Millions of people like you world-wide are now looking more than ever for a new opportunity in a top home-based business. Forbes Magazine, report that seventy million Americans plan to start their own business within the next three years; over forty thousand new business start-ups happen per day in the USA. In spite of a current global recession, the figures are similar for many other nations.

Current economic climates are persuading people to look for alternative sources of income and security beyond their traditional industries. People are looking more for self-reliance and independence in their day job. If anyone tries to tell you that you have reason to be cautious, this does not match up with the statistics. The network marketing business is bucking the recessionary trend. This was a way of working that it seemed to me when I was looking at my options, could offer some real future security.

It’s difficult, however, if you are just starting out or even looking to change your line of business. Increasingly would be small business owners and entrepreneurs are bombarded with opportunities, many seeming alike, in terms of ‘get rich quick’ offers. In the on-line world of business, it is difficult to know what are the indicators of a top home-based business opportunity; I should know, I wasted time and money on getting involved in an MLM which would take me all my time and energy to just stand still. Well publicised stories of such businesses which can have you spending more money than you will make or which barely allow you to break even give entrepreneurs looking to work from home legitimate cause for scepticism when deciding what is your best investment option.

So if your head is spinning right now, let’s look at your main considerations. You need first off to be assured in your own mind that you have found a strong business model. So take some time comparing different home businesses. Look for a top tier option, a ‘Direct Sales’ model, as opposed to a ‘Multi Level Marketing model’ ( “MLM” ). This way, you will not incur risks of only getting paid on multiple levels of “down-lines” or ‘sign ups’ within your organization. A notorious problem associated with the MLM industry is a high level of attrition in your down-line; i.e. people jumping ship when they become dissatisfied and move onto their next venture. Their leaving your team is a loss of ‘residual’ income for you. Heaven forbid they take a whole sales team with them when they move on.

Within weeks of my joining an MLM, my upline informed me that she was moving to another business and I was to be her last sign up. Ironically, I found out afterwards that the new opportunity was also not all it was cracked up to be; she defected back. Hopping around between MLM businesses seems to be pretty common and with risks and benefits so disproportionate, I am frankly not surprised.

When you are looking to earn from sales as well as residual commissions this threatens a vital stream of income. When you lose team commissions from those leaving ‘below’ you, whilst you do still maintain your income from your own direct sales, your chances of realizing any respectable passive residual income in your business becomes increasingly difficult, even impossible. Your time becomes spent heavily on recruiting and training new people, only to have them quit within an average of three months. (Make no mistake this is the average attrition rate with MLM’s).

By choosing a more exclusive or top level business, you will find that the buy in cost is higher, but your rewards are in the bigger commissions paid. That being said, it’s worth bearing in mind that there are lucrative direct sales businesses out there which cost much less than traditional ‘bricks and mortar’ businesses or franchises, (yet this is how an average entrepreneur still invests).

A good home-based business opportunity will operate on a model which pays well on sales made. Lack of positive cash flow is one of the major stumbling blocks for people starting out in a new business, and knowing that you will be paid well on sales you make will help to ensure you are able to continue to operate your business.

Another consideration should be a dual income business system, meaning that you will receive a commission for each sale up front, but there is also a generous residual income component built in at the back end. The reason this is important, is that your business sponsor must have a financial incentive for assisting you to get up and running. Otherwise, after you have signed on the dotted line, you may be left to your own devices to learn how to set up and operate your business. Again, this ‘sink or swim’ process is common to many MLM’s. Find out about what training and support may be on offer before you make the financial investment.

The last (but certainly not least) feature of a powerful business opportunity is if it offers an automated, <strong>duplicatable</strong> online marketing system. OK, that sounds a little like jargon. But what it means is that you need to investigate how much of a back-office support system your business offers? You do not want to be spending any more time than necessary on training new team members. Can you out-source elements of the business, if so, do you know the legalities and costs involved?

There are some truly amazing products out there, but if you have no systems of advertising and selling them, then you simply don’t have a great business. Using systems that harness the power and reach of the internet, and are easily duplicatable will create a very strong foundation for a long term, lucrative business.

This brings me to my final point. Remember, you are in a business for the long-term. Direct sales for instance, is a relationship-based business. Most of your customers are likely to be return buyers (on average more than 80% of sales). It is important you understand this from the beginning and do not get disheartened if you do not get immediate results. A reason many MLM businesses fail is a lack of commitment to the long term. Find a business which will weather all of the seasons and the product is of value and sustainable over time and internationally.

This may seem a lot to consider, but if you are prepared to invest your time and energy into your future, establishing your check-list early on in your search could be crucial to your long-term success and could save you a lot of heart and head-ache, to say nothing of cash in the long run.

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Before you can earn money online by online marketing, you need to understand exactly how you make money with affiliate marketing and what you need to seriously consider before diving in to what is often sold as an “easy way to make money online”. Whether you are just starting out or are an experienced online marketer already, I have information to share for wherever you are up to now. Here’s what this article will cover in brief:

• What is affiliate marketing?
• What is an “affiliate”?
• What is an “affiliate program”?
• Signing up for an affiliate program
• Your “affiliate link” to earning
• Commission payments
• Payment systems

“Affiliate marketing” is a way of making money on the Internet that has been around for decades. This money making scheme turns ordinary people into millionaires like no other industry. If you are not selling your own products and offering affiliate programs to others, basically, affiliate marketing pays a person for selling someone else’s products or introducing someone to a third party’s goods or services, either on-line or off.

So, you are paid in commission when you send leads or customers to a merchant who sells goods and services. Many of the multi-nationals now have this as part of their marketing strategy. Direct marketing via affiliate programmes is big business. According to Marketing Sherpa: “Affiliate Marketing involves an estimated $14 billion in annual online sales”.

An “Affiliate” is the person who will make money by signing up with a company’s affiliate program and then they send paying customers to the seller. As the ‘product promoter’ you earn a fee, or commission for helping to sell a company’s products or services online.

Affiliates may also be known as: “associates,” “program partners,” or “publishers”. I go into JV’s in my extended Affiliate Marketing 101.

So how do you earn money as an affiliate? When you make a sale, the merchant pays you a percentage of the value of that sale.

Ebooks, down-loadable information reports or training programs, which offer valuable information to people are common products and services for sale in an online company’s affiliate program. Whoever refers you to them will have made a commission for your purchase of that information product.

Some affiliate ‘merchants’ pay you when you send them qualified leads. These product producers and publishers promote “offers” through CPA (Cost Per Action) Networks. More on this later.

Affiliate programs work well with social media marketing online, which means that a website can earn money for you as you sleep if you learn Web 2.0 marketing methods.

So how does this marketing system work to earn you money? Well, when you sign up for a merchant’s “affiliate program,” you become a member of that merchant’s ‘online sales force’. Obviously, it pays them to get as many people as possible promoting their product online as a cheap marketing system. Your ‘word of mouth’ recommendation online is likely to find a ready made ‘warm market’ for them; for this access to a bigger audience, they are willing to give you a cut of their profits. This can be as little as a few percentage points to as much as 90% in commission payment.

This compensates you for the time and money you spend advertising and promoting a company’s products, which they would otherwise be spending on billboards and overheads of a marketing employee’s wages, insurance, pension etc. They also benefit because you only get paid only if you generate sales or leads. No results, no pay! But hey, if you want to quit your day job and work from home, how else can you make money from your easy chair and doing what you enjoy (apart from some seedier industries perhaps!)

Signing up for an affiliate program is easy enough. You’ll need to apply – generally online, although, some companies still require paper applications. Some programs will offer direct deposit into an online merchant account, which you may be required to sign up to.

When you are signed up, the seller will give you a unique URL (web-page with a number identifying your account attached) to direct customers to, or similarly, they may give you a ‘link’ unique to you. Depending on how you are going to generate leads, will determine the system you will use.

‘Banners’ – small images which when clicked take you to a product seller site – for instance may link to the product seller via a URL with either your unique business name associated with it or a unique reference number, linked to your account with them. These are fun to play with and do some of the marketing heavy lifting for you by putting together images and ideas with clickable links.

Merchant sites issue affiliate IDs and affiliate links, plus link tracking and payment services, for thousands of merchants. You as the affiliate are brought together with the producer via their portal. These third-party merchant-affiliate link companies get paid for all these services by the product producer, which means it’s free for you, the affiliate, to sign up to.

Because they give you access to many different companies. This saves your time searching for all kinds of products, from many different merchants, in the myriad of niches; you can quickly access multiple programs in less time with one ID. The drawback, however, is that in all likelihood, the compensation system will not be very lucrative, so what you save in time in the short term, you can lose in the longer term in terms of earnings for efforts.

Here your banking and bookkeeping if you are a sole-proprietor are organised for you, should you choose to go this route.

That being said, book-keeping should not be an issue; you want to look at out-sourcing this aspect of your business anyway to free you up for the creative and strategic stuff, which is what will grow your business. You are a professional marketer and you want your time spent on this revenue producing activity, not on book-keeping!

So, assuming you have decided your target income, done your homework and have found the lucrative products you can get passionate about promoting. Next comes, the “affiliate agreement”. Make sure you understand WHAT you are signing up to, because if you violate their terms and conditions, the merchant can withhold payment, or even drop you from their affiliate program.

Your job is to put this link on a website, in an email, an article, a video, or even in a picture online; this is where your Web 2.0 training comes in. There are so many ways to promote, this has to be learnt seperately and is too big a topic to deal with here (in fact it is an on-going learning and training process for any marketer who wants to get this right and one you need to commit to right at the start).

The promotion and marketing is the skilled part of being an affiliate earner. You’ve got to get people to click on your link AND BUY. Curious Georges and Looky Loos are no good to your business partner or your bank account!

Get this marketing process right from step one and your visitor follows through your marketing system and makes a purchase, you will be paid a commission on that sale.

The merchant’s web-page must also do a good job of selling the person who clicks on your link, but it is your own system, creativity and skill that gets the potential buyer to click through in the first place.

For example, if you place the link on a website that includes your detailed review of the product, together with projecting the right approach, a visitor will be more inclined to buy. Do not believe any business partner if they try to tell you that their site will do all the selling for you! They are lying to you. Getting someone there in the first place is a job in itself!

So then how does the merchant know that you personally should be paid, and not someone else? Well, remember the link they gave you that you filed on your computer for safe keeping? This contains code which is unique to your account with them, so they can track where the sale was made from.

This code is a unique set of numbers or letters. It’s called your “affiliate ID.” The code identifies you — and only you — as the person who is responsible for the sale.

Ok well if you’ve stuck with me this far. Don’t worry if all of these detailed considerations seem a little over-whelming right now… Overwhelm is better than under-whelm after all, right?! The important thing is making good money online is about making your future earnings secure and set up well it is great fun!

You need to learn a little about the techy side of the system too, so now is probably as good a time as any to tell you how “cookies” help you to make sales too. These are tiny programs dropped into to a visitor’s web browser when they click your affiliate link. Cookies store information on a visitor’s computer for your benefit. The information dropped into their computer identifies you as the affiliate who drove them to the site belonging to the product seller.

Compensation Systems: (ie How You Get Paid)
Before signing up to give your time to any partner affiliate program, you need to think about your own goals. Seriously! What do you want to earn? What will this money buy you? What is the reason you are doing this in the first place? The answers need to be in the fore-front of your mind when committing your time and energy. Will your new business partner affiliate commissions get you closer to your goal?

With this in mind, let’s take a look at what’s on offer for affiliates.

Cost Per Action (CPA) or Pay Per Lead

This type of affiliate program pays a set fee for each qualified lead you send to the seller’s site through your affiliate link. The visitor has to take action to share their contact information with the merchant to be considered a “qualified lead” .

The MERCHANT decides who is “qualified prospect”. There are about 50 different Cost Per Action / Acquisition networks around who specialize in financial services programs; they are highly selective and offer lucrative returns for experienced marketers.

Pay Per Click (PPC). Contextual Advertising

Generally merchant partners don’t pay you when someone clicks your affiliate link, but when someone BUYS after clicking your affiliate link. Certain advertising programs do pay just for clicks however. Providing ad space on your web-site can make a small amount of money from each click on an ad; it all adds up.

Google AdSense is probably the most popular amongst affiliates of this kind of advertising. You show say 3 or 4 Google ads on your site, and when visitors click them, you receive a small percentage of the amount the advertisers pay Google.

Generally speaking, sending your visitors to a web page with contextual ads isn’t as profitable as commission-based sales, but it still offers another avenue to make you money! See my 101 on Affiliate Marketing for more details on the relative pros and cons of ad systems.

Pay-Per-Sale

Pay per sale is basically commissions for direct marketing; you get paid for sales made after the person you refer clicks through and buys.

Residual Income and Recurring Revenue

A favourite topic. In residual income programs, merchants pay you a recurring commission on subscriptions and monthly services. Direct Marketing, Network Marketing or MLM companies will pay you ‘residual earnings’ for other affiliates you sign up. Effectively, their marketing efforts carry on earning for you, whilst you are busy doing something else… Long-term, these back-end commissions are your biggest profits! Click here to find out how I learnt about what a difference residual income with the Get Paid Today system makes to your online success.

I would suggest you really do your homework here, as this is where you are really leveraging your efforts for maximum returns for minimal effort. Bear in mind, however, that you have to make a commitment to your own professional development as you are now in the realms of team building and coaching. If you like working with people and are a good communicator, you’ll have a ball building a potentially lucrative business.

Hybrid Programs

I left this until last, as this type of marketing combines elements of any of the above. Sometimes merchants combine different payment programs. For instance, differing rates per banner click or sales made after someone clicks. Some will also offer bonuses after you make a certain number of sales. Others offer a scale that pays higher commissions the more sales you make.

I haven’t tried this model personally. It’s tends to be used for physical products as opposed to for example digital information ones. Once more, commitment to improving your marketing professionalism is required. Consider this perhaps having mastered promoting commission-based products first.

COMMISSION PAYMENT SYSTEMS

The basics! There are basically two types of commissions:

SINGLE-TIER COMMISSIONS are straight commission payments made for your direct sales results. You get a percentage of the profit made by the seller per sale.

TWO-TIER COMMISSIONS pay as this implies, on two levels (although MLMs are set up on a similar basis). You benefit from your own sales, and you can make money on a percentage of sales made by new affiliates whom you refer to the affiliate program and who sign up.

So, the benefits are obvious here; even if you don’t make many direct sales, the affiliates who sign up under you will. There are sound business reasons for you to do so however, as anyone investing in a strong business, will want to see their ‘leader’ doing as they do too. With the right team support, you will earn automatic earnings for you as you get a percentage of your team’s sales who copy what you and your team are doing!

Two-tier programs are not so common; MLM’s are more common; Some say this is because of the complex tracking required. MLMs are not necessarily the holy grail of marketers either, however. If you happen to find a two-tier program in a niche that fits well with online marketing strategies, you might end up recruiting many second-tier affiliates through your articles, videos, forum postings or other social media postings. Those small second-tier commissions can add up!

To learn more about the potential disadvantages of some MLM business systems, I suggest you check out the increasingly infamous Coffee House Letter.

At the end of the day, your affiliate marketing needs to underpin a good business model, to keep revenue flowing whilst you build your main business on the back end.

As far as Payment Terms go, merchants can issue earnings payments whenever suits them, so it’s important to read the small print in your agreement when you sign up for an affiliate program to see if their terms suit you too.

Just remember that before you can get paid, generally speaking, your earnings may have to reach a pre-determined amount, although the good news is that not all systems are set up like this, also the earnings, once they begin to happen, will bring regular income.

There is so much more you will learn from learning to earn in the direct marketing industry. It is a steep learning curve for many as over 60% of online marketers are completely new to the industry! Right now it happens to be one of the most competitive industries you could choose to get involved in, and over 95% fail to survive their first year – but don’t let that put you off; there are reasons for peoples’ failure, the point is to invest in your marketing training to save yourself money and headache in the long run.

That being said, it is not only definitely the most rewarding thing I have ever done work-wise, I happen to know that the direct marketing industry truly is THE door for the ordinary person to walk through to become rich beyond their wildest expectations. The long-term rewards of sheer hard-work during the set up period and development in the first year or two make it all worth while in the long run… Making money whilst walking the dog in the hills where I live or whilst I sleep and knowing I have skills for life-long monthly earnings beyond the average surgeon’s annual salary… nothing can top that!

I have tried to cover the basics of affiliate marketing, but I have also left a lot of information for other articles. But if you want to learn more, be sure to check out my Affiliate Marketing 101 or fire me a question. I’d love to hear what others’ experiences are… (Did I mention that being part of a real community online is also one of the really fun parts of the direct marketing business? If you are at all over-whelmed and think that you need to learn the nuts and bolts of how to get the customers clicking on your links, then the best thing you can do right now, is actually invest in your marketing training.

So here’s my shameless plug. The best training bar none, that takes you by the hand through every step of the nuts and bolts of Web 2.0 social media marketing that I’ve galloped through here is Traffic Formula 2 by Mike Dillard and his team. The truth is,, there is nothing for free if it’s worth getting and this investment in your online marketing skills will be your best in terms of getting set up in such a way that the only way you can fail will be by not putting in the time!

Now go learn to earn more than you ever made in a day job in a month and what it really means to Be Do Have AND Have Fun! Check out my extended 101 article on the subject of affiliate marketing to get the step by step process of how to do this.

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“What – you may ask – does a snoozing cat have to do with time managment ?” Well, Milly here is very aware of when it is time to take breaks. You see her most pressing time management issue is timing that crucial pounce amongst the shrubs, when there’s a juicy bird for the taking!

Much of her time is taken up with the understanding of the importance of delegation and so she let’s me know when it is time to fill her bowl up or open her portal to her kingdom outside in the garden. But more about the significance of Duchess Milly and sneaky feline habits later…

Meantime, we mere humans however, have a whole different time scale and set of pressures to juggle. I for one have always struggled with procrastination for instance, to say nothing of prioritisation!

But recently…my mind was blown by my biggest wake up call of the decade to come! My New Year’s Resolution has been injected with rocket fuel! I am in that on-going process of building my money mindset and moving towards real prosperity and away from survival mode. Then came the call from the Senior Vice President of Marketing for my Internet Marketing company…

This past six months nearly, I have been struggling to stay on track with my ‘time management’. It’s always been a struggle for me and I won’t make excuses…we all only have 24 hours – albeit perhaps personal circumstances do have some impact, but nevertheless… I have always felt I could do better and have made consistent efforts at balancing pressures and responsibilities.

Now, I’ll be honest here, I know I can do much better at prioritising my time. I have chronic (monthly) ADHD, in an industry geared to distracting the best of us!

But who would have thought that one of the keys to time management skills might be knowing what you are worth on an hourly basis? This is eye opening stuff I have grappled with before as an under-paid employee, but never as an entrepreneur!

It’s so easy to calculate exactly what you are worth as a self-employed person, right down to the “hour”. I used to do this as a six monthly ritual when I had a J.O.B. to see how my employer valued me – (less than £10 per hour all told…! : -S )

So many people who are self employed or own their own business and work on commission never really know what they’re time is worth exactly, let alone what they’re worth “per hour.”

Why is this is a BIG problem?

Well, if YOU don’t know what YOUR time is worth per hour or per day, how can anyone else who wants to contract your services? Worse still…if no one knows what YOUR time is worth how could they ever “value” YOU or YOUR time or YOUR service?

Read that last bit again and think about it for a moment.

OK Well, the good news is, there is a way to work out what you are worth BY THE HOUR. The eye opener for me when I did this as a business owner, I was even more uncomfortable about my sleep ins and some other time-consuming habits that I had been allowing to sneak in up until that point…

This, my friend, is a really powerful tool and unlike any other time management system you may ever have adopted. It defies all general time management and productivity principals.

OK, so are you ready with your pen and calculator…?

Let’s say you earn $200,000 per year (or perhaps that’s what you want to earn) and you work 8 hours per day 5 or 6 days per week. Take out a few weekends and holidays and call it 250 actual work days per year instead of 365. So, then:250 work days per year multiplied by 8 work hours in a day would equal 2,000 “work hours” in a year. With me so far? Easy, hey?

So this works out at your being worth $100 per hour, right?

Wrong….lol!
Studies have shown over and over again that, at best, 1/3 of your work time is actually “work time” meaning only about 3 of the 8 hours of your work day are actually “profit producing” work hours. And nowadays, with all the distractions we’re faced with, it’s likely a LOT less than 3 hours… much less.

But for argument’s sake, let’s call it 3 hours. And let’s calculate your real hourly worth.
So, take the same 250 work days in a year and now multiply it by our NEW number – 3. Remember, 1/3 or less of your time will be productive, “profit producing” time. Now, 3 hours in the day (not 8), which would now equal 750 “real work hours” per year. Now, your time is worth $267 per hour. This is the real cost of that hour on Facebook or hanging out with friends!

This means you’re worth three times what you would have originally thought and your time three times more valuable!

This simple formula has rocket fuelled my New Year resolution to be more productive. I am more conscious of my time a LOT more and am wasting a LOT less of it… Knowing my true professional value is one helluva motivator for me not letting a more of my time get wasted by either my lax habits or anyone else’s for that matter.

My colleague, Andrew got this time management system from Dan Kennedy. Let me know what your reaction is when you do the numbers…

And remember – if you won’t put a value on your time, no one else will either…

If you are looking to really get your ‘self-management’ maximised, take a look at Dan Kennedy’s book, where the formula came from:
“No B.S. Time Management For Entrepreneurs – The Ultimate, No Holds Barred, Kick Butt, Take No Prisoners Guide To Time Productivity & Sanity.”

Great title and definitely one on my list for mindset training this year… Let me know if you have read it and how it is helping with your time management…

(My guilty secret and sneaking time waster… a little afternoon nap with my friend Milly…What’s yours?)

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The INTENSITY of competition in home based business and network marketing arena is heating up right now (Have you been feeling it?).

There are more people rushing to join the network marketing industry, because of the returns and freedom it can offer. Correspondingly, there are also more customers; that’s good. But more customers also means more competitors. In any case, I need to know what I am up against. I must have MORE than a “great” product and a turnkey “system” to prevail against the toughest online marketing rivalry.

*Understand this*

The key to success in network marketing is NOT brute force! It’s FINESSE.

Even if you’re competing with 5000 other marketers, the secret to winning this game is counter-intuitive but simple. Sixteen years ago, stuffing a few thousand flyers in people’s letterboxes was enough to do the job. Obviously, that’s not going to cut it any more. Nowadays you must make the paradigm shifts necessary to propel you to the head of the pack.

And, like anything else, it’s easy when you know how.

So what is the secret?

I’m convinced that there is one fundamental understanding that people must comprehend as foundation for their home based business …and that is this:

*Information Marketing*

Understand and implement the principles of Information Marketing and you’ll steadily surpass even the most determined competitors. It’s not easy. But it gets easier. Again, you do NOT succeed in network marketing through brute force selling. Don’t pitch. Never pitch. TEACH!

Lever off the shoulder of the ‘giant’ company you have teamed up with. Maybe you had the foresight to join the best online marketing education company on the planet, if so, this makes you a leader in this industry. Well done!

But what to teach? What to offer first? Well, the “Self Employed & Rich” series is a good start. Being aware of what is in this series will help attract a list; market to that list. The Coffee House Letter is another “Attraction Marketing” based set of lessons – an awesome one.

In fact, I never pitch the business. I pitch the Coffee House Letter. That is I ‘pitch’ vital marketing industry information.

Then, when people give me their email address, they get to know me (from my emails and my website) and they get to know about my partner companies. It’s simple, it’s beautiful and it works. It works because, in the first instance, I’m giving information WITHOUT WANT. I’m teaching and I’m attracting people to me who think the same way I do. I’m implementing the fundamental but counter-intuitive laws of “Attraction Marketing”.

If you don’t already have Mike Dillard’s Magnetic Sponsoring Course Click here to learn more about the power of Attraction Marketing and what it can do to elevate your sales above your competitors… The free Seven Day Bootcamp training should be enough to convince you of the importance of these strategies in your marketing.

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Good honest, transparent ethical, marketing eliminates the need for selling. We don’t like to be sold, but we like to have an authentic conversation about our needs.”
Mary Ellen Tribby – Braveheart Women Marketing Award Winner

Why is lead generation consistently the BIG issue for network marketing – or any other business for that matter? Perhaps the truth is that network marketing is more competitive, more expensive, more complex, and tougher than ever before to make a success of. So let’s get real, right now. Google advertisers, in particular, giving up faster than ever. Well this is great news for the rest of us; less competition!

Ask any business owner what their biggest challenge is in their direct marketing business and you will hear a re-occurring theme….

“My biggest problem is how to generate leads and make more money than what I spend on marketing.”

So why is lead generation such a struggle for so many business owners? If millions are made on the net daily, what makes the difference for those winners? Why is network marketing such a source of frustration for so many home business owners?

Well, I am convinced that there are two fundamental reasons for this:

1. Too many internet marketers fail to properly grasp and apply the powerful but counter-intuitive rules of “Information Marketing” (or Attraction Marketing) which determine the success of businesses online.

2. Most marketers fail to create a well-thought-out sales funnel. You need to break the process down into steps, and optimise each step for a smooth transition along the marketing path from when a buyer undertakes their research to reaching their buying destination and your bank balance!

Direct marketing is not just about keywords, clicks and leads. And thank goodness it isn’t just that simple, because if it were, then you and I would be up against even more competition!

Enticing keywords, selling clicks and generating leads is only the beginning of the marketing process, albeit crucial. But what do you do with your visitors once they arrive at your site? Is the process of buying made as simple and as pleasurable as possible? How are they supported to progress through your sales funnel? If they want to proceed to buy, can they do so with confidence and automatically?

These questions boil down to having a smooth sales experience, where all bases are covered. The devil as they say, is in the detail. Think of your own customer experiences online, then consider these elements of your customer’s sales experience:

• Rich media
• Good graphics
• User friendly widgets
• Congruent flow and themes
• Landing page which matches the ad they clicked from in content
• Personalised ‘user friendly’ web site that allows people to get to know, like and respect you
• System of auto-responders that enable you to continue to communicate with them, automatically

Some business systems offer more tools than ever for getting the process right; with too many other models, you are left to struggle frustratingly to put all of the jigsaw pieces from different jigsaws together! Finding the right information marketing system means all you have to do is to put an integrated system to work for you.

Network markers, especially if newbies in business, can struggle getting a firm handle on the interlinked parts of an on-line sales funnel and learning which tools to leverage for the best results is a daunting task, with plenty of trial and error – Believe me, I KNOW! : )

The (short-term) Answer: Forget the tools for a while. Forget about buying leads, Twitter, Facebook, Google, MySpace, WordPress, Warrior, YouTube, Classifieds, SEO,Squidoo, WordPress, Blogger, LinkedIn, etc. etc etc (Phew!)

Instead, focus on the PRINCIPLES of ‘Information Marketing’, arguably, THE KEY to how any lasting business is built. Learn the skills that will guarantee the successful deployment of the marketing strategies for Squidoo, WordPress, Blogger, etc. These “tools” when used inappropriately cause you to waste energy, time and money.

Information Marketing means sharing what you know and letting potential future customers benefit from your experience. Be seen as the preferred knowledgeable marketer / retailer / consultant of choice. The principles of Attraction Marketing are that you have to give of yourself, in time and energy, in order to receive – in the true spirit of generosity. It is this ‘giving without expectation of receiving’ which makes you attractive to others.

Of course, learn how to use your tools too. but keep developing professionally; make a commitment to continual learning and most importantly, be generous instead of needy.

If you don’t understand the necessity of this approach or its integrity, then perhaps think of it purely in terms of THE RESULT; ie Less of your time and money spent, you more money earn AND gain longer term sustainability as your reputation grows and your customers return for your new offers…Everyone’s a winner!

If this still does not make business sense to you, in terms of lead generation, then seriously, it’s time to think about doing your network marketing business and your bank account a favour, make a risk free investment in learn more about earning with Attraction Marketing here. Just come back and let me know the difference this makes for you this coming year… I guarantee it will, or your money back!

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Thanks for dropping by. Hope you like the freebies offered above; gotta love freebies!

I am getting closer to fixing all of the glitches on my web-site and my New Year’s Resolution is to search for the Writing Hero inside… I’ve been so busy on all of the techy learning of late (lots of it), that I have lost touch with my creative side, so I am writing my wee heart out today. The meat of so many topics I want to talk about here have been idling in files for too long!

So as creative writing is on my mind this last few days, I thought I would share some of my own research on article writing and branding… If you are interested in the concept of ‘My Story Marketing’, then this is for you… Here are some brilliant examples of my very own “My Story” Ultimate “Template” Intros. Straight from my personal swipe file… (Hey! Nothing new under the sun and the internet is full of thievery!… OK OK I can’t help it, I’m from Liverpool!…OK Actually…It’s all in the name of sharing knowledge! I’m giving back though, aren’t I?!)

One of the most challenging aspects of creating any ad or sales letter is “transitioning” a prospect from the sexy headline through the intro and into the body of your story and outro to your “Pay Here” Button. Let me tell you, this process is critical to salesmanship. After all, if you don’t follow up your carefully thought out headline with a compelling opening paragraph, there’s a good chance you’re leaving money on the table as a result. Your tale has to keep interest, right through to the end where your reader finally concludes they have to act on what you tell them…

I call the following “hanging introductions“. Because they leave the reader “hanging”…… for more information.

They’re little teasers. They tickle the taste-buds to entice you in. You’ll notice the best writers are constantly doing this. “Teasing” you, leading you on. Just opening the door a crack so you “just have” to peek in and step through (or read on) to find out more. Don’t we all just hate not knowing what happened next!

Here’s a handful of fill-in-the-blank opening lines templates.

“Two years from now you could be (good thing: like working from home and spending time with your family). Or you could be (bad thing: stuck in the same old 9-5 rut). The choice is yours.”

This helps the reader do what in NLP circles is referred to as forward pacing. It also gently suggests that if the reader doesn’t gain the help of your service, then they could miss out on a significant benefit.

If you’ve ever wanted to (benefit: like “escape the MLM roundabout”) then this will be the most important message you ever read.

Positions the letter powerfully upfront with a compelling benefit. You’ll notice this one used A LOT.

“Quite frankly, membership in Greatest MLM Company Ever is not for everyone.”

“This is a great exclusive opening.”

(Do you qualify? Are you good enough for this opportunity? Are you one of the special ones?)

This reverses the normal sales process. Interestingly, American Express had this as their ‘control’ (winning sales letter) for years and let’s face it, they have the budget to do the kind of research to find out how the psychology works here!

“If you are thinking of investing in a network marketing business — Don’t!”

Ever wondered whether a purchase is the right decision for you or not? What would you do if you read this in a letter? Would it encourage you to want to know “why not?” and read the next paragraph?

“It was the winter of 2007. I was slumped at my computer and the world as I knew it was crashing down round me.”

This is a good opening for a My Story about — for example — how your shares fell during the recent global financial crisis. We all relate to stories of personal pain and misery…And don’t we want to know what pulled them through, or if they did?

“My name is . I’m an (ex-plumber/housewife/home business owner). I’m not a professional ad writer. But what I have to share with you is so extraordinary and so powerful, I decided I had to write to you about it. So bear with me a some here…”

Once again, you are showing your vulnerability and building trust with your audience. And this opening also breaks down the reader’s resistance, so they’ll at least listen to what you have to say. (For those of you shuddering here…persuasion can take many forms… perhaps the next one is more for you.)

“Have you ever wondered why __________________?”

“Have you ever wondered why some network marketers seem to sponsor more people without even trying while others follow their upline’s advice to the letter but still seem to get nowhere?”

“Would you like __________________?”

“Would you like to join a group of network marketing millionaires who use the premier sales and marketing system on the planet?”

“Did you know ______________________________?”

“Let me ask you a question ______________________________?”

egLet me ask you a question: Do you ever hear yourself say, “I wish I could get on top of all the bills and have more time to spend with the children?”
(This is a personal favourite of mine…Combine it with a huge contrast to a person’s situation, but which is entirely possible and you are onto a winner. Another combination is to take a historical or contemporary example to illustrate where a person could be, if things were different for them.)

“Now here’s a common question I get from people… How do you harness the obvious revenue-generating benefits of the internet – without spending a fortune in money and years of time in trial and error mode?”

Milly, Mo and daughter, Mel, were facing a dilemma common to many network marketers / entrepreneurs / business owners. They had a great product on their hands. It had universal appeal. But they were having trouble launching it into the marketplace.”

“It’s a conversation I’ve had time and time again.
Me: Do you make money in your current network marketing company?
Disillusioned MLM business owner: It’s a little hard to say.
Me: How do you mean?
Disillusioned MLM business owner: Well, the phone doesn’t ring, but of course it does take a while to build a business and my upline says I just have to keep cold calling. It’s a numbers game after all.
Me: Yeah. Right. Good luck with that.”

“If it’s done well, Google Advertising can be an extremely cost effective way of attracting new customers to your business.
However, done poorly, this is one sure way to waste large amounts of money in a scarily short period!”

“Go on: admit it… Most landing pages provided by network marketing companies make you yawn so hard you fear your jaw’s about to snap!
You know, the ubiquitous picture of the board, standing rigidly to attention. The bland letter from the CEO, explaining his company’s “revolutionary” policy of putting its customers first. The picture of corporate headquarters, complete with a fleet of trucks, apparently hijacked by the Olympic precision parking team! Fortunately, there’s no law that says your website has to be a printed alternative to Rohypnol. If you follow the simple steps outlined in this article, you can deftly transform it into a super salesperson for your organisation.”

(This approach always makes me laugh! And laughter is a great way to engage your audience… )

“Let me make a prediction. Two years from now you could be (good thing: like working from home and spending time with your family). Or you could be (bad thing: stuck in the same old 9-5 rut with colleagues driving you nuts). The choice is yours.”

This is an extension to number one. Careful with this one it’s a little self righteous sounding. Still, everyone is interested in what’s going to happen in the future. After all, that’s why psychics are so popular. So when you have some useful insight into what will happen in the future, why not leverage off our human behavioural need to know drivers.

So there you have it. Some different ways you can open an article, email, letter, video or paragraph or chapter or page or My Story. All are proven to work. Mix and match these in your own sales letters and ads. And remember, give the opening paragraph and headline in your ad the attention it deserves, because it’s one of the most important elements of your promotion.

Want to learn more from the Master Marketers in copywriting? Keep copies of articles and ads which appeal to you in a file. Swipe from the net to your heart’s content!

Most importantly of all…Invest in your own copywriting marketing training; Checkout Magnetic Sponsoring Products, such as The Copywriter’s Guild or drop back here sometime soon for more on my favourite subject!

Hey, whilst you’re being educated and entertained here, how’s about sharing some of your own favourite one-liners / links to cool copy in the comments box here. If it’s entertaining, I’ll link to you!

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When I was setting up my business, I agonised about what website domain to go for… I knew my domain name was about reflecting my identity professional identity. But I was still learning my business. My professional identity is pretty broad-based, encompassing a number of services and products, so I took some advice from some of the leaders in the community I was now moving. (If in doubt, talk to your upline or someone who is a master marketer).

So what do you need to consider when choosing a web-site domain name? It is important to choose a thought-through domain name, that much is certain.

Take a look at your competition to see what they are doing to get some ideas… Think about the service or products you offer and then brainstorm some words which you think would get a buyer’s attention. What appealed to you when you bought in?

Next check out what kind of terms are searched for online related to your ideas. Use the free Google Keyword tool. What are people looking for?

Your next step, once you have some good terms to use, you will want to see if your domain name is available. If you already have a domain, but are looking to change, you are probably already aware of GoDaddy. I have to declare an interest here, as not only do I employ them, but I benefit from their affiliate program. That being said…<a href>style=”floatright”><iframe src=”http://affiliate.godaddy.com/ad/DB66D3C015155F746A9DE726FA46EDF080A5ED9B1B96106A69AB356D5A4B78E8″ width=”125″ height=”125″ frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no” marginwidth=”0″ marginheight=”0″ hspace=”0″ allowtransparency=”true”></iframe></a>Their logos are kinda cool don’t ya think!  ; )

I chose my own name for my website domain.  My business link domain is DeniseAshurst.info. This was pretty deliberate, albeit I am as we speak securing some other domains, to gain some more digital real estate!

Some people prefer their domain to refer to a central concept around which their products are built.  so for instance Magnetic Sponsoring is like an advertisement for the opportunity to learn how to be ‘a magnet to whom customers are attracted to being sponsored by’ (sorry Mike, if that’s a little crude!). The point is, it’s very descriptive and attractive for people looking to learn how to sponsor more business recruits.

It works really well in, for instance, a Google Ad like…

The beauty of is that you don’t have to explain, in your ad, that I am going to teach you about this theory and practice and you will learn easily how to attract people to you to build your business. It’s all there in my fake domain name.

Use your imagination. Don’t worry if it’s not perfect because you can change at any time. I am still re-assessing my own domain status regularly. In fact Mike Dillard of Magnetic Sponsoring is an advocate of digital real estate ie make sure you buy up all the names sounding or spelt similar, before others do and piggy back of your kudos and efforts.

TIP: Do not choose names like bigmikesbigbucks.com or stuff like that, which sounds unprofessional. Also, personally, I think names like 6figureguru.com and makemillionsonline.com and names like that are very “last year” and “hypey”. Big turnoff. You can bet your right arm that anyone advertising a site called heybigspender.com or richbeyondyourdreams.com, is actually broke or close to it Not only that there’s a chance that Google and the FTC might scrutinise your activities pretty closely! (Also using numbers is not clever; it creates confusion).

I may be wrong but people “out there” could be thinking “yeah right” reading astronomical claims in a domain name .

Of course one of the best names you can call your website domain is your own name. (But I would say that wouldn’t I!) Seriously, leaders in my community have regularly said that having your name as your website domain is personal, and says that you are not ashamed to let everyone know who you areand what you do; this indeed can brand you as a leader. Very effective. What do you think about this (as a website owner who has made this choice, I’m interested…)

Your next step is ‘masking’; this is particularly useful to tidy up cumbersome long-winded domain names with all the gubbins that can go wiith it. The lovely people at GoDaddy can be a great help here; fortunately my marketing training had very effective videos, else I would have been completely at a loss! You just have to get your head around masking, forwarding, domains, urls etc. It will make sense after a while – trust me; I have gone from emailer and basic functions to evolving geek! If a gal with anyone can do it, ADHD can! Lol

The best thing I found was when I rang GoDaddy.com, after I bought a domain and wanted them to host it (yep another step in the learning process), they were really helpful and NOT patronising, which is always my dread with I.T. types… Just ring them and say you want to mask and forward www.blahblahblahmememe.com /etc. to www(yournewgodaddydomain).com. The guy I spoke to told me what to do and it was fixed in minutes. This was after hours of trying to figure out their system on my own.

GoDaddy are the masters of upselling, mind, so know what you want to spend roughly before you go mad! Your only other concern is security… need I say more? We all know it’s risky out there exposing our digital selves to all mobsters and sundry… Make it difficult for them! When you have got this far, pat yourself on the back if it’s all new to you! You’re doing great and show geek potential – a must to make it with online marketing ; ) Hey, Enjoy the new you!