Strategic Home Business Leadership

Back when I was in high school, we had this math teacher that drove us all nuts by refusing to let us use some of the “tricks” other teachers had taught us. “Follow a method that works predictably, 100% of the time; not one that only works sometimes,” he would yell at us.

If you want to build a powerful downline in your MLM / network marketing business, one that will line your pockets for years to come, you must do the same. In other words, having the right system is vital.

The “right system” has 3 parts:

1. Your Single Most Important Activity

If you’re not marketing, you’re actually not doing anything at all. At the very least, you’re not generating revenue. People love to be busy, especially with what’s easy and familiar, and they’ll fritter away days, weeks and months in the business being very “busy” without ever earning a dime.

So the first part of building your downline is to make absolutely sure you spend 80% of your working time doing marketing. Marketing means getting in front of people in your target market who don’t know you yet, and people in that market who do already know you but need to hear your message again.

Of course, how you go about doing that will make all the difference for you, and that’s the next part of the system:

2. The Right Marketing Paradigm and the Right Marketing System

As you probably already know from bitter experience, the old MLM marketing paradigm of pitching your business to your family, friends and colleagues, cold-calling and buying leads is dead. Thank God! We know that about 97% of those who tried this paradigm failed, and there are compelling social factors that make this hideously labor-intensive, time-sucking approach less effective than ever.

The new paradigm consists of two parts. The first is this; you’ll be building your downline using online marketing that’s highly automated and brings you new, hot leads while you sleep, eat and play golf. This not only gives you the advantage of contacting literally hundreds or even thousands of new people a day; it also means the people you’ll be putting your message in front of will be far more targeted than ever.

To do this effectively, you need something that goes far beyond the basic cloned corporate websites that companies have been giving their distributors for the last decade or so. You need an automated online marketing system equal in every way to what top internet marketers use. And you need an education in online marketing that’s so focused it can turn you into an online marketing expert within just 30-60 days. Fortunately, such systems now exist and they can totally remake your business.

The second part of the equation is that it really is all about YOU. That’s right. It’s not about telling your prospect how great the company is, how hot the business opportunity is, and still less is it about your company’s products. Business opportunities are a dime a dozen and this kind of “mine’s bigger than yours” battle will get you nowhere.

The one thing that people these days really want when they’re looking at network marketing or MLM as a home-based business is leadership. And not the company’s leadership, although that’s important too. They’re looking for you to take them by the hand and mentor them on their way to the top. So before they’ll buy into your business opportunity, they have to bond with you, to know, like and trust you. And, most important of all, they have to see you as a leader. So, to be effective, all of your marketing has to take this into account.

3. The One Secret to Building Your Downline in MLM / Network Marketing

Once you’ve made the shift to the new paradigm of focusing on yourself and what you can provide your team members, and once you’ve got your automated online marketing system in place, there’s only one thing you need to do…

And yes, we love to over-complicate things, but in the end there’s only one thing you need to spend your time on. That’s taking massive, focused action every single day for at least 90 days straight.

Our experience shows that if you take even a complete newbie, who knows zilch about network marketing and can’t do much more on a computer than check his email, and you set him up with the top automated online marketing system and get him to do his marketing every day for 90 days, that person will almost inevitably be making a very health income by the end of his first 3-month period.

The same applies to you. Since you’re probably working your tail off now anyway, wouldn’t you rather work your tail off and have massive results to show for it just a few months down the road? After all, you got into this business to make money and, I think you’ll agree, there are few problems you have that more money won’t help out with.

So follow the system outlined here and you’ll be off to a running start in building your downline. And watch for Parts 2 and 3 in this series, where I’ll tell you how to turn those new leads into members of your downline and then how to ensure they become incredibly productive.

For more information, just go to http://www.100wealthmasters.com

~ Dr. Symeon Rodger

When That Online Business Just Isn’t Working…

A scenario I come across all too frequently with my one-on-one coaching clients is this – people involved in an online business – or some sort of direct sales business with an online component – but it’s NOT WORKING.

I’ve seen people trying to sell all kinds of things online, starting from scratch, not having any idea how to set it up and trying to learn everything as they go. Naturally, they get stuck, burned out and end up losing time and money.

Then there are others, such as people in multi-level marketing, who THINK they have an online business just because they have a clone of the company’s website and payment system. And, of course, they’re spending a huge amount of time and effort for very little by way of results, partly because the business model is inherently flawed.

Bottom line? In most cases where your online business isn’t working, there are two problems:

1. You don’t have the experience to take the necessary steps quickly and effectively to turn it into the cash cow you’re looking for, and/or

2. Your business is INHERENTLY not viable and no amount of blood, sweat and tears will make it so. It’s like trying to tunnel your way through a mountain with a teaspoon.

If you’re stuck in a home business that’s going nowhere fast, then my advice to you is simply this… and you may not like it (!):

Drop what you’re doing like a hot potato! Life is too short to engage in pointless struggle, especially when the financial situation and lifestyle you’re seeking are within reach.

If you want to get there, though, you need to do two things: master direct marketing and make lots of money. It’s that simple. Not clear enough? Then let’s get more specific

1. Find a world-class business opportunity in the direct sales industry (warning: do NOT join an old style MLM business model – you could make money at it but most people don’t)

2. After you’ve done your due diligence and assured yourself the company has an excellent track record, leadership, product line, complete online marketing system, basic and advanced marketing training and an income potential of at least mid-6 figures per year… JOIN IT.

3. Do EXACTLY what they tell you, with no deviation

This will:

a) Turn you into an excellent marketer and experienced business person,

b) Make you money fast and eliminate any financial stress you may have,

c) Relieve you of a whole bunch of business tasks you may have had to do until now, but which you don’t have the time or expertise for – everything from website building to sales process design to business planning, and

d) Give you the skills to go back to your original project, evaluate its real potential accurately, and, if it has potential, you’ll then have the skills to make it a huge success.

So if you’re bogged down in an online business that’s going nowhere for you and you’re determined to succeed, that’s what you need to do. If you follow this outline and put in the work, I have no doubt you’ll have an EXTRA 6 figures in the bank a year from now, and possibly much more – even if you only work at it part-time.

If you’re wondering what a world-class home business opportunity looks like, then have a look at http://www.100wealthmasters.com/. This will allow you to “kick the tires” of one such company so that, whether you join it or not, you’ll at least have a basis of comparison to go by.

After 8 years of evaluating lots of different home-based business options, this is the best one I’ve ever seen by a country mile, and I’ll explain why in detail in future posts.

Whatever you do, just make sure you follow the essential steps of the method I’ve presented above and you’ll get where you want to go very quickly!

~ Dr. Symeon Rodger

· Great corporate leadership
· A great track record
· Great products
· Preferably not a traditional, old-style MLM
· An automated online marketing system
· Superb marketing training
· A high income potential

2. Find a leader that will train you in the system and make you part of his or her team. Success is a team sport!

3. Join that team, get set up as fast as you can and start marketing within a very short time period – anywhere from 3-14 days, tops.

4. While you’re ramping up your marketing, take the first 30 days to soak up the marketing training provided by your team and the company.

If you follow these four steps and apply consistent effort on a daily basis, there is nothing that can possibly prevent you from becoming an excellent marketer, a successful business owner and from mastering the priceless marketing skills that will allow you to make money anywhere, anytime for the rest of your life.

If you’d like to learn about the company and the online marketing system that I usually recommend to my clients, feel free to contact me directly and I’ll pull back the curtain for you. 

I look forward to hearing about your success!

I see this over and over again…  Someone starts out in online marketing, tries a whole bunch of marketing methods in quick succession, using a kind of “shot gun” approach, ends up with little to show for it, and then quits!

Let’s face it, the biggest need your business has in 2010 is more leads, and preferably hot leads.  And the only way to accomplish that is to take a scientific approach to your marketing, rather than the all too common haphazard method – the equivalent of throwing a plate of spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks.

So here’s your bullet-proof marketing plan for kick-starting your business, no matter what level you’re at:

1. Pick just ONE marketing method
2. Determine what time, energy and money this particular method requires.  Using free marketing methods is just fine.
3. Find an expert who knows how to use that particular method and copy his or her system exactly
4. Track and measure everything for at least 30 straight days before you evaluate make any decision to drop it (in the case of free methods) or your first 300 leads (in the case of paid methods, unless cost forces you to reevaluate sooner).
5. Then, if you decide to continue, go to number 6, below.  If you decide to drop it, go to number 7, below.
6. Tweak your marketing and ask yourself how you can simplify and automate the process.  For example, if you were using article marketing, you could use software to avoid duplicate content and / or you could outsource the writing of your articles.
7. Choose a second marketing channel to master

Also, remember your marketing has two main elements – the traffic driving method – that’s what we’re talking about above – and the place you’re driving the traffic to.  If you’re not seeing the results you want, you need to figure out which of these two elements is the problem.

If you follow this scientific approach, I can pretty much guarantee you’ll finish 2010 with more leads and more new clients than you can handle.  Now wouldn’t that be a great problem to have!

~ Dr. Symeon Rodger

Hi all,

Just to amplify what I said about the importance of affiliate marketing in my last post…

If you’re in network marketing right now, consider the following very carefully:

Even the most primitive MLMs are encouraging their people to market online these days.  Fortunately for you and me, neither the companies nor most of their people have the slightest clue how to do that – yet.  These companies typically give their representatives a copy of the company’s “store front” style website, which is less than useless for online marketing purposes.  Driving traffic to these sites is a waste of time, since they’re not set up properly.

Now, if you belong to one of the VERY FEW companies that knows what to do, they may have provided you with a complete and professional online sales system.  Here’s one example of such a system.  You’ll notice it’s a highly customized squeeze page, with opt-in form, powerful promise statement and, of course, an entire autoresponder sequence of follow-up emails attached:

(Yes, the link is for the network marketing business I do and yes I think it’s the best.  But don’t get distracted – have a brief look, notice the features I’ve mentioned, and get your buns back to this article so you don’t lose the train of thought

http://www.100WealthMasters.com

A page like this IS a very powerful and useful tool – sometimes!  However, since it doesn’t represent unique content, you can’t easily get a good Google ranking with it and if you try to drive Adwords traffic to it, you’ll get “Google slapped” for sure.

Consequently, you need a more comprehensive approach to market your network marketing business online.  You must NOT rely solely on the company’s website, no matter how good it is.   And that’s where knowing what top affiliate marketers know will save your butt and send your business through the roof.

You see, you absolutely must know how to:

- do your own market research to find niches and sub-niches for your business

- create your own offers and squeeze pages for these niches

- drive both free and paid traffic to these offers

- accurately select killer products that people on your growing opt-in list will gobble up

By far the fastest way to do this is to master the scientific marketing methods that top affiliate marketers know.  This knowledge will also enable you to create multiple streams of online income, both from your primary business opportunity and from selling other people’s products to the lists you build.

If you’re interested in what I consider to be THE BEST course to teach you all of this, from A-Z,  here it is:

http://bit.ly/AffiliateMastery

I’ve seen lots of courses on affiliate marketing over the years, and this one has blown me away.  Best of all, it’s extremely inexpensive compared to many others and certainly a bargain for the wealth of info it contains.

If you’re seriously interested in making a living with your network marketing business today, you pretty much have to market it online, and if you’re trying to do that without having mastered affiliate marketing, I’m not too optimistic about your chances of success.  So bite the bullet, take a couple of weeks and learn this amazing stuff!

~ Dr. Symeon Rodger

Hope everyone in the USA had a superb Thanksgiving holiday!

Network marketers in general are blissfully ignorant of the fact that network marketing is a subset of affiliate marketing.  The only major difference being that you have even more leverage with network marketing than with standard affiliate marketing.

And yet, network marketers often bumble along with the obsolete, time-sucking and unworkable marketing methods their uplines have taught them, without realizing that whatever works for affiliate marketers will work for them too.

And affiliate marketing online has become a highly organized discipline that, despite all the recent “Google slaps”, continues to thrive.

So if your network marketing business isn’t doing so well, if you’re having trouble generating the leads you want, you might want to seriously consider having a look at what top affiliate marketers are doing.

They have to solve exactly the same problems you do – driving traffic, putting up a compelling offer, converting traffic into leads, tracking their traffic sources, conversion percentages, and more.

One of the most impressive affiliate marketing systems to come out in years is Mike Jones’ “The Affiliate Code”.  It’s a true A-Z system that even a beginner could use.  Have a look:

http://bit.ly/AffiliateMastery

At the very least, it will get you thinking about the incredible advantages of looking at your network marketing business in an entirely new light.  Next time, I’ll explore some of those advantages in more depth.

~ Dr. Symeon Rodger

Hi all,

You probably remember when you made your first online sale.  You were elated!  It didn’t matter that it was a $10 e-book and that you had to sell two more just to go out for supper.

And then reality set in – you have to do a LOT of marketing and generate a TON of sales to make much money.  Eventually you become very dissatisfied with your new income stream that’s barely paying for you monthly hosting and autoresponder.

The answer, of course, is to sell high-ticket items.  That’s hardly a new idea, of course.  It’s a simple fact that you can sell a high-ticket item with the same effort it takes to sell a low-ticket one.  In fact, it’s often with less effort.   And if you’re thinking that selling a lot of low priced products will come to the same thing as one high priced product, I’ve got news for you – that’s rarely the case.

More Importantly, Though…

If you’re only selling lower priced products and programs, you’ll be pegged in the buyer’s mind as someone who provides lesser value.  We all tend to equate quality with price, no matter how loudly we protest that it’s not so.   If you want to be taken seriously by your prospects, you must:

1. Position yourself as the best
2. Actually become the best
3. And charge the most

People who are new to business always tend to underprice their products and services.  They’re terrified of losing a sale based on price.  Experienced entrepreneurs look at it differently.  They ask, “if my client were to use this product or program properly, what effect would it have on their life and what would that be worth?”

So make sure you have a high-ticket item ready to go.  If you don’t have one and need one, check out http://www.100WealthMasters.com.  This is one of my high-ticket items and I wouldn’t be without it.

Oh yes, and raise all your other prices too

~ Dr. Symeon Rodger

Hi all,

It’s often said in marketing circles that your average prospect needs to see your offer about seven times before they’ll take action.  In the old days that meant that if you had an email list, you’d load in seven messages to your autoresponder and hope for the best!

Well, that kind of “marketing for dummies” approach kind of missed the point.  Here are some things to think about that work in today’s world:

• Realize that no matter how many times your prospects have seen an offer before, some of them will likely take action each time you offer it in the future.  So keep making any offers that have worked in the past.  If you have any that flopped, tweak them and try again.
• Build your marketing calendar out weeks or even months in advance.  Make sure you’re offering your own products and the best affiliate products cyclically, over and over again.
• Your prospect needs to see you everywhere.  This gives the impression you ARE everywhere and therefore adds to your credibility.  How do you do this?  Simple – get on Twitter, Facebook, possibly Linked-In (if you’re a class act) and Youtube.  Start a blog too.  Then ask your prospects to join you on all your social media sites, to add you as a friend, a follower, a fan, etc., and to comment on your blog.   Then they’ll get a copy of all your forms of communication.  Better still, if they don’t get your important email, they’ll have other ways of keeping up with what you’re doing.  This provides multiple channels of exposure and greatly enhances your credibility and marketing reach.
• Survey your list regularly to find out what their biggest problems and challenges are.  It’s easy to do – just go to Survey Monkey and set it up.  It’s a snap.  Yes, if you can offer a great bribe for filling out your survey, you’ll get a better response.  Here’s a secret, though…  Did you know that you can position a survey as a “self-assessment tool”?  Surveys may put people off, but people love to learn about themselves and to find out their score.

So the bottom line is simply this – keep exposing your prospects to your message and your offers on a regular basis.  Until I learned this and one of my mentors drilled it into me, I had no idea how much money I was leaving on the table.

~ Dr. Symeon Rodger

Watch the Video

In parts-1 and -2 we talked about how to prioritize your tasks and prepare yourself and your work space.  Those are, strictly speaking, tactical considerations, albeit vital ones.  However, doubling your personal productivity depends on some work you need to do at the strategic level – work ON your business and not just IN your business.
1. Clarity is the Key:

Before you start implementing the tactical approaches to doubling your productivity that we’ve discussed, you need to take a look at the higher level of planning, the strategic level, and ask yourself:

• What single, overarching goal am I trying to achieve over the next 3-5 years?

• What shorter range goals am I trying to achieve in the next 3-12 months?

• What are my immediate objectives over the next 30-90 days?

• Why do I want to achieve any of these goals, how will this make me feel and am I strongly motivated to reach them?

Nothing is as powerful as clarity.  Knowing what, when or even how won’t make you an unstoppable force.  Only a strong enough reason WHY confers the inspiration and the power to move forward in spite of all obstacles.
2. Be Ruthless:

Once you’re clear on where you’re going, you need to take a hard look at what you’re actually spending your time on.  First, of course, you have to KNOW what you’re really spending your time on each week.  The most effective way to do this is to actually log all your activities for an entire week to see where the time really went.

Okay, I admit logging all your activities for a week isn’t fun, but it’s almost always shocking – people are literally speechless when they see how much time they’ve wasted, how little time they really spend working and how unproductive they really are.  When the hard evidence is in front of you, you have to face the music – you can no longer deny the truth or continue to delude yourself.

Next you need to make a list of all the work-related task you do each week.  Then, beside each one you need to make one of three things: “do it yourself”, “delegate it” or “dynamite it”.  You see, there are only three ways of handling a given task – do it yourself, give it to someone else to do or simply drop it because no one will notice if it’s not done (and a surprising percentage of tasks are found in the latter category). 

The secret of doubling your productivity is to make absolutely sure you’re doing High Value Tasks almost exclusively, that you’re the person best qualified to do these tasks and that you offload every other task you possibly can.  After all, you have the same 24 hours in your day everyone else does, so to start focusing on the tasks that yield the greatest results inevitably means you have to stop throwing away your time and energy on lower value tasks.  There’s no other way.

Keep in mind that successful people are not successful because they work harder or longer; they’re successful because they use their time better than you do.  Now you can join their ranks. 
3. The Role of Play and Balance:

Working harder and longer are seldom the answer and certainly won’t double your productivity, which is measured by output per unit of working time.  Simply increasing your working time and continuing to work inefficiently is a recipe for frustration. 

Decades of studying success have proven that people who are successful over the long term tend to value life-balance much more than unsuccessful people, contrary to what you might expect.  They know that “playing hard” is just as important as working hard and that the former is a precondition of the latter. 

Ultimately, you’re doing what you’re doing to make yourself and your loved ones happy.  However, unless you’re leading a balanced life to get there and giving time to yourself and to the people you love, you’re making yourself more and more unhappy; in other words, you’re on the wrong track.  Sticking to a routine of misery will not bring you happiness, not now and not ever.  You can never start building a balanced life too soon.  It’s essential to doubling your productivity and becoming successful. 

If you apply the strategies and tactics I’ve shared with you in this 3-part series, you’ll definitely double your productivity in short order.  Once you’ve done that, drop me a line and let me know!

- Dr. Symeon Rodger