*=========================================* M A S T E R N E T W O R K E R The Art of Building A business by Lon Lindsey MASTER NETWORKER Number 77 July 19, 1999 *=========================================* HOW TO SPONSOR 60% OF YOUR BUSINESS PROSPECTS THE "LACKATIME" VIRUS . . .DON'T LET IT ATTACK YOU! Are you a struggling networker because you have "lacka time" to get everything done? Let me ask you something. Where do you find you are spending most of your time? (1) setting goals and determining strategies?, (2) continuous learning about your chosen business?, (3) working a variety of strategies to generate leads?, (4) working the leads by following up a variety of ways?, (5) interacting with your prospects?, (6) training and working with your downline? Wow! That sounds like a full time job to me . . .and did I hear you may be only a part-time networker at this point? Hmmm . . . . sounds to me like something has to give . . . BUT, the tasks mentioned above have to be done if you are to build a network marketing business and an eventual business empire. In fact, if you are only interested in building a small business, you are going to have to do the above tasks just to lay the foundation of your business. So, when I ask the question "where do you find you are spending most of your time?", I hope the answer is "I'm doing all of the above things. Obviously you need to be doing all of the above, but you are only one person. If your boss told you to do such things at work, you would complain about being over worked. What does that say? Doesn't it say you can't do it all and if you are doing this part-time, which most networkers are when they start out, that is more of a reason for you to plan a strategy that best utilizes your time where it should be used most. It is very difficult to be an expert at everything, but networkers are known for their independence and their desire to build their own business. After all, one of the biggest incentives for networkers to build a networking empire is independence and freedom from the things that tend to lock us into dependency. What I am going to mention in the rest of this article may be foreign to you based on what you thought network marketing was going to be. I, again, want to emphasize something to you. It is very difficult to be an expert at everything, so it makes sense to focus in on a couple things and become quite good at them and then assign the others to the experts. I've heard that the way leaders of companies become CEO and owners is that they surround themselves with experts as they build their company. You, as a beginning networker or business builder, must do the same thing. Perhaps one of the things that attracted you the most to network marketing was the relative inexpense necessary to get started. After all, you can join networking company after networking company for less than $200.00 and most you can become distributors for under $50.00 and still others do not even require a purchase to become a distributor. This is where most networkers go wrong. They think in terms of start-up cost being only the cost to become a distributor . . . or some may consider expenses for products or some advertising expenses. Have you considered the cost for you as a person? Have you considered your worth in time when you do certain business tasks? Don't let anyone tell you that you can't factor in your time, because your time is valuable . . even if it is at minimum wage. You see, if you are not working at your business, you could be working at something else . . . something else that may pay you an hourly wage. The difference is, you want to work for yourself rather than someone else, yet your time must be worth something . . . even working for yourself. What I am getting at is if you spend a lot of time doing the right things, but do not get the right results, then you are costing yourself money. Why might you not get the right results? Because you may be doing things that you don't know how to do . . things that someone else could better do for you, which would produce the results you need. So . . . what I am getting at is the cost of building a business is more than purchasing a distributor kit and products. You MUST factor in other expenses, but the key is to know what the RIGHT expenses are. This is where I can be of some help to you. Let's take a look at the services that can best be done by someone else so you can focus on what you need to be doing so that you are rewarded with business-growth results. I'm going to focus in on four areas that can be of help to you. (1) lead generation; (2) contact management; (3) converting leads to prospects via interaction; (4) choosing the right business. LEAD GENERATION First of all, I feel like I can discuss lead generation based on my years of networking experience. A major part of what I have done throughout the years was to generate leads for my businesses. I'm talking about classified advertising, display advertising, card deck advertising, postcard mailings, advertising co-ops, copywriters providing professional lead-generating letters and flyers, voicebox attracting advertising . . .and now with the Internet I can add search engine submissions, banner advertising, free for all links, ezine advertising, targeted email marketing, third party bulk mailers, I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine . . and it goes on and on. There is no question, I have been able to generate leads, but the question now becomes, what kind of leads am I generating? What I am getting at is, if you spend most of your time generating leads, yet the leads are not good serious leads, what are you really accomplishing? How much is your time worth? Might it actually be less expensive and more productive to let the experts generate SERIOUS business leads FOR YOU so your time can be utilized doing what others can't do? I'll talk about what you should be doing . . . below. So . . . .even though I am considered quite good at generating my own business leads, I have actually found out that I could have been using my time in another area that would have given me better results if I simply was provided good serious business leads. Keep in mind . . . I've been in this business for fifteen years. I have had the experience of generating leads, but consider a person relatively new to network marketing who does not know how. Even so . . .there is now another issue that has developed that was not a major part of things back ten or fifteen years ago. Today there are so many networking businesses. The competition is fierce and things are not the way they used to be. I remember the days when you could generate a lead and sign them up all in one mailing. Then came the days when we generated the lead and then sent them requested information and then signed them up. Folks! Those days are gone. People who are serious about building a legitimate networking marketing business are now more sophisticated and you will find that they will decide whether to choose you rather than you choosing them. That is why you need quality leads . . .not tire kickers . . not general information seekers . . .not program jumpers . . but people who are seriously considering network marketing as a legitimate approach to building a business. I will provide you with some special information on what to look for in serious business leads and where you can go to find them. You can get that information immediately by emailing my autoresponder. MailtoSeriousLeads@Biz-E-Bot.com ======= + ======= + ======= + ======= + ======= + ======= + CONTACT MANAGEMENT The second area of information I want to discuss for you is "contact management". I mentioned, above, the difference in networking today vs ten years ago . . .or even five years ago. It's now all about follow-up and interaction. I'll discuss follow-up here and interaction in the next section. Did you know it now takes seven to twelve follow-ups . . on the average . . . to sponsor a person into a business? People who are doing this correctly are sponsoring 60% of the prospects they get. Those who are not doing this correctly are sponsoring 1% - 3% . . thus it is a random act of sponsoring with these people. Business builders take the randomness out of their business-building based on diligent follow-up. Since 98% of the networkers do NOT follow-up more than one or two times, it leaves those of us who follow-up consistently, as the ones who build our businesses. How would you like to be one of that 2%? The main purpose of your initial follow-ups should be to turn a lead into a prospect. A lead may be looking for a business, but a prospect has shown some interest in YOUR business. You will know when your lead becomes a prospect based on when interaction takes place. See the section on interaction. I've got some good news for those people who are also on the Internet. Because you are on the Internet and because of new technology, it is now possible to follow-up numerous times . . ..automatically. There are two ways to follow-up (1) the old way . . . copy and paste messages to your leads when you get a chance . . .or (2) utilize a contact manager program in which your follow-ups will go out automatically on a timed interval basis based on how you program it. The problem with the first way is people just don't follow through. They have good intentions, but due to time or loss of motivation or whatever, they end up quitting after the second or ] third follow-up if they even get that far. Remember, it takes seven to twelve follow-ups and interactions to sponsor people . . .and if you do it correctly, you will sponsor 60% of your prospects . You never know when the time is right for your lead to take the next step and become a serious prospect. That is why your main objective with your follow-up is to turn your lead into a prospect. That means setting up a follow-up schedule that spans at least a month is what I recommend. In fact, what I suggest is you follow-up every two or three days for a month and then follow-up once monthly after that . . . until they either become a prospect or they tell you to "remove me" from your mailing. I want to provide you with some specific information regarding these wonderful robots and how you can get them for free (I don't recommend free ones and I'll tell you why if you request this information.) Get this Contact Management Information immediately by emailing my autoresponder. MailtoContactManager@Biz-E-Bot.com ======= + ======= + ======= + ======= + ======= + ======= + INTERACTION After you get the necessary serious leads and then set up a contact management plan, the next thing to do is convert your lead to a prospect. Ah . . . so you thought a lead was a prospect? No . . a lead is simply looking for a business opportunity, but a prospect is looking at YOUR business opportunity . . . seriously. So . . .which came first . . . the chicken or the egg? Does your initiating interaction create a prospect or does the follow-ups cause the lead to start asking questions . . thus becoming a prospect? Well . . it can be either one, but I suggest you don't wait until your lead asks questions or shows interest. There are some nifty ways in which you can work at creating interaction . . . .thus when there is interaction between you and the lead, that lead then becomes a prospect. I want to mention again that the contact management robots are to make your business-building easier. I didn't say it would eliminate work. It simply makes it easier and gives you more time to do what only you can do . . . to create interaction with your lead. Keep this in mind! Interaction is the next step toward relationship building and relationship building is the next step toward sponsoring. Before a relationship can be built, some interaction must take place. Unfortunately, most networkers wait for their lead to initiate the interaction and if the lead doesn't do so . . .then most networkers say "next." Saying "next" is an important part of moving on and building ones business, but "next" should be done after a couple attempts to interact. I'm going to provide you with some ways to initiate interaction. You may think of some others, but this will give you an idea what I am talking about. 1. Send something to your lead via postal mail. "POSTAL MAIL?" you say! So you thought once you got on the Internet, you could do away with postal mail? Well . . 98% of the online networkers have, but I'm telling you how you can be part of that 2% - 5% of the successful ones. Make your presence real! There is something about the Internet that seems to hide people and we don't become real until we separate ourselves from the Internet. There are a couple ways you can do that. (1) postal mail; (2) phone. Consider sending a letter to your lead telling them about yourself or send a cover letter along with an information package about the business you are in. Do you want to really make an impression? After you send a postal mail letter/package, call them up on the phone and just say "hi." and ask if they have any questions. Consider having a web page that shows a picture of you or your family. Make yourself a real person and not an email name. The Internet provides a tremendous way to make some initial contacts, but there still is not substitution to person to person relationship building that is genuine. 2. The second way to try to get interaction going is by asking questions. Ask your lead questions, such as "did you get my package I sent to you? I'm trying to assess if my package is something people feel good about when they receive it. I would certainly appreciate your comments." Ask specific questions like, "how does the compensation plan of the company I represent compare to other companies you have researched?" Or . . .consider asking, "Have you ever considered interviewing for your sponsor? Would you be willing to interview me?" Now . .we know that many of your leads will not respond. Heck . . they may not even be reading your messages, but that is the idea of follow-up and trying to create interaction. In fact, you can build your attempt to initiate interaction into your automatic follow-up messages. Now . . .to take this a step further, consider moving your prospect to becoming a business associate by what I call "event sponsoring." That is leading a prospect where you want them to go by a series of events such as mailing a detailed business package to them . . or a sample to them . . .or a conference call . . or a three way call . . .or a total separate series of messages via contact manager that details more of the business aspect of your business. Do you see what is happening? Rather than you spending time generating your own leads, you are putting quality into the leads you are given. If you don't have to worry about time in generating leads and, instead, put time into converting leads into prospects and prospects into business associates, it puts you in a position to optimize your business-building efforts. ======= + ======= + ======= + ======= + ======= + ======= + CHOOSING THE RIGHT BUSINESS Choosing the right business is based on what you are looking for in a business , as it should be. I want to bring up another thought. What if your chosen business had a systems approach to it so that it helped you do some of the things I mention above? Again, I'm not suggesting you not work at building your business, but that you find a company or upline that will make building your business easier so you can focus on doing what you need to do . . . what would normally never get done. I would like to share with you some choices I had to make over the years and want to especially share with you an alarming choice I had to make very recently. The question I had to ask was "Do I choose a business based on the company or do I choose the business based on a systems approach to building that business? I think you will find I had to make an alarming choice and would like to show you how that choice could affect your future success in network marketing. To find out now, mailtoAlarmingChoice@Biz-E-Bot.com for an immediate reply. ======= + ======= + ======= + ======= + ======= + ======= + IN SUMMARY In summary, I would like to mention that in today's rushed society, building a business is now about how to best utilize your time. Your time should be utilized in the areas that machines can't do. Your time should be utilized in interacting with your prospects, building new relationships, sponsoring them into your chosen business and then training them to do the same thing. For those of you trying to promote a website, take a look at this Make Your Site Sell! Some shocking news on what work and what does not work with regards to getting people to your website. Http//www.sitesell.com/ThousandsOfHits.html SeriousLeads@Biz-E-Bot.com What to look for in serious business leads and where to find them! ContactManager@Biz-E-Bot.com Utilizing Contact Managers For Your Business Success AlarmingChoice@Biz-E-Bot.com An Alarming Choice That Could Make or Break Your Network Marketing Future Lon Lindsey Publisher The Master Networker http//www.Masternetworker.com Neat Classifieds below . . . lots of free offers! ====> CLASSIFIEDS <==== Earn FREE Serious Leads Http//FreeLeads.com/team/MasterBuilder ==========Add of the Week===================== Absolute Internet Marketing Resources Ezine contains the most current, up to date marketing resources available on the planet! Get access to everything you need to turn your struggline business into an explosive moneymaker! Free! mailtoezine-subscribe@appalachianmarketing.com?subject=adswap ===========Add of the Week====================== Microsoft Office Pro 97 *new* CD Only* ---- Full Version $89.95 ---- ---- Why Pay $300.00 + ---- The ultimate office suite software http//www.2000biz.com/saveonsoftware/kent ========================================== The MyPoints Program - Earn Points for travel, accommodations, recreation and merchandise from the brands consumers trust, such as - Eddie Bauer, Blockbuster, Vail, Marriott, Carnival Cruise Lines, Spiegel, SONY, Hyatt, Aspen, Hertz, Barnes and Noble, Olive Garden, and more! And it's totally FREE! In fact, you receive 100 points just for signing up! http//www.cyberbounty.com/ad?a=20&b=9999&c=1566 ========================================== Tired of "all the rest"? Try the best . . . a company that won't go out of business cause it's been around since 1868! Products you can be proud to represent and fun to use! Http//www.Eliteteam.com ============================================ Submit your website to 1,500 FFA sites FREE. Go to http//www.cybersponsor.com ============================================ Webmasters and heavy traffic sites! Become a Cyberbounty "Bounty Hunter" Make money sending people to your Cyberbounty website of free stuff! Http//www.cyberbounty.com/?rsid=1566&b=9998 ============================================= You're on-line. Friends and family are calling you but the line is busy or they leave a message that you won't check for hours! What can you do? The solution is Pagoo. - TAKE A FREE TRIAL NOW! Forget busy signals, forget hefty $20 - $30 second lines. Have voice messages immediately forwarded to your computer screen! Desktop Agent will alert you instantly! Or pick up your messages anywhere in the world through the 'Net with no long distance fees. All you need is an Internet connection. Download now and take a completely FREE 30 DAY TRIAL of this amazing technology! http//www.cyberbounty.com/ad?a=67&b=9999&c=1566 ============================================= WIN REAL CASH PRIZES!! SpeedyClick is the best site on the Web for fun interactive games and contests!! Play games for chances to win $$$ ... VERY cool site. Even register for a chance to win $10,000 Best of all -- All of the contests are free!! Click here now http//www.cyberbounty.com/ad?a=57&b=9999&c=1566 ======================================= =========================================== Alexa is your FREE *surf* engine! With Alexa you can seamlessly find sites similar to any page you visit -- without performing a search. Simply let Alexa give you suggested links no matter where you are on the Web. And, you can get detailed stats and facts about every site you visit as well. Why fumble around the Internet without a guide when you can use Alexa to surf like an expert? It puts a whole new twist on the Internet, at last no more fumbling around in the dark, let it lead you by the hand. And when we say free we mean FREE, it's not a demo, it's not shareware it's totally FREE. . .So go pick up your download now! http//www.cyberbounty.com/ad?a=1&b=9999&c=1566 ============================================ Cataloglink offers a large quantity of free catalogs including an international section for overseas requests. You'll find something for all tastes here from office and computers, to recreation and hobbies and more! http//www.cyberbounty.com/ad?a=49&b=9999&c=1566 ============================================= Click here to save big money, print money saving coupons right off your computer http//www.cyberbounty.com/ad?a=2&b=9999&c=1566 Save hundreds of dollars at your favorite stores, they have all the big names are here! Print coupons right off your computer screen So, unless you like throwing your money away we highly recommend that you visit this site a.s.a.p. and start saving! It's fast, free, and your privacy is guaranteed. http//www.cyberbounty.com/ad?a=2&b=9999&c=1566 ========================================== eTour is the most useful, entertaining start page on the Web. After registering and switching your start page to Etour, you'll see a different Website, matched to your interests, every time you log on the Web. These aren't ads, but the best sites on the Web, and eTour finds them just for you! As an active user you'll also earn FREE gift certificates from Delta Airlines, JCrew, HomeDepot, Blockbuster, and many other top brands. Click here to sign-up and switch your start page to eTour. You'll be glad you did!" http//www.cyberbounty.com/ad?a=53&b=9999&c=1566 ============================================ It's FREE, It's EASY, If you're looking for an exciting, easy to use place to bring your family close together... FOR FREE... Then DO NOT miss this cool site! At last *anybody* can take advantage of the Power of the Net! Visitors can establish their own family's version of FamilyPoint by simply entering a family name. No web pages to build, no intimidating downloads, no tricky navigation. Family members can post notes on the Fridge, schedule events and activities on a calendar, share pictures, send messages and create conversations by topic, update the family address book, and even add recipes and other favorites in the "Family Favorites" area. Family members can also see who else is visiting the site at the same time and jump into a live chat. FamilyPoint.com immediately makes the web more relevant to all ages and generations. By helping people get more out of their family relationships, and helping keep the family in closer touch. "FamilyPoint was created to let families stay in closer touch, we have an easy and friendly site, and we are seeing usage by everyone in the family.Users say this has made a difference in their lives." The possibilities are endless, it's an excellent place to exchange information on that wedding, birthday party, special occasion, or just to bring everybody closer. It'll also be a great place for organizations such as school groups, scouts etc. http//www.cyberbounty.com/ad?a=34&b=9999&c=1566 =========================================== Search the Internets largest database of free scholarships, absolutely free! The fastweb database contains over 400,000 listings! Just complete six simple steps to get immediate results on-line! http//www.cyberbounty.com/ad?a=56&b=9999&c=1566 ========================================= --------------------------------------------------------------------- You can ubscribe to this mailing list at http//www.masternetworker.com/subscribe/index.html List The MasterNetworker --------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 1998 MasterNetworker.com - http//www.MasterNetworker.com