Network Marketing Tools

Network Marketing is no different. When this type of Marketing first became popular back in the 1960's, times were different. And you didn't need sophisticated tools. In today's market they are absolutely essential.The Network Marketing Tools I would recommend are:1. Web Design software: like Dreamweaver, FrontPage, or if you're on a budget, you can get a free HTML Editor software called CoffeeCup.2. Squeeze Page or Lead Capture Page: Building a network marketing business in the internet age is all about capturing the contact information of interested prospects and have them directly loaded into your autoresponder so you can follow up with them.3. Autoresponder: This is one tool that you do not want to scrimp on. Two of the top autoresponder services today are Awebber and GetResponse. This tool will allow you to stay in contact with your prospects.4. Blog: The biggest thing in this business is your creditability. The best way to build your creditability is to have your own web site or blog. In my opinion a blog is the best option. Buy your own domain name from Godaddy or any other company that sells domains and set up a WordPress Blog.5. Video Camera: Now you don't need a real expensive video camera. You could use a WebCam, FlipCam and even some digital cameras come with a video option. If you are going to use a WebCam, buy a quality one from Logitech. You camnget one of there best WebCams for around $100. The reason I am listing this as one of my necessary Network Marketing Tools because video is a major player on the Internet and if you are not using video, believe me your competition is.These Network Marketing Tools will allow you to build a powerful lead attraction marketing system.

Essante Review - Is Mike Wenniger's Vision of Organic Products the Wave of the Future?

This Essante review is designed to offer a clear vision of what kind of opportunity this company presents to any home business owner that's really looking for a better way to not only make money, but a better way to live as well.It all starts with Michael Wenniger the CEO and founder of Essante Worldwide who is really a business visionary and has many extraordinary accomplishments to his resume. Essante translated from French means, "The essence of total health" and health doesn't just stop at the physical with Michael. It relates to the financial, physical, emotional and spiritual well being. This isn't something he's committed to, it's something he's absolutely passionate about.My encounter with Michael was by coincidence. Upon returning the call of a lead I had generated it was Michael on the other end of the phone, so this review comes more from personal experience than anything else. This man being committed to his cause and his company is an understatement to the highest degree. Never, and I mean never, have I spoken to a company leader who has more passion and vision for his company, products and people than Michael. If you've spoken to him personally, you know exactly what I mean.The PhilosophyThe company philosophy is to create and provide true green healthy living alternatives to the chemically filled products that people use every day. From what we ingest to what we put on our body, the vision of providing the first and best truly organic and wildcrafted products to be distributed on a world wide basis is Mr. Wenniger's vision and frankly, this is a man that says what he means and does what he says.The ProductsThe company first came on the scene with power pops. Touted as an all natural weight loss product that was easy to consume, all you had to do was to suck on a lollipop and lose weight. By attacking the huge weight loss market, the company made a name for itself with these all natural synergistic herbal blended pops that made losing weight possible for the masses by suppressing your appetite in a simple and convenient way.Since then, the product line has expanded greatly through products that alkalize your system, organic skin care, organic spa products, superfood protein products and more. Again, the commitment is to provide all organic alternatives for your body inside and out. Pretty challenging if you consider what's required to research and test these claims.The OpportunityThe pay structure is a binary pay plan. This is where you have two legs under you that you need to build. If you're fortunate enough to have business builders above you, you may receive spillover on one leg and just need to build the other cutting your organizational growth job in half.While binary programs have tremendous income producing potential to build income to infinity, they also have the same challenges as many other pay structures. On the plus side your income isn't limited to the size of some matrix pay structure. On the downside, you still need to be a business builder. Nothing happens without action.My ConclusionEssante worldwide has the products, the leadership and the global scope to be a business that any forward thinking networker should take a look at. With all of the marginal opportunities on the scene, this one is ahead of the pack in many, many ways and is extremely well funded to stand the test of time.That being said, taking action is the biggest hurdle for any networker. Your target market is other network marketers and building an organization in the fastest way possible is your goal. How do you go about it?The SystemAny networker in today's market that wants to be successful knows that you can't go out and do old school sponsoring of doing home parties and talking to friends or family to build a business. This business has evolved way beyond that concept. If you think that's fun, by all means keep it up, but you're missing the boat on how you can take a program like Essante and really build a huge income using the leverage of the internet.Your goal, no your mission, should be getting acquainted with all of the online tools to become a master at lead generation and affiliate marketing so that you have multiple sources of income while building your business that generates leads for your business at the same time.A lead generating funnel system takes time to learn and put into place, but the few months of learning will provide you with a lifetime of income for any opportunity you pursue. It allows you to build credibility in the marketplace and to position yourself as a leader instead of a follower in the networking business and that's your ultimate goal.

How to Pick a Direct Sales Opportunity

In today's economic downturn while retail stores are struggling to stay alive, many direct sales companies are doubling or tripling their business. If you are considering joining the ranks of the over 15 million people in the United States who are independent consultants in direct sales companies, the information in this article may save you time, energy and money.Whatever your reason for considering a direct sales position, you need to know how much money you will net and how much time you will have to invest in order to earn it. It is possible to spend more money with your company than you are netting from sales and commissions. There are hidden costs to being in direct sales that you may discover only over time - unless you know the questions to ask up front, many of which are listed below.Company Reputation:One of the best resources to help with the search for the right company is the website of the Direct Sales Association. This organization represents the top direct sales companies in the United States and has a Code of Ethics to which member companies must adhere. For more information, you might want to search the Internet for the company name and words like "fraud" and "lawsuit." Do you know an independent consultant in this company? What is his/her professional reputation? Is the product high quality, and can you represent it passionately and knowledgeably?Up-Front Costs:Up-front costs include the initial investment (what does it include?), additional samples you are expected to purchase (how often, costs, can you "earn" them?) and sales supplies (how often do new catalogues come out?). They could also include business cards and items to display your wares (clothes racks, jewelry cases, display boxes, etc.) Do you have adequate computing power, including current software, to manage your new business?Hidden Costs:Hidden costs may include administrative fees (what is covered?), credit card processing fees, shipping fees and restocking fees on returns. If the company offers "host" awards for the host/hostess who has an event for you, who pays for the awards (does it come out of your commission)? Does the company provide a personal website and/or e-newsletter, and if so, what do they charge for them?Compensation:What is your initial compensation on sales, and can it increase? How much are you committed to sell to stay "authorized"? Is there a penalty if you miss that quota? What is the average sales of an event/party (what is your take-home)? What is the commission plan for recruiting (how many people, what does it take for them to stay active so you are paid on them, do you have to increase your recruiting to maintain a team commission)? Is there a quota on you or your team to receive commissions? What happens to your status if you miss a certain time period of achieving that quota? Is there a bonus program (is it achievable)?Leadership/Training:What type of training program is available through the company? What is the expectation for a manager or leader for their mentoring/training of the recruits? Are managers/leaders encouraged to continue to sell, or do they "retire" on commission from their recruits? What is their incentive to stay active in sales?The answers to these questions vary significantly across direct sales organizations, and if you don't ask before you invest your time and energy in the company, you may find out several months later that you can't make a decent income because of the hidden costs and penalties. If you can't find the answers to these questions from the company, ask the person who wants to recruit you. If the answers to the above questions are positive, the company won't mind sharing them with you, and if no one is willing to provide straight answers, you know not to invest your time and resources.

Competition Bashing is Bad For Your Image

Someone approached me on Facebook and was trying to get me to look at her product. When I wasn't interested, she used totally the wrong approach!This woman sells a nutritional product. I told her I am quite happy with the products I use because I feel great. She proceeded to tell me about all of the great independent research on her product, and said that my company has no research (I never told her what products I take, she is making an assumption based on something.) When I told her that how I feel is the most important thing to me, she told me that my feeling great is simply the placebo effect. Can you imagine? How arrogant! When I told her that her approach is all wrong, she called me closed-minded and said she felt sorry for me! Man, oh man, where do I begin?Now, a lack of independent research would not prove that a product is ineffective. But that's not the point. The point is that bashing the competition:
Reflects poorly on you as an individual
Reflects poorly on your company
Reflects poorly on the industry
The first point is rather obvious; my mother always said, "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."How does it reflect poorly on your company? Well, people in MLM talk about duplication all of the time. It means that you teach your people how to market, they teach their people the same techniques, and so on. So it's reasonable to assume that she learned this from her upline, who learned it from their upline, and so on. I have in fact heard other distributors from her company talk about their research. I just never heard them go so far as to use the placebo effect argument. So, I don't know for sure if she came up with that on her own or if someone taught her, but the possibility exists that she was taught. In any company, when you see someone using a particular tactic, you wonder if they devised it on their own or if the company is responsible for teaching people to do it that way.As far as the industry goes, if people see lots of distributors bashing each other's company, they begin to assume our industry is just like politics. How do most people feel about politicians? They trust them about as far as they can throw them. Why? Because they are always engaged in mud-slinging. In any sales situation, if you spend more time slinging mud at the competition than you do explaining the benefits of what you offer, people wonder if you do in fact offer anything of value!When someone says they are happy with their current product, the proper response is, "that's great, I am glad you found something you like." If someone mentions they are considering another product or company, if you have heard that some people like it, the proper response is "I have heard they have a good product too" or "I know some people who love that company." If you have never heard of that product or company you could say, "I haven't heard of that one, but there are many great products on the market" or "there are many good companies to consider." Then proceed to focus on the benefits of your product or company without bashing anyone else's!This approach will gain you respect, and make you appear very confident. They will be thinking, "if she is willing to compliment another company, her company must really be great!"

Internet Network Marketing by Email - The Subject Line Matters

Internet network marketing is work. There is no two ways about it. It takes time to research the best places to market, time to write the ad copy, time to put the ad copy into the autoresponder and time to monitor and analyze an ad's performance.Most internet marketers try an email campaign and do not have too much success getting people to open and respond to the email. Here are some things you can do to entice your reader to open the email and read your offer.Your Subject LineIt is crucial that what you write for your subject be punchy and appealing. Stay away from exaggerated claims and outright lies. Do not claim to be someone you are not. We have all had emails with subjects that say things like "You have won..." or "Re: Your Electric Bill." Not only are they annoying, any kind of lying is not ethical and will not build goodwill with your email list.Do not yell at your potential customer by using ALL CAPITAL LETTERS IN YOUR SUBJECT LINE. As you can see, the effect of using all capital letters is quite jarring.Give the potential customer something that is really valuable that he or she can use immediately. Announce the free gift in your subject line staring with the word "free, " such as "Free pet food discount code inside"Start your subject line with the word "stop, " as in "STOP! Free software program to automate your email list." People are conditioned to follow the "stop" command. The customer may not open your email (unless you have a punchy, enticing subject line following the word "stop"), but they will almost automatically read any subject followed by the word "stop." They just cannot help themselves.Asking your potential customers a question in the subject line is also a good way to encourage them to open and read your email. Something like "Do you suffer from ________?" or "How long has it been since you __________?"Begin the subject line with the email recipient's name. You can set your email autoresponder to do this automatically for each email address. Make sure you enter the variable field correctly. The variable field may differ from these examples of variable fields: {fname}, {name}.Be authentic and ethical in all of your Internet network marketing. Keep in mind your long-term goal is to build trust and good will between the people on your list and yourself. So, make your subject lines catchy and enticing without resorting to exaggeration or outright lying.

Lia Sophia Review - Is the Lia Sophia Opportunity the Right Fit For Your Home Business?

Overview Of The Lia Sophia BusinessLia Sophia is a company that sells woman's jewelry. They've been in business for over 30 years and they're a member of the Direct Selling Association (DSA). A great thing about Lia Sophia is that they offer all their customers a life time replacement of all their jewelry.My main goal is to discuss Lia Sophia's business opportunity so that you can decide for yourself if this is the right fit for your home based business.How To Get StartedIn order to become a Lia Sophia advisor, you must pay $149 for the starter kit. The kit includes the following:1. 24 pieces of jewelry which is around $1,000 worth of jewelry.2. Display trays, display cloth, carrying case3. Product Catalogs.4. Training material for you as a distributor. 5. Marketing materials for home parties.There is enough equipment in the starter kit for up to 5 home parties. Home parties are hosted by a customer that is interested in your products. An interested customer will host a home party at their house so that you can come over to talk to people about your products. The customer that hosts the home party will receive various discount rewards off jewelry. The interested customer will invite family and friends to see what you have to offer. These home parties are the backbone of an advisor's business.Also, if you want to have a Lia Sophia pre-built web site it will cost you $9.95 a month.Lia Sophia Compensation PlanLike all MLM companies, you will earn a commission of the sales you make as a distributor. Also, you get rewarded for recruiting and training people on your team. The majority of your income is going to come from the performance of your sales team. Your ability to create a training program that duplicates success is vital to your financial performance. It's known with a MLM business you will get paid for your team's efforts.As an advisor you will receive 30% sales commissions from the home parties you attend. Also, if you recruit enough people on your team you can get to the Manager level, which will allow you to receive 10% from the sales generated by your team.Lia Sophia TrainingIf you become a Lia Sophia advisor you are trained one on one by your sponsors. You can also get additional training from live and recorded web classes.Lia Sophia is teaching their advisors how to utilize old marketing techniques. Lia Sophia advisors will get their customer leads through people they know like family, friends, and close associates. They will then try to sell or promote their jewelry products to these people. Also, they will use word of mouth to gather additional customer leads. Advisors will set up home parties with people that agree for an advisor to come over to their house and give a presentation about their products. The person hosting the home party will invite his or her friends. From there a Lia Sophia advisor will promote their product at the home party and will do the following:1. Allow prospects to sample products. 2. Try to sell prospects the products. 3. Try to recruit people into the business opportunity. 4. Set up additional home parties with prospects that are interested in hosting a home party.So it's up to you to decide if this is a marketing process you are comfortable with. This is the old way of marketing. The new methods of marketing are to utilize the power of the internet by marketing online. Utilizing these methods extends your customer based beyond your local area. The internet is a much bigger market and doing online advertising will allow you to get in contact with only people that are already interested in what you have to sell. Some online marketing strategies include the following:1. Create capture web pages and sales web pages so people get to know who you are, what you do, and learn what value you are giving to them. This will allow your customers to develop trusting relationships with you without physically meeting you. Creating this relationship can then lead people to buy your products on your web site or even join your primary business opportunity.2. Utilizing a pay per click campaign will allow you to get traffic to your web site so people can check you out and possibly purchase what you have to offer.3. Article writing and video creation are two means of communication that allow people to see what you have to offer and to see how much expertise you have in your field. The key is to help people solve their business problems for free without expecting anything in return. But what you'll get in return is some people's trust and loyalty to you and your products. These people can even end up being actual customers or even team member within your organization.These are just a few of the things you can do to attract people online to you, your business opportunity, and the products you have to offer all from the comfort of your own home.Now if you don't mind driving to home shows and presenting your products to people and you don't mind using old marketing techniques because you believe it will work for you then Lia Sophia can be right for you. And it can work for you because there are other people committed to the Lia Sophia opportunity that are making a legitimate income. But if you want to be in an opportunity that is going to show you how to leverage the power of the internet and utilize smart online marketing techniques then the Lia Sophia opportunity may not be the right fit.ConclusionThere is no Lia Sophia scam. You can definitely succeed in this business. But you have to decide for yourself if their marketing methods are something you are willing to commit to. Remember it's known that Lia Sophia advisors will make the majority of their sales through home parties. So it is up to you to find customers that are willing to host a home party for you to promote your products at. Your business is going to be based on word of mouth. Now if that is something you are comfortable with then this is an opportunity that fits you. However, if you're a person that is looking to utilize online marketing techniques to attract a bigger market outside of your local area, then you should consider looking at what other opportunities are offering so that you can learn how to extend your customer base online.

People Looking For an MLM Opportunity

People looking for an MLM opportunity may be looking for many reasons. Here is a list of a few that came to my mind:1) Be self employed so they can quit their "job".2) Have financial freedom.3) Have more time for family and vacations.4) Have no commute time.5) Work at something they enjoy.6) Get a job because they are unemployed.Okay, I could go on but you get my point, the reasons why could full up this page. The list of companies could also fill up this page. There are currently over twenty-seven hundred network marketing companies in business, so looking for the right company to start with can be overwhelming.First and foremost, you should align yourself with a company who has a product or service that you can get excited about and believe in. If you are going to be representing this product your potential customers will feel your excitement or lack thereof, so pick one you can charged up about.Second, you should look at the management team running the company. Do they have a previous track record as someone who has run a company before? Do they actually have network marketing experience? Do they have vision for the company's future and do they value their distributors?Thirdly, is the company solid financially or laden with debt? Being able to pay their distributors on time is essential along with having money set aside to spend on research and development of new product lines.Fourth, is the product they distribute in high demand and will it continue to be in the future? This can make or break a company if they have not planned sufficiently to introduce new products in the future that appeal to the public.Fifth, and probably the most important is what kind of compensation plan do they offer their members? There are so many different pay plans out there now that this should be one of your main focuses after verifying the above aspects. How many down line members do you need to have to generate a yearly six figure income? This is where it can make a huge difference. There are some companies where fifteen to twenty down line members can generate you this kind of income, while hundreds or even thousands are required for other companies. Beware, you need to do you due diligence, this is extremely important!Finding the right MLM opportunity is important. Doing your research before signing up with the company will save you a lot of headaches and put you on track to building the business of your dreams.