May 9, 2009 by DSM.

I have used e-mail myself, both the wrong way, and the right way.  There are different options you have to contact prospects, and to invite them to join your business.  E-mail is only part of the solution.  Here are some ways that e-mail does not work, and some ideas for how to use e-mail successfully.

== Broadcast e-mail marketing is 1 out of 1000 ==

Myself and others have done e-mail marketing in different ways, using special tools, and using various lead sources.  Sending 10,000 or 1 million will yield the same results, with only 1 out of every 1000 messages being read by someone.

These days spam protection is being used by AOL, Yahoo, Google, or MSN, or even in the corporate world.  They all have some form of filter that protects their users from people in all parts of the world, and from network marketing or as commonly called the “get rich quick” scams.

==Real world example ==

Since my current day job is in the corporate world as a Senior Computer Technician, we use a 3rd party service to protect our clients from having to deal with spam.  In April 2009, Company-ABC received 4,428,399 messages (yes that says 4 million) and only 18,091 were valid.

This is a 99.59% spam percentage.  A large part of the valid messages were caught in a daily spam report, unless the email address was whitelisted which bypasses the spam filters.

== Using e-mail invites is 1 out of 100 ==

Some MLM companies have an e-mail invite feature, which you can use to send broadcast e-mails to prospects.  Even with purchased lead lists, you will only receive about 1 or 2 notices out of every 100 invites you send, that someone visited your marketing website.

== Calling prospects is 1 out of 10 ==

For the last few months I have been receiving training as part of the Leaders Club - Individualized Success Plan (ISP).  It is personalized 1-on-1 & Live training, to review the skills you do have and those that you need to be successful.  As part of this process, I have started to take a serious look at my activities and their results, using tracking sheets and recording my own efforts.  Using the numbers from the last few months, I have been getting better results by following their proven techniques.

Since I am also in their Accountability Coaching Group calls, I am sharing what works and what does not work with the entire group and them with me.  With the Leaders Club - Daily Super Premium Leads, I receive 3 every day from people who in the last 24-48 hours filled out web forms requesting information.  After calling about 100 leads, I have personally connected with about 10 real people, and had a chance to discuss their interests and my business solutions.

==  Follow-up discussions are 1 on 1 ==

For every person that you develop a personal relationship with, they are 1,000% more likely to read your emails and to reply with their own questions.  Just make sure that they add your e-mail address to their spam filter, so every e-mail you send them is received.

Picking up the phone to call them will still have the best results, since you can discuss any of their questions.  Even using Instant Messaging programs like Skype, Yahoo, MSN Live, AIM, or GoogleTalk; will allow you to share ideas in real-time.

To improve the email delivery odds, you can use one of companies like AWeber Communications.  To setup your own autoresponder for web capture pages with email drip messages, newsletter notifications, or for your own team training.

== Summary ==

You can try the lottery and use the internet to send millions of messages to prospects, but you will not get many results nor will you receive the best outcome.  Even e-mail invites are still part of the same lottery, since our prospect is receiving invites from other businesses which are your competition for their attention.

Calling prospects is part of the old school approach to network marketing, which still has the best results even with everyone using the internet every day.  Starting your own Leaders Club training which is part of my Follow Our Lead team, you can learn how to be more successful.  Once you have developed a personal relationship with someone, you can still use e-mail but just for follow-up and to send new information for their own training.

…Darrin…

Check out Leaders Club for own business success training.  Here is a link to a free podcast about E-mail Marketing 101:

http://www.leadersclub.com/34542/email101/index.asp

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Posted in Leaders Club, Internet Advertising | Print | 1 Comment »

April 28, 2009 by DSM.

I joined a free program a few years ago called Follow Our Lead (FOL).  Here is some information about that site, why I joined, what is on the inside, about each of the programs (Empowerism, GDI, Hot Conference, Leaders Club), and how you can become part of our team.

Follow Our Lead was created by one of my mentors, Derek Bohlken.  I knew of Derek years ago when I was in his Retire Quickly downline before it evolved into Financial Freedom Society, and then finally died due to too many program changes or commission payment revisions.   Derek created the Follow Our Lead site to be a central place for all of us to get re-organized, and moving forward again with our network marketing business interests.

The site works on the premise that together everyone can achieve more than trying to do it all yourself.   We work as a team with Yahoo group discussions, weekly online conference room meetings, and sharing ideas about what is & what is not working.  Overall, I have been both a member of this group and a leader at different times sharing my personal experiences, just like I am doing in this blog.

Follow Our Lead consists of these four (4) different network marketing programs.  You can be a part of the group if you are in just one of them, or you can join all of them as a way of better managing your network marketing risk. They all provide different levels of training, or have tools you can use to help build your own online businesses.

• Empowerism

• Global Domains International (GDI)

• Hot Conference

• Leaders Club

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==What is on the inside==

The back office has daily training lessons to help you get started, with the best ways that we have found to build your interest and your own network marketing business.

You will find each of the links for the main Yahoo discussion group and the Yahoo tagging group.

There are audio archives from past meetings to help you learn more about the team, or meetings which were topic specific.

The team training meetings use Hot Conference, and we have meetings scheduled twice weekly online.

You can also use your own FOL site to help market each of the different businesses, use it for internet marketing, lead capture, and to provide contact information for your own team.

Depending on which programs you are in, you can select which marketing pages you want to use and enter your IDs.   Now you have one generic marketing page to help with your internet and follow-up marketing, and to help train your own downline.

==What are each of the different programs==

• Empowerism = Internet and email marketing training, SEO optimization, online tools, with additional lead purchase options.  $25 to get started, then just $20 a month.

• Global Domains International (GDI) = Only $10 a month which includes your own domain name (www.yourname.com), website hosting, and email.  It’s a network marketing business and website all together with some great marketing materials.

• Hot Conference = Is an internet software we use for the weekly FOL training meetings.  You can use this when prospecting to create your own online conference room, or for your own team training meetings.

• Leaders Club = Network marketing training and mentoring, 30-day trial, hundreds of hours of audio and video training topics.  Live weekly training sessions.  Just $50 a month for the training package.  More if you want regular, premium, or super premium leads.

==How to join Follow Our Lead==

To be a member of the team all you have to do is join one of the programs listed above.  If you are already a member, you can still join the team to check out what we have to offer before you join the other programs.  There is no-cost to check out our team, or to join our discussions.  There are no monthly fees to create or use your own Follow Our Lead website.

You can use the REGISTER link at the top of the webpage to get started, and to create your own Follow Our Lead site.

I look forward to seeing you in the weekly team meetings and asking questions in the Yahoo group.

…Darrin…
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Posted in Follow Our Lead, Leaders Club | Print | 1 Comment »

March 12, 2009 by DSM.

The Leaders Club has a lot of free training resouces, to help you understand all that they have to offer on the inside.  They have a weekly newsletter, CD’s and DVD’s, also online training materials in print, audio, and video.

Check it out for yourself:  http://LC-FreeTraining.Lazy-Mountain.info

Here is a detailed list of the items available on their Freebie page:

==>  Solving The 8 Greatest Challenges In Network Marketing

==>  The Top 10 Ways To Jump Start Your Network Marketing Business

==>  How To Use What You Already Have To Grow A Profitable Network Marketing Business

==>  Unstoppable Income: The 5 Elements of Network Marketing Success

==>  What Network Marketing Prospects Really Care About

==>  How To Evaluate A Network Marketing Company

==>  Why Your Support Team Is Critical To Your Success

==>  Creating A Comfortable Fit With Your Successful Future

==>  How To Get Experts To Help You Solve Your Specific Marketing Challenges

==>  The Truth About Network Marketing

==>  E-mail Marketing 101: The New Secret To Maximize Prospecting Results

==>  Leaders Club MarketingPower Network Marketing Newsletter

==>  MLM Income Calculator

==>  Network Marketing Survival Guide

Check it out for yourself:  http://LC-FreeTraining.Lazy-Mountain.info

…Darrin…
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Posted in Leaders Club | Print | 1 Comment »

March 5, 2009 by DSM.

This is copy-paste from a Leadersclub - Mastermind forum post.

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Well, as part of my Individualized Success Plan (ISP) - Week 1.  I need to post some information about why I joined Leadersclub, and what my plans are for the next 90 days.

I joined Leadersclub over a year ago, since it was part of a program list that my sponsor was using for network marketing business building and training.  At the time I already knew about Leadersclub from someone introducing it to me years before.

Once I first started to explore what Leadersclub had to offer, I was amazed to see all of the audios which were available for download or to listen to online.  That is part of what has kept me active for so long, by listening to the training I have been able to keep my interest high and also provides daily inspiration when needed.

I started the ISP process recently and still am in the first week of assignments.  My plans for the next 90 days are to start using prospecting & sales more as separate steps, rather than trying to sell everyone when I first contact them.  At the end of the 90 days, I will have a better understanding of the entire sales process, and will be able to sponsor more people into my business with less hassle and with better results.

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If you would like to learn about how to start your own Individualized Success Plan, here is a link/banner for my Leadersclub site.

http://LC-Success.lazy-moutain.info

For anyone who is already in Leadersclub, Global Domains International (GDI), Empowerism, or HotConference. Here is a link/banner to the Follow Our Lead team training site that I am a part of.

http://FOL.lazy-mountain.info

…Darrin…

Posted in Leaders Club | Print | No Comments »