Basic MLM Network Marketing - Building Your FaceBook Reputation

People all around. The social networking community is not unlike the fans at Saratoga Racecourse. You know a few of them well, but most are strangers from around the US and the world. Consider FaceBook. There are well over 350 million users and it adds roughly 300-400,000 per day. So why would any one of them want to do business with you?

Your first step is to consider what you want to do in the networking community. If you are trying to build your business list, then the next question is whether you should have both a personal and a business FaceBook account. I use only one account, mainly because I contact my personal friends and family via direct email or by phone. But if you have a large, purely social network with which you communicate via personal messages on FaceBook, then you may want to consider a separate business account for your professional contacts.

Secondly, should you link your Twitter account to Facebook? It depends. If you Twitter a lot about what you're doing, then you probably don't want to link them. Too many Twitter comments on FaceBook can be very annoying and appear as though you are spamming. But if you're only Twittering once or twice daily, then you can certainly link the accounts.

The key step is to build your professional profile page so that it establishes you as a person of value. Remember that everybody counts. Brand yourself as a professional in your field upfront. Always tell the truth and be open and above-board. And always add value.

Reviewing The Fundamental Plan for Your Own Network Marketing Business

Life is all about sharing. Don't work in islolation. You can't get a new home-based business off the ground without drawing on other people's experience and knowledge. Like most network marketers, I made a ton of mistakes, largely because I simply did not have good guidance and a well-formed plan. Any of the real gurus will tell you that. Many of them struggled for years before succeeding. And you can learn a lot from the right mentor.

So today, I'm taking a look back and reviewing the basic steps you need to take to get started right.

First and foremost, whatever you decide to do, be committed - at least for a year. Businesses do not succeed overnight. And all those 'make thousands quick' deals in the MLM industry probably aren't worth your time. Be honest, thoughtful and consistent. Make sure you add value. Establish yourself as a real professional who has something to offer that people want or need.

Step 1: Determine what you want to do. Select something that suits you, that will allow you to build off your strengths and that you will really enjoy and will be committed to - if you aren't, you'll find yourself in trouble (and a lot poorer) quickly.

Step 2: Analyze why you want to do it. Write out a clear statement of your why. It's not just about making money, it's about making money to pay for your kids' education, to travel and do things you've never been able to afford, to build for your own retirement by achieving full financial freedom, to allow you to do something else that you're really passionate about but doesn't make you any real money, and so on. Whatever your 'why' is, it's your real motivation to keep going. So post your 'why' where you can see it every day.

Step 3: Consider when to get started. This is actually a bit tricky. 'Now' is the obvious answer. And most gurus will tell to 'take action now.' But if you start running around without a good financial and business plan in place, and you fail to accumulate some basic knowledge about your industry and business, you'll just wind up flitting from one thing to another, trying to find something that works. When you've got your foundation, you can apply the '80% action/20% learning' rule. But when you are getting started, I'd recommend '40%/60%'. I think you'll avoid a lot of mistakes and, ultimately, be more successful. So, by all means, get started now, but make sure you have your ducks in a row too. There is no road to instant success.

Step 4: How: The two major problems people building a new home-based business have are: 1) Lack of Money and 2) Lack of Quality Leads..

The first can be overcome by preparing and utilizing a good budget and by finding a way to generate enough income while you're getting off the ground with your main business. Know what you can afford to invest and how you want to invest it. Don't run around buying up stuff or programs without careful thought. There is a lot of good information on the Net and a lot of excellent guidance that is available for free from top leaders in the industry. Find it (google search, FaceBook groups are some good starting points) and use it. Allocate your funds so that you are getting maximum value.

Many people will tell you 'this is the truth, the way. Just sign up and you're off to success'. Look rather for those who invite you to learn, offer valuable advice, video presentations, and webinars - people who want to build a relationship with you that will be mutually rewarding. But don't buy anything until you've evaluated its potential benefit to you. And stay on budget or you'll be out of business.

Overcoming the lack of quality leads really rests on two factors: building your own list and building a strong relationship with that list. People who favor the warm marketing approach will tell you to start with your family, friends, acquaintances and associates. It works for some people, but not for me and probably not for many of you. I prefer the principles of Attraction Marketing and build my lists and relationships to establish myself as someone people want to do business with. But much more on that later.

Having Trouble Reaching Your MLM Goals?

Old Scratch was quite a character. He always wanted to share Sara's dinner, but could never quite reach it. Not for want of trying though. And that seems to be the case with most of the people who are trying to make it in MLM. They find their niche, start building their network, and then they start to market. But success is elusive. And the checks aren't big enough to make it worthwhile. So, what's the problem and how can you solve it?

First of all, you need a marketing approach that works for YOU. If you've chosen a company to represent, chances are you'll be trying to promote through the company's website. They'll give you all kinds of sales training. And your upline tells you that the 'warm' marketing approach is the way to go. They suggest you build your list of friends, family, acquaintances, professional contacts - people you know or with whom you have at least some contact. You'll get scripts which they insist are effective. And they may suggest you buy 'opt-in' leads.

You enthusiastically slog your way through everything they suggest. But your family, friends and acquaintances/associates want no part of your opportunity. You've talked with everyone you can think of - in stores, at social gatherings, anywhere and everywhere. Your personal social network gets exhausted and all you feel is that you're a pest. And cold-calling leads produces next to nothing. You wind up feeling stupid, inadequate and discouraged - and pretty much empty handed in your new MLM business. And all you get from your upline is "Just don't quit. The next call may be THE one that gets you going".

Yes, sometimes it does work - for people who are comfortable with the concept of 'warm' marketing. But that's a very small percentage - mostly people who are truly sales-oriented and have the personality to go along with it. But most of us aren't and can't work effectively that way. We're uncomfortable, unsuccessful and frustrated. We just can't reach success using the 'warm' approach.

I had some neighbors stop me once as I was working on my rose garden. They admired the bushes and asked me what I did to make them grow so beautifully. We chatted for quite a while. Wow. If I were a professional gardener, I had some new customers right there. I thought about that a lot. The difference was that they came to me! If I represented a gardening company, I could probably have signed them up on the spot, without doing any 'marketing' at all.

And that's the power of 'attraction' marketing. People come to you. They don't care about your product. They care about who you are, whether you're an honest and trustworthy person and professional. Someone who has something of value to offer them. Remember, people want to do business with people.

Finding Valuable, Trustworthy People to Mentor You

I trust my brother Richard, shown here with granddaughter Emma and daughter Laurie. He's much more than just my sibling. He's been a friend and mentor all my life. And when I started my home-based MLM business, I needed to find people on the Net who could mentor my fledgling efforts, help me get started the right way and get my work-from-home efforts on the road to success.

The key is to find people who offer value and guidance. I use my social networks to locate people and join groups who seem to want to build a strong relationship with me. Like you, I get tons of email with tag lines like 'I made $23,000+ in a day using xyz system and so can you.' And they throw in a few free ebooks. TRASH.

I suspect the reality is that many self-styled MLM 'gurus' really aren't making that much money. If it's true that only about 3% really achieve full financial freedom (and I suspect it is) than most of the stuff you're looking at is junk, promoted by someone who is only interested in getting the contents of your wallet.

So how do you find valuable people with products that can really help you succeed?

Use your own good judgment. Look for people in your social network who really offer sound guidance, who invite you to free webinars, video presentations, and send emails with good content that aren't beating you on the head to buy their product NOW. Maybe they'll suggest you take a free trial to look at what their service/product has to offer. And when you start evaluating what they've got, you'll see that they provide full training and support, an offer to refund your money in 30 days if you wish to opt out, and/or the ability to cancel your participation at any time.

Use those criteria and you'll start to cut through the information overload.

Building Your New MLM Business Budget

It's time to consider your budget. Any new venture has upfront costs, maintenance costs, promotion costs and other costs you may not have thought about. So your first step is to determine how much you have to spend and for what. If you're a multi-level marketing (MLM) beginner, you can wind up buying lots of stuff for a lot more money than you have to spend. A lot of people go out of business very quickly because they outrun what they can afford to pay.

Let's start by considering your income goals. Let's say you want to get to $15,000 per month within two years, sooner if you can. You can see yourself doing it - you're excited and committed to do what it takes over the long haul. You've found the businesses you want to opt into - you're sure they can get you there - eventually.

Now let's say you only have a budget of $2,000 for the next six months. That's all you can spare from your or the family's budget. Believe me, you can chew that up in no time at all, unless you plan carefully. Assume you have two MLM businesses you opt into. One costs $75 and the other costs $400. Once you join, there are, say, $30 web maintenance fees for each business ($360 for both businesses over six months). Now you want to buy business cards, cds and other promo materials to help you get started; let's assume those cost you a total of $150 for both businesses. Wham. You've used up $985 of your $2,000 - and you haven't started yet. Now you want to do some videos, but you need a digital cam corder (another few hundred). And you decide you need to do advertising (say you want to spend $300 a month to get your ads to the right places). And what about lead generation and autoresponder systems? Whoops you're way over your budget and not much is coming in income-wise because it takes time to build a business.

No. You don't need to give up. Think and plan. Consider realistic options and their costs. But get going. Take action now. There are ways to generate income that can help you keep going while your new business is developing.

Branding You, Not Your Business

Every one of the jockey statues outside Saratoga Race Track represents a winner. And you want to be one too. But how do you find the right vehicles for you? First of all, you want to start branding yourself as a valuable, reputable, trustworthy person. Get your profiles up in your social networking vehicles, on Twitter, FaceBook, MySpace and LinkedIN. Be honest. Let people see who you really are. Maybe you want to start a blog. Just remember, people want to do business with people - not companies. You need to offer value or they won't bother to come.

So your first step in your work from home business is to build and brand yourself in your social network. That's key to getting your home-based - or your traditional new business - off the ground.

Too Much Information? How to Get Your Home-Based Business Headed for Success

My friend and I went down to visit our second racehorse, Turnupthevolume. It was a fun trip and he looked great. But on the way home, I was thinking about his name. And it seemed to me that it reflected the overload of info that keeps blaring at us as we explore the Net. And when you try to answer the 'How' of my serving men is when you can really get confused.

You've got your what, why and when. You know what you want to do and why you want to do it. You've examined your strengths and weaknesses. You're building your social network on Twitter, FaceBook, LinkedIn, MySpace and your blog. Your business plan is in place, you have a budget and you're ready to go . But how do you succeed?

When all is said and done, it seems that most people just don't really make money via a home-based business on the Internet. So, if 97% of people who try to make money on the Net fail, how can you become a member of the elite 3% who do?

The When in Life is NOW - Don't Put Your New Business on the Shelf

People can always find reasons to put things off - Too busy is a favorite. But take a look a your family. My brother Richard has three generations to look after, daughter Laurie and her husband Scott, grandchild Emma, and, of course, his wife Madeleine. Why would he delay in trying to make their lives better? And the more hustle and bustle you have in your life, the more you need a rational plan to break out of the rat race and create your own financial freedom.

My own home-based businesses are designed to help people save time and money, and to build residual income that will allow them to achieve real independence. I've introduced the first at http://goforgreen.ownanewbusiness.com/ And now it's time to introduce my second:

I have partnered with a growing American company to capitalize on the deregulation of electricity and natural gas for residential customers. Service is currently limited to New York, northern Illinois and Texas. But the company will expand as other states deregulate. It won't cost anything to switch suppliers. Absolutely nothing changes except the size of your bill. There are no contracts and no exit fees. And there’s an attractive rewards program for customers that could reduce the supplier side of their bill significantly, even to zero. It offers a very attractive opportunity to build a home-based business that can lead to real financial freedom. For more information, contact me at phemming@nycap.rr.com.

The when is NOW. You can't afford not to get started. You can find time. Allocate five, ten or 20 hours per week - whatever fits your schedule. But get going and stick with it. Whatever you decide to do will take time to build. The most important thing is not to quit on yourself and your dream.

Getting Your Traditional Business in Gear

Little Emma Stull has rested up and is thinking about what to do next. And once she gets going, believe me, that little dynamo will be hard to stop. But you'll want to take a bit more measured approach to discovering how to get your start-up business off the ground and on the road to success. And as you do your research and development, you'll be getting all the parts you need to put a solid, realistic business plan together.

Once you've established your what and why, there are two preliminary but crucial questions for your traditional start-up business: 1) Is there demand for your product/service and 2) What is your competition?

For starters, get your list together - people you know, people in your town or city, store owners, groups or associations you've joined, professional associates you've worked with or used, competitors in or outside your area. Talk to them. Float your idea and note the response.

Go to your local Chamber of Commerce - they are probably your best front-line resource. Check out local universities and colleges - many of them have courses that can help you get started. Investigate professional associations in your field and contact them. And don't be afraid to talk with your competitors - you'll be surprised to find that many of them will share some of their experiences and knowledge with you, especially if you're not going to be in their backyard.

Use the internet to help establish and brand yourself - and extend your contact lists. Join Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn (they're free) - you can find people and groups to join in your industry that can be enormously informative and helpful.

Put all those serving men to work, gather the responses and information together and then THINK. Put together a checklist of all the things you need to do and then get started on each one - but remember to set a realistic schedule for yourself. You want to finish each day with a sense of achievement and if you overload yourself, you'll be overwhelmed.

http://www.banhem.com

Thoughtful Evaluation Will Pay Huge Dividends

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."

From Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872

I have a seventh serving man - his name is 'think.' And I've always substituted 'think' for 'talk' in the Walrus and the Carpenter. The overload of information on the Net is so great that it takes a huge mental effort to sort through what you've discovered. So I put my seventh serving man to work while my six other men take a breather. Taking the time to quietly think about what you've uncovered for your work-from home business - or any start-up business - will pay huge dividends. So don't just rush in and sign up - evaluate the profiles or promo pages and the research you've done on what you want to do. Remember the adage - 'people don't plan to fail; they fail to plan.'

Six Honest Serving Men - Keys to Your New Business

I KEEP six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.
I send them over land and sea,
I send them east and west;
But after they have worked for me,
I give them all a rest.

From Kipling's 'The Elephant Child'

I read an article the other day in the Saratogian (Sara and Remy read it too) that talked about the stress of 'too much information." After searching the Internet for the last several months to find appropriate (for me) business opportunities, I confess that I was really stressed out and wondering how I could get it all sorted out and who I could really trust. And then I thought about Kipling's six honest serving men and how I could apply those questions to help me. I think they are a pretty good set of guides to help you get started with your home-based business. Just knowing the 'what' and 'why' of your work-from-home endeavors can narrow the breadth of your search considerably and allow you to focus your research more effectively.

Blocked In? Break Out Now

How Remy got there is beyond me. But there the darned cat was, all cooped up and looking for a way out. And it struck me at once that I felt the same - boxed in and struggling to break out. What was holding me in? Fear of change, of adapting to a new way of thinking and acting, and, most of all, fear of breaking out of my comfort zone. All those great things we learned from our parents, siblings and peers can also work against us, by creating a comfort zone from which we can't break away. We're conditioned to be afraid of anything new and different and only adapt when the world arena forces us to make adjustments.

When I first started my consulting business and, more recently, my two home-based businesses in consumer services, I found that they not only required a change in my approach, but also a change in action. I've had to learn different business practices and new marketing approaches. I've basically had to change the way I think, recognize my weaknesses and fears, and work to overcome them.

It doesn't happen overnight. But you can get out of the box. Identify what you're afraid of. Then work out what you have to do to overcome your fears. And, basically, the only way is to work right through them. If your afraid of the phone, you have to get on the phone - a lot, until it becomes natural to you. If the computer looks like a time bomb to you, then get on it and keep exploring sites and applications until you feel comfortable hitting that on button. If you're afraid of people, get out and join groups that interest you.

When I was a kid in New York City, I lived near an area to which a lot of Puerto Ricans had moved. I was always told not to walk alone in those neighborhoods, to be extremely cautious if I saw large groups of them walking toward me and basically to be careful at all times. My family believed in "all men are created equal." They were simply trying to protect me from what really was a rowdy and sometimes quite dangerous neighborhood to a young girl.

What I discovered as I grew older was that I had become prejudiced against Puerto Ricans. They were 'dangerous' people, people to be avoided. I had to change that - it simply didn't fit with the ethics and concepts my parents had also taught me. But how to change it? Sitting in my room and saying 'I am NOT prejudiced' wasn't doing anything. So I volunteered to teach English as a Second Language at a local church. Amazing! My Puerto Rican students were just people

Afraid to Change?

Unlike little Martin, who worries everything to death, flees from all strangers and reacts to anything new with extreme caution, your new business, home-based or otherwise, requires you to adapt and move out of your comfort zone. Taking the reins and getting started means that you have to explore the possibilities, and be thoughtful, creative, organized, disciplined and tenacious.

Most important: Don't quit on yourself. You can get it done!

Snooze - Ya Lose

Remy and his best bud Martin (yes, they were named for our favorite after-dinner drink) love to relax. But your business won't go too far if you nap too much.

I managed a department in the financial services industry and had a management trainee going through a 3-month stint. Assigned him a project, gave directions,and offered constant guidance and help - then watched him snooze away his time. When his report was due, he submitted one of the worst drafts I've ever seen. My criticism was biting and to the point. Sent him on his way and never thought much more about him.

To my shock, 6 months later, he was at my office door to thank me. He'd quit and gone into another line of work. His comment went something like this: 'You made me realize that I wasn't happy with what I was doing. So I quit and started my own business in the consumer services area. It's slow going, but I really am loving it and I think it will grow'.

You need to enjoy your home-based business, the company you work with and its products/services. If you do, you won't be beaten. But it takes work to be a successful entrepreneur.