Noah's Ark - Cruising To Success

Lemon Aid Lady Teleseminar

2010-06-22T12:03:00.000-05:00

Image by Brave Heart via Flickr

I've gotten a few of this gals resources - unique ideas and she's very good!
Annette

Do you know what serious money is?

Anything with a COMMA!!

That would be starting at $1,000!

Are you serious about making serious
money in your business???

The way to do so is by booking AND
holding parties (two different activities).

For an initial investment of just

$30.00

you will learn the creative, customer-
focused tips beginning TONIGHT

at the firsts of EIGHT LIVE INTERACTIVE
WORKSHOPS

PRESENTATIONS FOR PROFITS PLUS! (click here for more info)

Here's what you learn tonight and/or
Thursday morning:

   * Give value at your presentations
   so people will line up to be on your calendar

   * Become a tower of wisdom
    so your hosts will be eager to introduce
    you to their friends

   *Offer guest lists with a TWIST
    so prospective hosts won’t hesitate to book

   * Be sure hosts invite these five groups of
     people everyone knows

   * Present each host with an inviting tool
     so she’ll keep promoting her party

     Note: Please bring one of your company’s
     catalogs to this class

If you can't join us live you need not
be present to learn as one of the
FREE BONUSES will be a

Lemon Aid
Class Access Pass

for each of the
workshops so you have a permanent
recording of all the workshops.

HERE MY LEMON AID GUARANTEE:

If you don't LOVE the new ideas you'll hear
tonight (or Thursday morning), I'll refund
your thirty bucks and you can keep the
FREE electronic bonus files AND take
advantage of the $10.00 offer and free
shipping on the Presentations for Profits
book. Simply send me an e-mail by
Thursday night, June 24, and your money will be
refunded no questions asked.

Click here for more info and to register:

If you're serious about booking and holding
parties (I'll explain the difference), get
serious and have fun learning how to build
your business without bribing and begging.

See you at the workshop!

Sweet Successes,

Lemon Aid Lady
Christie Northrup

Breaking it down - Win that cruise!!!

2010-05-26T16:18:00.000-05:00

Image by ecstaticist via Flickr

There are two main cruise requirements to win this year:

1. A minimum of $100 wholesale product orders in each of the cruise qualifications months. That means you have to order at least $232 RETAIL product not including the members love it or promo animals (those only count half). So make sure you're order numbers are correct or you might not get it!

2. 8 qualified recruits over the cruise qualification months - June, July, August, September. That is 2 recruits a month.

Now, let's break that down a little further. Industry wide in order to get one person to sign up for your business you need to talk to at least 10 people who express an interest. And about 1 in 10 people who you randomly talk with might be interested in your business. That means if you're being random, you need to be handing out 200 or more flyers, business cards, anything per month to get some interested people in your pipeline.

You can squeeze those numbers a little by being more focused in your networking - but overall, since these recruits need to sign on the dotted line AND purchase product within the qualification period, you really do need to talk to that many new people.

But this isn't hard... it really isn't. It's just a matter of DOING IT! This is where your cuddlez backpack and those nifty keychains will come in very very handy.

Get a bunch of keychains - 200 for each month of the contest (I know - that's a lot). Put a sticker on each one that says something about how great our business is with your contact information on it. If you don't want to invest that much in keychains then get creative and make a flyer - ANYTHING - but make at least 200 of them.

Now each month has about 20 work days or so (taking 2 days off a week). So that means on the days that you're "on" you need to hand out at least 10 of those keychains or flyers to someone breathing. And if that someone who is breathing isn't interested then have THEM pass it on to someone they know who might be!

Be aggressive and email 10 more people a day - one at a time - not in bulk - with a very personal note from you and a plea to please let you know if they know of anyone who loves kids and would enjoy a fabulous home business. Do it! Between those two things you'll have people funneling through your information pipeline in no time.

But the key is PERSISTENCE. And you must be CONSISTENT. Don't give up if the first 10 people don't show interest right away. We're talking averages here. It may take a couple of months to get some people to sign. But I do know that you won't get ANYONE to sign if you're not talking to people so ...

Who is with me???

Let's do this!

Whoo hoooooo!!!

Convention 2010 slideshow

2010-05-17T12:29:00.000-05:00

Noah's Ark Workshop Convention 2010

Well I didn't get as many pictures as I'd like because half the time I had Pete's camera (much nicer than mine) in hand. Hopefully he'll share some with us all soon!

Anyway, here are the pics I took at convention - enjoy!

2004 Catalog - a Trip Down Memory Lane!

2010-04-26T15:30:00.000-05:00

I found this old catalog - the very first one we had. So fun! 11 animals total and 10 outfits. And we did a bang up business in those days - it was amazing.

It was just a reminder to me to get back to the basics - talk to people, share the excitement!

Have a great week!
Annette

Spring S.T.A.R Team Building Checklist To Be Bigger and Retain Better This Summer

2010-04-05T08:34:00.000-05:00

by Barb Girson

It's spring! The sun is out.

Spring with all of the beauty brings some important business considerations.

Read on for a handy checklist to help Leaders build bigger, stronger teams this spring and retain them through the summer.

When I started in direct sales it took me a few years of experiencing the ups and downs and effects of the season to understand the necessary shifts needed as a Leader.

Most of the seasonal shifts were related to the impact of seasonal sports that our daughters got involved with (i.e. softball, cheerleading, roller derby). Plus when and how to schedule business appointments, home parties and recruit interviews was often determined by whether the children were in school or out of school. Without foresight, the schedule that was going smoothly and in a groove would not work. The business demands would pull at me and create an internal conflict. Not only was this shift in my own family, it would affect my team and customers.

Over time I developed systems that helped me to meet the needs of my business and my family. The internal pull was replaced with pleasure and I became more effective at guiding my Leaders to get their business in a flow. They in turn were not only more successful and more productive; they were pleased with their choices.

Use this checklist to help you enjoy this season and get on top of the seasonal shifts coming your way.

Spring S.T.A.R Team Building Checklist
___1. Think Shorter, Simpler and Springy - Talk to your team about the importance of having a spring/ summer approach during their home parties. Shorter, lighter (carry less), more casual, take less time.
___2. Be Prepared - Prepare your team for customer hurdles to booking appointments, recruit interviews and events. Discuss how to respond to the challenge that spring sports schedules, birthdays, graduations and shortly thereafter, vacation pose. Help them understand the difference between an excuse and a challenge or objection.
___3. Be Alert - Watch for signs of team members who start to disengage. They worked earlier in the year and start to fade. Reach out to them.
___4. Recruit now - Recruit a fresh group of spring team members. Like the flowers that bloom and bring us color, the new team members will bring a fresh outlook and energy to your team.
___5. Set Recruiting Goals - Set a specific recruiting goal to reach in the next 8 weeks.
___6. Target Teachers - Think about what workers/industries have the summer off. Teachers are one group to target for spring recruiting. Challenge your team. (I was recruited a fateful spring on a bad day of teaching!) If they cannot be recruited, offer them to be a Host.
___7. Set Up Schedules - Plan a spring team meeting to share tips on how to set up schedules for the summer. Encourage your team to swap ideas for summer camps, swim lessons and sustaining their business.
___8. Challenge and Celebrate - Consider kicking off a 3 month team challenge. Celebrate consistent success.
___9. Team Bonding means Team Building - The team that plays together; stays together. Schedule a fun family outing or picnic by geographic area. We used to have an annual organization 'Zoo Day'. Everyone brought their families and we had a huge picnic. It was fun and our children grew up together.
___10. Keep Your Expectations High - With planning it does not need to be a choice between two loves - business or family; help your organization be ready to handle both.
______________
© 2010 All Rights Reserved. Barb Girson Original Work

About The Author
Barb Girson, International Direct Selling Industry expert, trainer and coach, is a highly interactive, creative speaker; author offering professional skill development programs for workshops, leader retreats, annual conventions; teleclass training programs. Custom programs /Coaching 1:1 available.

Barb Girson helps companies, teams & entrepreneurs gain confidence, get into action, & most importantly... grow sales.

To get coaching to help you build your team bigger and retain them better ...Register now for S.T.A.R Team Building skill development program. To sign up for Barb Girson's next FREE sales training teleclass / join her free email list; get 'Sales Strategies that Stick' ezine, Visit http://www.MySalesTactics.com to learn more.

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

Setting up a Blog - Here's a checklist for you!

2010-03-05T15:08:00.001-06:00

I just got my hands on this blog setup checklist from TechBasedTraining. It is very nicely outlined, covering many of the bases of a typical WordPress setup. Lynette Chandler, who is behind the training center has kindly allowed me to share the checklist so you can enjoy it too. Thanks Lynette!

And now, here is the download link for the blog setup checklist.
(That link goes to google docs where you can download at anytime.)

How to Order through your back office

2010-02-08T11:29:00.000-06:00

Here's a quick screen capture video I did to help new team members feel comfortable with the online ordering process in our Noah's Ark Workshop back office. Feel free to share this with your teams:

<a href="http://www.linkedtube.com/k3vfPLaZt0E5a473cd6d1b610d6171e5ff21107e430.htm">LinkedTube</a>

Recruiting Video

2010-01-22T16:30:00.002-06:00

Here is a glimpse of our new Noah's Ark workshop recruiting video. Enjoy!

<a href="http://www.linkedtube.com/XgXr6LoQkzU1779f65290d3740d4c0e573e846fcae2.htm">LinkedTube</a>

Noah's Ark Leaders and Music Appreciation

2010-01-16T21:33:00.001-06:00

Powerful stuff this...

I love classical music but this gentleman puts a spin on music appreciation and I immediately thought of the Noah's Ark Worskhop team.

See what you think:

Please leave your comments below - I'd love to hear

Other resources by Benjamin Zander you might enjoy:

The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life

Charlie Rose with Rick Pitino; Maxwell Anderson; Benjamin Zander (February 9, 2000)

And by Chopin in case you want to hear more! :)

Arthur Rubinstein - Chopin 19 Nocturnes (Vol. 49)

Marketing Talk - Very funny AND very good

2009-12-18T09:31:00.000-06:00

My husband sent me the link to this video this morning. The guy talking is very funny but the information really is GOOD and can be applied to our business - our Noah's Ark service - most definitely.

I especially enjoyed the "Shreddies" bit toward the end - very funny and amazing at the same time!

Enjoy!

More resources for you:

Goal Getting

2009-12-18T08:25:00.005-06:00

Image by Kristian D. via Flickr

We're getting close to January 1 so I thought I'd repost an article I wrote a few years ago about "goal getting". I hope you enjoy it! Annette

Goal Getting - An Alternate Way To Approach Your Direct Sales
Business.
By Annette Yen

In my many years of Party Plan direct selling I have seen it
time and time again... women come home from their annual
convention fired up, determined that by next year they'll be
able to walk the stage in the top 10, earn the cruise and have
enough income to purchase their dream home on the ocean. It is
great to come home motivated and excited about your company.
Having big dreams is a wonderful thing!

Sometimes, however, it's just not realistic for the average
WAHM who wants a life outside of her business. Because she has
just heard some wonderful goal setting advice from the top
leaders in our company she sets those wonderful goals, posts
them on the fridge with a picture of the dream home circled in
red pen and she looks at them every day.

But the reality of it is, many work at home moms have life
boundaries that they are unwilling to cross. And those
boundaries will make it very difficult to achieve even one of
those goals. Because of this, unfortunately, many women who
could have a wonderful and fulfilling career in direct sales
quit because the goals they've set are just plain unrealistic
for where they are in life. Instead of enjoying the benefits of
a business with the freedom and flexibility to earn some money
while still living the rest of life, they assume they've failed
because the unrealistic goal was just that... unrealistic for
now.

That said, if you're a mom like me who has a full life with
other involvements and time commitments that you are unwilling
to shelve even temporarily for your direct sales business, you
might enjoy an unorthodox approach to goal setting. I like to
call it Goal Getting.

With Goal Getting you are looking at your life and determining
exactly what you can expect from your Direct Sales business
based on your priorities and life commitments. Basically, you're
working backward from the usual goal setting process.

First, let's lay some groundwork. If you are married, talk with
your husband about your schedule. If you were to say to him,
"Honey, I'm planning on being out four nights a week for the
next 6 months so I might earn a cruise," what will he say? What
about three nights? Two nights? Is one night a week or even one
night a month the more realistic schedule for you? You can
always come back to him after you've written down your schedule
(see next step) to add in an extra day or two or more.

Now, here's where the work comes in. If you don't already have
a master family calendar, it's time to get one! Get a nice big
calendar with room to write in each day of the month. Pull out
all the schedules you have, school, church, mom's groups, bunco
nights, etc, and put them all on there for as many months out as
you can. Do you have date nights with your hubby regularly (if
not, you should... but we'll save that for another day)? Is
there a TV show that you absolutely will not miss for ANYTHING
and are not willing to record? Be realistic here ladies...some
moms come into a business and say, "Oh, I can sacrifice
'Survivor' to do a party" but then the first time a party comes
along on that night, and they resent having to give it up. Do
yourself a favor and admit it...and schedule around it!

Do not just look at evening activities, but write in the
daytime stuff too. Think through a typical week for your family.
You want a realistic picture of what is there. So few women do
this but it's a worthy exercise no matter what home business you
are in but particularly with Direct Sales where being away from
home for a party or workshop is a given.

Now, take that full calendar back to your husband and work
together with him to determine how many and which nights would
be best for you to be away. Meet with the rest of the family and
talk over what this is going to look like so everyone is on the
same page.

The groundwork is laid...now let's GET the goals...

1. Find out from your company what their average party/workshop
sales are. This will likely be your average too and even if your
totals are higher, use this average for the goal getting process
since it will allow for cancellations, reschedules and the like.

2. Based on your commission structure, and basic costs of doing
business, determine how much you'll take home from an average
party.

3. Multiply that number by the amount of parties you've
determined you can do in any given month.

Ok, now what do you think of that number? Not bad, huh? Do you
want it to be higher? Talk with your family again and see if
there are any changes that can be made, but remember that those
changes will mean sacrifices in other areas of your life. That's
fine but just remember that you cannot have it all!

Although many hope for it, most in the home party plan business
will not reach the $100,000 annual achievers club and the
company incentive trip while still being the president of the
PTA, singing in the church choir, being the Girl Scout Troop
leader, having a date night with your husband and maintaining a
spotless house where husband comes home to every night to a
rested wife ready to meet his every need!

However, even with a full life, you CAN make a nice additional
income, purchase your own products and gifts for others at a
discount and maybe even earn an incentive or two. And who knows,
when the kids are older and the scout troop no longer needs you
as leader, you can add a party or two to your schedule and earn
that cruise.

More Resources for you:
The Magic Lamp: Goal Setting for People Who Hate Setting Goals
Goal Setting Forms : Tools to Help You Get Ready, Get Set, & Go for Your Goals!
Make Success Measurable!: A Mindbook-Workbook for Setting Goals and Taking Action

Another good tip for this time of the year

2009-12-17T08:19:00.003-06:00

Image by Premier Packaging via Flickr

This was part of a post in my inbox this morning:

December is the month to shine in the customer service department. For those of you with end of the year inventory to clear your shelves of, why not throw in complementary gift wrapping as an added extra?

The article also mentioned that statistically MOST people still have not done their gift shopping yet on DECEMBER 19th!!!

If you have Noah's Ark Workshop inventory in your stock, contact your customer base today - offer priority shipping and gift wrapping (roll that into the price of course).

Go nuts! Sell sell sell! (oh the pressure!) :)

Business a little slow?

2009-12-15T14:45:00.005-06:00

Image by sigsegv via Flickr

Use the slower times of the year to generate web sales or sales from our in house inventory.

Host a "mystery hostess" phone party, have a "order online and get something for free from me" sale day or, if you're ambitious, host a "thank you for working with me this year" open house at your home for all your past party moms, day care directors and more. Serve munchies and hot cocoa, have them decorate their own animal tshirt or something similar and shower them with love!

Don't have many customers or past hostesses? Well then, use the same concept to get new customers with new customer specials, sales and the mystery hostess party concept!

Thoughts? Other ideas?

8 Ways To Advertise Your New Direct Sales Business Online

2009-11-17T19:49:00.000-06:00

8 Ways To Advertise Your New Direct Sales Business Online

8 Ways To Advertise Your New Direct Sales Business Online by Shelly Hill

When it comes to starting a new Direct Sales home business, there are many things you can do immediately to start promoting your business online.

Here are a few ideas that you can start today that don't cost a lot of money.

1. Set up signature tags in your email program. Make sure every outgoing piece of email has your new web site link attached to the bottom of it.

2. If you belong to any online forum boards or networking groups, update your forum profiles to include your new business link and update your forum signature tags.

3. Find a few online web sites that have similar content to yours. Contact those site owners about doing a link exchange. It is very important to only exchange links with similar web sites.

4. Start a free business blog. There are many sites online that offer free blogs, Blogger and Wordpress are two of the most popular blogging platforms online. It important for your blog to provide valuable information that you think your customers or blog visitors will want to read.

5. If you are not already networking on the popular networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, LinkedIn or Ning, I suggest you pick one or two of those sites and set up a profile page. You will want to include your personal and business information on your profile and then get busy posting and making some new business contacts.

6. Get your business listed in a few online business directories. You can go to any online search engine and do a keyword search to find directories that appeal to you and your needs. Some of these directories will charge a small fee to get listed and some will require a link exchange.

7. If you enjoy writing, you can try your hand at article marketing. You don't need to be a professional writer, you just need good spelling and grammar skills. For article marketing to work, you need to write quality articles within your business niche. Once you have completed a few articles, submit them to a few article directories.

8. Contest sponsoring is another great way to get your business name and products out onto the world wide web. To find them, go to your favorite search engine and do a keyword search for contests, sweepstakes and blog contests. You don't need to donate a big expensive prize, a lot of the web sites looking for sponsors, usually except a prize donation of less than $25.00 retail cost.

When it comes to advertising your new Direct Sales home business online, it is important to educate yourself on what works and doesn't work. You can find numerous online web sites with Direct Sales articles and business tips to help guide you on a successful advertising path.

Shelly Hill has been working from home in Direct Sales since 1989 and is a Manager with Tupperware. Shelly Co-Owns a work at home business resource site with her business partner Sophia at http://www.workathomebusinessoptions.com for additional articles and home business tips. You can also contact Shelly at http://my.tupperware.com/Ravish30

Article Source: WAHM Articles

Who Wants To Be a Captain - Handouts and info

2009-08-08T21:26:00.002-05:00

Image by suttonhoo via Flickr

Anyone who is interested in participating in the Noah's Ark Workshop "Who Wants To Be A Captain?" challenge can do so - talk to your direct upline to see if she's involved and if not, check with HER upline to see as well. I'll be posting here and will upload any handouts to the yahoo group site (if you're not part of that group fill out the form here: groups.yahoo.com/group/cruisingtosuccess).

There were two handouts this evening from Dina. The first is the 100 names contact list form. This is a blank pdf with memory joggers to help you think of a list of 100 names of people who might be interested in workshops, parties and/or the business. This not just a "warm contacts" list - although it does include some of that. As you know our business is not geared toward getting all your friends and their friends to have a home party. But it's a great working list that you can change and add to as the year goes on.

The second handout is the summary of the 2x2 program that goes along with this challenge.

I encouraged our team to get a 3 ring notebook specifically for this 12 month challenge and to print off everything that comes to us that applies. It'll be great to have it all in one place and will help you to focus during "work hours" on your goals for the program.

I also think that Mary Christensen's "booking bracelets" would be a fun twist to this. Pull out your notebook, put on how ever many bracelets as tasks that you want to accomplish for the day and each time you check off a task, switch a bracelet to the opposite arm.

I'm excited! Hope you all are too!

Who Wants To Be a Captain?

2009-08-07T08:38:00.002-05:00

Image by lissalou66 via Flickr

Last night on the 2x2 recruiting call Dina, Pete and Johnny gave those on the call the chance to participate in the "Who Wants To Be a Captain" challenge.

With accountability meetings(calls), specific action steps and more the goal is to reach Captain status in our career plan in 12 months.

Who is in? It's perfect for this group since our original purpose was to help earn the incentive cruise and the steps are the same - so who wants to play?

Attend the webinars...

2009-08-06T09:49:00.003-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

Just a quick post.

I want to encourage you guys to try to attend as many of the Noah's Ark home office webinars and meetings as you can and encourage your teams to do so as well. It's a great way to stay on top of the business and keep your skills sharp which helps when you're recruiting future team members too.

There are two webinars today, Thursday August 6, 2009.

Comprehensive Marketing Strategies at 1:00 p.m. central time
and
Advance Recruiting Techniques at 7:30 p.m. central time

Check your Tuesday See Worthy for the registration links if you haven't registered already. "See" you there!

Intangible Services or Tangible Programs?

2009-07-07T09:04:00.003-05:00

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Another great article!

==========================================
Intangible Services or Tangible Programs?
by Robert Middleton
==========================================

Imagine walking into a car dealership looking for a new car. As
usual, a bunch of salespeople are standing around and one of
them comes up to you and asks if they can help you.

You say you're looking for a new car.

And they respond as follows: "What we sell here is transportation.
We provide an enclosed metal vehicle which is powered by an
internal combustion engine. This technology was developed in the
early 1900's and now has advanced considerably. How much
transportation are you looking at getting today?

You: Well, I'm just looking for a car. Can I take a look at some?

Salesperson: First we'll need to talk to you about all your needs,
the specifications for ideal transportation and then put together a
proposal that would meet your needs. We'll have that within a
week and then help you choose the best transportation options.

You: Er... let me think about it. (to self: get me outta here!)

I know this is ridiculous. You'd never sell cars like that. But if you
really think about it, this is very much how professional services
are are marketed and sold.

What was missing in our example was an actual, tangible car that
you could see and touch and test drive.

And what's missing in marketing and selling services is something
tangible, measurable, and even test drive-able.

One of the things you should strive to do in marketing and selling
your services is to make your services more tangible. When they
are tangible you'll tend to see the following results:

1. Clients and customers will make decisions more quickly. They
will know what they are getting, and it will be less confusing to
them. You can more easily demonstrate what they'll get.

2. You will sell more of whatever service you are offering. A
tangible service usually sells faster because it feels simpler. You'll
also increase your word-of-mouth.

3. You will save a lot of time because you don't have to keep re-
inventing the wheel. Sure, you can still customize services (as you
can a car) but there is always a base package.

4. You can sell at higher prices in many cases. A tangible services
is seen as a more valuable service. In addition, you can get longer
commitments from clients to work with you.

5. Your overall cash flow and success will increase. Because you
are packaging and offering high-end services, your business will
become more stable and predictable.

I'm sure that this is exactly what you want in your business. But
how do you go about making it happen? Here are the basic steps:

1. Commit to packaging at least one of your services. Work at
developing that package or program. Who are the ideal clients,
what are the main outcomes, what is the structure and process
and price? This could be anything from a 2-day workshop to a
one-year program, or anything in-between. What will give your
clients the results they are looking for?

2. Write a detailed description or sales letter for that program.
Tell your prospects exactly what this program is, why they need
it, what they get, and how it works. When you go through the
process of writing about your program, your focus, clarity and
excitement about the program will increase.

3. Develop a step-by-step marketing plan to get the word out
about this program. This can include everything from networking
and speaking, to PR and publishing. But remember, when you
have a specific program to promote, your marketing is both easier
and more effective. You can launch focused marketing campaigns
to sell that particular program.

Yes, all of this takes some time and serious effort.

What follows next is implementing some of the zillion marketing
ideas I've presented in this eZine for years. But those ideas are
useless if you don't have something valuable and tangible to sell.

What program or package of services will you design, develop and
market? When will you start? How about NOW!

Do you have packages set up for your Noah's Ark business?

Building a Blog and Websites

2009-06-18T20:53:00.003-05:00

A lot of Noah's Ark Party Leaders ask about building their own online blog or website to help support their business. I think it's a great idea. You definitely want to promote the Noah's Ark brand in all your business endeavors but you also want to brand YOU as the go to person for your business. A blog or personal website is a nice way to do that.

Here are some options for websites:

Free options:

Blogger - this blog is built on the blogger free platform - very easy and fast.

Wordpress.com - free and seems to have a few more bells and whistles than blogger but both are really good options

Tumblr.com - another free and very easy to use blogging platform. I've played with it but for some reason just haven't fallen in love with it yet.

Paid options:

Wordpress.org - wordpress' paid version. You need your own domain name and hosting for this option but it gives you a lot more flexibility - and the ability to make it look more like a website rather than a blog. My friends over at MomWebs have a great offer that they'll actually get your blog all set up for $10 when you choose to host with them. It's a nice deal.

DirectSalesWebsites.com - when I built my first website I used the very easy to use website builder with Internet Based Family websites at DirectSalesWebsites.com. They give a 10 day free trial too.

EZBizAC.com - This is one that I just stumbled upon in the last week and it looks REALLY good. Because I'm a big fan of autoresponders and the like ... this one looks like it really is everything all in one package without having to spend a ton of money. You can host a bunch of websites (not just one) and have all your customer correspondence and everything all in your web based control panel - which means you have access to your "empire" on any computer. I'm going to spend some time studying this one some more because it really looks good.

Anyway, it's worth taking a look at some of these to see if any of them might fit for what you want to do. Let me know what you think!

Paradigm Shift

2009-06-02T07:33:00.003-05:00

Another great article by Robert Middleton

==========================================
Shifting Your Marketing Paradigm
==========================================

In today's economy, everyone is starting to realize how important
marketing is if we're going to maintain, let alone grow our
businesses. For many, it's much harder to bring in new business.

For instance, one of my clients mentioned a statistic he had just
read: Now, instead of three sales meetings on average to get one
client, it's taking four and a half meetings. So the business is still
out there, but it takes a 50% increase in marketing and sales
efforts to get the same results.

The conclusion most of us make in the face of these realities is
that we all need to buckle down and work harder if we are going
to make it to the other side of the recession with our businesses
intact.

A New Paradigm is Needed

However, I believe it's much more important to make a complete
paradigm shift in our businesses.

The old paradigm is to market and sell the same services to the
same clients, work harder at closing the business, and if you're
persistent (and lucky), your business will do OK.

I want to suggest that this old paradigm may not work anymore.

Changing the paradigm may mean marketing and selling
different services to different clients. In my business, I changed
this paradigm twice in the past year and am actually making
more money with less work, while producing better results for my
clients.

Before I explain these new paradigms, let's look more closely at
the old ones.

Are You Stuck in These Old Paradigms?

One old paradigm is related to scarcity and hard work: "Clients
are difficult to attract and you've got to work hard to get them."
I've seen this for years in my clients; it's an amazingly persistent
one that's hard to shake off.

Another old paradigm is about the fees for your services: "This is
what I do in my business and I charge $X per hour for those
services. I really can't charge any more. In fact, I may have to
charge less in this economy."

One more old paradigm is about how we market and sell: "If I'm
going to be successful, I can't be pushy or aggressive. If people
want my services, they'll call me." Most of us are beginning to
realize how well that one works!

Paradigms Limit Possibilities

Now the thing about paradigms (also called belief systems) is that
they tend to limit our possibilities to the pre-set parameters of
the paradigm. Everything inside the paradigm makes sense and
seems right. Anything outside the paradigm seems wrong, or at
least, very uncomfortable.

It's not unusual for business people to get stuck inside very
limiting paradigms. After all, it's comfortable there! We found
something that works and we stick to it, thinking it will work
forever. And then the economy or something else changes and
the old paradigm doesn't work anymore.

New Paradigm: More Value, Lower Cost

One paradigm shift I made late last year was in how I sold
information products. The old paradigm was simple: I had created
a number of marketing information products for professional
service businesses and sold them successfully on my web site for
several years.

When the economy slowed down, I sold fewer of these products.
The natural thing to do might have been to lower prices and send
more emails to my list to try to sell more. But I realized that this
was simply more of the same old paradigm.

Instead, I shifted the paradigm. I created a membership site (The
Action Plan Marketing Club) where I offered a lot of information
products all in one place. I posted new products and services
every month worth about $250, and then I offered a club
membership for only $29 per month.

With this paradigm change I offered massive value at a very low
price. What I hoped would happened did: People signed up in
droves and a good percentage of them stayed and took advantage
of everything I offered. I now have about 500 members.

New Paradigm: Sell the Outcome, Not the Service

For many years I'd been offering group marketing programs at a
medium price point. The groups were very effective and helped
the participants successfully grow their business. But as the
economy changed, it was harder to get people to sign up.

Again, the old paradigm would have been to lower the price, and
push the programs even harder. But I just couldn't imagine doing
that anymore, after all, I'm not getting any younger!

Instead of selling a "process" I started selling an "outcome" and
instead of offering it to all comers, I limited my market to
Independent Professionals who were making $100K or more.

I realized that in the old paradigm I put too much of a focus on
the process of the program - what was covered, what participants
would learn and how it was structured.

The new paradigm was to promise an outcome: "This program is
designed to help you increase your income by $100K or more in
one year or less." And then I structured the program so that I
could accomplish that objective.

The net result is that I filled my Marketing Mastery Program in
two months with less effort than before. Fifty percent of those I
talked to about the Mastery Program signed up for it.

What's Your New Paradigm?

Note that the paradigms for these two services, the Marketing
Club and the Marketing Mastery Program are very different. One
is based on a low price and a high volume, the other is based on a
high price and low volume.

I am now earning all my income from completely different
products and services than I was a year ago. And it all started by
looking for ways to change my paradigms of doing business.

I can't say that these ways will necessarily be right for your
business, but I will say that if you don't change your paradigm or
the way you're playing your business game, you will continue to
get similar (or worse) results than you're getting now.

Some Rules for Changing Paradigms

1. Notice your current limiting business paradigms. Write down
your assumptions and beliefs about your business and then start
to question them:

Is it true I have to lower my prices and work harder? It is true
that I can't target new markets? Is it true that people won't pay
higher fees? Is it true that I can't offer more value for a lower
price to more people? Question everything!

2. Look at what you're already offering. Are you selling a process
or are you selling an outcome? If you made changes in your
service could you start to sell an outcome? What could you
promise that people really wanted and that you've never offered
before?

3. Are you willing to risk and step outside your comfort zone? If
you had no limits, no restrictions, no old paradigms, what would
you do? What would be fun, exciting, bold and make an even
bigger contribution to your clients and the world?

4. What do you need to learn that you don't know now? What
information, strategies, techniques and skills do you need to have
in order to shift paradigms? Remember, you can't do things the
same old way you've always done before. Are you ready to invest
in yourself to learn these new things?

5. What is a new paradigm for your business and life? That is,
how do you want to live and what kind of business will give you
that lifestyle? You need to spend some time in visioning,
brainstorming and creating the future if you're ever going to
attract it to yourself.

*

The More Clients Bottom Line: You might say that the most
important business skill of all is the skill of changing paradigms.
To do this, you need to work on all of the five rules above, and
more. One thing's for sure, we can no longer be content with the
old paradigms; the world is moving too fast and we are in danger
of being left far behind.

*

The More Clients Bottom Line: You might say that the most important
business skill of all is the skill of changing paradigms. To do this, you
need to work on all of the five rules above, and more. One thing's for
sure, we can no longer be content with the old paradigms; the world
is moving too fast and we are in danger of being left far behind.

By Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Click to visit
Robert's web site at www.actionplan.com for additional
marketing articles and resources on marketing for professional
service businesses.

Takin' it to the Streets

2009-05-20T14:09:00.004-05:00

I want to make a quick suggestion to those of you who are doing the Take Cuddlez Everywhere contest that the home office at Noah's Ark Workshop has going. Instead of just handing the people you meet a business card or flyer try THIS:

Take along some lead capture forms
(Click here for the lead capture forms I use now)

and when they ask about Cuddlez, give them a flyer or card AND ask them for their information too so you can send them your specials, etc. Get at least their name, phone and email address AND of course, kids names and birthdates if they'll pass it on. That way you can follow up with the birthday club, new products, your own specials and of course, bookings!

Here are the details on the contest:

"Take Cuddlez Everywhere" Contest

Contest Dates: May 17 - May 31, 2009

Details: Take any and every Cuddlez bear or marketing item with you everywhere, and when someone asks you about, or comments on Cuddlez, AND you put a business card or flyer into the hand of that individual, you earn ONE point.

Honor System Tracking: Email Dina as you earn points, and on each Tues and Thurs of each week during the contest, she'll email out the Leader board.

Win: Earn the most points and win!
The Top 5 Point Leaders will each win:
1) How To Be A Recruiting Super Star- written by Mary Christensen
2) Set of Mary Christensen's' "Make The Call" bracelets
3) Cuddlez Backpack
4) Set of 25 Cuddlez Key chains

BONUS:
Your Point Totals can also be used toward the system wide contest where the winner will receive a GIANT Cuddlez. Details on that contest will be included in this Friday's See Worthy.

Award Categories for Convention

2009-05-13T10:18:00.000-05:00

Here are the Award Categories for the Noah's Ark Workshop convention awards night this year:

2009 Award Categories
With over 25 award categories and over hundreds of winner, you could be one!

SENIOR PARTY LEADER
2 active personally sponsored members

OFFICER
4 active personally sponsored members, one is a Senior Party Leader, and $1000 in group volume purchases

SENIOR OFFICER
8 active personally sponsored members, one is an Officer, and $2500 in group volume purchases

CAPTAIN
11 active personally sponsored members, one is a Senior Officer, and $5000 in group volume purchases

SENIOR CAPTAIN
15 active personally sponsored members, one is a Captain, and $10,000 in group volume purchases

CONSISTENCY CLUB
Completed an order each month from June 2008 - April 2009

5 STAR MEMBERS
Purchases for the year totaled $5000 - $9999

10 STAR MEMBERS
Purchases for the year totaled $10,000 - $14,999

15 STAR MEMBERS
Purchases for the year totaled $15000 - $19,999

20 STAR MEMBERS
Purchases for the year totaled over $20,000

SPEEDING SAILING 30 DAYS
Spent $800 in product orders between day 1 and day 30 of your membership

SPEEDING SAILING 60 DAYS
Spent $1200 in product orders between day 31 and day 60 of your membership or between the day you achieve the 30 day package and day 60, whichever is sooner

SPEEDING SAILING 90 DAYS
Spent $1600 in product orders between day 61 and day 90 of your membership or between the day you achieve the 60 day package and day 90, whichever is sooner

BEARVENTURE WINNERS
Contest dates June 15 - September 20, 2008
25% Cruise - 4 new active recruits and $800 in personal volume purchases
50% Cruise - 7 new active recruits and $800 in personal volume purchases
100% Cruise - 13 new active recruits and $800 in personal volume purchases or purchase $10,000 in personal volume purchases

EARN YOUR WAY TO CONVENTION WINNERS
Contest time period January 15 - April 15, 2009
Level 1 - $2500 in personal volume purchases
Level 2 - $3500 in personal volume purchases and 2 recruits
Level 3 - $4000 in personal volume purchases and 4 recruits

RISING STAR WINNERS
Featured in the print newsletter as a rising star

DESIGN YOUR OWN TEDDY BEAR
Finalists and winners for our 2008 Design Your Own Teddy Bear Contest

ANNUAL COLORING CONTEST
Winners for our 2009 Annual Coloring Contest

NAAW WEBINAR COMPLETION
Completed all webinars in the education series

TOP 5 WEB CUSTOMER SALES LEADERS (OVERALL)

TOP 5 WEB CUSTOMER SALES LEADERS (ONE TIME)

ORDER OF THE YEAR
Largest order placed

5 YEAR ARKIVERSARIES
Celebrating 5 years with Noah's Ark

TOP FIVE RECRUITERS OF THE YEAR
Largest number of recruits

TOP FIVE WORKSHOP LEADERS OF THE YEAR
Largest number of purchases

TEAM LEADER OF THE YEAR
Largest team sales of the year

MISS NOAH/CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR
Ranked in the top 5 recruiters and workshop leaders

All awards are calculated from the qualifying time period of June 1st, 2008 - April 30th, 2009 unless noted otherwise.

Live Convention Broadcasts

2009-05-13T08:15:00.003-05:00

I thought I'd put the live feed convention schedule up in case you need it and deleted your email:

Live Broadcast Presentation Schedule
*All times are Central Standard Time
CLICK HERE TO WATCH

8:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. Welcome Ceremony presented John Amico Jr., with corporate staff introductions

9:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. -Welcome Address presented by John Amico Sr.
A look at past, present and future from our corporate advisor and visionary

2:30 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.
2008 Miss Noah's Ark Regina Boyett
How To Become a Top Recruiter & Top Workshop Producer

3:30 p.m.- 4:30 p.m.
Using The Noah's Ark Workshop Brand To Build Sales/ Grace Niemiec
Marketing expert Grace Niemiec will teach you how brand consistency can boost your sales

4:30 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.
Noah's Ark Street Marketing & New Product Launch/ Dina Kriescher
Understand the uses and benefits of street and event marketing utilizing the tools you already have. PLUS, learn how you can reach the youth market, the adult market, keep customers rallied and excited, and help your business boom with the new face of Noah's Ark and new product launches!

7:45 p.m. - 10:30 p.m. - Watch our LIVE Awards Presentation and Win Your Award! Watch and listen for your name and if you are announced as an award recipient, you can win! Until now, only attendees were eligible to receive their award, however this year, if your name is announced, and you chat that you're watching, we'll recognize you LIVE on stage, and mail an award to you!

So Sell Me Already

2009-05-06T07:35:00.004-05:00

Image by BlindPew via Flickr

I thought this was a great article and really applies to both our party "selling" as well as when you "sell" the business opportunity. Take time to listen to people - it'll make all the difference in the world!

==========================================
So Sell Me, Already!
==========================================

This morning before getting out of bed I looked up at my skylight
and recalled how I had tried to replace it a few years ago.

It had been leaking in the winter rains, and so I called a local
skylight company to come and take a look to see if the frame
needed to be sealed or if the whole thing needed replacing.

A young man came over a few days later, got up on the roof for a
few minutes and then came down and told me, "You need a new
skylight." When I asked if it was the wooden frame or the
skylight itself, he couldn't help me.

He said someone from his company would give me a call in a few
days and give me a price. When they called they told me, "We
can give you a flat skylight or a domed one. It's $750 for the
domed and $900 for the flat."

We talked about the pros and cons of each and I left it with, "Let
me think about it and I'll get back to you."

I'm still thinking about it!

This skylight company made several selling mistakes that seemed
very obvious to me. Ultimately they instilled zero confidence that
if they installed a new skylight it wouldn't continue to leak. The
young salesman never asked when it leaked, how often it leaked
or how it leaked.

In other words, I never felt heard. After about two minutes on the
roof, the diagnosis was clear (to him); I needed a new skylight.
But it wasn't cheap, and after all, it was just a drip...

Do you make the same kind of mistakes when it comes to selling
your services?

My experience with working with thousands of Independent
Professionals, is that most are not only bad at the selling process,
they are usually worse than the skylight salesman!

See if you recognize some of these selling mistakes:

1. You make recommendations too early in the process. Selling
starts with a diagnosis where you work to understand the
prospect's situation in great depth.

If the skylight person had brought me up onto the roof with him
to look at the skylight, asked some questions and pointed out
where the leak originated, I'd probably have a new skylight today.

2. You don't learn the desired outcome or future of your prospect.
It's one thing to point out the problem, it's quite another to
explore where the prospect would prefer to be.

If I was a skylight salesperson I'd ask about all the time and
hassle you spent during rainstorms putting pots and pans under
the leaks, and then have you picture what it would be like with a
leak-free roof no matter how hard the rain was falling.

3. You don't explain in enough depth what it will be like working
with you. Your prospects don't get a clear picture of exactly what
they'll get, how you'll work with them and what will happen. They
need to be briefed in detail to feel reassured.

My skylight salesman didn't even mention the process of
replacing the skylight. He didn't explain how they ensured that it
would be leak-proof and how they guaranteed its performance. He
simply gave me a choice of two skylights.

4. You close weakly and tentatively. Instead of showing
confidence that your service is what they need and demonstrating
that working with you is a good choice, you tend to waffle with
lame statements like, "Why don't you think about it?"

I never got a solid close from the salesman or the person that
followed up. They essentially said, "Here is what we have." There
was never a real invitation to choose one way or the other. And
you know how that worked out.

Selling is a Conversation

The thing to understand about selling is that it's a conversation
where you develop a real connection with your prospects. You
must listen and strive to understand their situation and desired
future.

When you are sure you have a solution for them, then explain in
depth how they will benefit and how your services work to ensure
the outcomes they desire. Finally, give them solid reasons to work
with you and invite them to get started.

Now I don't know if I'm a particularly hard person to sell. Maybe
I'm somewhat sales resistant. But I don't part with my money
easily unless the salesperson follows these basic guidelines.

What happened with the skylight? I never replaced it and it leaks
only every other year! I still don't know if it's the actual skylight
or the frame, and I may never know until I talk to a salesperson
who really knows how to sell.

*

The More Clients Bottom Line: Just because someone seems to
need your services, doesn't mean it's a slam dunk sale. You have
to know what you're doing in the selling process or you'll get a
whole lot of people saying they'll think about working with you
but never actually hiring you.

By Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Please visit
Robert's web site at www.actionplan.com for additional
marketing articles and resources on marketing for professional
service businesses.

I often put Robert's articles on this blog because I think he's got great information. Visit his website by clicking here for Action Plan Marketing and sign up for his freebies or buy a few of his products - Almost everything he says is spot on for our business - I've been following him for years now.

What to blog about? 50 Blogging Ideas

2009-04-30T19:09:00.001-05:00

50 Blogging Ideas
by Blogger's Paycheck

What's the hardest thing about blogging? Coming up with fresh, new content! And you have to publish new posts frequently - twice a week at the very least - to keep readers interested and earn search engine love.

If you're feeling stuck, here is a list of 50 blogging ideas that are sure to inspire you to come up with new content for your blog. Most of the ideas can be used more than once, so you won't run out of blog posts for months to come.

And by the way, if you want to make more money from your blog, Blogger's Paycheck shows you how to make passive income from your blog without spending all day at it.

1. Special events - Relate your blog topic to a special event, national day of, or holiday.

2. News - Subscribe to Google news alert on your keywords and write about the latest news in your niche.

3. Book review.

4. Respond to a post on another blog in a niche similar or related to yours.

5. Blog milestone - Write about your blogging milestones, such as publishing your 100th post, getting your 1000th comment....

6. Niche heroes -Blog about a person who made a positive contribution in your niche.

7. Blog memes - Join in blog memes such as "Wordless Wednesday". There's at least one for every day of the week!

8. Product review - An excellent way to work in some affiliate links.

9. FAQs in your niche - Write a short Q & A based on FAQs about your niche.

10. Blog comment response - Write a long and expanded response to a comment on your blog.

11. Predict trends - What do you see happening in your niche in a year? 5 years?

12. Historical view - What was your niche in the past? Or what past event influenced your niche?

13. Top tips on any topic of interest to your readers.

14. Best of... - A good year ender, make a list of your best posts for the year.

15. Contests - Organize a contest for your blog readers, or make a list of contests your readers can join.

16. What I learned from... a current event, a person you met, or an experience you had.

17. Definitions - Define terms that are commonly used in your niche but a beginner may not understand

18. New products - Not a review but simply an announcement of a new product relevant to your niche. This is another good opportunity to drop in some affiliate links.

19. Biggest problem - Ask your readers what their biggest problem is about your blog topic or niche. They post their answers in the comments section.

20. Biggest problem follow up - Summarize the comments from #19 in another post.

21. Biggest problem follow up series - Write a separate blog post tackling each question from #19.

22. Interview somebody knowledgeable in your niche, or has succeeded in it, or is otherwise interesting to your readers.

23. Big list - Compile a big list of various resources, just like this one. The bigger the better!

24. Reader Survey - Put up a brief survey online and blog about the results.

25. Be provocative. Challenge a common belief or widely accepted idea in your niche.

26. New idea - What new idea about your blog topic or niche have you come across lately?

27. YouTube - Embed a funny, moving or insightful video on YouTube. You can even have a "video day" once a week.

28. YouTube version 2 - Make YOUR own YouTube video. Publish it on YouTube then embed on your blog. This way, you can attract traffic from YouTube to your blog.

29. Freebie - Scour the 'net for freebies that your readers will love. Or create a freebie of your own, such as a checklist or special report.

30. Personal story - Use a personal story to illustrate an important concept or principle in your niche.

31. Free to publish articles - Check out relevant articles in article directories such as Ezine Articles... but don't publish them entirely on your blog. Instead, use an article or a group of articles as your take-off point for a blog post, or several.

32. Link love - This is a post with links to other blogs. Some bloggers set aside one day a week to publish a list of the best blog posts on their topic.

33. Photo - A picture is worth thousand words, right? Search Flickr for creative commons pictures that your readers will like.

34. Hot topics - Look at Digg for hot topics in your niche

35. Pros and cons - Examine what's good and bad about something related to your blog topic

36. Respond to relevant questions you find in Ask.com

37. Guest post - Invite another blogger to write a guest post for your blog

38. Reader's post - Invite blog subscribers to submit an article or post to be published on the blog

39. Inspirational post - Write a motivational post for your readers.

40. Update an old post with fresh ideas, new learnings and current research findings.

41. Beginner's guide - What do beginners in your niche struggle with? Write a post to guide them through it.

Best list - Patterned after "best dressed lists" make a list of the best ___ in your niche.

43. Worst list - Make your version of the "worst dressed list" for your niche.

44. New uses for - Think of new ways your readers can use gadgets and other stuff.

45. Write about a live event that you attended and what you learned from it.

46. Bribe post - Bribe your readers with a freebie in exchange for subscribing to your newsletter or RSS feed.

47. Around the world - Compare how people in different countries do something related to your niche.

48. Seasonal - Relate the month or season to your blog topic.

49. Blog carnival - Join or host a blog carnival, where several publish posts about the same topic on the same day.

50. Host a virtual "conference" on your blog - Invite "speakers" to publish their post on a specified date and time. Q&A happens in the comments section.

Now that you've got a steady flow of fresh content, how do you actually make money from your blog? Visit Blogger's Paycheck for a step-by-step guide on blogging for profit.

Blogging - Creating List Posts

2009-04-07T17:26:00.002-05:00

Today in my blogging course they discussed the writing of blog posts in the format of a list. It seems this is one of the most popular and successful ways to create blog posts that will get read and be passed on to others!

So what kind of list blog posts can you write for your Noah's Ark business? Let's look at 5 examples:

1. "10 great kid friendly treats for your next birthday party" - here you could list out different easy snack time foods for moms to choose from for their next kids party event.

2. "5 fabulous themes for your 3 year old's birthday bash" - list and describe 5 different fun themes that would be perfect for 3 year old children.

3. "15 birthday games guaranteed to make the neighbor kids beg their mom to live at your house." List and describe great birthday activities that a mom can coordinate for her next party.

4. "Beyond the bowl - 5 fun ways to serve ice cream to your birthday guests" - research and tell about some other fun ways to make ice cream the hit of the party.

5. "Free crafts - 10 fun and fabulous crafts that won't cost you a penny" - list out various craft activities that can be done using what most people have in their home or garage.

List posts are relatively easy to write because it can be as simple as writing down the list and then elaborating on each one (like I did above). They're easy for your reader because they can come to your blog and scan the post to see if it's something they want to read further - as you know, most people on the web are scanners so this fits them perfectly.

Obviously the temptation would be to write a list post for every post you write - don't fall into that trap either but do a list post every few posts or so to keep your content fresh and applicable to your readers.

Do you blog for your Noah's Ark Workshop business? Have you done a list post already? Please comment here with the URL to your list post so we can see! Thanks!

More Solid Than a Brick Wall

2009-04-07T07:00:00.002-05:00

Oh my does this ever apply to our Noah's Ark Workshop business! Enjoy!

==========================================
More Solid Than a Brick Wall
==========================================
By Robert Middleton

If you're in the business of giving advice, or supporting people in
getting things done, or providing a service designed to improve
your clients' results, you've probably heard one or more version of
the following:

"Oh, I tried that before. It didn't work. In fact, it won't work!"

The thing is, you know it will work. You've used your approach
successfully with many clients in the past and, all things being
equal, you know what you're recommending has a good chance of
success. If... they'd only give it a chance.

What you've run into is a mindset. And mindsets are very solid.
More solid than a brick wall in many cases. A mindset has the
following characteristics:

1. It's a strongly held belief or conviction.

2. It really feels true to the person with the mindset.

3. There is attachment or identification with the mindset.

4. Disagreement with the mindset often triggers negativity.

5. The mindset correlates with both actions and avoidance.

So, if we suggested to our client that they raise their rates and
you happened to hit a certain mindset about this you could
expect to hear some of the following:

1. "We just can't raise our fees, especially in this economy."

2. "Our fees are already high, so we can't raise them further."

3. "We like to be known as a business with affordable fees."

4. "If we raise our fees it will hurt our business."

5. Let's talk about something else to increase profits."

Like I said, more solid than a brick wall!

Another thing about mindsets is that it's easy to see them in
others but very hard to see them in ourselves. We think we don't
have mindsets. Sure, we have opinions (based on experience) and
we have certain ways we think we should run our businesses.

But no, we're definitely not stuck in any mindsets.

Is that so?

Mindsets (not circumstances) shape performance and results. And
if you've ever been stuck and unable to produce a particular
result, it logically follows that there had to be a mindset firmly in
place or there would be no struggle.

EVERYTHING you experience is based on a mindset.

Every thought, every opinion, every attitude, every business
practice, every principle, every creative idea, everything we do in
our business (and life) is ALL based on mindsets.

There is NOTHING BUT mindsets.

The good news is that there are two kinds of mindsets:

Constrictive and Expansive.

An expansive mindset is another way of saying "an open mind."
An expansive mindset sees new possibilities, is not defensive, is
curious and interested in how things work. An expansive mindset
is always wondering how to make things better, make a bigger
contribution and how to grow. Great performance and results
come from expansive mindsets.

In some areas of our lives we have an expansive mindset.

For instance, when it comes to my business and marketing
myself, I have a pretty expansive mindset. As a result, I
experience my business as fun and challenging, interesting and
exciting. I don't struggle in my business, I have a great time and
usually produce excellent results.

What about constrictive mindsets?

A constrictive mindset is another way of saying "a closed mind." A
constrictive mindset sees difficulties, problems, and obstacles. It
insists on being right and is not very interested in exploring or
learning or growing. A constrictive mindset is always thinking how
to be comfortable and safe. Poor performance and results come
from constrictive mindsets.

In some areas of our lives we have a constrictive mindset.

For instance, when it comes to sports or athletics or exercise, it's
usually a struggle for me. I don't wake up thinking about going
for a run; I think of sleeping in! I work at exercising but it doesn't
come naturally to me. And although I'm not really overweight, I
admit I'm pretty out of shape.

Your Marketing Mindset

Since this eZine is about business and marketing, the question I
have for you is: what are your constrictive mindsets? You don't
have to worry so much about your expansive ones, they'll take
care of themselves.

The only way to transform a constrictive mindset into an
expansive one is to first realize that you have that mindset and
then look at what it's costing you (in results and fulfillment). The
next step is to start imagining what things would be like without
that old mindset.

Some of the most constrictive mindsets I've seen in business are
related to marketing and selling your services. I talked about
these last week. The symptoms are "no plan, poor organization
and fear." All of these come out of constrictive mindsets.

What mindsets about marketing would you like to transform?

Would you like to be able to raise your rates? Attract more of your
ideal clients? Communicate about your services with more
impact? Get more meetings with qualified prospects? Turn more
of those meetings into paid clients? Get tons of referrals?

Of course you would!

There are specific how-tos for all of those. But before you learn
the techniques and skills to implement them, I assure you that
you'll find them a whole lot easier if you transform your
constrictive mindsets about them first.

Transform first, learn how-tos second.

Because there are limitations to a short eZine article about how
exactly to do this, I'd like to invite you to a complimentary
teleclass on "Transforming your Marketing Mindset."

A teleclass is a 75 minute class by teleconference where we'll have
from 50 to 100 people on the line. We'll talk about some of the
powerful strategies you can use to transform a constrictive
mindset about marketing into an expansive one.

The date will be Thursday April 16. Please go here for details on
time, what will be covered, and how to make a reservation.

ActionPlan.com

*

The More Clients Bottom Line: There's nothing more important
you can do in your business than work on transforming your
constrictive mindsets into expansive ones. If you don't, you'll
simply avoid marketing. No matter how much information and
strategies and tactics you learn, it's unlikely you'll ever apply
them.

Article by Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Please visit
Robert's web site at www.actionplan.com for additional
marketing articles and resources on marketing for professional
service businesses.

More on the Elevator Speech

2009-04-06T16:00:00.000-05:00

There are a lot of ways that you can use your elevator speech in addition to sharing it with potential party hosts or recruits as you're talking with them. Here are a few ideas:

Put it on your Noah's Ark Workshop website: Your welcome page is the idea place for your short blurb about what you do and how you help moms, day care directors and other party hosts give their children the best party ever!

Add it to your blog: A lot of crew members are into blogging these days and adding the elevator speech to your about me page will help your blog visitors to know what you are all about!

Sizzle Cards - Make your business cards or your promotional postcards stand out from others by including all or part of your elevator speech to it. I use VistaPrint for my sizzle cards.

Email Siggy - Add it to the bottom of your email signature along with your website address!

Facebook, Twitter, etc - add your 30 second commercial to your profile pages on Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and more.

Voicemail recording - Take your outgoing voicemail message from boring to dazzling by adding your elevator speech at the beginning... something like "Hi, and thanks for calling. You know how most moms are always scrambling to find a fun and affordable way for kids to have a fabulous time at their birthday party? Well I'm Jane, independent rep with Noah's Ark Workshop and we bring joy to kids of all ages with our fabulous party themes. Leave your name, number and the best time to call you and I'll get back to you right after I'm done making some other kids smile!"

What do you think? What are some other ways to use your 30 second commercial?

50% Off All Note Cards, Announcements & Invitations at VistaPrint

Elevator Speech

2009-04-06T07:13:00.004-05:00

It's been a while since we've talked about elevator speeches or 30 second commercials. Remember those?

I'm taking a 31 days to a better blog course and the very first day (today) talks about elevator pitches so I was reminded about mine for Noah's Ark Workshop and started to think about how must I haven't used it over the last year or so. Made me kind of sad.

Here's a video on some keys to an elevator pitch (this video is geared toward pitching to investors but the ideas can be tweaked for our business too of course!)

And here's the link to the post I did last year after Che Brown taught us how to create a good 30 second commercial specific to our business. Hope it helps!

See you at convention!

Top 10 reasons to come to convention in May

2009-03-17T14:59:00.006-06:00

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

10. I'll get to meet you (or see you again) in person!

9. Schmooze with the home office peeps - they're fun!

8. Be "in the know" about stuff before anyone else!

7. Visit Chicago - you know you've always wanted an excuse to visit such a posh city!

6. Share ideas with other crew members - grow your business and create momentum!

5. Incredible value this year - if you think of what the speakers charge for their audio resources alone you'll be getting over $200 just in keynote speeches.

4. Dina plans the BEST snack breaks - yummo!

3. Fun freebies and more!

2. When else will you have a chance to get dressed up in your glittery formal dress? Awards night is the perfect night!

and the number one reason to come to convention this year...

1. The chocolate chip cookies at the Doubletree Hotel are to DIE FOR!

Convention Keynote!

2009-03-13T14:22:00.004-06:00

I'm really excited about the keynote speaker choice for convention this year. I found a couple of videos on youtube of her presentations and I think you'll agree - she's going to be great! Just listening to her accent throughout the day will be delightful!

Here's one video:

And here's the other (really great info):

She's fun, engaging and has "been there". And if you look at her website to get the same content that we'll get at convention would cost you a bundle!

Hope you all can make it!
:-)

Conquering Resignation

2009-03-03T06:51:00.002-06:00

Image via Wikipedia

By Robert Middleton

==========================================
Conquering Resignation
==========================================

With the current insanity of our economy, it's easy to get dragged
down and slip into resignation, or worse.

When something unfortunate is happening to another we don't
know (such as losing their home to a foreclosure), we are not
greatly impacted.

When something happens to us such as losing a client because
they don't have the funds to pay us, we are understandably
affected. We may feel discouraged.

But when both of these situations are happening at the same
time (and often repeatedly) it is easy to slip into resignation,
hopelessness and even depression.

Are you experiencing these signs of resignation?

Your business does not feel so fun anymore;
if feels like a burden

You find yourself in a scarcity mindset and
worrying about money

You get sucked into conversations about how
bad things are

You become addicted to the news,
which is mostly bad

You don't feel creative or have the initiative
to start new projects

You often feel like quitting and giving up
on your dreams

The first step in getting out of this place of resignation is realizing
that you are there in the first place. This isn't easy because it
seems that the external circumstances (which are real) are the
cause of your resignation. You feel that if things change (in the
economy and in your business) that things will get better.

The second step is to question the beliefs underlying your
resignation. What would you have to believe to feel the way you
do? Are any of these familiar to you?

I can't succeed in this economy

Nobody can afford my services now

Nothing I do to promote myself works

Are these true? Can you really know? Or are they just beliefs that
you bought into? One thing is true - they will become self-
fulfilling prophecies if you continue to believe them.

When you are attached to beliefs like this, notice how you react,
how you talk, how you behave. What is that costing you? How are
these beliefs impacting your life, your business and your future?

What if you couldn't think those thoughts? What if it was
impossible to entertain them for even a moment? How would
things be like then? How would you talk and behave?

It's time to generate some new beliefs and then take actions that
support them:

I can succeed in this economy
I can get out there and network more; I can study successful
marketing strategies; I can mix with people who are positive
instead of negative; I can remember the contribution I make and
take the steps to share this with everyone.

People can afford my services now
I just have to meet with more people and get the world out more
clearly about what I do; I can take the time to write better
marketing materials that make a more persuasive case; I can
offer better value and go the extra mile in providing service.

Everything I do to promote myself works
Because I am excited about my business, when I connect with
people, I make an impact and people remember me; I'm not
afraid to follow-up because I have value to offer; I'm enthusiastic
about the future of my business; when the economy improves,
things will only get better.

Aren't all of these statements just as true or truer than the
previous ones? Then why not choose them to believe instead?

*

The More Clients Bottom Line: You can buy into the story of
resignation or you can create a new story of hope and
opportunity, no matter what the external circumstances. This will
help you take the initiative to market yourself even more
proactively and do your part in helping the economy get back on
track.

*

By Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Please visit
Robert's web site at www.actionplan.com for additional
marketing articles and resources on marketing for professional
service businesses.

Another great quote - Calvin Coolidge

2009-02-07T08:40:00.003-06:00

Image via Wikipedia

I agree with this one too:

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men of talent. Genius will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan, ‘press on’ has solved, and always will solve, the problems of the human race. — Calvin Coolidge

I'll be honest. I've had a pretty bad week as far as Noah's Ark is concerned. I take things very personally and unfortunately, let it affect everything I do from that point forward. And I actually used the words "Forget it, I just quit" for about 30 seconds. I won't quit. I can't quit. We all have to persist through difficult issues, slow seasons, frustrations and more in a business like this because they will come.

Again, persistence and consistency are the key to ANY home business including ours. I'm going to keep pressing on...

Great Quote!

2009-01-26T08:17:00.004-06:00

Image via WikipediaI saw this on another website today and loved this quote:

"Contrary to popular belief, you don't need to be motivated to act. If necessary, force yourself to take action and motivation will follow." -- Robert Ringer

I can't think of another quote that's more applicable to our Noah's Ark Workshop business although I'm sure there are tons! :-)

But in our business if you sit around waiting to be motivated, or waiting for the phone to ring, or waiting for someone else to do something for you - it just doesn't work. Taking action - actually picking up the phone yourself, etc., DOES work.

I doubt the real Noah's Ark story would have turned out the way it did had Noah waited until the first drop of rain to nail those first two boards of the ark frame together.

So how will you "take action" on your business today?

Staying focused while working from home

2008-11-12T06:35:00.001-06:00

Another great post from the Success Factory:

This morning I was watching the local traffic report and once again thanking the good Lord for the fact that I wasn’t battling that bumper to bumper freeway mess because, of course, I work from home.

While working from home means that many a morning may find us at the computer in our P.J.’s while sipping a hot cup of coffee; it often can present its own unique set of challenges.

Working from home is often not perceived by others as a “real job”. Oftentimes our family can be the biggest culprits, especially if you have small children at home with you. The whole concept that mommy is working to a pre-schooler is often just an excuse to misbehave in order to grab your attention.

The same holds true with the neighbors that drop by unannounced or ask that you be the person to accept a furniture delivery or let in a repairman because after all – “you’re just at home”.

It is no wonder that we ourselves get off track. Especially when there are a million things we’d rather be doing than picking up the phone. Suddenly it looks MUCH more attractive to do a load of laundry or clean out that junk drawer. Sound familiar?

Well, here are some tips to try to help stay focused while working from home.

Family challenges –
1. Have special activities that only come out when mommy’s on the phone. Consider keeping them in a box in your office for such times.

2. Set the timer for the kids. Let them know that when the timer goes off, mom will play a game or read a story.

3. Trade time for time with another friend who has children your children’s ages to get some work done.

4. When going out for the evening, be sure to tell your kids you are going to WORK (vs. going to do a PARTY). To a child, there is a world of difference!

….For more ideas on things to do with the kids while you are on the phone, CLICK HERE for a great resource.

Neighbors –

When you are working, you are working. If you were at an office outside the home your neighbor wouldn’t just “drop by” for a visit or ask you to accept a delivery. Just explain that you are working and aren’t available to help out. When you treat your job like a job outside the home, others will as well.

Other tips –
1. Make a “to-do” list the night before. We have said it before and will say it again. A list is the key to staying on task. Don’t forget a list of names and phone numbers to make phoning more efficient.

2. One load of laundry a day will change your life (another tip that is an oldie but a goodie). Laundry, dishes and other housework can be done first thing in the morning or late at night. NOT during prime phoning time. Also, consider hiring a cleaning service. I decided within my first year in the business that I’d much rather go out and do a party one extra evening than to scrub my toilets or iron my husband’s shirts.

3. Schedule your time wisely. Generally speaking, clearing your email isn’t work. Get lost on the Internet late at night or early in the morning. Resist the temptation to leave your email open all day at your desk.

4. Assuming there is another parent at home or someone to keep an eye on the kids, try to shut the door in the room where you are working. Cutting out the distractions will help you to get much more done.

How I'm using the $10 starter kit

2008-11-11T08:28:00.003-06:00

Although most of you know that I'm not a big fan of lower cost starter kits, I do use them to my advantage when recruiting.

The moment the notice came out about the $10 special, I immediately emailed my list and let them know. My "list" is all the people who have EVER (over the last 5 years) expressed any interest in joining Noah's Ark (and haven't asked to be removed or removed themselves). I told them that this was new, that it was only available for a short time and that it's a great way to tire kick the business OR the PERFECT way for someone who knows already that they will have bookings quickly and wants to use the extra money they would have spent on our $129 kit toward inventory, i.e., making money for yourself faster!

I sweetened the pot by offering an "act now" promotion where if they took advantage of the special kit while I was on vacation last week they'd get a little bonus from me when they placed their first product order of any size before December 31.

A little later I'll do another promotion where I'm going to offer a $10 gift card to anyone who signs up and orders $100 in product within their first 60 days, etc... essentially getting their starter kit for "free".

How are you using the $10 kit to your advantage?

It's all a numbers game...

2008-10-24T18:35:00.003-05:00

Throughout my direct sales career I've heard the figure that you'll probably convert 1 in 10 people you talk to, meaning if you're cold calling on 100 people, about 10 of those people will be interested in hearing more. And then of those 10 people you'll likely get 1 sign up. Or, if you're reaching a group of people who is already warm to the idea that 1 in 10 will jump in to your business.

Those numbers go with regard to either the business opportunity (aka recruiting) or getting parties and customers.

Today I read this post from Kim Klaver (I really like her approach to things) which makes it sound more like it's one in twelve rather than one in ten. Either way, in a business like ours it's vitally important that you're interacting with and engaging in some continued conversation with a lot of people.

Anyway, enjoy Kim's post. In her email to me she also quoted from this blog post about the importance of entrepreneurship and how real entrepreneurs don't worry so much about the economy - they just start businesses and create jobs. And that's what keeps our company strong.

Enjoy them both and I'd love to hear what you think!

Girl Scout Event in South Florida

2008-10-10T13:51:00.001-05:00

Here's a little video of the group of Noah's Ark Reps who did the Girl Scout event in Florida this fall:

Expand!

2008-10-09T10:58:00.003-05:00

Once again, Robert Middleton has hit the nail on the head - don't panic - use this time to be creative and expand your efforts in ways you haven't before. He's got some great suggestions here!

==========================================
Law of Expansion - Persuasion Strategies - Pt. 10
==========================================

Today's Law of Persuasion, the Law of Expansion, was triggered
by the current news in the stock market. Right now, things aren't
looking too rosy economically are they?

And if you're a typical business owner, you may be worried about
how the economy will affect your business. If you're not worried,
you know something I don't know!

What do we do when we worry? We contract, we pull our heads
inside our shells and hope things will change. If things don't
change, we worry more and contract even more.

Another way of saying this is that we put all our concern and
attention on ourselves, our survival. This seems to be the right
thing to do, but it's not. It's the exact opposite of what you need
to be doing when the economy is contracting.

When things are contracting, the best strategy is to expand.

If you have an expansion strategy you are seen as more visible,
more credible, and more valuable. Expansion doesn't necessarily
mean spending a lot more money on marketing. It may mean
doing many more low-cost marketing activities.

I'll bet you could expand the following activities by 10% to 20%
in your business in the coming months:

Networking

Networking will never go out of style because it creates business
relationships faster than anything else. The Woody Allen rule:
"80% of success is just showing up." Show up at more social and
business functions and be ready to talk about your business.

Follow-Up

It doesn't take a lot of money, time or effort to pick up the phone
but it can have a huge impact on your business results. You need
to master the telephone follow-up if you want more
appointments, more sales and a steadily rising income.

Strategy Sessions

A strategy session is a meeting with a prospective client to
explore working together. The old paradigm was 'sales meetings.'
Instead, position strategy sessions as a complimentary, yet
valuable service. "I'd be happy to meet with you to explore the
opportunities to grow your business."

Presentations

Talks, speeches, and presentations of all kinds have always been
effective marketing tools as they give prospects a no-risk sample
of what you're offering. Speak at chambers of commerce,
professional groups and service organizations. There's no better
strategy for positively increasing your credibility.

Web Content

You probably already have a web site. But is the content doing its
job? Is the information on your site giving your visitors what
they're looking for? Is it stimulating them to take action? Is it
generating new, qualified leads? If not, it's time for a content
overhaul. It won't cost you much, just time.

TeleClasses

A teleclass is simply a presentation by phone. Last week I did one
with about 100 participants from my home office here in Boulder
Creek California. Cost: $0. If you haven't caught onto teleclasses
yet, it's not too late to learn. You can connect with prospects
around the world and share the value of what you offer.

Yes, the same things you need to do in a good economy, you
need to do in a bad economy. But you need to do them better
and do them more frequently. You need to expand, not contract.

By Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Please visit
Robert's web site at www.actionplan.com for additional
marketing articles and resources on marketing for professional
service businesses.

Robert's got some great tools on his website to help in all these areas. Check it out when you click HERE.

Pink Punch recipe for strawberry shortcake parties

2008-10-08T12:27:00.003-05:00

Here's a recipe you can pass on to your Strawberry Shortcake party hosts. I made it a couple weeks ago for a friends baby shower and it was a huge hit with all ages! Very easy too!

1 package raspberry or strawberry Kool-Aid
1 package strawberry Jello
1 can cold pineapple juice (large can)
2 quarts Ginger Ale
1/2 gallon raspberry sherbet (Optional --- and VERY yummy!)

Combine Kool-Aid, Jello, sugar, water and juice; stir until all is dissolved completely. Pour into punch bowl and refrigerate.

When ready to serve, add Ginger Ale and softened scoops of sherbet, if desired.

The original recipe I found had water and sugar added but it's already so sweet this way, sugar would have been over the top. I just doubled the ginger ale above to accommodate for not using the water they suggested.

Some fun Strawberry Shortcake products to enhance your SS parties

2008-10-08T09:40:00.002-05:00

I thought some of these were so cute. Since some crew members are worried about the size of SS, thes might help to craft a really fun party!

If you hover one of the items in the widget below you'll see a description of that particular product. There are some cute CDs for background music as well as a SS hat you could wear to "play the part". Too fun!

Amazon.com Widgets

2008-09-16T05:56:00.003-05:00

Another excellent article by Robert Middleton that talks through how to make the most of these tough times. Don't just read it - think about your NA business specifically. There are crew members out there who STILL have just as many (or more) parties than they have ever had even though the economy seems to be down - you can too!

==========================================
Marketing in a Tough Economy
==========================================

I'm taking a break from my Persuasion Series to discuss an issue
that's on everyone's mind right now. "What is going to happen to
my business if the economy keeps spiraling downwards?"

There's a lot of shocking financial news recently. The two major
mortgage lenders, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, were just taken
over by the federal government, the brokerage Lehman Brothers
is in bankruptcy, foreclosures are at an all-time high, the stock
market is plummeting and consumer prices are up all around.

Add to that a couple of major hurricanes and the uncertainty of
the presidential elections, and a lot of people are reacting with
fear, uncertainty and hesitation.

Are you finding that your clients are reluctant to pay for
professional services right now? Are contracts not being renewed?
Are referrals drying up?

Perhaps it's not that dire for you right now, but when the
economy tanks, professional service businesses are often hit hard.

Are there specific things you can do to market yourself in a down
economy? Yes there are. Let me share a few with you.

1. Have an actual marketing plan. That is, a plan to carry out
specific marketing activities. Most professionals have no plan at
all. Nothing! We wait for referrals and perhaps call up past clients
to see if the have any work. A plan is a definite strategy
developed for the purpose of connecting with new prospects and
converting them into clients. What's your plan? This will help:

www.actionplan.com/infoguru.html

2. Accelerate and multiply your marketing. Most businesses cut
back on marketing when the economy slows. If you accelerate
your marketing, you will be more visible than ever. You don't
have to do expensive activities, you just need to be out there
more. Networking, speaking, events and teleclasses are all
relatively inexpensive. Get out there, don't hide!

3. Deliver programs, not services. The best way to market and
sell an intangible service is to make it tangible. Don't just sell
"management consulting services." That's too vague. Create
programs that have very defined parameters and promised
outcomes. Sell this program at a fixed price with clear
deliverables and guarantees. Increase your perception of value.

4. Be willing to negotiate. It's always better to sell "something for
less than nothing for more." Your clients are going to be looking
for deals as well as great value. For instance, let them know that
you've re-structured your services so that they will need to invest
less if they are willing to do more of the implementation.

5. Go to the bottom line. All professional services need to be seen
as an investment, not an expense. But that needs to be more
than a cliché. How exactly will your services pay for themselves?
If you can document increases in revenue or decreases in costs,
you'll get the attention of prospects. But you need to prove it. Do
some case studies of past clients showing the bottom-line value of
your work.

6. Work on your mindset. This might be the most important of
all. Negative external circumstances tend to trigger "Constrictive
Marketing Mindsets." That is, you start buying into the bad news
and you start to panic, avoid taking action, and retreat to a place
of worry and paralysis. Question those negative mindsets and find
your place of power and innovation. I invite you to download this
"Getting Unstuck With the Work Worksheet" below:

http://www.actionplan.com/pdf/getunstuck.pdf

These are just a beginning. Above all else, don't stick your head
in the sand and hope the economy will change. Things may get
worse before they get better, and those who are proactive about
their marketing (and their thinking) will do better in both good
times and bad.

*

The More Clients bottom line: The key to marketing in tough
times is to work at adding more value. Prove that your services
are a wise investment. Communicate about your services in more
depth and with more clarity. These are things you should be
doing anyway, but when the economy is suffering, these
marketing approaches are more important than ever.

By Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Please visit
Robert's web site at www.actionplan.com for additional
marketing articles and resources on marketing for professional
service businesses.

Organizing and To Do lists

2008-09-13T10:29:00.001-05:00

I found this fabulous ebook yesterday and I just had to share with everyone. It's funny, helpful and very step-by-step. I've tried pretty much every organizing thing in the book - the simplicity of this is amazing and yet brilliant at the same time.

Take a look!

Organizing Ebook

Recruiting - the last bunch of the 100 list

2008-09-12T08:52:00.002-05:00

Well here we go with the last 100 of the Success Factory recruiting tips list. Enjoy and JUST DO IT! :-)

SUBJECT: Recruiting tips 80 down…here are the last 20!

1) When talking with someone you don't know, ask them what they do (they'll ask you back!)

2) Have a great 10 second commercial about what you do!

3) Talk about the great tax benefits that you are able to take advantage of because you have a home business.

4) Think about WHY you joined and WHY you LOVE what you do!

5) Ask neighbors to “test” products for you.

6) Listen, listen, listen to what people say at parties and when mingling in crowds.
You never know what you might hear!

7)IF I COULD SHOW YOU A WAY…( “If I could show you a way that you could work from home and not have your children in daycare, would you be interested?”)

8) ALPHABET SOUP! - Think of potential prospects by letters of the alphabet (who do you know who is an Accountant, Banker, Clerk) you get the picture!

9) Have your upline manager or recruiter role play a recruiting appointment with you

10) Have your manager or upline recruiter listen in on your recruiting phone calls and critique your technique

11) Observe a party given by a consultant who is a strong recruiter in your area

12) Get as much training as you can on recruiting….it will help you stay focused!

13) Critique yourself! After each recruiting phone call or appointment, journal what went well and what you'll do differently next time. Learn from your mistakes!

14) Work to cultivate a large POOL of potential recruits! That way you're not focusing on the same people over and over again.

15) FAYC (Forget about yourself completely)..when you are focused on what your business will do for others, you will NEVER feel like you are pushing; you're giving a gift!

16) Work on recruiting daily and it will become a habit, like brushing your teeth!

17) Talk about “job testing” the business!

18) Put stickers on the products in your display that are a part of the start up kit.

19) Don't take “no's” personally…you're that much closer to a yes.

20) Don't forget to close after giving information…. “So, what do you think??”

21) JUST DO IT!!!!

There you have it, 100 tips for recruiting AND I'll bet there are tons more….we'd love to hear from you! Let us know your best tips AND how any of these tips worked for you!

More tips on Recruiting

2008-09-11T08:19:00.003-05:00

Here's another email from The Success Factory - some great ideas here! Enjoy!

Can there be more??? OF COURSE!!!
1) Declare a monthly recruiting goal, and share that goal with your spouse.

2) Post your goal in several places around the house.
3) Take your monthly goal, multiply by 10 and then number the lines of a spiral notebook accordingly. (example, if 4 a month is your goal, number 1-40 on individual lines). This is your Master List of new people to talk to each month about the business.

4) Break your goal down to a daily level of activity (in the above example, you would need to ask 2 people to join you each day - Monday through Friday).

5) Ask your hostess to help you look for potential recruits at her party.

6) Let your hostess know anyone you recruit at her party would be on her team.

7) Call up potential recruits and let them know they were on your mind & why.

8) Don't get discouraged.

9) Remember, you are sorting NOT convincing!

10) Tell people to put your business card in their wallet and if their wallet is ever empty, to give you a call!

11) Make sure that friends and relatives are on the lookout for people who might join you in the business.

12) Make sure friends and relatives know what it is that you do!

13) Book and hold lots of parties!

14) Display “Help Wanted” signs at your parties

15) Ask top recruiters in your company to share their best tip

16) Play lively upbeat music on your way to your parties

17) Make a goal to pass out information to at least 2 people at every party you do.

18) Mention recruiting in non-direct ways at your parties by story telling (my kids love that I can go on field trips with them because my hours are so flexible!)

19) Ask your hostess to think of every pregnant person and every teacher she knows

20) Don't prejudge!

More recruiting tips from the Success Factory

2008-09-10T08:15:00.003-05:00

I'm loving these great tips from The Success Factory- make sure to share them with your downline too. Some of them are SO easy and could really make a difference in your business!

Reminder! Pick just a couple of new ideas to try from these suggestions…using too many at once will cause your brain to explode!!!

1) Collect 100 “no's”!

2) Ask for help from your upline recruiter or manager

3) Put your “story” in every catalog

4) Talk about your business everywhere.

5) Make a note of how you spend the profits from your business and mention it at parties

6) Put a “sale” sticker on everything in your catalog that is in your kit

7) Send postcards to potential recruits from company sponsored events like conventions and trips!

8) Know the percentage that buying your kit saves.

9) Know how to fill out recruiting agreements.

10) Know how much a kit costs and how one can pay for it.

11) Have lots of recruiting information on hand.

12) Make up 50 recruiting packets and put them on your desk as a visual … think how many new team members you will have as that pile shrinks.

13) Keep a recruiting notebook of everyone you've talked to about the business.

14) Follow up, follow up, follow up!

15) The next time you receive a call from a telemarketer, ask them if they like their job and then tell them about yours (worse case, they'll hang up on you!!!)

16) Put your catalog in baby changing stations.

17) Leave your business card in lockers at the gym or pool.
18) At least once a year call through your entire customer base

19) Anytime anyone calls you (about your business), be sure to say… “before I let you go, I'm looking for people to join me in this business, do you know of anyone who might like more information about doing what I do?”

20) Encourage people at parties to ask questions about what you do.

Which of the above are you going to do today?

More Recruiting Tips

2008-09-09T14:50:00.002-05:00

Here are more tips from The Success Factory

SUBJECT: 100 recruiting tips - Part 2
Here are today's 20 tips!

1) Be sure your top customers know they can always buy your products at as discount when they join as a consultant.

2) Leave recruiting fliers in grocery stores on bulletin boards

3) Tell people your company is having a contest to see who can talk to the most people about the business.

4) Practice your recruiting presentation on a friend or relative.

5) Ask every waitress if they would like to be able to earn some extra cash.

6) Ask pregnant store clerks if they would like a way to earn income from home after the baby is born.

7) Ask for referrals.

8) Offer $25.00 in free product to anyone who refers someone to you who joins the company.

9) Anyone who holds a garage sale has that entrepreneurial spirit. Shop late in the day when they aren't busy and chat with them about having their own business all the time!

10) Advertise at libraries (most have areas where you can leave fliers)

11) Offer your services as a speaker

12) Check into fairs and festivals in your area

13) Participate in vendor fairs with other self employed people.

14) Look for job fairs in your area.

15) Become a member of the local Chamber of Commerce

16) Join a local LEADS club.

17) Keep your parties short, sweet and to-the-point.

18) Make your job look fun

19) Make your job look easy and duplicatible

20) Listen to good information on recruiting**

The Success Factory has great resources on their website - make sure you check them out!

"The Law of Consistency" in business

2008-09-09T08:12:00.006-05:00

You all know how much I respect Robert Middleton's advice. He's got some great marketing products and although he's not specific to Noah's Ark Workshop, everything he says can be applied to our business in some respects - if you're treating your business like a business that is!

So, take a minute to read this and think through how you can use it to advance your business - get specific and write things down, etc.

This is one of my favorite laws of persuasion and I've used it
many times very effectively. You might also call it "the law of
small requests."

The essence of the law is this: If you make a small request of
someone to do something and then follow-up later with a bigger
request about something similar, you will get a much better
response than if you made the big request first.

The difference is often dramatic.

This law is the foundation of my approach to marketing. Like
many people, I discovered that making big requests ended up in
a lot of rejection. Over time, I discovered how small or
incremental requests made the process a whole lot easier.

This is called "The Law of Consistency" because once people agree
to do something small, they tend to be consistent with their
words and actions when asked to do something bigger.

One of the biggest keys to marketing success is to offer small
things, make small requests and then follow these up with bigger
things and bigger requests.

Let me give you several examples.

You've just joined a chamber of commerce and many members
are good potential clients. Contact them and say you'd like to
take them out for coffee as you're a new chamber member and
want to learn more about their business. If there's a good
connection, it will be much easier to ask for a sales appointment
later.

After a talk you want to get the participants to sign up for your
email newsletter. You hold up an article at the end and say, "I
have an article that covers much of the material in today's talk.
Who would like a copy?" When you get a show of hands (the small
request), you then make a bigger request: "OK, please give me
your business cards; I'll send you the article and also give you a
complimentary subscription to my weekly eZine."

You want to get some good testimonials from your best clients.
Instead of asking for them directly (which is often a problem as
people have a hard time writing them), you say, "I'm putting
together a series of client testimonials. Can I show you a few I've
gotten so far?" You send them and call back in a few days and
say, "I'd like to have someone interview you for a similar
testimonial. May I have them call you?"

You have very few prospects from networking and have concluded
you need to go after prospects directly. But cold calling and
asking for appointments is a big request and results in lots of
rejection. Instead, you make "introductory calls" and ask if you
can send a special article and complimentary subscription to your
eZine. A few weeks later you call back, make a deeper connection
and set several appointments.

Do you see how powerful this law of consistency can be?

Think of all the times you haven't approached a prospect because
you didn't understand this law. You were afraid to make a big
request (understandably), but felt that a small request wouldn't
get you anywhere. I hope you see the major difference this could
make in all your marketing efforts.

*

The More Clients bottom line: Remember that it's always easier to
make small requests of prospects than bigger ones. But you can't
leave it at that. You then need to follow small requests with the
bigger ones if you want marketing results.

Recruiting Tips

2008-09-08T08:21:00.002-05:00

Another great post of tips from The Success Factory. Pick 5 or 6 of these ideas and start implementing them today and see how your business grows!!

SUBJECT: Recruiting - 100 great tips! Part 1
One of TSF's most requested topics is recruiting. So…for the next 5 days, we will be sharing a potpourri of 20 “quickie tips” a day (in no particular order). WARNING: Trying all these tips at once may be hazardous to your health!!!

1) Whenever possible, give your product as a gift.

2) Ask every single customer if they would like to join you in your business.

3) Promote your business as a “family” business and give examples.

4) Remember your customer's children and spouse's names

5) Don't be pushy; sincerely and honestly tell potential recruits why they would be good at this!

6) Leave your old catalogs in public places with “Help Wanted” stickers

7) If someone feels they are too busy because they are already employed outside the home, tell them they can be the “on-site” consultant for your company.

8) BE EXCITED about what you do!

9) Indirect method of asking “Do you know of anyone who might be interested…”

10) Follow up within 24-48 hours.

11) Keep information given simple and to the point.

12) “Take away” method of asking… “I don't know if this would be right for you, but this has been the best thing for me and my family…”

13) Put business cards in all of your bills.

14) Have a recruiting message on your answering machine.

15) Laminate a kit flier to pass around at your parties.

16) Put recruiting information in every hostess packet

17) Send recruiting information out with every catalog

18) Give recruiting information to every guest with their catalog and order form.

19) Use your products

20) Ask guests at parties lots of questions about themselves to determine needs

MORE quickie tips tomorrow!

Less is More

2008-08-12T05:27:00.002-05:00

This was in my inbox this morning. I've been thinking about changing up my party package choices for moms so it's timely. Frank Price touched on this idea at convention too... his recommendation was to have only two price points... something like "the Fabulous Package" and the "Standard Package" idea.

What are your thoughts?

We live in a society where the choices seem to be unlimited. But
when it comes to persuasion and having your prospects make a
choice, it's often a better strategy to offer a limited choice.

Ever browse the supermarket aisle in search of a new product?
When confronted with the choices, it can be daunting: Small,
medium and large; no fat, low fat and regular fat; low sodium,
regular sodium; flavored, unflavored... the list goes on.

The fact is, that when faced with an abundance of choices, we are
actually less likely to make any choice at all. We get stuck in
"paralysis by analysis." This is why it's so much easier to shop
after we've chosen the brands and products we like; then we just
pick those same ones every time without thinking.

If we can make the choices simpler for our customers and clients,
we'll usually get a better overall response to our marketing. Let's
look at a place where we're asking our prospects to choose - on
our web sites.

How to Limit the Choices on a Web Site

If you look at your web site through the law of limited choice,
you'll start to notice how a visitor confronts choice when browsing
your site. This is especially true for someone coming to your site
for the first time when they are not familiar with it.

Remember, you don't just want someone to visit your site and
then leave. You want them to DO something. Ideally you want
them to make the choice and take the action of giving you their
name and email address. Nothing is more important, as it's the
follow-up emails that build relationships and make sales, not the
initial visit.

The limited choice you want to give is, "Visit this page to get a
free article or report and in the process, sign up for my eZine."

That should be the very first link a visitor encounters on your site.

How many links do you have on your home page? It's not unusual
to have half a dozen or more. And just like making a choice in the
supermarket, your visitor becomes intimidated. "Where should I
go first? I don't want to waste my time or make a mistake." The
feelings of frustration and confusion grow.

And then your visitor clicks off your site, thinking, "Maybe I'll
come back later when I have more time." But they rarely do. So
by offering too many choices of where to go, you've lost a
potential client - perhaps forever.

If you narrow your choices down to one or two, the first one being
to get some valuable free information, a much larger percentage
of visitors will click on that link. Then when they get to your "Free
Stuff" page what do they see?

It's not unusual that they'll encounter a long list, from articles
and reports to audio recordings and videos. Again, it's confusing.
There's too much choice, and overwhelm is triggered. "What
should I get first? I don't have that much time!"

On your "Free Stuff" page you need to narrow things down just
like you did on your home page. Offer one (or at the most two)
valuable things that they can get right now in exchange for their
name and email address.

This is the "most wanted response" on your web site. To expect
someone to buy something on a first visit is simply unrealistic
(not to say that it never happens). But by giving them one simple
choice for some valuable free information, a relatively high
percentage of visitors will respond to your offer.

Examine the Choices You Offer

Where else do you give too many choices to your prospects?
Where could you narrow down the choices? Here are a few that
I've noticed in working with clients over the years.

1. Speaking Engagements - Giving several topics for talks when
you approach an organization. Just give one. It makes the job
easier for the program director. Also go into more depth about
the topic and it will be much more persuasive than a list of
several topics with brief descriptions.

2. Choice of Services - It's not unusual for Independent
Professionals to list half a dozen or more services on their web
sites - each with a brief outline about each service. As with the
list of speaking topics, make the list shorter and go into much
more depth about each of the services.

3. Options for Meetings - When we encounter a prospect who
shows interest in our services, we are sometimes to eager to say
we are "open anytime" in the hope of making an appointment.
This not only smacks of desperation, if makes the choice hard for
the prospect. Instead, offer just two available times. It makes the
choice much easier.

Take a look at your marketing and where you are asking your
prospects or clients to make a choice. Are you making it too
complex, confusing, or difficult with too many options? How could
you make it simpler and easier with fewer choices? Think,
"Simplicity of choices equals better persuasion."

*

The More Clients Bottom Line: Carefully think through the choices
you offer to your prospects. Give them one to three choices, not
five, six, or more. Make it simple for them to choose and they will
actually take action instead of delaying action or never acting.

By Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Please visit
Robert's web site actionplan.com for additional
marketing articles and resources on marketing for professional
service businesses.

Solutions focused Marketing

2008-08-07T10:21:00.002-05:00

If you read THIS POST about crafting the 30 second commercial you'll see that it really takes a whole different spin on your business than what we usually think.

Most of the time we're focused on products. And yes, our products do speak for themselves - they really do. I mean if you walk into a day care center with a few animals in tow it's almost a guarantee that they'll say "when can we do it".

But in a lot of cases, especially if you're not carrying around an animal, you want to focus not so much on the product but on the SOLUTION to a problem that you or your service provides.

So it's not just "we've got adorable stuffed animals" or even "our stuffed animals parties are a blast" but it's "We relieve the typical birthday party headaches by entertaining your kids for an hour with adorable stuffed animals."

See the difference? One is talking about the animal, the other is talking about the solution to a problem they probably have.

So change your mindset - start making a list of all the problems our service provides and you'll realize you've got something REALLY GREAT to offer moms, day cares, scout troops, senior centers, schools, park districts, etc.

What do you think?

I'll be Back - from the Success Factory

2008-08-06T09:22:00.002-05:00

Another good one from The Success Factory

SUBJECT: “I'll be back…”
I've mentioned before that my 18 year old daughter works part time at a local independently owned coffee shop as a barista.

In these hot summer months, the afternoon demand for a piping hot cup of coffee can often be almost non-existent and so some days I pop over for a short time to keep her company. As we were visiting yesterday, a couple, unfamiliar with the store, wandered in and asked a few questions about the types of coffee offered at the shop. They were looking for something in particular that the store does not carry. After a few moments spent perusing the menu board, they thanked my daughter and said “We'll be back!”

Oh, how many times have you heard THAT before?
As summertime is fair and festival time in many areas, I am sure those of you working booths are hearing all sorts of comments like this from folks strolling by.

“Will you be here all day, because I'll be back to make my purchases.”
“Will you be here tomorrow so I can come back then?”
“Where is your store located? I would like to shop there instead.”

“Do you have a catalog (business card)?
“This is something my wife/husband would be interested in. I'll go find her/him and we'll be back.”
“I just got here, so I'm going to (get myself settled, look at the other booths, do some other shopping) and then I'll be back to buy some things.”

“Your products look (taste, smell) wonderful; thank you for the free sample, I'll be back later on my way out.”

`I'll be back…' Arnold should be so proud to know that his infamous phrase is being used so handily to enable clean `guilt free getaways' for fair goers.

While I am certain probably half of the people who promise to be back intend to do just that - face it - there are too many other things at a fair to grab their attention and we are quickly forgotten. Keep the experience positive for yourself and your team by remembering:

First and foremost - HAVE FUN! We are sorting, not convincing SWSWSW-NEXT* applies BIG TIME when you work a booth. (*Some will, some won't, so what, someone is waiting, NEXT!)
Coupons - free shipping, sales tax or a discount on their first order may encourage a return visit or follow-up phone call. Be sure your contact info is on the coupon.
Catalogs. If you decide to make catalogs available at your booth, keep them in YOUR control so that they don't walk away without you getting a name and number in exchange. As you retrieve the catalog, hand them a clipboard and invite them to enter your free product drawing. If the catalog gets tossed along with all the other fair freebees you still have a lead. Don't be afraid to pass out last season's catalog. Sticker with, “For a current FREE catalog or to place an order, please call ____ or visit www____”
Finally, wear comfortable shoes, bring a water bottle AND YOUR SENSE OF HUMOR! Booths are a blast to work but the days can get long. DECIDE to have fun when visiting with those folks who drop by. Do your best to engage them in some lively (non-sales) conversation. (That ice cream looks great, your child is adorable, you look exhausted already - are you having any fun?) The less `intense' you are, the more likely they'll hang around for a few minutes longer, decide they like you and (perhaps) take a more serious look at your products and your opportunity.
Two years at this coffee shop gig have been a wonderful learning experience for my daughter. She leaves for college confident, personable, funny, and has earned enough in tips alone to finance all of her non-coffee shop social activities with friends.

And while the `tips' we earn when working a booth come in the form of new business leads; we (and our new team members) will walk away from the experience with a new level of enthusiasm and confidence for our products and our opportunity. For one of the smartest reasons to work the occasional booth is that it provides a phenomenal arena to PRACTICE talking about what we have to offer over and over again until we can do it in our sleep. If we goof up, no worries - you can try again when “they come back later.” :)

30 second commercial - Che Brown style

2008-07-17T07:13:00.004-05:00

I did a conference call with the team last week about Che Brown's script for the 30 second commercial, elevator speech, audio business card...whatever you want to call it. It was pretty good and I think members found it helpful.

I've heard Che's schpeel (is that really a word?) several times now but the one thing I keep coming back to is that his approach sounds very natural in conversation. And that's what I like about it. It's not earth shatteringly new or anything, just something systematic that makes it easy to remember and not sound "scripty" even though it's a script.

So, in an effort to keep it at the forefront of my mind as I continuously tweak what I say to potential Noah's Ark Workshop party hosts or recruits, I thought I'd type out the basics of his script here - and hopefully it'll be helpful to you as well! :-)

An elevator speech is the response you would give to someone who asks "So, what do you do?" and you have limited time to respond to them but want to invite more conversation. It's actually shorter than 30 seconds most of the time. It has to be. Try talking for 30 seconds straight and see how long it is! :-)

So here's Che's Script outline:
1. Do you know how ...
2. What I do is ...
3. Do you know anyone who ...

That's all you really have to remember to trigger your response. Then you fill in the ... spots:

1. Do you know how ... state a problem in the life of your "audience" that you can solve with your business.

2. What I do is ... state how you solve that particular problem without going into too much detail. This sometimes invites a response of "wow..how do you do that?" where you then can go further but if not you follow up with a question of...

3. Do you know anyone who .... summarize the perfect lead in this business.

So here's an example using something not NA related at all:

Joe: So, Tony, what do you do?
Tony: Well, do you know how parents of teens are always looking for a safe place for their kids to hang out together without worrying about alcohol, smoking and other dangerous stuff being involved?
Joe: Oh yeah!
Tony: See? So what I do is, open up local teen focused pizza parlors with all the things teens love that doesn't have all the things parents worry about. Do you know any parents of teens who might appreciate something like that?
Joe: Definitely, let me write down 200 names and phone numbers for you right now!

Tee hee - ok, well maybe not. But you get the idea.

So what types of "problems" does our NA business solve? Dragging the kids out of the house for a birthday party. Spending a ton of money on plastic junk to give at the end of the party. Saving child learning centers money by coming to them, etc. Think strategic - what do YOU love best about our business and how it helps people?

I gave my team homework to actually write out their commercial and record it on an audio line so they could hear themselves, invite some constructive feedback and then work on tweaking it to make it sound more natural. Let me know if you want the phone number to call in yours.

The DSWA

2008-07-07T11:34:00.004-05:00

While at convention some of us had an interesting discussion about the Direct Sales Women's Alliance (DSWA) and how both Michelle Silvas and I thought it was a great organization to join.

It really is. The cost is pretty low for the incredible resources you can get from them - worth every penny in my opinion. I joined a while back as a lifetime member and haven't looked back. Give it a lookey when you click HERE .

:-)

Convention awards night photos

2008-07-02T07:20:00.001-05:00

Another quick video

2008-06-27T22:56:00.002-05:00

Can you tell I'm loving my little Flip Video Camera?

A little hello from convention

2008-06-27T17:02:00.002-05:00

Working from home isn't easy

2008-06-24T08:46:00.001-05:00

I got a giggle from this one:

On Vacation - keep your business alive

2008-06-20T09:02:00.004-05:00

As most of you know, I subscribe to way too many newsletters and info emails. But I love to learn and it's amazing what you'll pick up to bump up your business as you glance through these tidbits of information.

Today, for instance, I got the newsletter from Christie Northrup. I don't always read Christie's emails now, to be perfectly honest, not because I don't think they're good but because she's very focused on party plan businesses - you know, the typical home party where a bunch of ladies get together and buy after a presentation. Since our Noah's Ark Workshop business is so different than that, many of her party ideas, etc., don't apply. But I stay on her list because I know in the past she's had some great insights and you never know.

Anyway, today's email talks about what to pack in your "business bag" for vacation and I thought it had some great information even for our business. You can read the entire post on her website when you CLICK HERE but to summarize what she suggests - at least in part one and part two:

1. When you pack for vacation ALWAYS remember to pack a business bag

2. Make sure that in the bag you put at least ONE sample product so a new potential customer and/or recruit can see how gorgeous our animals are. I'd suggest a GRAND animal - because they're absolutely the best part of our company and people can't resist holding, hugging and snuggling them - and then WANT THEM!!!

3. Keep only ONE catalog/flier in your business bag. I thought this was interesting. Her suggestion is to only keep one and then if someone says "can I have one of those" you can say, "Well this is my only one in this bag and I'd like to keep it to show people. But if you give me your contact information I'd be happy to get one to you." Her philosophy is that if you get their info, you're now in control and have permission to contact them further about a party or the business. Her other suggestion is to keep MORE copies of the catalog in your packed luggage (or trunk) so that after you get the contact info, if you happen to run into that person later you can still give them one and save yourself postage. Pretty smart!

4. Push pins - keep some push pins and mini fliers in your bag so if you make a stop somewhere and they have a bulletin board you are able to leave your information there.

This is just the start of her series so I'll see what else she has to say or you can subscribe to her newsletter yourself and get the full scoop!

Enjoy!

Direct Sales in Success Magazine

2008-06-05T07:14:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I got a new magazine in the mail - Success Magazine. It looks like your typical business magazine and I've not read any of the articles yet but I was thumbing through and smack dab in the middle is an article on Direct Sales.

The title is "Direct Selling Offers Flexibility and Financial Freedom". Not bad.

Here are some key points from the article:

1. The article starts out by saying that direct selling is the ideal business for people who want to "spread their entrepreneurial wings but have little or no business experience".

2. Things direct selling offers:

a. An industry that's booming and there is always room at the top.
b. A proven system for success (direct sales has been around and successful for over 100 years.
c. Start up for less that $500 - even if someone joins our company with the starter kit and the speedboat inventory add on they've started for less than $500 and are ready to make a profit from the moment the product arrives.
d. Flexibility and Freedom - work when you want, how you want.
e. Earn what you're worth - don't have to ask for a raise, just set your goals and work toward them! You're your own boss!
f. Opportunities for passive income - recruiting offers passive income - you won't find that in a corporate job.
g. Help others succeed and benefit too
h. Recognition and prizes (corp America offers this too of course but I can tell you from experience that it's the first thing they cut when things are tough)
i. Become a better you - When you talk to direct sellers who have worked through the ups and downs of this business you'll inevitably hear that the experience has meant a lot of person growth for them.

Then the article goes on to talk about some pitfalls to avoid:

1. Don't buy into "get rich quick" or "once in a lifetime" - look for companies that are in for the long haul.
2. Don't jump on the bandwagon - make sure it's a product you're proud to represent and would talk about even if you weren't getting paid to do so!
3. Don't give up too soon - this isn't get rich quick so you have to give it time. Typically a new business takes about 2 years to hit it's groove. Hang in there!

I'll look through the magazine some more to see if there are any other great insights. Just wanted to share this for now!

Enjoy your day!

More on Recruiting

2008-06-04T15:59:00.000-05:00

Loved this one - again from the Success Factory:

Subject: Empathize DON'T argue - you will never win!
Do you ever find yourself so passionate about your product or your opportunity that you get into a disagreement with your prospect? In our business, arguing with a customer or a prospective customer will not get you far - even if you are right you will always lose.

“I'm too busy…”
“I don't know enough people.”
“I don't want to be a pushy salesperson.”
“There are too many people already doing this.”
“I don't have the money to get started.”
These are the `standards' in our industry as objections go. And as tempting as it is to tell our prospect all the things we know:

WE know that you can host a successful party without having to know tons of people to invite.

WE know that you can make good money in this business and you can work it around your family's schedule.

WE know there's plenty of business out there.

WE know that the market is not saturated.

WE know that busy people usually make the best hostesses or consultants.

Try empathy instead. Allow your prospect the space she needs to vent her concerns. Then, instead of showing her why she is wrong - use the Feel, Felt, Found method to address her objections. For example:

“I don't know enough people…” “I know how you FEEL. I FELT like I didn't know nearly enough people to book more than one or two parties when I began this business. But when I really started thinking about who I knew, I FOUND that there were people out there - some who I didn't even consider to be really close friends, who were willing to help me get started by hosting a party. And from those parties everything just snowballed and I've never had a shortage of customers since then.”

You get the idea.
If you find that there is one objection that you get on a more frequent basis - handle it before it comes up as a part of your party or recruiting presentation.

For example - if people are always telling you they are too busy to join your company - as a part of your presentation you might want to story-tell on this topic. Many of my friends couldn't figure out how I would be able to run this business with three active children, a part time job, and all the running around that I do each week. The thing is, I find that this business allows me to set my schedule taking my family's needs into account first - and that working just 10-15 hours a week helps me to make our family's car payment each month. My business is growing so fast that soon I will be able to quit my part time job!

And what about the dreaded, “I'll have to think about it”?
Know that there are some personality types that truly DO have to think about something before they are able to make a decision. You must respect that and schedule a time for follow up within 24-48 hours. However, before setting that date - be sure that any concerns or objections that they may have are out in the open. You can say something like - “That is not a problem - I respect your need to think about this first - but can you tell me what concerns you have so that I can be sure to provide you with the right resources for you to research in order for you to make the best decision for you and your family?” (Then be quiet and listen. When you do this, often the real objection will rise to the surface.)

Recruiting Part 4 - The Success Factory

2008-06-01T08:19:00.001-05:00

Another great post in this series from The Success Factory

SUBJECT: Recruiting- The Recruiting Appointment

Yesterday, we reminded you that recruiting someone requires the same skills as booking a party. That said, you need to become as comfortable doing a recruiting appointment as you are doing a party presentation. As with anything, practice makes perfect. You will probably have to have some “wipe outs” before you get good at it, but your first couple of parties probably had some hiccups in them, right? Don't be afraid not to be perfect - just go for it!

One great format to use when doing a recruiting appointment comes from a great friend of TSF and longtime party salesperson, Barb Montgomery. Barb calls this the 7-step recruiting appointment. It is a great one to use because you can actually put a key word from each step on a 3x5 note card and carry it with you to the appointment to help to keep you on track. The whole appointment should be 30-45 minutes in length. Here is how it goes:

Step 1 - Build rapport. This is easy - take a few minutes as you arrive to warm up to your prospect (just as you would in any social situation). Compliment her on her home, ask about her family, what has she enjoyed about past job experiences - whatever. (Write the letter “R” or Rapport on your note card)

“Sub-step” before going on to Question #2 - Let her know you will be talking about the benefits of the business, how we make money, where to find business, support and kit options. Ask her if she has any additional “burning questions”**

** (This is important because if you don't give her this opportunity - she may have an unstated question that will weigh so heavily on her mind, she won't be listening to the rest of your presentation)

(Write the word “QUESTIONS” on your note - card or the letter “Q” or “?”.)

Step 2 - Talk about the benefits of the business and find out which of these are the most appealing to her. Some examples are: Flexible scheduling, Be Your Own Boss, Unlimited Earning potential, Great Products, Friends, Recognition, etc; Then ask her which of these benefits appeal to her most? (Try to get her to identify two benefits).

(Write the word “BENEFITS” or “B” on your note card. You may also want to list the benefits on the back for your reference)

Sample transition statement to Step 3 - We all love what we do and the great thing is that it isn't a volunteer job - we actually get paid to do what we love! Would you like to know how you make money in this business?

Step 3 - Explain how we make money, briefly and simply. Again, this will be unique to each company. Get help from your upline or recruiter if you feel unsure as to how to easily explain your company's career plan.

(Write the word “MONEY” or “$” on your note card.) Make any additional notes on the back if you need them.

Sample transition statement to Step 4 - Let's talk for a moment about where you will find business, OK?

Step 4 - Where to find business. Think about questions that you can ask her to help her discover for herself all the people she knows and the contacts she has. AGAIN - we are doing the SAME JOB - use your Hostess coaching skills here. Some sample questions might be - tell me about your life. Do you currently work outside the home? Do you have family in the area? Do you go to church or are your kids in activities? THEN please BE QUIET and wait for her to answer. By saying, see, you know lots of people - you will be reassuring her that she will not have problems building a business.

(Write-Where to find Business or WHERE on your note card)

Sample transition statement to Step 5 - The great thing about our company is all the training and support you will get, no matter where in the country you live!

Step 5 - Talk about the support she will receive from you and from your company. You might want to show her your company's web page (if accessing a computer is convenient), a sample newsletter or a piece of training information. Let her know that she is not alone out there - there is lots of help available.

(Write- HELP on your note card)
Sample transition statement to Step 6 - Show her the kit options that your company offers.

Step 6 - Kit options

Some companies have only one kit and some have several. If your company has several options, be prepared to suggest a good choice for her. If you only have one type of kit, just show her what she will get and then move right into Step 7

(Write the word KIT on your note card)

Step 7 - CLOSE

This is the most important step of all. You can do it in a variety of ways

Discuss payment options (deposit vs. payment in full, check vs. charge)
Or simply say something like- So, what do you think? Or How does that sound?
(Write the word CLOSE or the letter C on your note card. DO NOT AVOID or DELETE this step. It is like doing a party and leaving without taking orders!)

FILL OUT THE PAPERWORK and help her begin listing names of potential customers, hostesses and recruits. Schedule her Grand Opening party!

SUMMARY - THE 7 STEP RECRUITING APPOINTMENT

Build rapport - get her questions
Talk about the benefits
Talk about how you make money
Talk about where to find business
Discuss support and training
Go over kit options
CLOSE and get her started!
We hope you have enjoyed this mini-series on recruiting. Another great resource on team building is found in our Business Basics CD set. Recruit Your Way to the Top CD is part of the set and will help you become a master recruiter!

Recruiting Part 3 - The Success Factory

2008-05-31T08:16:00.000-05:00

Here's the third part in the series from The Success Factory. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

SUBJECT: Recruiting part 3 - Are you ready?
Yesterday, we discussed how to avoid that PUSHY feeling and also had a brief mention of Green Flags. Today we discuss another reason some people do not recruit -

Reason # 2 - I am not ready!
v What if someone expresses an interest in the business…NOW WHAT?

Ø I have NO idea what to say

Ø I have NO idea how to do a recruiting appointment

Ø I have NO idea what paperwork to fill out

Ø I have NO idea what I would do with someone who joined my team

Sound familiar?
Maybe these are not your personal fears but read this email with two sets of eyes please and think about the people on your team. Some of them have any or all of these questions with regards to recruiting.

What to say…The biggest mistake we all make, especially as new consultants, is that we say TOO MUCH! Especially if we have learned to identify Green Flags (see yesterday's email). Someone asks us a question about our business and we LAUNCH, leaving our poor `victims' with hurricane hair. Remember, we have one mouth and two ears! When someone asks a question about your business such as, “How many nights a week do you do this?”, feel free to answer BRIEFLY and then say… “I'm curious, why do you ask?” then please CLOSE YOUR MOUTH and wait for the answer. It will be hard, but do your best!

How to do a recruiting appointment-tomorrow's email topic.

How do I fill out the paperwork - obviously this is unique for each company. Please check with your recruiter if you are unsure and then PRACTICE filling it out so that you are comfortable! Sounds silly, but it's a smart idea!

What do I do with someone who joins my team? Again, training is unique to each company…your job is to educate yourself (via your recruiter or upline) as to what training resources are available through local meetings, the internet and conference calls. Also, (of course), get them subscribed to our FREE tips!

www.TheSuccessFactory.com.

As a new recruiter, you are the first resource to your new team member for any questions she may have. Don't worry! If you don't know all the answers, there is a good support system in place via your upline management and the company so use it!

Obviously, it is important also to have recruiting information and materials stocked as part of your business supplies. Carry this information with you wherever you go, just as you do your hostess information. YOUR GOAL is to become as comfortable signing new team members as you are scheduling parties. REMEMBER, we do the same job, same job, same job! If you can sell your product, you can book a party. If you can book a party, you can sign up a new recruit. These are all the same skills, you are just selling different products!

SUMMARY
Learn to be a listener!
Read tomorrow's email for tips on recruiting appointments
If you don't know already, learn about what paperwork you need to fill out to sign someone up.
Check out your company's training information
Be a good buddy to your new team member, answer what questions you can, and get help with the questions you can't answer!
Remember that we are ALWAYS doing the SAME JOB!

Hurricane hair? That's a good one! :-)

Recruiting Part Two - The Success Factory

2008-05-30T08:47:00.000-05:00

Here's another meaty post from the Success Factory series. Good stuff!

SUBJECT: Recruiting Part 2
We continue on our study of recruiting and discovering why it is that more people do not take advantage of the opportunity to truly build residual income in this business.

REASON #1… “I don't want to be PUSHY.” Probably the most common fear associated with recruiting.
Where does that fear come from?
The consultant is thinking more about herself than the potential recruit. Her fear of what that person will think of her exceeds the need to offer the opportunity. Therefore she says nothing.
Perhaps she had a negative experience with an “overly enthusiastic” sales person. She would never want to be perceived in that way and therefore, she says nothing.
Negative reinforcement from people in her life who she respects (relatives, close friends). We've all been there…ah yes, here are some of the things I heard when I first began in the business…
Ø (from my sister)… “You are doing WHAT? Do you need money? I'll give you money!

Ø (from my mother)… “Oh, certainly (that person I work with) is only buying from you as a favor to me!”

Ø (from a good friend)… “Now that you are in the party plan business, are you going to be bugging all of us all the time to sign up?”

Ø (from another good friend)… “Oh, we won't even talk to you about the business. We had SUCH a bad experience with…”

Ø (from a variety of people) … “Oh you are doing THAT? Isn't that one of those `pyramid schemes?'”

o Working through the fear, how do we filter out negative comments from important people in our lives in order to be able to hear green flags signs that someone is interested in the business? Sometimes those negative comments are replaying in our heads so loudly, that we can't hear when people say to us things like…

Ø “How's that going for you?”

Ø “Did you have to buy all your samples?”

Ø “Did you have a good night tonight (translation, how much money did you make?)”

Ø “How many nights a week do you do this?”

Ø “How did you get started doing this?”

Ø “You look like you really enjoy what you do!”

There truly is a very big psychological component to sales. And no matter how you hedge it, we are in the business of SALES! There it is, we've said it aloud. It boils down to your belief system. Do you believe in what you are selling (your product, the hostess and the business opportunity?) If you don't, then you need to get your head on straight. To our knowledge, none of the TSF subscribers are selling something illegal. All of us are selling something that will benefit someone. The key is remembering that. Adopt an unshakeable faith in your company and your product and stick with it. Do your best to develop a thick skin and not take things personally (and yes, this can be difficult with those people you care about in your life). We sort, we don't convince. Our job is to ask good questions in order to see if our product or service is a good fit for our potential customer. Once you learn to focus on what they need and not on yourself, you will find things go a lot smoother. SWSWSWSW NEXT is your daily mantra. SOME WILL, SOME WON'T, SO WHAT?.....SOMEONE'S WAITING…NEXT!

If you are fearful that you will be perceived as being pushy, say what you fear most. You might be surprised at the response that you get. Many years ago, a very good friend joined my team. This was someone I had grown up with and our families were as close as blood elatives. She became a leader in my downline and was with me for many years and grew a very organization of her own. Here's the interesting part of the story - it took me SEVEN YEARS to recruit her. Now, you would suppose that she would have written me off as a friend over that period of time or that I would have given up, right? But, to this day, long after our business relationship has come and gone we are still very close friends - neither of us would have it any other way. I worked all that time to recruit her because her need was crystal clear - she needed an extra income but is a mom of 4 active children. In my heart of heart, I knew it was a good fit for her and also that she would be great because she was a wonderful people person and a very hard worker (which I always told her). From time to time (maybe 3-4 times a year), I would contact her about joining my team. I would ALWAYS preface every phone call by saying - “Janet, I am really feeling like a pest here and you know our relationship is much more important than my business. Do I have your permission to tell you about what's happening right now with my company?” Her answer was always yes, and then for seven years there was always some reason or another why she couldn't join right then. I would always close our conversation with, “May I stay in touch, and can I count on you to tell me to buzz off when you are sick of hearing about the business?” So you see, I always had her permission to check in and I always gave her permission to let me know when she was no longer interested. Eventually timing for her family was right and she enjoyed many years with our company.

Summary
1) FAYC (Forget About Yourself Completely)

2) Have an unshakeable faith in your product, and your company

3) ALWAYS think about and STATE to your prospect

a) How they would benefit from your product or services

b) Why they would be a good fit for your company

4) Say what you fear most - by being honest and forthright, your prospect will respect you and listen to what you have to say (in most instances)

5) Remember, we are in the SORTING not the CONVINCING business - it's important to develop THICK SKIN!

Any Comments?

Recruiting Part One - from the Success Factory

2008-05-29T08:44:00.000-05:00

Here's another great series of posts from The Success Factory

Subject: The “R” word…
The “R” word - I think you know what I'm talking about - Recruiting
(also called sponsoring, signing someone up, getting someone happily involved in the business, etc;)

However you describe it, we are talking about building a team and it is something that some consultants avoid when they first join the business themselves. In fact, some consultants never do begin to build a team. More often than not, those consultants do not last long in the business.

We sell three products in party plan. We sell our products - the items featured in our catalogs and on our company website, we sell hosting - the opportunity to get products for free or at a discount by having a party and finally we sell the business - the opportunity to earn money by selling the products as a consultant.

In our business we are unique in that we can give ourselves a raise anytime we want. We can sell more products either by increasing the average customer order or increasing the number of guests at parties. We can also find others who would also like to join us in the business - the R word - RECRUIT.

One of my uplines once said that we should all walk around with a penny in one pocket and a quarter in the other. The penny represents the money we make selling product and the quarter represents what we make when we build a team.

So, if ultimately more money, residual income, is to be made by team building, why is “Recruiting” a dirty word to some people in this business?

As always, a mini-series is in the works and this one is on the phenomenon of recruiting. Even if you are an ace recruiter yourself, we hope you will tune in as you may have team members who are not recruiting. We plan to help you understand why.

I'll post the other posts from the series here as they come in. Enjoy!

Passive or Proactive Marketing?

2008-05-28T06:13:00.002-05:00

Another good one from Robert Middleton. If you haven't gotten his free marketing plan worksheet yet make sure you CLICK HERE to get it. Enjoy!

==========================================
Passive or Proactive Marketing?
==========================================

One way to think about your marketing is whether it's passive or
proactive. That is, are you just sitting there, waiting for clients to
come knocking on your door or are you getting out there and
doing the knocking?

There are many marketing activities you can do; and you can
either do them passively or proactively. Let me count the ways.

Networking

Passively - Go to networking events. Hang around with those you
already know and talk about non-business matters such as the
results to American Idol. Complain how networking doesn't really
work to generate new business.

Proactively - Go to networking events. Make it a game to meet at
least five new people. Get to know about their businesses, engage
in "Marketing Conversations" (see last week's eZine), and offer to
send them some information about your business and follow-up.

Web Site

Passively - Put up a web site and make sure to never make any
changes to it. Talk all about you and your services, but don't
have any kind of offer or clear path to contact you. Complain that
your web site doesn't bring you any new business.

Proactively - Put up a web site and keep updating it and tweaking
it. Put the focus on what results your clients get, not what you do.
Have something free to give away and sign-up people for your
regular eZine. Let visitors know exactly how to work with you and
offer an initial complimentary session or consultation.

Speaking

Passively - Get speaking engagements at local, professional
groups and chambers of commerce. Don't do anything to help
promote the event, just show up. Have a skimpy handout and a
tepid presentation. At the end, hand out your cards, and ask
people to call you if they need your services. Complain how
ineffective speaking is as a marketing tool.

Proactively - Get speaking engagements at organizations that
have your targeted clients as members. Put in extra time helping
to promote the event. Prepare the best presentation possible and
have a professionally designed handout. At the end, ask who
would like an article you've written and get the participants'
cards. Offer a complimentary individual session and have them
fill out a request form telling something about their business.

If you haven't gotten it yet, ANY marketing activity can be done
either passively or proactively.

Passive marketing activities are what 90% of Independent
Professionals engage in. Those who make their marketing
activities proactive generate more attention, interest and
response in their services. They also get more clients.

Proactive marketing takes a different mindset than passive
marketing.

Passive Marketing Mindsets

All business comes from word of mouth.
Wait for prospects to ask you, don't ask them.
Don't toot your own horn; it's rude and looks desperate.
Look aloof, not excited or enthusiastic; that's not cool.

Proactive Mindsets

All business come from clear and benefit-oriented communication.
When a prospect shows interest, find out more about their needs.
Positive visibility is the key to getting known.
Show your enthusiasm and excitement, it's contagious.

Where do mindsets come from?

Passive Mindsets come from a place of scarcity, inadequacy and
fear. If you believe you will fail, be ridiculed or rejected, you'll
avoid marketing at all costs or do it half-heartely. You'll find
reasons why marketing doesn't work.

Proactive Mindsets come from a place of abundance, adequacy
and fearlessness. If you believe you will succeed and generate
new business, you'll keep finding new and creative ways to
market yourself and attract more clients.

Passive or Proactive? It's your choice. But only one of them will
give you the marketing results you really want.

*

The More Clients Bottom Line: Look at your current marketing
activities and notice where you are being passive, holding back,
being fearful. Is that working for you? If not, work on making just
one of your marketing activities more proactive and notice the
difference. You just might get hooked on proactivity.

By Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Please visit
Robert's web site at www.actionplan.com for additional
marketing articles and resources on marketing for professional
service businesses.

Discounting

2008-05-23T08:12:00.003-05:00

This just popped in my email this morning and I had to post it. Wahoo - I'm not alone!!!!! From the Success Factory. Enjoy and please comment!

SUBJECT: WOW! IT'S A BLUE LIGHT SPECIAL!!!
Please tell us you are old enough to remember the famous K-Mart “blue light specials”! You know the deal, the P.A. system announces… “Attention K-Mart shoppers, in just 30 seconds and for the next 5 minutes, there will be a blue light special featuring our special house dresses in aisle 3…” Suddenly, there is a stampede of women all running over one another with their shopping carts in an effort to get to the cart featuring those lovely flowered garments.

OK, where are we going with this…today's topic, to discount or not to discount…that is the question.

TSF recently received an email from a consultant in a party plan business (to remain nameless), offering 25% off her products. We receive one of these emails from this same consultant about every other week…always offering some kind of discount on her products.

Now, while we are all independent consultants and therefore running our own businesses; for the most part it is our decision whether or not to discount (although some party plan companies strictly forbid this practice). If you are considering discounting your products, you may want to consider the following:

1) Discounting regularly “cheapens” your product.

2) Discounting regularly makes it sound like you believe your products are too expensive.

3) Discounting regularly makes your customers believe your products are too expensive.

4) Discounting regularly makes your customers NEVER want to purchase at full price.

5) Discounting and emailing your customers too frequently can make you a pest vs. a service.

The key phrase here is “discounting regularly”. While we believe an occasional sale for preferred customers/hostesses is a wonderful “thank you”; we think the above thoughts are worth taking into account as well…would you agree?

I love that idea - an occasional sale to PREFERRED customers - if you've got some extra stock or whatever, email your past birthday hostesses and offer it to them at a small discount as a customer service contact point - to let them know that THEY are special because they've purchased from you before.

You know how much I preach against discounting - I'm so happy to see someone else sharing my thoughts! :-)

Birthday Music

2008-05-21T20:45:00.003-05:00

I posted this on my myfamily site but wanted to post it here too because it's just so fun. I was looking for birthday music just to have and recommend to birthday moms and stumbled on this CD which has a bunch of variations (classical) of the song Happy Birthday. It'd be great for musical chairs or other music stopping/dancing games.

You can click on the little play buttons to hear snippets of each version. I love the polka one and the one that sounds like a Russian folk song. Very clever. Enjoy!

Amazon.com Widgets

Building on a Budget

2008-05-21T07:07:00.002-05:00

I just found out about these videos about building your home business (specifically MLM type businesses) with little or no money. I have not watched them yet but having seen other stuff by Mike, I bet they're good and that there are some really good ideas in there. Take a look - it's free!

Mastering Marketing Conversations

2008-05-20T07:07:00.002-05:00

Once again my friend Robert Middleton provides some great insight into recruiting for Noah's Ark (in my opinion). This is really good stuff!

==========================================
Mastering "Marketing Conversations"
==========================================

I think it's very useful to break down marketing into its
component parts and then study the details and how-tos of each
of these parts.

My "Marketing Ball Model" breaks the client-attracting process
into the following four parts:

Think Baseball when you think Marketing Ball - taking your prospective recruits around the bases.

Part 1. Developing your marketing message, identity and
materials that communicate the essence of your business.

Part 2. Engaging in marketing activities, from networking and
speaking, to eZines and blogging (utilizing the messages and
materials from Part 1).

Part 3. The Marketing Conversation, where you interact (usually
verbally) with a prospect as a result of engaging in marketing
activities.

Part 4. The Selling Conversation where you move on from the
Marketing Conversation and explore the actual needs of a
prospect, and then present your services.

Today, I want to focus on the Marketing Conversation.

The Marketing Conversation has four distinct steps. Most people
have some practice with the first step (getting attention and
interest), but usually fall down on the last three steps.

Marketing Conversations - The Four Steps

Note that all of Robert's steps assume that you're having a phone conversation - that's huge in itself. This kind of thing doesn't work as well when you're just dealing with emails.

1. The Audio Logo. This is the initial interaction with a prospect
where you get their attention and interest. This includes talking
about who you serve (your target market), the problems and
issues that challenge your clients, the solutions and outcomes you
provide, and stories that illustrate all of the above.

2. Qualification. These are the back and forth questions and
answers you and the prospect engage in to feel each other out for
a possible match. It also includes sharing in more depth about
how you work with clients and the results you produce. We'll go
into this step in more detail below.

3. The Offer. Once you have the attention and interest of a
prospect and you've qualified them, you need to have a call-to-
action, or nothing will happen. The best way to do this is to offer
more information related to your business (an article, for
instance) and an offer to follow up (usually by phone and/or
email). Again, more on this below.

4. The Follow-Up. After you've provided information, you need to
follow-up and explore with the prospect if there is enough
common ground to engage in the Selling Conversation. I
discussed follow-up strategies in detail in recent eZines.

If you master the four steps of the Marketing Conversation, you
will jump much faster from marketing activities to Selling
Conversations, and ultimately to new closed business.

If you miss one or more steps in the Marketing Conversation,
marketing will usually be a struggle. You'll talk about your
business, even generate some interest, but you won't have a clear
path from the initial connection to a Sales Conversation.

Step Two Secret

One of the biggest mistakes we make in the Qualification Step is
talking all the time about what we do. The prospect asks a
question and off we go, a mile a minute. Then at the end, you
hand out your card, they walk away and you wonder. "Wha'
happened?!"

Here's the secret. Simple, but not so obvious. When a prospect
asks a question, answer briefly and then turn around and ask a
question of them.

Annette's comment - This is HUGE and when I figured this piece out (and when I remember to do it!) it made a huge difference in my business - answer briefly and then ask a question! Brilliant!

Prospect: What process do you use to increase retention?

You: We use various processes, with our main focus on hiring the
right people to begin with. Can you tell me the biggest issue your
company has with retention?

With several of those exchanges you are informing your prospect
about your services (in bite-sized pieces), and you are learning
more about their needs.

Step Three Secret

Once you've qualified the prospect and they seem to be a good
potential client, you need to find a comfortable transition that will
lead to a Sales Conversation. Once a prospect is interested, they
want one thing: more information. So offer it to them.

"I've written a White Paper on retention called, 'The Seven
Biggest Mistakes Companies Make in Retaining their Best People.'
I think you'll find it very interesting. Can I send you copy?"

The answer to such an offer is almost always "Yes." Remember, if
you've interested them, they WILL want more information. This
relevant information makes you stand out immediately as a
valued professional. (Time to start working on that article!)

Then you reply, "Great, I'll send it to you by email. Then I'd love
to get your reaction to it and find out a bit more about your
business. When's the best time to reach you?"

End the conversation by agreeing on a time you'll make a follow-
up call. This works a lot better than saying, "Okay, I'll send it to
you and please give me a call if you have any questions." That's
called "dropping the ball." It's YOUR job to follow-up!

If you work at mastering the Marketing Conversation, you'll go
way beyond getting attention and interest; you'll end up with a
lot more Selling Conversations and, ultimately, more clients.

*

The More Clients Bottom Line: When it comes to Marketing
Conversations, you can't "wing it." You need to "script it." Know
which step you're on in the conversation and have answers,
questions, and offers ready to insert into the conversation at the
right moment. You'll be amazed at the results you get.

*

By Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Please visit
Robert's web site at www.actionplan.com for additional
marketing articles and resources on marketing for professional
service businesses.

What do you all think of this?

Quotable quote

2008-05-19T17:56:00.001-05:00

Men who do things without being told draw the most wages.

Edwin H. Stuart
more famous quotes

SUBJECT: DECIDING WHAT YOU WANT - The Success Factory Tips

2008-05-15T16:33:00.002-05:00

Another great email came today from The Success Factory - this is a good exercise to go through every few months to help make sure you're focusing on the right things as you go through your days, weeks, months and years. Enjoy and I'd love your comments:

Goal setting can be a daunting task. How does one move from “I'm just going to see how it goes” to a concrete business plan based on concrete goals?

We hope that the following questionnaire will help you to solidify your thoughts:

WHAT DO YOU WANT PERSONALLY?

Describe, in as much detail as you can, your “ideal” life.

What improvements, growth experiences, etc. do you want for your own personal growth?

Where do you want to be personally in:

1 year?
3 years?
5 years?
WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR YOUR FAMILY?

What changes are likely in your family life in:

1 year?
3 years?
5 years?
What are your personal priorities and time commitments? (Consider personal time, marriage, children, community, etc.)

WHAT DO YOU WANT N A CAREER?

What is important for you to achieve professionally?

Where do you want to be professionally in:

1 year?
3 years?
5 years?
How much time do you want to commit to your business?

Per week?
Per day?
WHAT ARE YOUR INCOME NEEDS (after real expenses)?

Think about things you want, ie.,mortgage, car payment, college,vacations, housekeeper, tuition expenses, etc.

What are your net income objectives in:

1 year?
3 years?
5 years?
Think about/look over your categories of business expense.

Which items are optional expenses?
What are your three largest expense items?
For what expense categories are you unsure if your investment is necessary or an appropriate amount?

IS THERE A RANK OR ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE IN YOUR BUSINESS THAT IS AN IMPORTANT GOAL FOR YOU?

What would the accomplishment of that goal mean to you?
What must you do to reach that goal? (sales, recruiting, Manager promotions, etc;)

DEVELOPING REALISTIC, ACHIEVABLE OBJECTIVES CAN BE DONE USING THE FOLLOWING FORMULA:

What I want MINUS Time available = REALISTIC OBJECTIVE

Is there a conflict between your career/income objectives and your personal/family objectives?

What factors are causing the conflict?

What possible modifications can you make to reduce the conflict? What would be the benefits of these modifications?

When's the last time you thought through the things above? I'm thinking I need to schedule in some time every month or so just to look through and see how I'm doing. You?

Follow Up - Part two

2008-05-06T06:52:00.004-05:00

I just got another great email that's like the second part of last week's post. This is an excellent article on following up - great stuff...

==========================================
Open Sesame: The Follow-up Formula
==========================================

Remember "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves?"

In this story from "A Thousand and One Arabian Nights," Ali Baba
discovers the secret words that give him entry to the cave of the
Forty Thieves, where a vast treasure is hidden.

Simply by uttering the words, "Open Sesame," the door to the
cave swings open and the treasure is his for the taking.

There's a modern equivalent to Open Sesame that opens the
doors wide to new business. If you master this secret formula you
will never want for clients and you will grow your business in ways
you once thought were impossible.

I call it the "Follow-up Formula."

Introduced last week, hundreds of More Clients subscribers now
have access to this Follow-up Formula in the form of my new
Audio Program, "The Art and Science of Telephone Follow-up."

In today's eZine, we'll explore some of the ins and outs of this
Follow-up Formula and the impact it can have on your business.

Four Applications of the Follow-up Formula

There are at least four marketing activities where you can apply
the Follow-up Formula. (How many of them are you using?)

1. Follow-up after networking

2. Follow-up after receiving a lead

3. Follow-up after giving a presentation

4. Follow up after a mailing campaign

These activities are ways to turn business connections into
qualified prospects. But if you don't follow-up, all your marketing
efforts will be wasted. To get results with the Follow-up Formula
you need to apply these rules:

Rules of the Follow-up Formula

1. Always follow-up sooner, rather than later. Don't wait a week or
even a few days after making an initial connection. Do your best
to follow-up in one or two days. For every day you wait, you
lessen the impact of the follow-up call.

2. If you don't make the follow-up call, the chances the prospect
will follow-up are extremely low. It's not that they are not
interested in your services, they might be; it's simply that it's
your job as the service provider to make the call. Don't think of it
as an intrusion, but as an opportunity to connect.

3. Think of these calls as "introductory calls," not as "sales calls."
The follow-up call is the bridge between marketing and selling. Its
purpose is to determine if the opportunity to do business with a
prospect exists in the first place.

4. Be prepared. Never "wing it." Use a script or outline to guide
you through the call. This keeps you on track and focused on what
you are saying instead of worrying about what the person you are
calling is thinking. This is the key to effective calls.

5. Always end the call with an agreed-upon action. a) you won't
call again as there is no interest in your proposition, b) you will
call back at a later time to explore further, or c) you will set an
appointment (in person or by phone) to explore working together.

The Numbers of the Follow-Up Formula

My experience is that, on average, with three to five follow-up
calls, you can turn at least one into a client. Sometimes you will
do better, sometimes you will do worse. (But if you don't call, the
results will be a big fat zero!)

Think of your marketing activities over the past month. How
many opportunities to follow-up have you taken full advantage of?
How many times have you avoided making a follow-up call or
done a poor job with the call?

By some some estimates, the average Independent Professional
misses (or blows) six to ten follow-up calls per month. And that
means two or more new clients you didn't gain that month.

If you put some basic marketing activities into place, you will
generate qualified prospects. And then, if you do make those
telephone follow-up calls, you will predictably turn a percentage of
them into paying clients.

Isn't it time to master the Follow-up Formula?

*

The More Clients Bottom Line: When you understand the Follow-up
Formula and apply it to your business consistently, you will have
the power of Ali Baba who uttered the words "Open Sesame" to
receive untold riches. Yes, this formula is a little more complex;
the good news is that you can learn it easily.

By Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Please visit
Robert's web site at actionplan.com for additional
marketing articles and resources on marketing for professional
service businesses

Did you read that? - 1 out of ever 4 calls will turn into a customer/booking/etc. But ONLY if you make a follow up call. Time to test his theory, don't you think?

The Art of Follow Up

2008-04-29T07:01:00.002-05:00

Once again, Robert Middleton hits the nail on the head. I HATE follow up calls - hate them. But I know they're necessary for business so I take a deep breath and just do it!

Let me know what you think of his article today:

==========================================
The Art of Follow-up
==========================================

You may have heard the assertion that people are more afraid of
public speaking than death.

I don't yet have the statistics to back it up yet, but I think the
fear of picking up the phone and calling someone you don't know,
trumps both of these.

I've met many people who have little fear of public speaking, but
I've seen several grown men and women quake with fear at the
prospect of making follow-up calls. In fact, many long years ago, I
was one of those people!

A follow-up call means calling someone by phone whom you've
previously met and who might be a prospect for your services. It
could also be a lead you've received from an associate or an
attendee from a talk or presentation.

The follow-up call is the pivotal action between marketing and
selling. Marketing warms up the selling process, but the follow-up
call is the key action that furthers the business relationship and
often secures the appointment.

To call or not to call, that is the question.

Not only do we not like making follow-up calls, we tend to do a
bad job of them when we finally get around to it. It's not
uncommon that we avoid them altogether, hoping that interested
prospects will call us back instead.

However, when I meet the very rare person who is good at
making follow-up calls, I know they won't have much trouble
consistently attracting clients. They don't wait, they connect.
They seize the opportunity, not wallow in the difficulty.

Let's do a reality check:

1. For the most part, prospects are not going to call you back,
even if they are interested in your services. If you want to turn
that prospect into a client you MUST make the follow-up call.

2. You will survive if you make these calls. I haven't known of
anyone who has died by making follow-up calls or has had the
prospect send a hit man to take them out.

3. You can get very good at making follow-up calls. You can learn
how to do this relatively easy. Like anything, it will take some
time and practice, but it's not rocket science.

Introducing a New Audio Program

In the Audio Program I'm launching today, "The Art and Science
of Telephone Follow-up," I interview Denise Clancey of Teledirect
Partners on all the ins and outs of making successful follow-up
calls. Let me share one of her main ideas.

The way to succeed with follow-up calls, is through scripting.

If you were playing in Hamlet, you'd have a script. If you didn't,
can you imagine how you'd come across? You'd bomb! Well, isn't
your business more important than a play?

With follow-up calls, you can't wing it; you need to know what to
say, when to say it and how to say it. You need to write out your
scripts and use them as guidelines as you make your calls. You
never actually read your scripts, but use them as outlines to keep
you on track.

Denise recommends four kinds of scripts:

1. The script for voice mail
2. The script when you reach a prospect
3. The script for dealing with gatekeepers
4. The general purpose information script

Armed with these four scripts, you finally have power when you
make your calls. You will start to control the flow of the call
instead of the call controlling you. (In the audio program, we go
over these scripts in great detail and even role-play each one of
them.)

Also, like being in Hamlet, you need to practice. Out loud. Use a
mirror and a tape recorder for immediate feedback. Until you feel
comfortable with your scripts, you will sound awkward and
hesitant, missing that authentic connection with your prospects.

If and when you master the art of the follow-up call, you will see
the following results: Fewer opportunities missed, more
appointments with qualified prospects, and more business closed.

Follow-up calls need to be a central part of your marketing plan.
No matter what marketing activities you do, follow-up calls need
to be part of the equation. If you don't make them, you may be
waiting a very long time for prospects to call you back. And that,
my friend, can kill you!

For more information on "The Art and Science of Telephone
Follow-up," link here:

Action Plan Marketing
click on Marketing Tools and Audio programs to find the follow up audio!
*

The More Clients Bottom Line: Learning how to make more
effective follow-up calls can give you more marketing leverage than
almost any other marketing activity. Follow-up calls can
dramatically increase the opportunities to present your services to
potential clients. Avoid learning this skill and it will cost your
business dearly.

By Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Please visit
Robert's web site at www.actionplan.com for additional
marketing articles and resources on marketing for professional
service businesses.
*

2008-04-21T08:18:00.004-05:00

I enjoyed this post from The Success Factory. They've got some good suggestions about phone calling and communicating with your customers. Let me know what you think:

Subject: Telephone challenges…
Tammi writes…I'd love to hear you address this issue some time... I am a stay-at-home mom and the best time for me to make phone calls is during my toddler's nap time (once I pick up my older kids from school, I feel lucky if I get time to go to the bathroom in private, much less make professional phone calls! Homework, dinner, bath, family time, screaming toddler, etc...) Most of the time, the people I call are not home during my toddler's afternoon nap and I have to leave a message. My question is twofold... What is the best thing to say on an answering machine (don't want to sound pushy or desperate and want a way to want them to return my call)... and is it OK to call people's cell phone number even if you think they may be at work (keep in mind many are people who filled out a form at a fair and I don't know them).

Dear Tammi,
Oh boy - I remember well the days when my office hours were 1-3pm. It was naptime for my toddler, preschool time for my son and those were my office hours - period. I can also remember having the same frustrations that you are experiencing when people who I needed to talk to, weren't home. What's a mother to do? Well, here are some ideas that have been shared by some consultants in the past and also that I have used over the years that have helped with this delicate business/family balance issue.

1) One of the most successful consultants in our company built her business to over 400 consultants within her first 2 years by focusing on moving ahead her business by doing one positive thing each day. It was so successful in fact, that our company adapted it into a `battle cry' for all consultants to mirror. It was called “One a Day”. Daily, you focused on doing just one positive thing: Book a party, schedule a recruiting appointment, hold a recruiting appointment or sell some product.

2) When making contact with people ALWAYS ask them what a good daytime number is for you. And, if they are giving you their cell phone number - ask them if you have permission to use it.

3) Saturday mornings from 9am-11am is a wonderful time to reach people at home as are Sunday evenings. These were times that my husband and I `negotiated' child care.

4) On Fridays, I had a friend who I hired for three hours in the morning to take my daughter so that I could do phoning. I found that having one day a week when I was following up with those who I couldn't reach during nap time really helped.

5) I traded time for time with a friend. We would take turns watching one another's children. This way, again, I had a time other than naptime when I could reach people.

6) When leaving a message, I always tried to say something that would entice them to want to pick up the phone the next time I called or perhaps call me back. “Oh I am so sorry I missed you! There are some exciting things going on right now that I just know you'll want to hear about. Call me at: 555-5555 if you have a moment. But if I don't hear from you - I'll try you again.

7) If I have left multiple messages with no luck - then I will leave a message that says: “I am feeling like such a pest and that is the last thing I'd like to be. I know you are busy and I don't want to presume that you are no longer interested - but if you'd do me a favor and just leave me a voice mail at 555-5555 to let me know one way or the other - that would be great! Thanks. (The key is that if you tell them to leave a voice mail, then they are more likely to call because they don't think they'll get you in person.)

8) Instead of flipping on the TV on evenings when a party cancelled, I sat in the office and did my phoning anyway. This, like the Saturday morning/Sunday night calls were points of negotiation with my husband.

The bottom line is that you will have to get creative. I found that the more money I made with my business, the more cooperative my husband became in terms of co-parenting. If you are just playing with your business and it is more of a hobby that costs your family money vs. a viable money making business - you can hardly blame a spouse for being less than cooperative. OUCH…a challenging but necessary message to hear and consider.

Thanks for writing in! We love to hear from you! - TSF

What are your biggest struggles regarding the phone and your Noah's Ark Workshop business?

Learn from your mistakes

2008-04-18T07:12:00.003-05:00

I subscribe to Cynthia Kersey's daily emails. I thought this one was really good:

"Slow and steady wins the race." It's not glamorous, but it's true. The tragedy is that most people never even get in the race, and many of those who do hope that success comes easily and swiftly. When it doesn't, they're out of the race, before it really begins. What they don't realize is that the decision to be unstoppable is never made just once. It is made moment by moment, again and again.

Setbacks are inevitable. In fact, they're evidence that we're doing something. The more mistakes we make, the greater our chance of success. Failures indicate a willingness to experiment and take risks. Unstoppable women have learned that each failure brings wisdom and insight that will take them one step closer to achieving their dreams. When we focus on one unstoppable moment at a time and stay the course, the end result will take care of itself.

It's important to remind ourselves that failure is an event, not a person. If you don't achieve your 30-day goal, does that make you a failure? If you don't get a promotion at work, does that make you a failure? If you get married and then divorced, does that make you a failure? Of course not!

Failure doesn't characterize who you are. It is simply an event that happens to you. And when you continue to move forward, despite difficult experiences, you have already won!

ACTION: Find the gift in the setback

The next time the outcome you had hoped for doesn't transpire, look for the gift. Ask yourself the following questions:
1. What can I learn from what happened?
2. What am I grateful for about this experience?
3. What are the potential benefits of this experience?
4. What is the best way for me to move forward?

Commit to finding the gift in any setback. And in advance, tell yourself that you will never, never, never quit. If you don't give up, you simply cannot fail. Not only will you achieve your dreams, but the combination of your commitment, courage, and faith will rise as the greatest triumph of all.

© 2008 Unstoppable Enterprises Inc.

What do you think? Do you see setbacks as reasons to just quit or do you learn and grow from them. I'd love your thoughts!

Playing it Safe...

2008-04-15T07:01:00.003-05:00

Another great post from Robert Middleton. Take the time to read this one well rather than just glancing over it. Then think about how you promote your Noah's Ark business... really think about it. Are you playing it safe or are you really enthused, energetic and do you REALLY believe that Noah's Ark Workshop is a great opportunity for birthday parties, child care centers and more? Really?

==========================================
Playing It Safe
==========================================

Note: today's eZine just may offend you. Please don't read if you
don't like being challenged. You have been warned.

In the InfoGuru Marketing Manual, I discuss the most successful
way to promote professional services. Understanding this
approach can have a profound impact on how successful you are
with your ability to consistently attract clients.

In the Manual I say:

"InfoGurus work at spreading the word about how to make things
work better. They are committed to results, passionate about
solutions, fanatical about what really works. And they spread their
gospel far and wide using any and every marketing tool they can
get their hands on. InfoGurus get business from all corners
because so many people hear about them and their innovative
problem-solving approaches."

If I lined up ten of your friends and associates, would they all
report that you are passionate, even fanatical about the work you
do and the difference you make?

My observation is quite the opposite.

Most business owners may love what they do, but more often
than not, they come across as tepid, hesitant, and uncommitted.
When they talk about their business they are about as inspiring
as a wet sponge.

Look, I'm not out to insult you, but to challenge you.

If you are not passionate about what you do, excited by the
difference you make, eager to share with others, inspired by your
clients and moved by the abundance of opportunities and
possibilities afforded by your business, you are missing the boat.

And what's perplexing to me is that this is the very last thing
that business owners focus on.

Many people will do very little to nothing. Others will study
everything they can about marketing. Still others will work hard
to make external changes to their marketing. But very few will do
the thing that makes the biggest difference of all:

Expressing Authentic Excitement About Their Business!

Excitement, enthusiasm and passion are contagious. Certainly
more contagious than "knowing it all" or having a perfect
marketing message or even a beautiful web site.

Those things (and many more) will emerge naturally out of your
enthusiasm and passion. You don't do all of that stuff and hope
that it adds up to excitement. You come from excitement and all
your marketing will come together effortlessly.

But you say:

"But I can't act excited, Robert, if I don't feel excited! You might
be enthusiastic and passionate about your business. That's great,
but my business is not inherently exciting. And besides, that's
not my style. When you talk about having marketing
breakthroughs, I just can't relate."

I hear this kind of thing a lot. And it sounds very reasonable. In
fact, most people would nod in agreement: "Yes, don't get too
excited, you might be disappointed and you'll probably turn
people off. Better to be low-key and play it safe."

Ah yes, the mantra of the mediocre: "Play it Safe."

What you may not realize is that playing it safe is killing your
business, eliminating your future, suffocating your soul. Playing it
safe has become more important than being fully alive.

When you are fully alive, you don't think about yourself much or
how good you look. You think of those you can serve, those you
can make a difference with, those whom you can contribute to.
And what more natural outlet to do this than through your
business?

Ask yourself, "What is the deadly cost of playing it safe?"

And then ask, "What's really the worst thing that could happen if
I let myself be excited, enthusiastic and passionate about my
business?"

Finally, ask, "What breakthroughs might happen in my business if
I allowed myself to express this excitement, enthusiasm and
passion?"

Are you ready for this kind of breakthrough?

*

The More Clients Bottom Line: Marketing breakthroughs come
from expressing your natural excitement, enthusiasm, and passion
about your business. They do not come from playing it safe.
Honestly answer those questions above. They are the gateway for
the breakthrough you are looking for.

By Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Please visit
Robert's web site at www.actionplan.com for additional
marketing articles and resources on marketing for professional
service businesses.

Please comment your thoughts about this below - I'd love to hear!

2008-04-08T06:48:00.003-05:00

I've been talking a lot this week with people who are really in their comfort zone so this article is timely. The thing I've discovered is that most of the time, our comfort zone is pretty uncomfortable...or rather the consequences or outcomes of staying in a comfort zone actually make us much more uncomfortable than if we took the "get out of the comfort zone" steps. What do you think?

==========================================
Outside the Marketing Comfort Zone
==========================================

Last week I stated that "there are no marketing breakthroughs
inside the comfort zone."

When you are stuck in the marketing comfort zone, by definition,
you will avoid doing *anything* that is uncomfortable. And so the
*only* way to get outside of the comfort zone is by taking actions
that make you uncomfortable.

I know that's bad news.

What you probably wanted to hear was that you could get outside
the comfort zone by doing something that was different, but still
comfortable. Sorry, it doesn't work that way.

One of the dictionary definitions of discomfort is, "a state of
mental unease; worry or embarrassment." Yes, that's pretty
much how you'll feel when you step outside your comfort zone.

Mostly, the unease, worry or embarrassment is that you'll make a
fool of yourself, get rejected or fail. And since nobody wants to
feel that way, the best alternative is to simply avoid the
discomfort at all costs.

Yet people do step outside of the comfort zone all the time. They
take risks, do things that might not work, face rejection and
embarrassment and somehow live to tell the tale.

How do they do that?

Very simple. They realize that the cost of staying comfortable, the
cost of inaction is much, much higher than the cost of taking
action and being momentarily uncomfortable.

Let me contrast a marketing activity to make my point.

Comfortable: Not making follow-up calls.

Uncomfortable: Making follow-up calls.

Cost of not making follow-up calls: Failure to make a business
connection, failure to turn a prospect into a client, failure to grow
your business, failure to make a difference.

Cost of making follow-up calls: Feel uncomfortable with the
thought of possible rejection.

Doesn't that put things into better perspective?

Blinded by our momentary fear, we don't take action, despite the
fact that the long-term consequences are astronomically higher
than the short-term discomfort.

However, when you look at the real cost of action or inaction,
things look very different. The price of inaction then seems
extraordinarily high compared to the price of taking a risk.

And this is what creates breakthroughs, these shifts in
perspective.

Here's a simple exercise that can literally create such a shift,
resulting in a marketing breakthrough.

1. List all the marketing activities that you are now avoiding.
The test is that just thinking about doing these things makes you
feel uncomfortable, uneasy or worried.

2. Now create three columns, one titled "Imaginary Cost," the
second titled, "Real Cost," the third titled "Potential Payoff." Do
this exercise with just one marketing activity at a time such as
giving a presentation, writing an eZine, or making follow-up calls.

3. In column one, "Imaginary Costs," you'd write all the things
that might happen if you took a risk: "People might laugh at me,
I wouldn't do a very good job, the response would be poor."

These are imaginary costs, as you really have no proof any of
these would happen, you just fear that they might happen.

4. In column two, "Real Costs," you'd write all the things that will
definitely happen if you don't take action: "People won't hear
about my services, I won't make any impression, people won't be
talking about my services, people won't have the chance to
respond."

These are real costs, because it's easy to see that if you don't take
some action, nothing will happen.

5. In column three, "Potential Payoff," you now write all the
positive things that could possibly happen if you took action:
"People might respond and make inquiries about my services,
they might talk to others, they might set up appointments with
me, they might even become clients."

It's easy to see that these potential payoffs are much more real
than the imaginary costs.

If you do this exercise honestly, you'll have a shift in perspective;
you'll start to see that avoidance is actually more uncomfortable
and more costly in the long run than taking action.

And you'll see that the discomfort of taking action is so much
safer, so much easier than the "comfort" of avoiding action.

And when that happens, I promise you'll start having marketing
breakthroughs that were once impossible.

*

The More Clients Bottom Line: The comfort zone is relative. When
looked at though our fears and aversions, it seems crazy for us to
take actions that would make us uncomfortable. But when we look
at the real cost of inaction, we see that those consequences are
infinitely more uncomfortable and costly. In that light, it will be
relatively easy to take action on things you may have been
avoiding for years.

By Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Please visit
Robert's web site at actionplan.com for additional
marketing articles and resources on marketing for professional
service businesses.

Interesting (short) post from Success Factory

2008-04-03T07:30:00.001-06:00

I liked this quick note from the Success Factory:

Subject: The subtleties of language…
You know the drill -
It's an agreement not a contract that you OK not sign. Something is a challenge not a problem and it's better to invest in a product rather than to buy it.

The other day I heard this one. When doing your phone calling it is better to say “Hi this is …” which implies we have a relationship or know each other instead of ,“Hi, my name is...” which means you don't know the person you are calling.

Subtle but powerful, wouldn't you agree?

What do you think?
Annette

Curriculum Connection for Child Care Centers and Schools

2008-04-01T11:52:00.006-06:00

Last night I did a conference call with my team and had our own Angie Baratta on talking about her new ebook that she created to go along with our workshops. It was great.

Here's that portion of the call audio - it kind of jumps in in the middle but you'll get the idea and I've also added her purchase button here so if you're interested in buying the book before she raises the price you can. It's worth tons more than she's charging just in the time you'll save alone. (I'm lucky - got to preview a copy so we could plan the call!)

Let me know if you have questions!

Click on the Buy Now button here to purchase the book directly from Angie through PayPal.

Just for Fun

2008-03-27T06:48:00.001-06:00

I found this quote today and added it to my personal blog but thought you all would enjoy it as well:

"My therapist told me the way to achieve true inner peace is to finish what I start. So far I've finished two bags of M&M's and a chocolate cake. I feel better already." – Dave Barry

Don't hoard inventory!!!

2008-03-26T08:11:00.003-06:00

Here's another great post from the Success Factory about inventory!

Subject: Money sitting on the shelf…
If I heard this phrase once, I heard it a million times from my accountant husband. Inventory is money sitting on the shelf.

Now, while some companies do not allow their consultants to order and carry inventory, mine did. For some of us, because we work many booths and conferences in the springtime, inventory can be a necessary evil, so-to-speak. People come to these events and expect to be able to purchase items on the spot.

However, if you carry (or plan on carrying) inventory - here are some things to keep in mind.

Don't purchase inventory from your `paycheck'. A few days ago, we talked about the 60-20-20 rule in terms of budgeting. (60% is your pay, 20% to reinvest and 20% discretionary). Inventory purchase is an example of discretionary spending.
DO remember, that if you purchase inventory, while it may make your personal sales look amazing for the month - if you don't sell the inventory, it just takes a bite out of what you are selling next month (assuming you are filling orders with inventory that following month)
Don't get into the habit of purchasing inventory to `make numbers'. (Been there, done that) - nothing takes a bigger chunk out of your ability to pay your bills than when you've reinvested your profits back into inventory. Product does NOT translate into milk and eggs at the grocery store.

A few things regarding Noah's Ark here. I like to encourage crew members to look ahead in their month - maybe out 6 weeks or so and then order ONCE A MONTH for the upcoming 6 weeks so that you can purchase at that 45% discount price point. Then, 4 weeks later (the next month), take a look at where you are and look 6 weeks from that date again, refill what you need for the next 2 weeks as well as order ahead for the next 4, etc. That way you're ordering monthly (very important if you have a team under you) and you're not carrying inventory that you won't be using. It's also a great way to help you determine your best selling animals, etc.

Fliers?

2008-03-21T07:59:00.001-06:00

Another great post from The Success Factory. I encourage flier distribution in our business as it's unique and a great way to get the word out BUT... follow up and personal attention increases the response rate by... a lot (very scientific eh?)

SUBJECT: I'm just going to make some fliers….
… “and leave them on my neighbor's doors…”
This is the way so many new recruits decide to start their party plan businesses. And,

while this is certainly a very acceptable, non-threatening way to advertise, the reality is that neighbors probably will not come storming to the door, jumping up and down with unbridled excitement anxious to see whatever it is that this new consultant is selling.

The truth of the matter is, that the “flier method”, will net very little (if any) return on the investment of time spent designing and distributing, and money on printing. Marketing studies show a less than 1% .

Think about the last time you received a flier offering to clean your home, sell you firewood, landscape, paint or wash your windows. What did you do with the flier?

a) Threw it away

b) Scribbled a phone message on it then threw it away

c) Read it then threw it away

d) All of the above.

So…the next time you sign a team member and she decides to let her neighbors know about her new business in this manner; don't discourage her. In fact, applaud the fact that she is thinking about how to market her business. However, just educate her on the facts so that she won't be disappointed. Then, help her compile a List of 100 and give her words to use when contacting the people on that list. In this business, relationships count and the personal touch will go much farther than an impersonal flier.

Recruiting - Your chicken list

2008-03-19T08:25:00.002-06:00

Here's another great post from The Success Factory - and believe it or not - no comments from ME this time! Enjoy!!

Subject: Are you thinking, or are you doing?
Have you ever been surprised, annoyed, or angry to find out that a friend or family member joined another direct sales company? OR even worse, that they'd joined YOUR company but with another consultant?

If you've never had this experience, trust me, it is one of those true `kick in the guts' moments. It has happened to most of us at one time or another who are in direct sales. You've thought about this person, even imagined in your mind how the conversation might go as you approached them about joining your company. But, once again, you don't pick up the phone because “I don't want to be PUSHY”.

Today's challenge is to put together your `chicken list'. This is a list of people that you are chicken to ask to join your team. Be sure you put their phone number next to their name - that is the first step in `lightening' that 500 pound receiver.

Now, before you pick up the phone, think about why they would make a good consultant. Perhaps they are lots of fun, or a hard worker, or have lots of friends and a large circle of influence. Maybe they just need to earn an income but do it flexibly.

Why would you company be a good fit for them? Do they love the product? What things about your company do YOU most appreciate that might appeal to them?

Here's a script thought-starter: “Hi Cindy, this is your cousin Sue - do you have just a couple of minutes? You have been on my mind and I've been too chicken to call you because I didn't want to appear pushy - but I am having such a good time with my home business - I wanted to talk to you about it. I would feel terrible if I didn't share this information with you because you are such a people person, but I also want you to know that the most important thing to me is our relationship as cousins. I don't want you to avoid me at upcoming family gatherings. I'd like permission to sit down over a cup of coffee and talk with you about this just once, so that you know what I'm doing and then I'll leave it up to you if you would like to pursue things further - how does that sound”

Make the script your own and get going on that chicken list!

Marketing

2008-03-18T05:35:00.002-06:00

Well, you all know I'm a big fan of Robert Middleton, so here's another great post from him. Again, because he's talking about marketing in general, you'll need to put your thinking cap on to figure out how to take his message and make it fit for Noah's Ark. But it's not that hard! :-) I've, again, thrown my words in the middle of the article with my thoughts on it.

Enjoy and please comment!

==========================================
Tweaking Your Campaign
==========================================

For the past few weeks I've been talking about marketing
campaigns, and integrating the five Marketing Elements to clearly
communicate your message to your target audience.

And then I used my upcoming summer workshops, "The Fast
Track to More Clients" as a case study on how to put a campaign
like this together.

It sounds so simple: Get clear on your service, target, message
and materials and then just get your offer in front of the right
people; repeat until you have the desired results.

The thing is, it doesn't always go quite like that! In fact, your
campaign just might crash and burn. In this issue, I'll explore
some of the reasons why and show you what you can do to get
your campaign back on track.

First of all, if you're not getting the results you want, you need to
look more closely at all your Five Elements:

Element 1 - Clearly defined service

Is the service you're promoting not only clear, but a service your
prospects are looking for? Is it a service that makes a difference,
delivers what it promises, is easy to understand and implement?

I can't tell you how many Independent Professionals are offering a
service that doesn't meet many (or any!) of these criteria. In a
word, the service is a dud. There's no interest because the
service is inherently uninteresting.

Get some feedback from some past clients or close business
associates. Ask them to be brutally honest. Their feedback can
give you ideas to help make your service more compelling.

Annette's comments: I think one of the biggest mistakes we make in promoting the NA parties is that we try to "compete" with build a bear. The thing that makes our service unique is that we come to them - we bring the party to your home - you don't have to schlep the kids anywhere - we do all the work, etc. So consider how you're talking about your service and see if that might change the results.

Element 2 - Clearly targeted ideal buyers

Even if you have the world's greatest service, it won't go far if it's
being promoted to the wrong audience. Or if the audience of
potential clients is too small, or geographically undesirable.

For instance, if you're trying to fill a workshop and you only have
100 people on your list and they happen to be all over the
country, you're not going to have much success.

Do a reality check and ask if you are honestly getting your
message in front of enough of the right people. If not, you may
first need to work on building your prospect list.

Annette's comments - again, our target audience for birthday parties at least is a mom who wants to have her party at home. If you're trying to market to a mom who doesn't want her house to get messed up and would prefer Chuck E Cheese (yuck) then you're destined to fail. Child Care centers LOVE us - IF you promote it from the standpoint of "I come to you", etc.

Element 3 - Clear, benefit-oriented messages

If your service and target market are in good shape but you're
still not getting a decent response, the next place to look is at
your marketing messages.

A good message telegraphs three things very clearly and
compellingly: This service is for you; this service has a tangible
value or benefit, this service is something you need to know more
about.

A great number of marketing messages don't communicate any of
these, let alone all three! Spend a LOT of time working on your
message. It's like creating a melody. You'll know when it's singing
the tune it was meant to sign.

Annette's comments: Wow, this is key. The first thing that popped into my mind here is the definition of insanity - doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results or something like that. If what you're doing isn't working, change up your wording, up your belief level, role play with your sponsor - do something to change it up and test another way until you find something that DOES work!

Element 4 - Clearly written/designed marketing materials

Let's say you are on track with the first three Marketing
Elements. Great service and target market and a compelling
message. If people are still not responding, it might be your
written marketing materials.

Look, when you have the attention of a prospect, when your
message gets through, the prospect then wants to know more.
The tragedy is that we often don't tell them enough.

Here's my rule of thumb on written marketing materials (such as
a web page): Make sure your materials tell the prospect
absolutely everything they need to know about the service - every
benefit, advantage, feature and detail. (And this is often five to
twenty times more than you're telling them now.)

Annette's comments: Do you have a party package sheet that clearly outlines what your party hostesses will get if they book a party with you?

Element 5 - Clearly communicated offers

You've come a long way. Your prospect has responded to your
service, is interested in knowing more and has read every single
word contained in your marketing materials. But he or she still
doesn't act? Why?

Some of the reasons are out of your control. Timing, price, the
tendency to procrastinate, event the economy are simple realities
you have to deal with. No matter how well you promote your
service, not everyone will buy.

But you can control how you present your offer. You can tell your
prospects exactly what they need to do next. And you can give
them al kinds of incentives to take action. In other words, make it
very easy for them to respond. And don't just ask them once, ask
several times.

Annette's comment: Enough said - "And don't just ask them once, ask several times." Just because they said no now doesn't mean they'll say no in 6 months or next year. Keep your name in front of them!

What to do next

What I recommend next is to go back and review the Five
Elements of your campaign. I bet you'll find many things you
can improve right away. Then let things sit for awhile, come back
and see if you can find a few more things to improve.

When you don't think you can improve the design of your
campaign any more, test your campaign in a very focused way
and see if your results haven't improved.

Ultimately, you'll hit on a successful formula for your campaign
that you can repeat over and over (of course, always trying to
improve it a little more every time).

*

The More Clients Bottom Line: A successful marketing campaign
is like a well oiled machine that produces consistent results every
time. To get to that level of consistency, you need to return to the
Five Elements and keep tweaking this machine until it produces
the results you're looking for: More Clients!

By Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Please visit
Robert's web site at www.actionplan.com for additional
marketing articles and resources on marketing for professional
service businesses.

What do you think? Please comment below or send me an email with your thoughts! I'd love to hear!

Recruiting

2008-03-17T07:50:00.002-06:00

I got this this morning from the Success Factory. Because our business is very different from regular direct sales some of the ideas here might not apply directly but of course, me and my big mouth, I added in a few of my own comments to "turn things to Noah".

Enjoy and please comment on the blog to let me know what you think!

Subject: I can sell, but don't talk to me about that “R” word…

Does this sound like you? I'm a strong seller; selling is not a big deal; our products are so awesome that once you get them in front of people they really do sell themselves because they are so wonderful. Yes, I mention the business opportunity at the beginning and the end of my presentation. Yes, I even give everyone at my parties some information on the business. I'm sure if they are interested, they will ask me about the business; after all, I don't want to be PUSHY!

Annette's comment: Unless you're doing huggable home parties you're not likely to be standing in front of a group of women to share our business opportunity at the beginning of your presentation but you can joke with the kids about how they'd make a great assistant if their mom wanted to ever have a party business like yours. It's fun to hear what kids share with their moms... "And the lady said I'd make a great assistant if you'd ever want to do a business like that mom - that would be so totally cool mom...can we do it???" You never know! :-)

The above are ACTUAL comments from a consultant who was such a strong seller that she consistently was recognized by her company year after year for being in the top 1% of her company! After years of this, she finally realized that with the number of people she was selling product to, she was really missing a BIG opportunity for building residual income by recruiting and team building. She made the choice to change by incorporating a few more pro-active approaches to her business; consider giving these a try:

Make a HELP WANTED sign to display at each party

(Annette's comment: Put a "help wanted" mini flyer in every take home bag)

Put a recruiting label with “your story” on each catalog

(Annette's Comment - add a recruiting label to your mini catalogs and include them in every take home bag)

Focus on demonstrating products from the new consultant kit and state that these items are included in the kit

(Annette's Comment - add a picture of the starter kit to the mini help wanted flyer!)

Coach ALL hostesses with the attitude that they will join

(Annette's Comment - ask ever birthday mom if she knows of anyone who might like to have a fun birthday party business!)

Talk to EVERY guest individually about joining

(Annette's Comment - see above about joking with the kids about having their mom join and them being assistant)

Make “Morning After Calls”, to each guest, thanking them again for their purchase and inviting them to join

(Annette's Comment - call your birthday hostess a day or two after thanking them again for the party and asking if she's knows of anyone who might want to join the fun!)

Make recruiting the primary focus at each event

(Annette's Comment - Uh, that' won't work at our events but you could set up a recruiting night and include an invite in your party take home bags)

Make the parties fun and simple so potential recruits could see that it is truly duplicatable work.

(Annette's Comment - Make the parties fun and simple so every birthday mom can see that it is truly duplicatable work!)

By making these simple changes, she more than doubled her annual recruiting. But the biggest difference she said was in her attitude. She says; “You have to believe that the opportunity you are offering IS your best product. Make it your primary focus at each presentation that you do…the sales will come naturally; but statistics don't lie; you really do need to ask. But when you do, 1 in 10 will join! Yes, there are still some individuals who will come up and ask you, but the majority are waiting for you to invite them to join you.

So, what do you think? Any other ideas that stand out?

Glitzing your Website

2008-03-15T10:04:00.002-06:00

I just posted this on the NA forum but wanted to post it here too just in case you're like me and you don't visit there too often! :-)

Here are just a few quick tips for personalizing your Noah's Ark Workshop website.

1. Don't just copy another crew member's site. Although that might seem like the easy thing to do, it causes "duplicate content" on the web and search engines don't like that and they'll always choose the site that has had that particular text on it the longest when someone searches. So it actually HURTS you to copy someone else's exact wording. Make your website wording your own and personalize it for you. Tell YOUR story and invite people to contact you to find out more. Brand yourself - don't be like someone else!

2. A lot of people ask about how to add some color, hyperlinks, etc to their text. The best website I've found for how to do this is actually a site that was created for kids to help them make websites. It's great info and very easy to follow.

www.lissaexplains.com

Click on html help and you'll see all sorts of tips for making your site stand out.

3. The other great sites for uploading graphics to your personalized sections is

www.photobucket.com

Photobucket is a FR#E photo hosting website where you can upload photos and graphics and then use the URLs for those hosted pictures on your site. It's VERY easy to use. BUT - since our websites are already so fabulous with so many graphics (YAY JIM!) I would urge you not to use too many graphics on your personalization - it just gets to be too busy then.

The most important thing about your website is YOU - write the content for those pages - welcome, about me and join my team - from your heart. People won't care about the glitz and fancy colors, rotating text and graphics if they can see who YOU are and why they would want to work with you. Always leave them wanting more so they'll contact you to talk with you in person. If you can get someone on the phone or in a personal email you'll be more successful at closing the sale or recruiting the new member.

I hope that's helpful!

Chatty?

2008-03-13T06:53:00.002-06:00

Here's another good post from The Success Factory on setting up specific calls with team members to help maximize your time. What do you think?

Subject: Chatty team members - a question from YOU
Charlotte writes…I have a question. I am a leader of a team of 23. What suggestions do you have to help with staying on task when you have a team member who just loves to chat? Honestly, I shy away from calling her because she takes up so much of my time, even when I do say, “Well, I need to go so that I can_______________” - it still takes forever to get off the darn phone! And if she does drop by - forget it -hard to get her out of the house and on her way. It IS good to touch base and get to know team members better and I want to support her, BUT my time is so limited as it is, I do avoid connecting with her because of this. HELP!

Dear Charlotte,
Your challenge is one that is common to those of us in direct sales. Many who are attracted to this type of work have that “cheerleader” personality type. Many join this business as a social outlet and the “business” part of it is a secondary component and so the result is the situation you are dealing with. We LOVE these team members, but it is important to establish boundaries early on so that as your team grows you are able to keep yourself organized and balanced.

So…because at TSF we have `been there and done that' we have a few practical suggestions.

Schedule weekly phone appointments with her. Set parameters for the appointments:
· The appointment is 15 minutes in length

· She needs to come prepared with a list of questions and challenges she is having

· She needs to schedule at a time when distractions at her house are minimal

· She (and you) will keep a notebook as a log of your appointments.

· YOU keep a kitchen timer on your desk so that you can be true to your commitment of a 15 minute appointment.

The agenda for the phone call is as follows:
· Review how her previous business week went, what worked and what needs to be changed.

· Deal with the challenges she had and brainstorm solutions.

· Give her an assignment for the current week (example, book two more parties for April)

· Schedule a time for the call the following week.

Don't be surprised if the first week's appointment ends up with her chatting away and using up the time. That's where the kitchen timer comes in. The timer will go off (and since it is by the phone), she will hear it. You MUST cut the conversation off - let her know that you have another appointment coming up right after hers and so next week we will have to make sure to get right down to business. (This will train her very quickly that she needs to `get down to business' on your calls.)

Now, this doesn't mean that you don't take her calls at other times during the week - but only do so if you have time and ask that if she has questions that she uses email whenever possible.

Set and keep office hours and be sure your team knows what those are. For example, when my children were small, my office hours were from 1-3pm during nap time. Remember, office hours are only effective if you keep them!
Keeping control on “drop in visits” is most important, especially as your team grows. I have a pick up basket on my front porch. I use it for team members and customers alike. Whether they need to drop off a check, purchase business supplies, pick up a catalog or inventory - this basket is in constant use. It is a wonderful tool. When I get a call that someone needs something, I just let them know it will be out in the basket for them to pick up at their convenience so that we don't have to coordinate our schedules. Even if I am home when they come by - I don't go to the door. Problem solved.
Remember, a key to success in this business is operating your business from the start like the large organization that you are working towards it becoming. That means setting parameters and putting solid business practices in place early on so that you can effectively balance your family and your business life and obligations.

Hope that helps!

Making your business a business

2008-03-11T10:07:00.001-06:00

Here's another great post from The Success Factory

Subject: Moving from HOBBY to BUSINESS
Hi. I really need to make my business a business and not a hobby. I have two small children so I really need to maximize the time I give to my business to the utmost! I'm hoping to get some good tips through your website to help me be successful! Thanks. -Terri

This is a common “lament” amongst not only Party Plan folk but anyone who works from home. While we have addressed this topic before; we thought a quick review might be in order for those of you who have only been with us a short while.

We have the “perks” of working from home burned in our minds. We sell the advantages on each and every recruiting appointment. You know the spiel, “work in your pajamas, set your own hours around your family's schedule, no traffic to fight, do a load of laundry while you work, be the `field trip mom', no boss breathing down your neck…yah-dee-yah-dee-yah.” The list goes on and on. However, Terri's point is a valid one and a struggle for many of us as we try to make a viable income from home while at the same time caretaking small children. How is it that you can best move beyond the hobby level and (to quote Emeril) “kick it up a notch…BAM!”

Here are some tried and true tips that will help you do just that:

SET OFFICE HOURS (can we say this enough?) Set them, keep them, and know they will change each year as your children grow.
KEEP THE LINES OF COMMUNICATION OPEN. Share your goals with your family. Let them know where you want to be, when you want to be there, what's in it for them and how they can help.
GET HELP!* As much as we try, we can't do it all. Get a cleaning service (even once a month will help); schedule an extra party to pay for it. After all, wouldn't you rather do a party and let someone else scrub your floors?
CHILDCARE*! Yes, we KNOW you are working from home to be with your kids, but through our entire history in party plan we were always a party of a babysitting co-op or we hired another mom to help us out. (Don't belong to a babysitting co-op? Then start one! It's a great way to network for your business and it won't set you back financially because the `currency' is trading time for time) Visit your local library and check out a book on the subject.
TREAT IT LIKE A BUSINESS! That means you may have to say “no” once in a while. The biggest `rookie' mistake for those working from home for the first time is to think that magically there are MORE than 24 hours in a day and you suddenly no longer need to sleep. Figure out your priorities and learn to say NO to those who think you are just `playing office'. Resist the urge to drop everything to have coffee with a friend when it is office hour time.
GO HOME FROM WORK! One of the biggest challenges of working from home can be that you (mentally) don't go home. When you are spending time with family you feel guilty because you think you should be working and when you are working you feel guilty because you think you should be spending time with your family. AGAIN, go back to #1. By setting and keeping office hours (and set “party” nights as well) you will begin to be able to compartmentalize. Having a separate office space WITH A DOOR THAT CLOSES is also helpful if possible.
C.A.N.I. (Constant and Never-ending Improvement). Another “must” …stay motivated by reading our daily tips and TAKE A PEEK at our awesome training materials to help you keep on keeping on when the going gets tough!
These are the major MUSTS to kick things into higher gear. Stay tuned as we at TSF are committed to helping you with these and other challenges that we all face while growing our businesses.

The Success Factory

2008-03-07T10:36:00.001-06:00

Here's another interesting post from The Success Factory:

Subject: More ACTION plan for GROWTH
Yesterday, we discussed the dangers of “playing manager”. Today, as promised, we will discuss specific strategies for balance in your business life and GROWTH.

Work to establish good habits NOW that will serve you as your business grows.

Set office hours.
Schedule phone appointments with team members using the following guidelines:
Keep appointments short (15-20 minutes in length)
Keep them regular (once a week or once a month depending on the “pace” of the team member). Your time should be spent most frequently with new team members and business builders.
Keep appointments short (15-20 minutes in length). Stay “on task”. Ask team members to make a list and save questions for phone appointment time if possible.
Establish just one day a week (Sunday evenings or Monday mornings are a good choice), that are Team Touch Times. This helps team members get off to a good start for the week. The rest of your week should be spent building your personal business.
Consider a separate line or a separate ring (on an already existing line) for business. Caller ID can be very helpful as well. RESIST picking up the phone when you KNOW it is your time to be making customer calls.
Ask team members to leave a complete message. Often you can call back later with an answer to their question and just leave a message or send an email to them. This can be a huge time saver.
DROP INS and DROP OFFS. Please read this with an open mind. Certainly we love to get to know our team members better. However, someone dropping by to pick up inventory or business supplies can sometimes turn into a HUGE timewaster if too much chit chat happens. So, consider having a box or basket on your front porch for these exchanges. It will control the socializing AND eliminate the need for “coordination” of mutual schedules.
By taking control of your business NOW, while it is in its “fledgling” time, you will be properly positioned to stay balanced as you GROW!

Getting Clients Fast

2008-03-04T07:37:00.003-06:00

Y'all know that when I get my email from Robert Middleton that I immediately copy and past his info here because it's so good and so practical. And although he talks more in general marketing terms, EVERYTHING he says can be translated over to at least one aspect of our Noah's Ark Workshop business. The key is to taking a few minutes and really reading what he has to say and then putting it in NA terms.

==========================================
Getting Clients Fast
==========================================

Last week I discussed the importance of clarity in all aspects of
your marketing; no clarity equals poor marketing results. This
week I want to focus on how to leverage that clarity to attract
clients quickly.

First let's review the five marketing elements.

Element 1 - Clearly defined products or services

Element 2 - Clearly targeted ideal buyers

Element 3 - Clear, benefit-oriented messages

Element 4 - Clearly written/designed marketing materials

Element 5 - Clearly communicated offers

These five elements are the foundation of your marketing. They
can take some time and effort to put together. But once you've
got them, you have the launching pad for attracting clients
quickly and consistently.

Then your vehicle for attracting these clients is a well-designed
campaign using one or more marketing vehicles such as
networking, speaking or teleclasses.

In 1995 I launched a speaking campaign that did just this. I had
moved my business from San Francisco to Silicon Valley so I
needed to generate new business fast.

After preparing my Five Elements above I contacted every
organization in the area whose members were self-employed
professionals. I sent a speaker's kit and followed up. I got booked
for several talks. I gave the talks and followed up with those who
attended. I then converted those people into clients.

In 26 weeks I had gained 26 new clients.

I'm using a similar plan today to fill my new Marketing
Certification Program. After putting all Five Elements into place, I
contacted my customers and subscribers by email. I then held an
introductory teleclass. Those who attended applied to be in the
program and I set up individual appointments with them.

The program is now almost full.

My client, Shelley Simon, put her Five Elements together and
then promoted her chiropractic business coaching services
through ads and articles in targeted chiropractor publications.
Those who responded went to her web site and filled out a form
to request an initial consultation.

Shelly's business is now filled to capacity.

A customer of my InfoGuru Manual and Web Site ToolKit, Darrell
Crawford, owned a franchise business - TAB (The Alternative
Board). He assembled his Five Elements and then targeted a
select group of prospects through telemarketing and put them on
his email list. That led to qualified inquiries and conversion of
prospects into TAB clients.

Before long Darrell was the second most successful TAB franchise
owner and ultimately sold his business for a healthy profit.

By the way, both Shelley and Darrell went on to become two of
my most successful Action Plan Marketing Coaches. They realized
the power of this approach and wanted to teach it to others.

It's the Campaign!

What I've noticed is that people do not conduct their marketing
as a campaign. Instead, it's done as a series of disconnected,
random activities. You do a little networking, a little speaking,
etc. and not a whole lot happens.

What's missing is the PROCESS of the campaign. One thing must
lead directly to another. When you design, implement and master
this process, it's like turning on a marketing machine. Clients will
predictably pop out the other end!

Let's look more closely at how the campaign process works.

Step One - Prepare all the Five Elements. Now you are clear on
what you are selling, who you are selling it to and have put
together your message, materials (i.e., web site) and offer.

Step Two - Put your message, materials and offer in front of your
target audience. Again, any marketing vehicle can work. For
instance, a speaking engagement can accomplish this.

Step Three - Have a specific call-to-action, not to buy, but to find
out more. This is key. "If you are interested in this service and
want to know more, let me know and we'll set up a time to talk."

Step Four - Conduct the sales conversation with your qualified
prospects. Learn about their goals and what stands in the way of
achieving them. Show how your service can help them get there.

Step Five - Confirm the sale, sign the agreement and get your
first payment. This, like all the steps, needs to be designed and
implemented flawlessly.

Repeat this process enough times and gaining new clients will
become natural and effortless.

Is this all there is? Yes, these are essentially the steps to
attracting clients consistently and quickly - first the Five Elements
and then the Campaign. Everything needs to be in place and you
need to play it like a game you can win.

What else do you need?

You need information and guidance in developing and mastering
the process. I took a look at all my many marketing programs and
have put together a special "Quick Start Marketing Package" that
will help you do exactly that.

See below for details.

*

The More Clients Bottom Line: The fastest way to get clients is to
mount a very focused campaign where one marketing action leads
naturally to another until you are attracting clients consistently. It
takes time to develop that campaign, but once you do, you
become an unstoppable marketer.

© 2007 Robert Middleton, All rights reserved. You are free
to use material from the More Clients eZine in whole or in part,
as long as you include complete attribution, including live web
site link. Please also notify me where the material will appear.
The attribution should read:

"By Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Please visit
Robert's web site at www.actionplan.com for additional
marketing articles and resources on marketing for professional
service businesses."

So what do you think? Do you like his approach and are you trying it at all?

Treat your business like a business - Part 2

2008-02-27T10:44:00.003-06:00

Some more information from The Success Factory. Although we're not like the typical direct sales party plan business there is a lot here to chew on and consider as you desire to actually make money in Noah's Ark. What do you think?

Subject: Assessing the financial health of your business - Part 2

Today we will go over the second half of our questions on the finances of your business. Read on!

1) Am I spending money on extra hostess gifts (over and above my company's hostess plan)? While it can be OK to “sweeten the pot” keep in mind a couple of things. Always give products from your product line - remember, part of your job is to use your product. Often to keep expenses down you can split things up to make it less expensive. Also, ask yourself this, “Do I really believe that my company's hostess plan is good?” If you do, then why are you spending money adding to what's already provided? Remember, what you do for one hostess you must do for another and, do you want to give the message that your hostess plan is not really rich enough? Just a thought.

2) Am I mailing out catalogs/brochures and sale fliers without asking my customers if they want them and/or not following up? If you are, go to your front door, open your wallet and let the wind take away your money. What you are doing is wasteful!

3) Do I often spend cash when a customer uses the real “green stuff” (vs. check or credit card) instead of depositing it? It is as important to track income as it is expenses. If you don't deposit the cash you get, you can't accurately track income AND it WILL leave your husband with the idea that you're not making enough money because you are spending that money on lattes or Happy Meals!

4) Am I paying at least one family bill in addition to all the expenses created by my business? The sooner you do this, the happier your spouse will be. This monthly obligation will also put some pressure on yourself to keep your calendar full (always a good thing!)

5) Am I doing enough revenue generating activity each week or am I spending too much time playing office? It's easy to spend time making fliers, setting up filing systems and sending out mailings. But truth be told, this is playing office. And playing office doesn't pay the bills. Get on the phone and book some parties!

6) Am I keeping good financial records? The better records you keep the better you will be able to move on to the last question…

7) Do I know how to file a Schedule C so my family benefits fully from the tax advantages available to me because I have my own business? The IRS website is a wealth of information on this topic. Do it yourself or better still, hire an accountant familiar with the party plan industry to maximize the tax benefits to your family of running your own business. His fees will be tax deductible on next year's tax return and he should be familiar with the tax law changes that occur from one year to the next.

Keeping good records doesn't have to be cumbersome. Just have a place (a box, a folder, an envelope) if nothing else where you throw every receipt and then once a month, quarter or even at the end of the year, go through and make a list of them. Save EVERY invoice/packing slip from the home office and write out a receipt for EVERY piece of product that you sell.

Treat your business like a business - Part 1

2008-02-26T11:05:00.004-06:00

This came in my inbox yesterday from the Success Factory. It's good info no matter how long you've been in business. It goes along well with the Tax Tips seminar from a couple weeks ago!

Subject: Assessing the financial health of your business- Part 1

Recently we asked that you answer a series of questions regarding the finances of your business. Today we will talk about the answers to those questions.

1) Do I have a separate checking account for my business? If you haven't already, open a separate checking account for your business. This helps track expenses more accurately. You will also find that you are not mixing business expenses with the family bills such as the grocery store. Also, if you are ever audited by the IRS, having a separate checking account is a good indication to them that you are running a business (vs. a hobby).

2) Do I have a separate business credit/debit card? If you don't, then you should for the same reasons as indicated in #1. Also, for the purposes of tracking expenses, do your best to always use your checking account or credit/debit card when paying business bills. Receipts for bills paid by cash can easily get lost in the shuffle.

3) Am I carrying a balance on my credit card? If you are, then you are overspending AND probably paying high interest rates too boot. If you have difficulty with credit cards, consider using only a debit card.

4) Do I have too many business supplies on hand? Basic is better. It can be easy to get carried away ordering all kinds of brochures from the company; however you'll probably find that less is better. Stick to the basics: order forms, invitation postcards, recruiting contracts and catalogs. E-vites can be a great alternative to postcards and many company websites offer forms and fliers that are downloadable from their websites so take advantage of that! Remember too that statistically there is a 1% return on direct marketing (ie; leaving brochures on your neighbor's doorknobs or in their mailboxes; so save a tree and pick up the phone!

5) Do I own lots of extra “stuff” with my company's logo on it (tee shirts, stationery, magnets, hats, etc ;) We get so excited “shopping” for these kinds of things (especially at convention) that we can overspend. Keep in mind that in most cases, bumper stickers and tee shirts book very few parties.

Tomorrow, we will see how you answered the rest of the questions on our survey…so tune in then!

So how do you rate? #4 hit me hard. I'd still rather drop a flier than pick up the phone but I'm getting better! Please comment or send me an email.

The Marketing Clarity Test - Robert Middleton

2008-02-26T06:38:00.002-06:00

Another great article by Robert Middleton

Today is the final day of a two-week Hawaiian vacation. I've tried
not to think about marketing too much, but believe, me,
marketing is alive and well here in paradise.

Every tourist-oriented business is doing everything possible to
compete for one's dollars. Activities such as whale watching,
snorkeling and helicopter rides partner with the timeshare
industry to give the visitor even better deals.

Deals like this are promoted in every magazine, booklet,
pamphlet, flyer and street vendor the moment your plane lands.
Although it can be somewhat wearing, it clearly works.

I've noticed that the best Hawaiian marketing contains all the
elements of any good client-attracting promotion. Below I've
summarized the most important five:

Element 1 - Clearly defined products or services

Element 2 - Clearly targeted ideal buyers

Element 3 - Clear, benefit-oriented messages

Element 4 - Clearly written/designed marketing materials

Element 5 - Clearly communicated offers

Obviously, clarity is an essential component of each of these
marketing elements. Communicate with lack of clarity and the
marketing connection isn't made.

I believe that the biggest overall problem with any business's
marketing is the absence of clarity. Whether this is because of
ignorance or laziness, the result is the same: the inability to
reliably attract more of the right clients

Where is your marketing falling short?

You may be looking for "silver bullet marketing solutions" when
you're missing the basics - consistently communicating clearly
about your business.

How well do you do on the "Marketing Clarity Test"? Score
yourself five points for excellent, four for good, three for fair, two
for poor and one for abysmal. Highest possible score is 25.

1. Your service (or product) is so clearly defined that you can
explain what it is and the need for it, in one or two sentences,
when someone asks you what you do.

2. You can clearly define who your ideal clients are, both
demographically and psychographically. You know who they are
and how you can reach them.

3. Your marketing messages (such as an Audio Logo, headlines on
your web site, titles of articles, names of talks, etc,) all clearly
communicate what your service is and who it is for.

4. All of your marketing materials, from your business card to
your web site, expand on your marketing message and explain in
more detail the benefits and advantages of your services.

5. Through your marketing messages and materials, you make a
"call-to-action" or offer that clearly directs a prospect to take an
action that will lead them to purchasing your services.

Interpreting your score:

25 - 21 - Excellent - You have clients on a waiting list

20 - 16 - Good - You are attracting good clients consistently

15 - 11 - Fair - Getting clients is somewhat of a struggle

10 - 6 - Poor - You find it very hard to attract clients

1 - 5 - Abysmal - Clients are running away from you

How do you score and what are you going to do about it?

*

The More Clients Bottom Line: To a great degree, your success in
attracting clients is correlated to how clearly and consistently you
communicate about your business.

By Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Please visit
Robert's web site at www.actionplan.com for additional
marketing articles and resources on marketing for professional
service businesses.

Start Selling Outcomes (thanks Dorothy)

2008-02-21T07:16:00.002-06:00

Dorothy Loslo posted this on the yahoo group today and I wanted to share it with blog readers too:

Start Selling Outcomes

Instead of talking about the features of your products and services, declare to the world, "I am the obvious choice! Doing business with anyone else would be foolish."

Start talking about the specific reasons a prospect should choose you over everyone else. Discuss what they will gain from their investment.

You want to make concrete offers and tie those offers to powerful benefits by answering these questions:

-What are the big obstacles your customers are facing?
-What do they have gain by working with you?
-What do they have to lose by not working with you?
-What are your competitors missing?
-What do you do potentially better than anyone else?

Your potential customers are dying for a buying preference that makes their decision making process easy. So, make your claim, back it up with a promise and a guarantee and tell the prospect exactly how and why you will make their life much, much better.

Communicate your ideas through a compelling story or message that causes people to take action and allows you to measure your results.

I thought it was great insight. Dorothy, did you write this or find it somewhere? Thanks!

Quote for Today

2008-02-21T07:14:00.004-06:00

I get quotes in my email from Cynthia Kearsey and this was the one for today:

For every finish line tape a runner breaks - complete with the cheers of the crowd and the clicking of hundreds of cameras - there are the hours of hard and often lonely work that rarely gets talked about.
- Grete Waitz

Isn't that so true? We never know how much background work is going into someone's successes. Success is rarely without cost - usually huge cost.

Fear in Marketing - Part II

2008-02-19T06:29:00.004-06:00

Here is part 2 of Robert Middleton's series on Fear in Marketing. When you read this, take some time to think through specifically how you can apply these steps to your Noah's Ark Workshop business - and specifically to areas were you are paralyzed to inaction because of what you fear. This is huge!

And please comment below on what you think.

Here's his post for today:

In last week's More Clients, I was rather blunt about how people
are afraid of people and how that impacts their marketing.

In general, the fear of being judged, fear of ridicule and fear of
rejection are at the top of the "Fear Hit Parade." Just think, if you
didn't have those fears, what would you do to market your
business that you're not doing now?

But even if you knew exactly what to do, when it comes time to
take action, the fear strikes again and every fiber of your being
starts to argue why taking this action isn't such a good idea - at
least not right now - maybe later.

So, fear is a given.

But clearly, it doesn't stop everyone all of the time. Many of us
find a way over, around or through our fears and ultimately take
the actions necessary to move our businesses forward.

But can you speed up the process?

My experience is definitely yes. Some fears can hold you back for
a lifetime. But if you follow this seven-step process you can get
beyond your fears relatively quickly and produce results as a
much higher level, with a lot less struggle.

1. Set a marketing goal that's important to you
Without a goal, no fear, no resistance. Many people play life and
even business this way, but we'll assume you want more than
that. However, as soon as you've charted your direction, fear can
get triggered rather quickly.

2. Recognize your fears and the power they have over you
If you're in denial, you can't work with them. However, if you can
honestly admit you're afraid of networking, speaking, writing or
asking for the business, you can then take the next step.

3. Realize the cost of the fears (reality check)
Fears leads to inaction, to stagnation, to doubt and to more fear.
But you need to see the specific cost to you: "By not making
those follow-up calls I'm probably missing out on gaining some
new clients. And the longer I delay, the harder it will be."

4. Imagine taking the action without the fear
If you can actually see yourself making those calls, giving that
talk or writing an article, you are on the way to a breakthrough. If
you couldn't have the fear, who would you be? How would you act
differently? Picture and feel this as vividly as possible.

5. Learn some basic marketing how-tos
Now that you can imagine taking effective action without fear, you
need some information about what actually works and what
doesn't work. There's not a lot of sense in fearlessly taking actions
that won't get you where you want to go!

6. Make a simple plan and take one step at a time
Leverage your inspiration and clarity by taking quick and decisive
action. But do something that is doable, where you can experience
an immediate win. Don't sabotage yourself by setting impossible
goals. Write a short article before you tackle that book.

7. Get support, coaching and consulting
Over the years, I've coached hundreds of people though this
process. They came to me stuck, confused and afraid about how
to make their marketing work. With direction, encouragement
and support they found that attracting clients was a game they
could win.

Success Will Follow Naturally

Once you've gone through this process several times, your
confidence grows, fear subsides and success follows naturally,
with minimum struggle. This basic approach to getting past
marketing fears is very effective if you apply all the steps.

However, I've noticed that most people focus primarily on steps 5
and 6. They get some information (often not enough) and then
take some actions (without a lot of planning).

But if things don't go too well (and isn't this usually the case
when you try something new?), you start to experience the fears
and doubts again and end up quitting before you're half way
there. Of course, you always have a good reason!

How often do you take the time to look at and work with your
fears? Wouldn't it make sense to come back to steps 2, 3 and 4
throughout the process? And wouldn't it make even more sense
to get support to guide you until you were confident in your
ability to consistently produce marketing results?

*

The More Clients Bottom Line: Any marketing action plan that
doesn't take into account the fears you have is going to be rough
going. Fears are a given, but you can work with them. And it's
just as important to get some experienced guidance on the path.

© 2007 Robert Middleton, All rights reserved. You are free
to use material from the More Clients eZine in whole or in part,
as long as you include complete attribution, including live web
site link. Please also notify me where the material will appear.
The attribution should read:

"By Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Please visit
Robert's web site at www.actionplan.com for additional
marketing articles and resources on marketing for professional
service businesses."

Conquering Marketing Fears

2008-02-12T07:38:00.000-06:00

Here is another great article by my friend Robert Middleton. Enjoy!

If someone gave me a magic wand that I could use to solve any
marketing issue my subscribers and customers faced, what would
that issue be?

Only one comes to mind. I suspect it was the same issue fifty
years ago and would be the same issue fifty years from now.

That issue is "Fear of People."

Nothing holds people back from growing their business more than
that. I see this issue reflected in every problem or concern people
face when marketing their services.

Here are four of the most common instances:

Writing
People are afraid what others will think of their writing. They are
afraid it won't be good enough, and that they'll be ridiculed if it
doesn't meet the standards for the Pulitzer Prize.

Speaking
It's almost a cliche that the biggest fear people have is speaking
in front of groups. You'd think, from the hesitation, that speaking
was as dangerous as facing a firing squad.

Networking
Meeting new people can sometimes be fun, but often it doesn't
feel very safe to us. Meeting strangers and sharing ourselves
often feels scary and risky and therefore easy to avoid.

Calling
Picking up the phone to follow-up with someone you've met, or
God-forbid, someone you've never met, triggers feelings of
cowardice in the bravest of people.

Notice that these fears are all connected to communicating with
other people. They are all about putting your message in front of
others. There is only one conclusion: We are afraid of people.

Until we face this truth and deal with it, marketing is never going
to be a lot of fun, or very productive, for that matter. Marketing is
going to be an ordeal when we imagine judgment, rejection and
ridicule at every turn.

Notice that I said "imagine."

For the most part, these horrors of being judged, rejected and
ridiculed are just that - imagination. If they are not real, why do
they *feel* so real to us?

Short answer: Something happened when you were a kid.

When you were very young, life was full of magic and possibilities.
You could imagine anything and do everything. You were the
master of your little universe and things were very good.

But then that thing happened. Some big kid beat you up; you
tried selling something to the neighbors and they weren't
interested; you weren't allowed to join a club; somebody called
you a name.

Way back then, the judgment, rejection, and ridicule were very
real. You tried, expected success, and failed. And it felt bad. So
you told yourself something to protect yourself:

"I don't want to play anyway."

"I'll never ask anybody to do anything."

"I'll always play it safe and not get hurt."

What we tell ourselves in a moment of intense emotion tends to
stick - not for just a few days, but often for a lifetime. We find
ourselves arranging our lives to avoid any kind of judgment,
rejection or ridicule.

Bad news if your livelihood depends on communicating to others
about what you can offer them!

The funny thing is, we blame the bad feelings on marketing and
selling, as if they were out to get us! "Marketing is hard, bad,
manipulative, slimy and unethical. And besides, there's no time
to do it and it really doesn't work anyway!!"

With a firmly entrenched mindset that is structured to avoid
marketing and selling at all costs, it's easy to see why we don't do
well with it. Many barely get by in their businesses. Others fail
completely, unable to effectively "put themselves out there."

"OK, Robert, I get it! But what can I do about it? How can I stop
being run by my fears of people?"

I plan to expand on this in next week's issue, but I'll share a few
things now for you to consider:

One, if you are afraid of people, how do you think most people
feel about you? They are afraid of you. Little ol' you. Deathly
afraid that you'll judge, reject and ridicule them. If you really see
the truth of that, something may shift for you.

Two, the you that is afraid of being judged, rejected and ridiculed
isn't you. It's you as a five, six or seven year old. Would you
accept this advice from a child: "Be afraid of everyone so you
don't get hurt." Of course not.

Three, ask yourself: "If I could no longer be afraid of marketing
myself, who would I be instead?" Would you be courageous,
inspiring, and someone who makes a difference? If you knew you
had that choice (and you do), what would you choose?

*

The More Clients Bottom Line: Fear of people is a big factor that
holds us back from effective marketing. It keeps us small, it
prevents us from making the difference we could. The thing to
get is that the fear is no longer real. It's doesn't have to have a
grip on you any longer. It's time to move on to bigger things.

By Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Please visit
Robert's web site at www.actionplan.com for additional
marketing articles and resources on marketing for professional
service businesses.

5 Tips to remember from The Success Factory

2008-02-06T10:24:00.000-06:00

Another great post from The Success Factory with my "answers" about Noah's Ark Workshop in caps - lol!

In his book, “Being the Best You Can Be in MLM” author John Kalench discusses the 5 key questions in any prospects mind when considering your company's business opportunity. Committing these to memory will net increased confidence in your recruiting skills, which will, in turn, increase the number of people who you help get involved in the business.

Here are the questions:

1. Is this business simple? NOAH'S ARK - YES!

2. Can I have fun doing it? NOAH'S ARK - YES!

3. Can I make money doing it? NOAH'S ARK - YES!

4. Will they help me do it? NOAH'S ARK - YES!

5. Is the timing perfect for me to get involved - now? NOAH'S ARK - YES!

It might help if you memorize just 5 key words:

1. Simple

2. Fun

3. $$

4. Help

5. Now

Over the next series of emails, we will discuss each of these 5 points and talk about ways you can integrate these concepts into all aspects of your business including your growth into management.

Copyright The Success Factor (used per their requirements)