you to do easier by allowing you to
automate much of it. Autoresponders are my favorite tool there,
although not the only one.
You also need to incorporate email, chat, an interactive website,
and YES even using the phone. Do all of these things right and
your business is guaranteed to succeed. Do many of these things
wrong, and it's guaranteed to fail.
Use the tips in this
article as a checklist - today. Just do a point-by-point review.
It's critical to your business survival! For some, it will
clearly show why your network marketing efforts are failing!
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Willie Crawford has been teaching others how to build successful
on-line businesses since late 1996. Frequently featured in radio,
magazine and newspaper articles and interviews, Willie shares
exclusive recordings from tele-seminars and brainstorming sessions,
useful ebooks, software, and reprint rights at his exclusive
membership site. Visit: http://TheRealSecrets.com
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