MLM Secret Revealed – Does Cold Calling Work?

It seems like everyone wants to market their home based businesses using online methods now.  And while I don’t blame them for wanting to use the Internet, it can be a bit of a technical challenge for some network marketing.  With that in mind, I want to talk to you about cold calling.
 
I get a lot of people telling me that they don’t want to do any cold calling because it doesn’t work.  I would like to take a closer look at cold calling with you and hopefully unravel the myth that cold calling doesn’t work, once and for all.
 
I’m sure that many of you have picked up the phone before and the person on the other end was trying to sell you something.  You know what I mean.  The phone company trying to get your business.  What did you do?  Did you immediately say “Not Interested” and then hang up the phone.  Did you even hear what the person had to say before you said that you weren’t interested?
 
So, when I tell you that you have to cold call to grow your MLM business, you probably don’t believe me do you?  I mean it’s pretty obvious that cold calling doesn’t work, when most people tell you they aren’t interested before they even have a chance to hear what you have.
 
Here is the thing.  Cold calling can work if you do it right.  The key to selling your network marketing product using the telephone is to call the right people in the first place.  You have to “target” your audience.  The best part of using the telephone to grow your MLM business is that it is the cheapest way to grow it.
 
Let me give you an example to bring home my point.   Let’s assume that you are a network marketer with business that you work from home.  What if I called you up one day and asked you “If I can honestly show you how to put 20-30 people a week into your business, week in and week out without fail, is that worth 45 minutes of your time to find out how to get that done?”  You would probably have an interest in seeing how to do that, right?  The reason is simple.  It’s because I have identified you as my target market and you have a need, want, or a desire to know how to grow your home based business.
 
You can do the same thing with any business.  Let’s say that I can help you to increase your gas mileage.  So, first you want to identify your target market.  Let’s go for SUV owners.  Then we want to get their attention in under 30 seconds.  So, let’s ask the question: “If I could honestly show you how to increase your gas mileage by as much as 30%, would that be worth 15 minutes of you time to find out how to get that done?”  Finally, you want your prospect to take action and go to your presentation.
 
So let me ask you again.  Does cold calling work?  It absolutely works.  Now I have to admit that it may not be the most glamorous way to grow your MLM business but it can be the cheapest way to grow your business and still get results.  I still pick up the phone everyday and make cold calls in my business.  I have to tell that I wouldn’t still be doing it if it wasn’t an effective way to grow a business.
 
What does cold calling really look like when it’s done right? 
Let’s assume that you can easily go through about 50 targeted leads in an hour. Targeted leads, by the way, that only cost you somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 cents each.  So, let’s get enough leads to be on the phones for 2 hours.  What’s that going to run?  Only $20.  Now let’s say that we only close 20%.  So, we could close 2 people by working the phone for 2 hours and $20. 
 
Would you say that cold calling is a lot cheaper and a lot faster than driving all over creation and chasing people around trying to convince them to just take a look at what you have?
Is Cold Calling Duplicatable?
 
I get a lot of people asking me if what I do is duplicatable.  I think that is a great question.  If what you are doing is working, are you going to share that with your downline or make it another MLM secret? 
You’re going to share, right, because you would be silly not to.  So, do you think that you could give your people a script that works (maybe even practice it with them) and tell them exactly what kind of leads you are using?  Do you think you could do that?  Of course, you could.
 
Can you imagine that you had a huge downline and all of them were dialing targeted leads every day and they were closing 20%.  How many people could you be adding into your business week in and week out without fail?

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Amy Howard, January 12th 2010 | Tags: , , , ,
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MLM Secret – What Makes a Lead Qualified?

Before you can make your first MLM sale, you have to have people to talk to.  Those people that we talk to are called either a “Lead” or a “Prospect”.  For the most part, network marketers will use them interchangeably.  Before we talk able what makes a qualified prospect, let’s first talk able what a lead actually is.

In sales (and network marketing is no different), a prospect or a lead is defined as someone that has expressed a need for your MLM product.  The key word there is “expressed.”

When you first joined your MLM program, you were probably told that network marketing isn’t “sales” and that everyone has a need for your MLM product.  If you have been in network marketing industry for any length of time, you know that that isn’t true.  Not everyone will want your product.  Even if they can benefit from using it.

So, instead of talking to everyone about your MLM product or your business opportunity and getting rejection after rejection, only talk to those prospects that have told you that they have a need for your product.

Now before you say “Amy, how will I know that someone has a need for my product if I don’t ask them?” let me tell you that there is a way.  You will know exactly who to talk to once you have identified your target market.

For example: you belong to a MLM program whose main product is a energy drink.  You may think that everyone could benefit from a little more energy but that wouldn’t be true.  There are some people that are perfectly happy with the level of energy that they currently have.

So, in this case, you will want to narrow your focus to people that have done something to tell you they want more energy.  If you aren’t sure what that something is, then you may want to make it a little broader by targeting mothers or business people that work a lot of hours.  You may find that your target market is of a certain age and gender or you may find that they are in a certain income bracket.  Once you know who your ideal customer is, you will know better where to find them.

When it comes to finding qualified prospects, you have a lot of options open to you.  The first thing that most MLM companies teach is to take some time and make a list of everyone that you know and then go and share with them what it is you are doing.  This network marketing method is okay for getting one or two customers but a business is will not build.

Once you have prospected your friends and family, you will have to look for other methods to getting qualified prospects.  This can be done both online and offline.  You will have to know where your strengths are before you go looking for your leads.  If you aren’t too good at using technology (the Internet) then you may want to focus on using offline methods for getting qualified leads.

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Amy Howard, December 9th 2009 | Tags: , , , ,
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How to Sell Your MLM Product to the Masses

In order to be profitable with your network marketing business, you have to sell your MLM product to people.  The more you sell the more money you make.  Here is how to sell your MLM product to the masses.

The more people you get your message to the more chances you have to sell your MLM product.  The key to MLM selling is to get your message in front of as many people as possible.  And to do that you have to know how you want to deliver that message.  In order to make MLM sales, you first have to have people to talk to, that would be your target market.  The second thing that you have to have is the right message to deliver to your target market.  The more people you reach the more sales you make.  The more methods you use, the more effective you will be.  There are four main ways to deliver your message to your target market.

  • Face to Face – this is the method that is typically taught by our MLM companies.  Of course, they usually have you starting out one-on-one with your friends and family.  That isn’t a bad method to use when you are first starting out in fact because you are talking with people you know, you will be more relaxed with your presentation.  But it isn’t very effective at reaching the masses.  You can reach more people using the face to face method by going to trade shows, giving seminars and so on, however, that can get expensive.  All in all face to face isn’t a bad way to go but it can be expensive and it can be slow at making those MLM sales. 
  • Telephone – this method seems to scare off a lot of marketers.  I’m not sure why something like picking up the telephone can be so scary but it is.  I can relate because for the longest time, I didn’t want to pick up the phone.  I think it may be because in my first network marketing venture, I called so many people and heard so many “no’s” that I got turned off from using the phone.  However, the telephone is a great tool.  It’s cheap, effective, easy to use, and you don’t find too many people that don’t have one.  Win, Win, Win.
  • Internet – the Internet has the potential to reach the most people in the shortest amount of time but it is the hardest to master.  It takes technical skill to be able to build a website and then drive traffic to that site.  Not to mention that you still have to be able to convert that traffic into MLM sales.  Using the Internet can also get expensive depending on the methods that you are using.  If you have the technical skills, I recommend using the Internet.  Even if you don’t have the technical skills, you could always hire it out for someone else to do.  But here is a word of caution: You do still have to have marketing skills in order for it to be effective.  This whole thing about “if you build it they will come” just doesn’t work.  This method is primarily about copywriting.  Delivering the right message to the right audience.
  • Direct Mail – this method is flat out expensive unless you have the right mailing list and the right message.  Using this method is 90% about ad copy.  If you aren’t good at advertising copy, you had better stay away from this method. 

That’s it, you now know how to get your message to the most people.  I can’t tell you which method is right for YOU.  That is something that you will have to decide for yourself.  If you are having trouble, please feel free to give me a call or send me an email.  Until next time – I wish you great MLM Success.

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Amy Howard, November 11th 2009 | Tags: , , , , ,
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