Network Marketing and MLM Blog @ RogerLoh.Com

Copyright (C) Roger Loh

The purpose of this article is to highlight some tips that can help you get more mileage when you attend a seminar.

With careful preparation and planning, you can get more out of a seminar than simply attending passively.

I recently attended the World Internet Seminar in Singapore, 2006 and learnt more effectively through proper preparation which I like to share with you.

Tip #1: What’s your purpose?

Are you going to the seminar just because your boss assigns you?  Or because someone passed you a free ticket?  It’s good to think about what exactly you want out of the seminar in advance.  Is it to gain knowledge?  Is it to meet more like-minded people?  Write down your goals before even setting off for the seminar.

Tip #2: Business Cards

This is especially appropriate if you are doing a few things.  For example, if you are a engineer full time and a dog trainer part time and going to attend a seminar on pets.  Would you simply give out your ‘engineer’ business cards?  If I were you, I would design and print some cards to tell the world that I am into dog training.

Tip #3: Prepare yourself

Spend some time reading about the subject just before the seminar and list down some questions before the event. That way, you will be more attentive, and absorb more and will be able to ask the speakers the right questions.

Tip #4: Bring all-weather gear

In big rooms, it can be difficult to maintain the right temperature and humidity.  Rather than shaking all over to fight the cold if the temperature is too low, it is smarter to pull out a jacket from you bag and slip it over.

Tip #5: Network for business

Do not waste the opportunity to find some prospects, customers or even partners for your business.  Set a mental goal of how many people you want to meet.  After all, you’re there with all the like-minded people.  Ask how can you help each other and make a point to follow up with at least a email or phone call after the seminar.

Tip #6: Make new friends

Apart from just networking for business, it’s also a good opportunity to make new friends.  Who knows, you can become close friends or even business associates or partners in the longer term. 

Just don’t tell your whole life story upon meeting a new person!

Again, make a point to follow up with at least a email or phone call after the seminar.

Tip #7: Participation

If the situation permits, make a point to ask some questions or even volunteer in some activities, especially if you’re participating in small group activities.  That way, you will fully immerse yourself and learn more just be interacting with the speakers or other participants.

Tip #8: Create blog posts

Before, during and after the seminar, you can post short articles in your blog to keep your blog readers updated on the progress of the event.  That way, you continue to build a better relationship by providing good value to your readers and/or subscribers to your mailing list.

Tip #9: Review of notes

Usually, there are lots of new information disseminated during a seminar.  That leads to two things: overload and confusion.  Take a day or so to relax and thereafter, review the notes you have taken at the seminar as by then, you would have forgot most of what you heard.  In other words, take time and effort to revise the material, especially the topics you want to apply.

Tip #10: Write Articles

If possible, write short articles on certain topics that are of value to yourself and give to others.  By giving to others, you are adding value to your friends, business associates or subscribers to your mailing lists.

To check out articles written during and after the World Internet Summit I attended in Singapore, visit this blog:

http://www.rogerloh.com/

Copyright (C) Roger Loh 2006 

I came across many network marketers who focus too much on marketing and not enough on networking.

I interpret ”Network Marketing” as having to carry out 2 main activities:

“Networking” - the exchange of information among individuals, groups, or institutions.

“Marketing” - promoting, selling, and distributing a product or serviceIf we focus on just marketing alone, we will soon run out of contacts.  Thus, apart from marketing, we also should pay attention to networking activities.  I learnt alot through attending seminars and books like Ivan Misner’s “Business By Referrals”. 

 Essentially, there are 3 types of networks we can develop:

 Essentially, there are 3 types of networks we can develop:

1. Information Network - you can develop a network of business associates (or network marketers) to exchange information about your industry (in this case, the Network Marketing industry)
2. Support Network - you can develop a network of business associates (or your own network business partners) to share and encourage one another to keep moving forward in our network marketing journey.
3. Referral Network - you can develop a network of referral sources (customers or friends who believe in your products or offerings) to refer their own contacts to you.

The first 2 types of networks help us to stay updated and motivated in our network marketing business whereas our referral network can actually help us market our products and services through natural word of mouth.  That means, we leverage not just on our own downline but contacts who for some reason or other does not participate in our business.

Think about it - if you take the time to cultivate and nurture your networks, especially your referral network, your business will begin to grow exponentially in time to come.

Before signing off, I came across a very interesting post on another blog on “Building Client and Referral Communities” which you may like to check out by clicking here.

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Find out more about Roger Loh’s Internet Education Franchise at:
http://www.the-elearning.biz/

Check out Roger Loh’s other passion in Internet Marketing at: http://www.rogerloh.com/

Copyright © 2006 John Jantsch

Cold calling doesn’t work, it’s no fun and often you end up with leads, or worse yet, clients, that don’t really value what you do.

Having said that, leads are the lifeblood of growth, without a lead, there is no client.

Set-up a 2 step lead machine and you can say goodbye to cold calling while generating all of the qualified, permission based leads you can handle.

The basic idea behind the 2 step approach is to create one or more valuable reports, workshops, evaluations, trial products, checklists, newsletters, courses or tip sheets. You know, something like, “How To Tell If Your Roofing Contractor Is Lying To You” or “What Every Senior Must Know About Bush’s Social Security Changes” or “101 More Things You Can Do With Your iPod.”

Now that you have your value packed written report or audio CD, every bit of your advertising – that’s Yellow Pages, direct mail, back of your business card, letterhead, email signature, web site – should focus on getting people to pick up, request or download that report. Don’t try to do anything else with your advertising, let the report sell you. See, that’s step 1.

There are several reasons that this approach is so much more effective for the small business owner than the traditional “image” type advertising.

First off, if you only buy a 2 x 3 ad or send a 4 x 6 postcard, can you really tell your story very well?

Secondly, this approach allows you to demonstrate your expertise in a non-threatening, on the prospect’s own terms, way. Nobody likes to be sold to, but if they take the time to read your report, understand what you do that has value, have an 8-10 page conversation with you, the relationship and trust has begun.

A person who has requested your free information in officially a hot lead. When a prospect visits your web site they are effectively raising their hand and identifying themselves as someone who is very interested in what you do. Half of your sales job is done!

If your advertising is focused on gathering the lead into the free report funnel, then your sales efforts are focused on taking that group and only that group that raised their hands and taking them to the next step in the process. That may be an appointment or just a series of more advanced mailings. By the way that’s step 2.

So let’s recap.

Create a free information product that your target market would see as a valuable read or listen.

Advertise the free report in everything you do

Capture the names and emails of those who request the report

Follow-up on those leads

If you take this advice to heart, everything about how you market your business will change. Finding new business will become a much more rewarding and valuable experience.

A couple bonus ideas:

Once you create your free report you will find other uses for it.

Referrals – Give the report or the web page where the report is found to your referral sources and tell them to introduce you by way of your free report or newsletter. This makes it easy for them to refer you and assures that your story is told.

Cold-calling – I know, I know, you shouldn’t ever need to cold call but, if you do, do it this way. Call up those prospects on your list and instead of trying to convince them to give you 5 minutes of their time a week from Tuesday, offer them the address of your power packed free info and then shut-up. Your prospecting time will be much more productive if you can use it to turn cold calling into 2-step prospecting.

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John Jantsch is a marketing consultant based in Kansas City, Mo. He writes frequently on real world small business marketing tactics and is the creator of “Duct Tape Marketing” a turn-key small business marketing system. Check out his blogs at http://www.DuctTapeMarketing.com/weblog.php and http://www.bloggingbusiness.com

Copyright © 2006 Roger Loh

Have you heard the saying, “Prospecting is the lifeblood of network marketing”?

Picture yourself having this “leaking bottle” and your objective is to fill it up with water to its brim.

Because there are holes in this bottle, when you start filling it up, some water will simply leak away.  Thus, in order to achieve your objective, you must fill the bottle at a rate faster than the rate at which the water is leaking out.

You see, your network or downline organization is just like a “leaking bottle”.  Whether you like it or not, you have to realize that some of them are going to drop.  So, in order to build your network, you must replenish your downlne at a rate faster than the normal attrition rate.

Through my three years of network marketing experience, I have developed a simple 3-step strategy that creates a surefire stream of prospects for me:

1. Attend Networking Events Regularly

2. Create A List Of Names Daily

3. Contact Your Daily List Of Names

Step 1: Attend Networking Events Regularly

This article focuses on the “networking” part of a network marketer. (Let’s leave the “marketing” part to another article.)   It is extremely important that a network marketer learns how to network well and attend networking events regularly.

First, attend networking events regularly. Why?  It’s because you need to replenish your name list which is most likely limited to a few dozen names.

Once you collected their contacts, add these names to your master name list that your upline or your network marketing company tells you to make when you first start out in your network marketing business.

Step 2: Create A List Of Names Daily

This is a daily list of names that you create from your master name list.

Each morning, I create a list of 10 prospects to contact.  I use a simple notebook to write down the 10 names so that I can carry it in my pocket everywhere I go.

Step 3: Contact Your Daily List Of Names

Throughout the day, I will contact as many of these prospects either by phone or short message service (or sms).

Depending on my relationship with each of these names, I will “talk” to them accordingly.  When I receive a response, warm up the relationship a little before asking for an appointment.

By doing this consistently, you will find that after a few weeks, you would have created a surefire stream of prospects for your network marketing business.

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The full article, “How To Create A Surefire Stream Of Prospects For Your Network Marketing Business” is available for download at:
http://www.rogerloh.com/mlmtips
Roger Loh spent many years setting up computer networks and is a network marketing as well as an Internet marketing entrepreneur.
Blog (Internet Marketing): http://www.rogerloh.com/
Blog (Network Marketing): http://www.rogerloh.com/mlmblog