Numbers don't lie

One thing I learned early on in this business is the necessity of tracking my efforts.

What will it take based on track record to sponsor 20 people in 12 weeks?

The first thing that hit me when I looked at my numbers is that it's going to take a LOT of work. The second thing that hit me: I have NOT being working my business!

Sure, I've been busy: in the past month, I developed 2 new websites, set up a 90-day system for my team, wrote 2 auto-responders for follow up, etc.... But none of these activities are growing my business.

The principal activity I rely on to grow my business is phone prospecting.

I purchase leads (contact information of people who are looking for a home business) from advertising agencies and call them with the information they requested.

When working leads, you must have the right expectations otherwise,

you'll give up before you get anywhere.

Keep in mind that just because, someone requested the information,

it doesn't mean they are ready to join your or any business for that matter.

It is truly a numbers' game.If you're only calling a handful, you might as well not call at all.


What should you track
Dial: when you get a voicemail or you talk to someone other than the one you wanted to reach (wrong numbers, busy signals don't count)

Completed Calls: when you've reached the intended party (regardless of the outcome)

Appointment: after talking to a prospect, they agree to meet with you for a follow up call at a specific date and time. (if it's not specific, it doesn't count as an appt., sometimes people ask you to call them back, or to send them more info, that does not constitute an appt.)

Consultation: they show up for the follow up call.

Sales : they join your team

For example in a given week, I made 45 dials, talked to 9 prospects, set up an appointment with 2 of them ( 7 of them were either not interested, asked me to call back or to send more info), 1 of the 2 showed up for the follow up call and didn't join.

Compiling the numbers over a few weeks will show that on average, I've called 31 people every week, talked to 8 and barely scheduled 1 appt per week.

One of two things need to happen:
1) Develop my prospecting skills
or
2) Contact more people.

Method #1 will have to come as a result of method #2.
But saying that I need to talk to more people doesn't help me much. Does it?
As Dani Johnson says, "nothing becomes dynamic until it becomes specific"


So what it will take for me to sponsor 20 people in 12 weeks?


In order to sponsor 20 people in 12 weeks, I would have to make 36 dials and/or talk to 10 people 5 days a week or make 180 dials and/or talk to 47 people every week.Those numbers should result in 5 appts every week which will give me a fair shot.
Ouch....

Reaching those numbers on a daily basis would require more time and a lot more leads than I can currently afford.

But numbers don't lie, they give me a true picture of the situation.
But now I know....

"Reach for the moon. Even if you fail you'll land among the stars"

Warmest Regards,
Carmina

Prospecting your way to success

I discovered a new source of wisdom this past weekend, and I want to share a
little bit of what I learned from Pat berry and Joe Syverson from mlmradioshow.com

The 4 Stages of Prospecting

Proscratination: dreading the phone. waiting to be perfect, wanting to know everything before getting on the phone. Getting ready to get ready.
Perceiving the process as painful. Reevaluate your perception.

Telling Phase: talking too much. Telling and selling mode. If you can hear yourself, you're talking too much. You should be talking 20% of the time.
Your prospect should be doing the talking.

Discussion Phase: Nobody's listening, it's a back and effort of questions and answers.

Prospecting: When you start to sort through your prospects. Using questions to engage your prospects and giving feedback on what you hear.

Connecting: the master prospector phase

Keep in mind that 80% of the people you talk to will not get started in your
business, no matter how great of a prospector you are. Not because, they don't
have the money or time or whatever excuses they can come up with, the main
reason is because they don't want to change.

The quicker you can determine the ones who belong to the 80%, the better you'll
become at prospecting. 4% of the remaining 20% will see the opportunity and
go for it no matter how bad of a prospector you are, so If you talk to enough people,
you are bound to recruit somebody.

However, just going through the number will not get you
very far in this business. The biggest mistake you can make is spending too much time
with the 80%.

The 4 Ps of Prospecting.

To become a master prospector you need:

Purpose: Be clear about the reasons why doing this. It must be beyond just making money or paying off debt and your bills.
Passion: Enthusiasm ( not excitement) creates curiosity, people buy your energy.
It's important to be aligned with whatever you're promoting, otherwise you subconsciously are sending mixed messages to your prospect.
Peace of mind: be in the moment. Don't bring your problems with you. You can have 2 attitudes about problems, you're either resisting or surrendering your problems to a higher authorithy, in my case that's God. And letting go.
Power: Power comes from confidence. Keep control of the conversation by asking the most questions. Are you coming from a place of desperation? Change your attitude from "I need" to "I deserve".

Take a look at your numbers. Realize that when you put enough people through your system, you won't really care if they say Yes or No. They will both weight equally in your mind and thus improve your posture on the phone.

To your success,
Carmina

Enlighten, Empower, Enrich

There's life beyond Recruiting

"Network Marketing is perhaps the only business where one has to justify going
after customers" - Kim Klaver


Traditionally, most NetWMork Marketers neglect the retail end of their business because we
have been taught that the big money is in building teams, not selling products.
My goal today is to show you that you can put money in your pocket
right away without recruiting a single soul.

First, we must agree on one thing: retail is the lifeblood of any company.
It's really just common sense. At the end of the day, whether it's selling vitamins
or telephone services, your company is in business to sell their products/services
and make a profit.
The only difference between traditional companies like Estee Lauder and a net.work
marketing company like Mary Kay is the way they distribute their products.
Estee Lauder employs the services of a the traditional distribution channels
(distribution warehouses, malls, store fronts) while Mary Kay gets its products
directly to the consumer via people like me and you.
They really are not much different.
They both have corporate offices, corporate staff and employees.
While Estee Lauder relies on a paid sales force and expensive advertising mediums,
Mary Kay has an army of independent reps doing the same thing only for free.

Free?!? Yes, for f.ree because you see we don't get paid until we sell something,
until products move from the company's warehouse to the customers’ hands.
We are not paid on efforts but on results.

That's why some companies choose the network marketing model, it just makes sense!
They pay their distributors for actual results (orders) as opposed to potential
orders (which is what advertising gives them).

If you ask me, that's just smart business.
Please understand, that we don't get paid a commission because someone signed
a distributor application, if you get paid when you signed someone up, it better be
because the start up kit contained actual products with resale value.
Otherwise, you'll get the FTC knocking on your company's door really soon.
Where do you think the money comes from to pay the big commission checks?
You guessed it: retail profit!

You see because Network Marketing companies are only paying their distributors
for results, the money that traditionally goes to the billion dollar marketing budget,
is used to compensate us, the reps.

Why should you focus on retail?
It's quick money in your pocket. Let me prove it to you:
1) You have access to a relatively easy and free pool of prospects:
your warm market.
Your warm market will probably be reticent about joining you in your new business
venture. Can you blame them? They don't know you as a business person.
Put yourself in their shoes for a second:
Let's imagine that you've never sang a note in your life (at least not professionally)
and you call your aunt Marie and asked her if she wants to help you produce your
first album. What is her reaction likely to be?
'Hmm, I don't know….. let me check with uncle Joe. I'll get back to you'.
Why, because, she has absolutely no confidence in your ability as a singer,
she may know you as Sam the (whatever your job is) guy, but not Sam, the singer.
So don't take it personally.
Now, let's assume that somehow you got your first album produced,
how likely is aunt Marie to buy your CD?
If for no other reason, she’ll buy it to have a good laugh at your expense.
The point is, she is likely to want to support you and buy your CD regardless
of whether she thinks you can sing or not. She doesn’t have a lot to lose.
Are you catching my drift?
So reason 1 to start retailing: it puts money in your pocket fast
(Tip :Sell products from your start up kit)

Reason #2: retail puts you in control of your income.
Whether or not your team is doing something with their business,
you're still earning retail profit money.
Whether or not you have an organization of 'duds', you won't be dependent on them
which means more control and less stress.
Furthermore, your team duplicates what you do. So if you sell products, your team
will do the same, which translate in higher team sales volume, which we all know is
what your commission is based on.
If all the above reasons were not enough, consider this:
There is nothing like cash in your pocket to put a smile on your face and a smile says,
I know where I'm going even if you don't. That my friend, is called confidence.
That “I don’t care if you join my business or not” attitude intrigues prospects and
makes them want to have whatever it is you're having...
If you are making $500/mth in retail and you haven't sponsored anybody yet and
Mr. prospect asks you with a smirk, "So how much are you making?",
you can wipe that smirk right off his face with a confident
"Enough to keep me interested".

Can you talk with any degree of confidence if Mr. Prospect is the first person
you sponsor? Absolutely! Because if nothing else, you can teach him how to do
one thing: make $500/mth in retail.
Where as, if all you're focusing on is recruiting and you have no one in your organization
and you're making no money from retailing, how can you in good conscience approach
anyone ?

Can I really make $500/mth from retail?
Let's do an exercise from Kim Klaver's book:
"If My Product's So Great How Come I Can't Sell It".
How much are you spending every month on products?
For simplicity sake, I'll assume $30/month, let's say you got 100 customers
doing the same, that's $3000 in volume. Now let's imagine that your company pays
you a commission of 15% on everything you sell, that's $450/month,
at 20 % that's $600/mth.

Happy Selling!
Carmina

Time Management = Self Management

Last week I attended a seminar about Time Management.

It was a 2 day seminar in the Big Apple, my favorite place and my best friend works a couple blocks away from the training facility so it was great!

Going to this training, I thought I was pretty good at Time Management,
but what I found out was that I was good at planning, not scheduling.

Perhaps you thought they meant the same thing: Me too!

Turns out, they don't: "Planning is deciding what to do.
Scheduling is deciding when to do it.
Scheduling is simply picking a time to do the activities"
You're probably saying to yourself that it's simply not possible to
schedule things because you never know how your day will turn out,
you don't know what may or may not happen on any given day.

Did you know that "at least half the thigs you schedule will probably
work out exactly as planned"?
Practice makes perfect: The more you try to schedule the more you
learn about how to schedule successfully.

Scheduling is the secret for making things happen.
Planning is an intention; scheduling is more like a commitment.
Why do I bring this up? What does this have to do with business?

Everything!!!You see most of us treat our home business as a hobby:
we don't give it the respect and commitment it deserves and yet we get upset
when we don't get the results we anticipated.

If your business is something that happens when there is nothing
else on your plate that day and if you're in the right mood,
let me save you a lot of grief and disappointment: Quit Now!
Save yourself some money and use your time for something else.

Just as you're expected to be at work from 9 am to 5 pm,
so should you "show up" for your business at set times and
commit to those hours whether you feel like it or not.

Are you committed or just interested in making money from home?
When you're interested, working at it is optional,
when you are committed you will do it even when you don't feel like it.

To Your Success,

Carmina

Can you deal with people?

"Poor human relations can ruin the best marketing effort you could ever put together!"
- Jim Cathcart

You've heard it over and over again, Network Marketing is a people business.
It's surprising however how many network marketers still don't get it....
I've come across some pretty rude people in my prospecting and I love the fact that in Network Marketing I get to choose whom I work with.

Some customers or potential business partners are simply not worth the time, effort and aggravation it will take to deal with them.
When you first start in this business, it's hard to let go of a potential customer or business partner, specially when you don't have that many to begin with.

That said your own attitude will help or hurt your prospecting efforts. You can have an amazing product/service or pay plan, and an awesome marketing message, they won't do you any good, if you make your potential customers/business partners feel uncomfortable and don't treat them right.

Will you or have you ever bought something from a rude sales associate? Not me. I simply take my business elsewhere.

Your attitude may also reflect the way you feel about what you are doing.
Do you see yourself as a "Professional Problem Solver" or is it simply a numbers game to you? Do you care about helping your prospect fix, avoid or accomplish something, or are you simply trying to make a buck?
In other words, do you care?
Sure, we are all in business to make a profit but not at the expense of others.
Building a business that way is rather shortsighted in my humble opinion...
Strive to make each sales a Win-Win for both parties and Make a Friend Today!...

Warmest Regards,

Carmina

Doubt can only be removed by action

"Doubt can only be removed by action."
I found this quote in my mailbox and it stuck with me the whole day.I remember when I was just starting in Network Marketing and before I truly understood why it worked as a business model and the potential that it offered average people like me, doubt was one of the major reasons why I was going no where fast.
I kept telling myself that I'd been had into some scam and I kept looking for reasons why I was going to fail.In retrospect that was a pretty silly attitude, but that is what happens when people don't do their homework, don't have the facts and they don't understand the basics.
I had a nagging question in my mind: "does this really work?"and I couldn't get it out of my head and it paralyzed me.
It's not until I invested in my education as a Network Marketer, by reading books, listening in on conference calls, etc.. that the whole thing started to make sense and I began to really take action.
Today, while I'm still very far from my dream life, I can see my business growing, not by magic but by my taking simple yet effective steps and applying key marketing strategies .
I'm taking action. I am no longer thinking about the ways I am going to fail; instead I'm thinking about what my next move is going to be.
This is exciting folks! Every day, I methodically get on the phone and attempt to connect with at least 3 people.
Every day, I follow up with leads and prospects by e-mails and sometimes even with a postcard.
I'm too busy working, I don't have time to doubt myself or the industry. I guess that's what the author meant to say and it's true....

To your success,
Carmina

How 1 man in 3 years recruited 12 that recruited millions.

Are you struggling to attract and retain serious business builders?
Follow those strategies and see the quality of your recruits improve dramatically.

I know a man who is in my humble opinion the greatest network marketer of all time.
And I bet you know him too.
I have been following him for some time now and I’m floored about the simplicity and effectiveness of his marketing strategies.
I’m pretty sure you’ve heard of him before. Who hasn’t?
His name was Jesus.

Want to stop attracting whiners and losers in your business?

1) Choose your business partners wisely.
Jesus chose his Apostles and called them one by one. See, Jesus didn't walk up to just anybody and ask them to follow him. He handpicked 12.
You need to be picky. Realize that not everybody qualifies to be a home business owner.
Your recruiting process must include an “interview”. Make sure that your prospects have the time, the money and energy to build this business.
If you’re serious about building a full time income in Network Marketing, you will be investing a lot in your team. Therefore you want to make sure that you’re investing in the right people.
If they don't qualify, let them go. You'll be doing them and yourself a service.

2) Give them homework
Sometimes you will get excited about a prospect because they seem to possess all the right qualities but once in the business they become dead weight.
One day, Jesus met a young and bright young man, he seemed to be the perfect candidate:
He was righteous and devoted to God. But when Jesus put him to the test, he simply couldn’t do it. (Mark 10, 17-22 )
How do you tell the good ones from the not so good ones? Put them to the test. Give them small and measurable tasks to accomplish during the prospecting process. It may be requesting a free resource from your website, listening to a CD/DVD…You'll find people who have all the right qualities for this business, but their life is just way too busy, they can barely squeeze in 5 hours a week or they don't have a penny to their name, they can't afford an internet connection... Let them go, they're not right for your business.

3) Train your people.
For a good part of his ministry on earth, Jesus spent a lot of time with his disciples.
And they did was watch him at work, absorbing everything.
Most of the people you’ll be recruiting have no marketing or sales background.
There fore before setting them loose, you must train them on the basics. Let them listen in on your calls, share with them your material, teach them how to make it their own.
We don’t want to create dependence, however, when you bring someone in the business, you owe it to them to show them the ropes. Yes understood, you may be new to the business yourself, but partner up with your upline or the one above to help you train your new people. Bring them to team calls, keep in touch with periodic phone calls and e-mails if only to let them know that you're there and you're available.

4)Don’t hide the hard facts and realities.
Jesus didn't sugar coat things, he told them what faith awaited them.
Yes, it’s rewarding work, but it’s work. It’s a simple business but it’s a business nonetheless. It will require Time, Money and patience. Lots of it…
In all honesty, being in this business requires a certain tolerance for disappointment.
Because in most cases success won’t happen overnight.

Have fun with your prospecting.
Let me know your thoughts on this.

Warmest regards,

Carmina