Success in Online multi level marketing (MLM) is not necessarily dependant on the tried and true characteristics that have marred the image of the industry. Integrity is slowly replacing the pushiness and ruthless networking of days gone by. Instead, there are facets and aspects to successful MLM that are usually not addressed by those who might only have a cursory understanding of the industry.
As a matter of fact, there are four facts every new network marketer must know.
1. Success or failure depends on the product you will be representing. Interestingly, there is no amount of book knowledge that will make up for hands on sales experience that can give you that innate sense of experience which will lead you to the product that is going to be a crowd pleaser for many months or years to come, and the explosively marketed fad that will be around for a holiday season and then thereafter become all but forgotten. While studying market trends and consumer behavior on paper will help, only actual sales experience will provide the familiarity with the way consumers think through purchases that can lead you to choose a MLM product which will be around for the long.
2. Never choose a product that is only replaced on a limited basis. As odd as it may sound, stay away from items carrying lifetime guarantees. Consumers love them, but if you consider that the average well made Sears tool will not break no matter how badly you treat it, you can quickly see how there is only a limited amount of repeat business that you will enjoy. In MLM this might refer to exercise equipment or high end merchandise that is too expensive to purchase twice.
3. Pick your MLM Company with care. Forego the hype and instead invest some time in solid research, do your due diligent and take the time and make some simple phone calls ask questions, opt-in to those forms to see what the deal is. If the company has been around for a while, you will have a no-nonsense opportunity to chart the beginning of the company and also its growth. Stay away from companies that are in the decline. Similarly, and perhaps this may appear odd, stay away from companies that are experiencing an unprecedented spike of growth. This is just as detrimental to a MLM business as decline because the existing network rarely is able to compensate for the spike in demand.
4. Last but not least, profit from the experience of the other network marketers, ask questions. This kind of information may be found online at social sites like my space or forums dedicated to marketers who want to share their experiences. Learn from these individuals and understand their reasoning. While they may be incorrect, it pays to understand how they may have made an erroneous decision as this will train you to not follow in their footsteps.
Even as those four facts every new network marketer must know appear to make a lot of common sense, they also showcase that there is a lot more to successful MLM than just selling and setting up a down line. Meticulous planning, learning from the experiences of others, and also continuously educating yourself about market changes and consumer behavior are vital components in the quest for profitability and overall business success.
Marcel Tardif
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Ethics: The Conscience of Every Business
At the foundation of every business is a philosophy, a conscience if you will; businesses cannot function without these. This applies to both online and offline businesses. What drives the conscience of a business, however, is a set of rules that everyone knows and follows. These rules, or ethics, are considered obligatory and reflect not only laws pertaining to any given field and business in general, but also a sense of fair-mindedness and civility regarding proper conduct and the treatment of others—especially customers. When poor ethics are practised it hurts everyone.
The thing with ethics is that entrepreneurs, and even the patrons themselves, must stay abreast of all applicably codes of conduct, written and implied, as well as the needs and preferences of their respective societies. A customer’s freedom to make informed choices regarding the businesses with whom they deal allows everyday interactions to become mutually beneficial to everyone involved. Ignorance is bliss, the saying goes, but not in the business world. How people conduct themselves reflect this. Shoppers, for instance, are not likely to feel confident by the judgement of businesses representatives who have no idea how to answer their questions or service them properly and satisfactorily. No one benefits from this, and both the customer and the business suffers. Lying and “winging it” don’t cut it, as that shows a blatant disregard and disrespect toward others and will hurt everyone; having and dispensing correct and up-to-date knowledge on merchandise and service will guarantee success.
As far as marketing goes, fair and equitable prices go a long way. Although quite a few entrepreneurs insist that higher prices bring greater profit, shoppers will gravitate to other markets where the merchandise they want can be obtained at a far cheaper cost. People like to save, and even though many might be desperate at times, they are drawn to low prices and bargains. Business persisting with merchandise in the higher price range eventually fail as a result. Comparing prices between competitors, not to mention doing research on what people are typically willing and able to spend on certain products, ensures that business representatives provide satisfactory service for the public. In the end, operations win favourable appraise and profits grow considerably.
At the heart of all this is honesty. Someone lied—it isn’t a crock. Being truthful, sincere, straightforward and genuine with others, and offering quality merchandise and true value and service is always the best way to go. This is because shoppers return where they are appreciated and welcome, I personally believe in treating all customers the way I want to be treated when doing any transaction and where they trust those who provide what they want and need, without hassle or complaining. The public might be uninformed regarding some things, but people are not stupid and do not tolerate being treated as if they are. Deception eventually comes to light, and businesses (and shoppers) who deal in such practices are subject to legal penalties and irreparably scrupulous reputations.
Ethical situations abound every day, which is why proper conduct can quite often be sticky. Being up on what these “rules” are is crucial for creating an atmosphere that is acceptable and pleasing. Terms like “trust,” “honesty,” “positive image” and “mutual respect” are involved for a reason; they are not only plastic words for describing an ideal world—they denote a social and economic way of life that we must all respect and adhere too.
Marcel Tardif
The thing with ethics is that entrepreneurs, and even the patrons themselves, must stay abreast of all applicably codes of conduct, written and implied, as well as the needs and preferences of their respective societies. A customer’s freedom to make informed choices regarding the businesses with whom they deal allows everyday interactions to become mutually beneficial to everyone involved. Ignorance is bliss, the saying goes, but not in the business world. How people conduct themselves reflect this. Shoppers, for instance, are not likely to feel confident by the judgement of businesses representatives who have no idea how to answer their questions or service them properly and satisfactorily. No one benefits from this, and both the customer and the business suffers. Lying and “winging it” don’t cut it, as that shows a blatant disregard and disrespect toward others and will hurt everyone; having and dispensing correct and up-to-date knowledge on merchandise and service will guarantee success.
As far as marketing goes, fair and equitable prices go a long way. Although quite a few entrepreneurs insist that higher prices bring greater profit, shoppers will gravitate to other markets where the merchandise they want can be obtained at a far cheaper cost. People like to save, and even though many might be desperate at times, they are drawn to low prices and bargains. Business persisting with merchandise in the higher price range eventually fail as a result. Comparing prices between competitors, not to mention doing research on what people are typically willing and able to spend on certain products, ensures that business representatives provide satisfactory service for the public. In the end, operations win favourable appraise and profits grow considerably.
At the heart of all this is honesty. Someone lied—it isn’t a crock. Being truthful, sincere, straightforward and genuine with others, and offering quality merchandise and true value and service is always the best way to go. This is because shoppers return where they are appreciated and welcome, I personally believe in treating all customers the way I want to be treated when doing any transaction and where they trust those who provide what they want and need, without hassle or complaining. The public might be uninformed regarding some things, but people are not stupid and do not tolerate being treated as if they are. Deception eventually comes to light, and businesses (and shoppers) who deal in such practices are subject to legal penalties and irreparably scrupulous reputations.
Ethical situations abound every day, which is why proper conduct can quite often be sticky. Being up on what these “rules” are is crucial for creating an atmosphere that is acceptable and pleasing. Terms like “trust,” “honesty,” “positive image” and “mutual respect” are involved for a reason; they are not only plastic words for describing an ideal world—they denote a social and economic way of life that we must all respect and adhere too.
Marcel Tardif
Establish A Plan For Internet Home Business Advertising
Unless you have a ton of money in your advertising budget and no concern about the future, spending it on any type of advertising probably will not hurt your wallet but it will not do your bottom line any good. Chances are, that your home business is not in a position where money is no object, and even if it is, it probably won't be if you continue to waste money on ineffective advertising campaigns.
When considering advertising on the internet, you will need a plan pertaining to what you want the advertising to accomplish and to whom the advertising should target. Once you have established what you hope to sell and who the potential customers are you will need to plan on the most effective methods of advertising for your home internet business in order to reach them.
Essentially, there are two basic types of advertising campaigns. The ad words shotgun approach, used by online marketers that involves throwing as big a message out and hoping it hits someone who is interested. The second is a more focused approach with key words to generate organic advertising and involves gearing the advertising to a specific type of customer, and it takes longer to use this approach but you have much more qualified customers.
Finding the product of the many that you offer that you want to advertise will also take some thinking. Here are some examples: Just because you have a glut of snow shovels in the warehouse does not mean that selling them at 20 percent off in July is going to move very many of them. Being more realistic, if you are selling women's shoes, consider the styles being offered and which segment of society would be more likely to wear them.
Once you have done your research on demographics as to who may be the most interested in that particular style of women's shoes, you will want to check your competition to see what prices at which they are being offered elsewhere. So on the internet you go to alexa.com and do a search on your competitor, make notes, then search on Google / Yahoo to see how they are advertising and words they use in their adds.
Now, consider where you can make the most impression to that demographic that is most likely to buy your shoes. You will need to consider online ads, targeted e mail broadcast ads and possibly the print media. It could be there will be potential customers available in all three arenas, and you might split your ad budget for the campaign among the three, based on the number of potential customers you expected to glean from each one.
The last part, and an important aspect of a good advertising plan is to track the effectiveness of your advertising. in your web site, when you get one, put in meta tags that Google and Yahoo and all the others supply you with and have them track your adds and supply you with a report that you can specify on either weekly or daily. If you get no response from one or all of the media outlets you chose, chances are it was the way the ad was built. If all response came from one segment of the media, do not instantly drop all others, as it could be the message you used was wrong for that venue revise constantly till it works, give each change one day or so to see what happens.
Marcel Tardif
Finding a Legitimate Home Based Business You Desire
If you are interested in taking control of your own future, spending more time with your family, or just to get out of your present job, especially considering today's economic conditions, you may decide that it is finally time to go into business for yourself. You will quickly realize that owning your own business is going to take a lot of hard work, and may not make the kind of money that you expected immediately. The most difficult part of the home business procedure is the part where you decide which business you would like to get involved with. Choosing the incorrect business can cause you to lose interest in it and maybe even give up the idea of owning your own business all together.
There are a few ways to tell if the business that you are about to get into is legitimate or not. One of them is to do research through a variety of sites or even contact a company such as the better business bureau. You should be able to find feedback from clients and even previous employees that will allow you to decide if the company that you will be affiliated with is a scam or not. Don't be afraid to take the time and physically call the company, you will be amazed what people will tell you when asked the right questions. You can find articles in popular magazines that list the legitimate businesses from the not so legitimate ones. There may also be a listing of home businesses in the advertisements in the back of the magazine. Try looking on parenting groups online as well. They usually have a list of businesses that some of the other parents have tried and you will receive legitimate feedback on the type of business that it really is. Word of mouth is also a great way to locate a legitimate business. Talk to friends or family members that have home based businesses and see who they are affiliated with. They will give you their honest opinion about the company that they work for and the positives and negatives that are associated with that business.
Jumping into a new business is not a good idea, even if they seem legitimate. You need to take out the emotional part and focus on making wise decisions and follow your first instincts they are usually the most correct. You want to be able to make your own schedule, and have flexibility, but you do not want to make decisions that can get you in trouble or that you have not considered thoroughly. Be open minded enough to ask your friends for and their thoughts and feedback (it is important to write everything down as a future resource), right down the pros and cons, then go forward informed. Do not feel pressured to join one business over another. The important part of working at a home based business is that you are satisfied with the work and that you are comfortably able to do the tasks that are required of you. You alone will know if the business is one that suits your personality and life style adequately. If you join a business that you do not enjoy or does not suit your tastes, you will find that it is hard for you to want to sell for that business and you will waste your own time in the process. Try a variety of home based businesses before you commit yourself to just one of them to earn a living.
Marcel Tardif
There are a few ways to tell if the business that you are about to get into is legitimate or not. One of them is to do research through a variety of sites or even contact a company such as the better business bureau. You should be able to find feedback from clients and even previous employees that will allow you to decide if the company that you will be affiliated with is a scam or not. Don't be afraid to take the time and physically call the company, you will be amazed what people will tell you when asked the right questions. You can find articles in popular magazines that list the legitimate businesses from the not so legitimate ones. There may also be a listing of home businesses in the advertisements in the back of the magazine. Try looking on parenting groups online as well. They usually have a list of businesses that some of the other parents have tried and you will receive legitimate feedback on the type of business that it really is. Word of mouth is also a great way to locate a legitimate business. Talk to friends or family members that have home based businesses and see who they are affiliated with. They will give you their honest opinion about the company that they work for and the positives and negatives that are associated with that business.
Jumping into a new business is not a good idea, even if they seem legitimate. You need to take out the emotional part and focus on making wise decisions and follow your first instincts they are usually the most correct. You want to be able to make your own schedule, and have flexibility, but you do not want to make decisions that can get you in trouble or that you have not considered thoroughly. Be open minded enough to ask your friends for and their thoughts and feedback (it is important to write everything down as a future resource), right down the pros and cons, then go forward informed. Do not feel pressured to join one business over another. The important part of working at a home based business is that you are satisfied with the work and that you are comfortably able to do the tasks that are required of you. You alone will know if the business is one that suits your personality and life style adequately. If you join a business that you do not enjoy or does not suit your tastes, you will find that it is hard for you to want to sell for that business and you will waste your own time in the process. Try a variety of home based businesses before you commit yourself to just one of them to earn a living.
Marcel Tardif
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