You know the type. The people with obnoxious laughs, pushy pitches, and the ability to corner you at industry conferences and talk about themselves continuously for what seems like hours? The ones who clearly mean well, but their lack of etiquette can make you wish you hadn’t even gone?
Here’s a friendly suggestion: Don’t be that person.
Networking is a critical part of any MLM company, yet it’s probably the easiest thing to get wrong. Using living, breathing connections works better than blindly sending out pitches over the Internet, but for many, approaching people they don’t know for help finding or getting a sale is uncomfortable and nerve wracking.
Knowing a few etiquette guidelines can help you keep your conduct aboveboard, and perhaps ease a few fears about putting yourself in front of the well-connected.
Have a Solid Introduction
As most know, first impressions count heavily. Make sure your attire, attitude and overall appearance are the best possible before introducing yourself to someone.
If you’re at a networking event, pay close attention to the groups people have formed around the room. Join people who are by themselves, or a group of two or three whose positions provide you with a physical “opening” to jump into the conversation, says Ivan Misner, founder of California-based business networking organization BNI. Introduce yourself by clearly stating your name and making eye contact while you shake their hand, says Carol Goman, a nonverbal communication expert and author of The Silent Language of Leaders. Weak handshakes turn people off, so practice yours with a friend to make sure it’s neither bone-crushing nor wimpy.
If introducing yourself online, remember to follow in-person social etiquette rules. If someone referred you to the person, for example, put the mutual contact’s name in the subject line of the e-mail, so there’s an immediate level of recognition. Email is a cold medium. If you can warm it up with something personal, do so.
Don’t Confuse People with Your Pitch
No one needs to hear your entire company history upon meeting you. If someone asks you to tell them a bit about yourself, your explanation from start to finish shouldn’t take more than 30 to 60 seconds.
This is especially true when you’re networking with people who don’t work in your industry. Going into the nitty gritty details of your specific product and company will likely go over the head of someone who works in management consulting or marketing. Share what’s relevant, to your prospect.
Don’t Tell a Sob Story
No matter how tough it’s been, you need to paint a positive picture when you’re making new connections. Potential costomers or connections aren’t going to listen to people who are down in the dumps just to make them feel better. They want people who project a good, can-do attitude, and who will be energetic and excited about the opportunity.
Complaining in general has no place in networking – whether it’s about unemployment, how tough your job is, or how bad your former company was. In this economy, people say ‘How’s business?’ and they’ll actually tell you. It doesn’t do any good to complain about how bad business or the economy is. People hate doing business with people who are grumpy.
Spend More Time Listening Than Talking
In this case, the old adage is true: People were given two ears and one mouth, and you should use them proportionately. Just like in the dating world, you should spend more time listening to and understanding the person in front of you than talking about yourself, says Mark Jeffries, a business communications consultant and author of What’s Up With Your Handshake?. “Once you have truly understood what drives this person, then you can introduce yourself and tell your own stories in a way that best fits their specific needs.”
Most people think that the really great networkers are extroverts, but extroverts don’t shut up. Talking about yourself is a good way to spread the word about who you are, but listening closely can help you form a deeper relationship with someone.
Avoid Being Socially Inept
There’s a fine line between being friendly and personable and being awkward. You do not want to be the latter.
Steer clear of talking about things that would make people uncomfortable. For example, don’t tell me that you were out of work for six months because you recently had brain surgery, or because you were laid off. People are going to feel as if they need to pity you, but you don’t want that to be the foundation of a relationship. Being vague about negatives – like saying you’re returning after a six-month medical leave, or after spending some time traveling – is a good way to keep the conversation on a high level.
You should maintain some normal social constructs, such as where you direct your eyes and how closely you stand to people. Looking from someone’s eyes to the middle of their forehead is professional, versus a more social gaze of eyes-to-mouth. You should also try to keep an arm’s length away from anyone you’re talking to.
Don’t Overstay Your Welcome
Taking up too much of someone’s time is almost as bad as ignoring them entirely.
It’s imperative that you understand when your time is up. You win in the social world if you ‘release people first,’ so if you see a slow crossing of the arms, an increase in the amount of time they’re looking over your shoulder, or a sudden obsession with the word ‘anyway,’ they are giving you not-so-subtle hints that they’d like to move on.
Have a few “graceful exits” ready. Examples: “It was a pleasure meeting you! There are a couple of other people here who I said I’d get it touch with while I’m here,” or “Is there anyone here I can introduce you to?” If you’re still lost, there’s always the standby “I’m going to run to grab another drink.”
Hand out Your Business Card, Not Your Resume
Offline or online, you need to work on forming a relationship with someone before you ask them for anything at all. Many people overlook this professional courtesy.
Don’t ask strangers for a sale. You can’t ask someone to do a favor for you who you don’t have a relationship with. It’s unprofessional, tacky and ineffective.
Instead, go for the business card exchange. Make sure that when you offer yours, you specifically and politely request theirs. Don’t assume they’ll solicit it on their own. Once you’re a bit of a distance from them, take a minute to jot down a few notes about the person you just met on a sheet of paper – anything personal they may have mentioned, a news item you discussed, or a business idea you talked about. You can use that to politely jog their memory in a follow-up note.
Follow Up and Through
Perhaps the “Cardinal Rule” of networking is that once you’ve planted the seeds of a new relationship, you must follow up to maintain it. Whether it’s a business referral, sales lead, or a professional connection, get in touch – within 24 hours – to say you enjoyed meeting them.
No one owes you anything, so you need to be as ingratiating as you can. People who have taken the time to speak with you and provide you with connections or guidance deserve a thank you. Assume that you can learn from everyone. They might not be the right person, but they might know someone who you might want to be in touch with.It’s also critical to reach out to anyone a connection refers you to. People hate it when they give someone a referral and the person never bothers to follow up on it. If you don’t, it makes two parties look bad, he says – you, since you didn’t follow through on a potential lead, and the person who referred you, since they recommended you as a reliable resource.
Adapted to MLM from the origianl article by Kelly Eggers
Let me start with this quote from Mike Oliver; ”Techniques are many, principles are few, techniques may vary but principles never do.”
Don’t focus on script or learning exactly what to say, understand the concept.
First, you want to attract people to you. You want to learn how to become the hunted instead of the hunter. When you chase people they run away. It is a primal instinct. Everybody is trying to sell us something. “Take my card. Buy my stuff. Listen to this CD.”
What people are looking for is connection. They want to feel good and you can give this to them. Be a leader. It is all about you, not your company, not your products. People are staving for leadership. You have the skills already and you have skills that no one else has. You can attract people that I can not reach just because of who you are. You have life skills and experiences that others can relate to. You have the potential to be a leader but my question to you is this, will you accept the call? Will you study others? Will you find a way to bring them to you? Mike Dillard says “You must give without want in order to have.” Never chase after people, you have so much to offer them!
You have all the knowledge in you already. Separate yourself from the pack and step into your power. Have the success mindset. Interview and qualify your prospect. Find out their reasons. Find their story. If you are in a reputable business, it is worth millions of dollars,millions that others can be a part of. Money that can change their lives forever. Find out why they want in! Ninety five percent of them will say “No.” Only look for the 5% that want what you have. That is all you need to be massively successful in Network Marketing.
So let’s sum up. Get a “Yes” or get a “No”. Detach yourself from the outcome and stop selling. Become an information provider.
Attraction….Look at that word. The end is ACTION. Get out and just do it.
Todd Falcone is an industry leader and has a proven track record helping Networkers build huge organizations. Here is the link to his page. I surround myself with the top leaders and have been using Todd’s personal P.U.M.P coaching with great success. These are Todd’s 10 reasons why you may not be sponsoring the people you want to. It is a short list but very powerful suggestions. Note that the list is in no particular order.
You aren’t really working. Many people kid themselves into believing they are actually working when they really aren’t. The big question is, how many people have you talked to in the past week about your business? Be honest with your answer.
You aren’t asking enough questions. Start being more interested and more inquisitive. Be genuine. Focus on what they want.
You’re scared. Perhaps you may be over-thinking and letting your head get in your own way. Stop the mental spin. Just take action.
You’re focused on the wrong thing. People do this all the time. They focus on themselves rather on what they can do for others. Change your focus and change your results.
You’re too timid and worried about what they think. Stop worrying about what others think. Just do. Maintain control. Own it. You have the deal. Act like it.
You aren’t finishing. Don’t be one of those people who start the process and not end it. Your prospect is HOPING you call them back…at least the good ones are. Don’t be a ball-dropper. Follow up.
You don’t have the best deal on the planet, so stop saying you do. No matter how good your company, comp plan or product is, STOP saying “We’re the Greatest!” Put your feet back on the ground and take a breath of reality. It’s fine to have a good product, comp plan, etc. without having to LIE and say you are the best thing since sliced bread. Nothing screams scam more than hype.
You don’t believe. This one kills tons of people. You either don’t believe you’re worth it or that you aren’t capable. You are! You ARE worth it. And…you ARE capable. Stop the negative flow of energy. It isn’t serving you.
You aren’t listening. Start listening to your leaders, the ones who are REALLY producing and STOP reinventing the wheel because you think you are cool or good. Make your first 10k a month their way and if you wanna go screw it up after that, you’re free.
You’re scattered. Focus on one company. Big produces don’t do multiple deals, so why should you. Make sense?
Dr. Bob of GoDaddy.com has a fantastic VBlog area on his web site. All the videos are good but sometimes one rises to the top. In our industry we have to talk to people. Shyness can kill your direct sales business before it ever gets the chance to take off. After all, we grew up with adults telling us not to talk to strangers. You get into a network marketing company and they say talk to everyone you see. The MARM, or Minds Automatic Response Mechanism instantly kicks in at the uncomfortable feeling from approaching strangers and we hear our parent’s warnings.
There are steps to take to overcome these feeling and overcome them you must if you are to succeed in direct sales. Try Dr. Bob’s advice and watch your business grow.
Joe gives a video Tip From The Top about why you can keep prospecting during the Holidays and why people are open to your business idea. See all the great videos on YouTube/ MLMmatchmaker!
Let me start with this quote from Mike Oliver; ”Techniques are many, principles are few, techniques may vary but principles never do.”
Don’t focus on script or learning exactly what to say, understand the concept.
First, you want to attract people to you. You want to learn how to become the hunted instead of the hunter. When you chase people they run away. It is a primal instinct. Everybody is trying to sell us something. “Take my card. Buy my stuff. Listen to this CD.”
What people are looking for is connection. They want to feel good and you can give this to them. Be a leader. It is all about you, not your company, not your products. People are staving for leadership. You have the skills already and you have skills that no one else has. You can attract people that I can not reach just because of who you are. You have life skills and experiences that others can relate to. You have the potential to be a leader but my question to you is this, will you accept the call? Will you study others? Will you find a way to bring them to you? Mike Dillard says “You must give without want in order to have.” Never chase after people, you have so much to offer them!
You have all the knowledge in you already. Separate yourself from the pack and step into your power. Have the success mindset. Interview and qualify your prospect. Find out their reasons. Find their story. If you are in a reputable business, it is worth millions of dollars,millions that others can be a part of. Money that can change their lives forever. Find out why they want in! Ninety five percent of them will say “No.” Only look for the 5% that want what you have. That is all you need to be massively successful in Network Marketing.
So let’s sum up. Get a “Yes” or get a “No”. Detach yourself from the outcome and stop selling. Become an information provider.
Attraction….Look at that word. The end is ACTION. Get out and just do it.
I was sure guilty of the mistakes our poor salesman made. I prospected the the wrong people, did not listen to what the people were saying, kept pushing in the wrong direction, I kept looking for what was in it for “Me” not the prospect, I tried to sell before a relationship was established and on and on.
After many attempts to build my network marketing business like that I came up with the only logical answer, Network Marketing does not work. Sounds silly but that was how I felt. Then a friend and leader in the industry shared some insight and asked if I was teachable. I said yes and that was the beginning of my success in direct sales.
I learned to build a rapport with people, to go out and meet them and really listen to what they were talking about, he said to learn their children’s names and ask where they lived, what they did for a living and if they were happy. Then and only then did I offer my solution to them if there was a need for it. I learned to recognise if there was a problem to be solved. Some people are just not looking for anything, some absolutely hate selling and MLM, and some could not afford to get started.
He taught me that many people need to build a second income from direct sales but not all wanted it. He said to find the few that want it, that they were the future leaders. He told me to find people with credibility, friends and associates and the money to get started. Go for the business owner, not the employee.
Know your business, know yourself and have posture. It does not take that many people to build a huge organization and help many people create huge incomes in our business. You can do this and ournew series on becoming an Alpha Networker will show you how.
There are many places to purchase paid traffic for your web page or blog. Facebook and other social media sites can generate a lot of traffic on a very small budget. Generally speaking you’ll have to setup a campaign and then optimize it to get positive results. Many of these resources will not be profitable right from the beginning, but if you are patient, you can optimize pretty quickly and start to seeing some long term profit.
Converting Keywords
Let me stop you in your tracks before you ask me for “converting keywords”.
First of all, I really don’t have them.
Secondly, each ad and set of keywords you use will convert differently on each network.
Thirdly, you want to create less competition for yourself by seeing what keywords work for you.
There are a lot of keyword tools out there, many which cost money, but the google keyword tool is free and is a good starting point here: Google Keyword Tool
Tracking Your Campaign
Name your campaign and run many different versions of the ad. Try changing the target audience, the ad picture, your title and the content of the ad. At the end of each ad be sure to ad tracking IDs so you can see what is working and what is not. That is the single key to creating ads that work. I have run ten ads at the same time in the same campaign. You can not just set this up and let it run. You must watch and track and tweak your ads otherwise you will be waisting money.
CPC and CPM
I have tried both these types of ads before and have had more luck with CPC. At first it seem cheaper to pay for impressions but after running your first campaign you will see that you receive millions of impressions. Look for conversion rates of about 3% at first.
Redirecting multiple Sites to Your Site
What I suggest you do is purchase a domain from someone like GoDaddy. It can even be a .info domain that costs about a buck. I just looked up monsterdiet.info on GoDaddy and it cost $.89. You can then use their forwarding feature to set your new .info domain to forward to your main page. Furthermore, they will provide you with the ability to create subdomains on your domain.
Potential Ad Networks
Google
We love Google and they are certainly the biggest ad network out there. That being said they are also the most saturated. In addition they are not very trusting of anything “MLM”, no matter how much integrity we have, and they like to turn our traffic on and off like a light switch. I have compiled a list of other networks below. If you can master making money on networks other than Google, you’ll be a King (or Queen) of the Internet Marketing World without question.
This is a list of other Ad Networks that I am aware of:
Ad Network
Site URL
Media Buyer Planner
http://mediabuyerplanner.com
Chitika
http://www.chitika.com
Adside
http://adside.com
Burst Media
http://www.burstmedia.com
Buy sell ads
http://buysellads.com/
Advertising space
http://advertisingspace.com
AOL
http://advertising.aol.com
Clicksor
http://clicksor.com
Trafficvance
http://trafficvance.com
Adbrite
http://adbrite.com
Media Traffic
http://mediatraffic.com
Pulse 360
http://pulse360.com
Lead Impact
http://leadimpact.com
Seven Search
http://7search.com
Click Booth
http://clickbooth.com
Bing
http://adcenter.microsoft.com
Bing Display
http://advertising.microsoft.com
Context Web
http://contextweb.com
Ad Blade
http://adblade.com
FOX Audience Network
http://www.foxaudiencenetwork.com/
ValueClick Network
http://www.valueclick.com/
Specific Media
http://www.specificmedia.com
24/7 Real Media
http://www.247realmedia.com/EN-US/
Collective Network
http://www.collective.com/
interClick
http://www.interclick.com/
Tribal Fusion
http://www.tribalfusion.com/
AudienceScience
http://www.audiencescience.com/
Traffic Marketplace
http://www.trafficmarketplace.com/
Adconion Media Group
http://www.adconion.com/us/index.html
Turn, Inc
http://www.turn.com/
There are certainly even more ad networks than what I have listed here, but this should give you a good start to look into.
Are you wearing your Halloween Mask all year long? Are you trying to hide who you are from your prospects? It is hard to get out there and talk to people and it is very easy to put up a front, a mask if you will, to hide the real you. But why do that? Chances are you are a good person with good intentions. In your life you have probable accomplished some note worthy things. Maybe you brought a child into the world, maybe you gave someone a helping hand, or maybe you shared your Network Marketing opportunity with someone who had no hope left. Maybe, just maybe you changed the course of that person’s life.
I do not know what you did but if you look hard you will remember something that makes you special, you are special with your own gifts, we all are. So, take off your mask and be who you are. People will like you for the most part and people get in business with you, not your company or opportunity. It is very easy to stretch the truth about how much money you make or how well your group is doing when a prospect asks you. That is the time we feel it would be better for us or easier to keep talking if we put on the mask. Resist the temptation and relax. If you keep building your business and you will make a lot of money and be able to say so but in the beginning you can let them know it is about them and what they can do and not you. Be honest and be yourself, you will find that it is not too scary out there and you can save your mask for Halloween.
