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Sunday, October 01, 2006

wow....No truer word were ever spoken: Likewise, I too will leave as is , enjoy and read carefully! Michael needs no introduction, Meredith is a True Marketer with a great deal of insight. ...George

Market Yourself First

Below is an article by Robert Probst and was posted by Michael Lemm on Home Based Business Forums last month. Obviously, Robert is incredibly articulate and I see no value added by trying to rephrase his words here. I hope you enjoy this article.

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I think perhaps the biggest mistake people in this industry make is aggressively marketing their business opportunity, but fail to market themselves. Now you may think that's a ridiculous statement, so let me explain. To quote Tom 'Big Al' Schreiter, "People do business with you because they know, like and trust you" Did you get that? People will get into a business with you because they know who you are, and because you are likeable to them, and because they trust you. They will not get into a business relationship with you because of your beautiful website and slick flash presentations. These are simply tools for you to share information. People will get into business with you because of you.

The better job that you do of marketing yourself, the more people you will attract to you, and the more opportunities you'll have to build relationships; potentially offering partnership with you in your network marketing business. Ok, how do you do that?

All the world is a stage, and nowhere is this truer than on the internet. If you contribute regularly to discussion forums, you have a great opportunity to build your credibility and market brand you to a worldwide audience. By being an active contributor on a discussion forum, this gives you the opportunity to show people your expertise, and build your credibility and trust. Let's get more specific now.

Let's say for example that you stumble across a good MLM (multi level marketing) discussion group like http://www.mlmsuccess.com
and find what appears to be a person asking questions about a particular company or biz opp, your first inclination might be to post something powerful and spectacular about your own opportunity. This would be the worst possible thing you can do, because this individual doesn't know who you are or a thing about you. To him or her, you are merely intruding on an existing conversation by pitching your deal. However, what you could do is, post something in reply to the persons request that is related to their potential success or complementary in nature. A well thought out post in a public place will usually draw a great deal of attention, but on the other hand an "In Your Face" type of reply with such memorable phrases as "CHECK IT OUT" or "EARN MONEY WHILE YOU SLEEP" are laughable and will go totally unnoticed. This is a very common mistake that new network marketers make, and one of the leading causes of failure-- lack of results. It's much like fishing, where you have to be patient and use the correct bait.

One thing has to happen before you can showcase your credibility and expertise. that is you have to believe you are an expert in your own mind. This can be accomplished by reading books, hanging out with the leaders in your network marketing company and absorbing what they know. Follow by example. Duplicate the successful people in your life, not those who are in debt and have nothing but negative experiences to offer. If you want to learn how to become proficient at something, the worst thing you can do is associate with people who have failed at the same thing. (here's an example) Your brother in law joined a multi level marketing company, which sells soaps and household cleaning products, and after just a few months he became discouraged and quit. Obviously, he will have nothing good to say about his involvement in this industry. What can you possibly learn from him at this point? On the other hand, a friend of yours may have enjoyed tremendous results in a different company, and could be a great inspiration to you. This is the person you'll want to study and duplicate. It's kind of like the blind leading the blind, and too many people fall into that trap. I call these people "Dream Stealers" Avoid them like the plague.

Practice what they teach you, and before you know it you'll be a leader in this industry and people will flock to you asking you to teach them and possibly even ask to join you in business.

My business was built to a very large degree based on relationships that I formed on discussion forums and internet communities. Sometimes these relationships took weeks, or even months to develop to the point that the person raises their hand and says "Hey, show me what ya got" When that happens, you know you have arrived and your prospecting takes on a whole new attitude.

When posting a message to a forum or discussion group, make sure to use your real name and create a hyperlink e-mail address. Most bulletin boards have this feature built in, so use it whenever possible. Do NOT create links to your business opportunity!! You may think this to be strange, but believe me, the more you market you, and the less you market your opportunity the better. They'll find out in due time what you have to offer, but the secret of internet recruiting lies in getting them to ask YOU questions, not you telling them about what you have for them. Call it reverse psychology if you will, but it works.

There, now you have my secret.

Below is a list of some popular discussion forums that have proven to be good breeding grounds for relationships. Use them responsibly.

http://mlm.com

http://mlmforums.com

http://www.talkbiz.com/cgi-bin/mlm.cgi

http://www.onlinemlm.com/gforum/gforum.cgi


For the experienced and those not faint of heart:
http://www.bio-byte.com/amos/10033.html


by Robert Probst

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Most people out there will not really HEAR (or READ) what you have to say unless you're able to establish a connection through a medium that can be intensely impersonal. The Internet opens a world of possibilities, but it also causes a lot of disconnect with people. Bricks and Mortar businesses are all about personal relationships and I'm not quite sure how this concept was lost online... I, for one, have never purchased a product or joined a business with someone I didn't already trust and have repor with. I expect nothing less from my prospects, and you should expect nothing less from yours.

Quit marketing your mass-produced company adds and make it personal! Make your advertising unique and make it about you and your story. Market yourself first and your company/product last. See what happens. Attraction marketing...quite the concept...

Yours in greater success,
Merideth

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