===>MASTER NETWORKER<=== PROFESSOR LON LINDSEY A BUSINESS FOR EVERYONE THE GREAT AMERICAN DREAM THE ART OF BUILDING A BUSINESS MASTER NETWORKER #4 A BUSINESS FOR EVERYONE November 6, 1996 ===================================================== INSIDE YOU WILL FIND: Winners of our Networking Contest Prospecting versus recruiting versus sponsoring The Archive of Master Networker Publications Our weekly one liner. The Master Networker recommended business web page for the week. ================================================== Hello fellow "Master Networker" subscribers! This is number four in the Master Networker series. If you happened to miss the first three publications, you can retrieve them at: http://masternetworker.com/mailfiles/mailfile.html or you can retrieve them by email from the auto-responder: MasterNetworker-Issue#.txt@masternetworker.com Substitute the desired issue number in place of the "#" Example: mailto:MasterNetworker-Issue3@masternetworker.com *********************************************************************** This is a reminder that the Master Networker series is purposely set up for the beginning networker or for those considering networking or even for networkers who have yet to be successful in networking. This means that The Master Networker series covers basic networking principles with the purpose of developing a firm foundation for networking. "The Master Networker" will be void of information that will thrust you to a $90,000 income within 90 days or a $15,000 monthly income without doing any work. Why? Because that isn't how networking works. I've been in networking for twelve years, and I have yet to meet anyone who has obtained networking riches without working for it . . .especially $90,000 in ninety days. This series is about the real world of networking. CONTEST WINNERS PAUL COUSINEAU of Toronto, Canada was the winner of our networking simulation contest. Paul has earned the $100.00 top prize. Paul confirmed my prediction of what a person would do to get the most people to subscribe to The Master Networker. Here is what Paul said: "I have great NetFriends . . .they just sign up". What Paul is saying is people signed up because he asked them to. Paul first went to people he knew and the result was Paul's friends subscribed to "The Master Networker" because he asked them to. Does that sound simple? It is! That's what networking is all about. . . and many of Paul's people did the same thus creating over 300 subscriptions in less than three weeks just through the process of networking. Paul also advertised in newsgroups hoping to make people he didn't know aware of the series . . . thus developing new networking friends and relationships. Paul said . . "thanks Chris, Marvin and Doug and all the others who supported him." JEFF STANNERS AND DANA JOY SARTIN tied for second place. In both cases, Jeff and Dana went to people they knew first and as the opportunity presented itself, they mentioned it to people they engaged in conversation with. This is very basic networking and that's what makes networking fun and effective. Jeff and Dana will each get a FREE ad to place in "The Master Networker". Dana's ad appears below in this issue. Other effective networkers in our contest were: MARVIN GOLESCH, NANCY SKINNER, J.J-CHOONG and JIMMY MAULDIN. ********************************************************** DISCOVER TAHITIAN NONI! Miracle from Paradise! 2000 years of Legend confirmed by 22 years of Clinical Studies. Management team with 85 years MLM Senior Management experience. E-mail: danajoy@promlm.com for complete information, or call me at (417) 069-6296. DISCOVER WHAT I HAVE ALREADY DISCOVERED! (Dana Joy Sartin) ********************************************************** PROSPECTING VERSUS RECRUITING VERSUS SPONSORING Are you a smart prospector? Are you an effective recruiter? Are you a good sponsor? Some people in networking consider recruiting and sponsoring the same. They are totally separate issues. They are equally important, but for different purposes. PROSPECTING Prospecting is the act of finding people who may be interested in the business opportunity you are promoting. Prospecting is the process of generating leads so you can begin recruiting, hoping to ultimately sponsor new people into your business. Prospecting can take on various forms. It can be advertising in various medias such as newspapers, tabloids, ad co-ops, Internet newsgroups, personal letters (postal or email), magazines, postcards, card decks, telemarketing. There are probably others that I failed to mention, but the whole idea of prospecting is getting your business opportunity in front of the masses. Prospecting is generally considered the first step in a one or two step recruiting process. This is a very important part of the total process because it identifies those people who have some interest in what you have. It also gives you a chance to include qualifiers in order to filter out the "tire kickers" and those who are not as serious about what you have. Qualifiers also help people determine if they want more information or not. It's how you word your ad that will determine the type people and their interests who respond to your ad. I will do another article on the art of writing effective prospecting ads and sales letters which is necessary for the art of building a business. I have seen effective two step and three step prospecting approaches. Here is an example. You might mail out a postcard that advertises your business opportunity . . .but only enough information with qualifiers for certain people to respond. I like to ask for money as a way to qualify people. One reason is when people have to pay money, they are more likely to read what you send to them. It may be only $1.00 or $2 or $3 depending on what you are sending them. Yes, your response rate will be less, but your responses will be more qualified for you to continue the whole process of eventually your sponsoring people into your program. The second step . . after the postcard, is to send an information package to the responder. Rather than calling it an information package, I call mine "start-up" packages. After all, people are more willing to send you a couple dollars for a "complete start-up package" than an information package. Additionally, I always offer a 100% refund should they return the package. That helps the response because it becomes risk free, yet it acts as a qualifier. I saw an effective three step approach once that started with a postcard which asked for $1.00 and the responder received a letter that was designed to motivate them to order a complete "business-in-a-box" for less than $50.00. With their business-in-a-box was all the information and applications necessary to become a distributor for the business . . and it was set up very professionally and offered a 100% refund guarantee if the busines-in-a-box was returned. What was really amazing was the postcard and the letter would not mention the name of the business/company, but it was so effective because of the turn-key approach and because of curiousity. I was highly impressed! RECRUITING Recruiting is the act of "selling" or "sharing" your business opportunity to others. This is where you are giving the benefits of your business to those people who have taken the first step . . . people who have responded to your prospecting efforts. Recruiting can be done through person to person contact . . be it phone, mail or meeting in person. Obviously the most effective way is by meeting person to person, but talking on the phone can be effective also. Most people, when searching for an income opportunity want to have a personal relationship with their potential sponsor. The fastest way is person to person or by phone. Even the Internet now provides a special type of bonding as messages can go back and forth several times a day. The two most important parts of recruiting are: (1) providing the benefits; (2) asking for the sale. Providing the benefits means telling your prospect why it is in their best interest to get involved with the business you are representing. That means you talk about him/her . . . not you! It means you find out what it is that your prospect is looking for . . you know . . his dreams . .his wants . . . his desires . . . his goals. He doesn't want to know that you are now financially free . . that you are making $5,000 monthly . . that you have 2,000 in your downline. These are all great and fine, but it doesn't do anything for your prospect. That is not a benefit for your prospect. The hardest part of recruiting is "listening". It is very easy to talk about yourself and the business, but it is difficult to listen. Someone once said God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason. It is only after you listen can you share the benefits with your prospect, because you wont' know what benefits he is looking for until you know WHAT he is looking for. This aspect makes recruiting easy at the beginning because you can simply ask: (1) what are you looking for in a business?; (2) What do you hope to accomplish with your own business? If you are willing to listen, these two questions will open up a whole world for you because people will tell you so much about themselves when they answer those two questions. Now you are ready to provide your prospect with benefits based on THEIR desires, wants, dreams, goals because you already have the vision . . .you simply need to transfer that vision to your prospect. The second aspect of recruiting is asking for the sale. It's giving your prospect the opportunity to be sponsored by you. Believe it or not, this is very difficult for people because of fear. Fear? Yes, this is where you might get a "no", but you might get a "yes" as well. People are fearful of being rejected so to not be rejected, they don't ask the question. There is a right way to ask for the sale. You don't ask, "are you going to join"? or "would you like to sign-up now?" You ask it in terms of whether what you have is something they see doing in order to get . . that need, or desire, or dream they mentioned before. For example: Do you see (name of your business) as a way for you to (be able to stay home with your kids)? or "Can you see yourself working (name of business) as a way to (exit the rat race). If they say "yes," your next question should be "How would you like to start?" . . and go from there! If their answer was "yes", it's easy to proceed, but often times the answer is either "maybe" or "I don't know" or another question. This is where learning to "answer objections" is helpful. At this point you must ask if there is something they don't understand or ask if they have a concern. Usually people who ask questions really want to be sold, but haven't been yet. They want to be convinced. If a person just says "no", then that means the timing may not have been right and all you need to do is tell them if their situation changes in the future, to get back in contact with you. SPONSORING Sponsoring is a process and not simply an event. The first part of the sponsoring process is when a person signs up into the program or business you are representing, listing you as the sponsor. That is only the beginning because sponsoring is so much more. Sponsoring includes mentoring, training, encouraging motivating, listening and anything else that will help your newly sponsored person to effectively build a business. An effective sponsor will guide their newly recruited person. It may also include providing additional sales tools to make the prospecting, recruiting, sponsoring process easier and more effective for the new person. It may include gathering information or answering questions. It may simply include being there and listening to problems the new recruit may be having. I have heard the statement, " if I can help you get what you want, then I will automatically get what I want." Placing yourself in a "helping mode" seems to have many benefits. I have found that if I take the attitute of sponsoring to make money, I don't do as well, but if I have the attitude of helping others make money, then I do quite well. A good sponsor will also communicate with his people by way of telephone, e-mail, newsletter . . .whatever it takes to encourage and motivate his people. When you sponsor, you are no longer what is considered "skilled labor." You have promoted yourself to a managerial position and that means managing people. Along with that self promotion comes an equal increase in responsibility. Your rewards are great including financial and a friendship reward not to mention the reward of personal growth. Some people will suggest you pick your sponsor. That makes good sense to me. I have no trouble asking a person what they will do for me as their sponsor. Remember, you are not looking for a recruiter; you are looking for a sponsor when you go into a new business. The above shows you the importance of prospecting, recruiting and sponsoring as a business-building process. In future articles, I will discuss business-building techniques which will make prospecting, recruiting and sponsoring more effective. ***************************************** Tons of Free Stuff For Fun and For Business Freebie Stuff Trial Offers that get you Two Free Airline Tickets Great Free CD'S-small S&H charge ****************************************** This week's one liner ---------------------------------- An incumbent is a politician bent on separating the voter from their income. ========================================================= Any suggestions for Master Networker articles? Submit to: professor@multi-level.com Remember, on the internet, it's not only who you know and what you know, but also WHERE YOU GO! See you there! Professor Lindsey