Are prospects chasing you or Are you chasing them?

Mar 29
2009

One of the things I heard when I got started in network marketing years ago was the “3 foot rule” (although I think some people used an 8 foot rule!).  Essentially if someone came within 3 feet of you, they were a prospect.  In truth they were at best a suspect and at worst yet another stranger you were likely to earn the ire of or scare off.

Lets face it in a traditional business people don’t go out trying to drum up business from those who have no interest.  Does the grocer come knock at your door? Well unless you’re getting home delivery service (a real time-saver I must admit), the grocer is not marketing to you.  In fact, I know that when I do go to the store I have to hunt for someone who work there to figure out where they’ve moved my favorite brand of pickles.  And what about the car salesman?  When was the last time you were going past a lot and someone ran out of it and tried to sell you a car? Never you say? So why would anyone expect to find someone willing to join a business by doing this?  And who would want to join except perhaps those willing to go out and acost perfect (and not so perfect) strangers.

Ok so you didn’t use the 3 foot rule but maybe you left a paper trail.  Another thing I heard when I started was that if you’re really in network marketing could you be convicted of it.  In other words have you left a paper trail of business cards, pamphlets, flyers wherever you go.  If you went to the doctor or dentist office, did you leave your brochure mixed in with the all the magazines littering the tables.  Perhaps you were braver and had more time and you put business card flyers on every car always looking out for the ever present mall security.

Don’t get me wrong, these approaches will pay off… eventually but are you attracting the people you want in your business… and how long will it take?  Yes I know I’ve written previously that you do have to work to build your business but I would suggest you want to work smarter not harder.

In reality if you’re leaving flyers on cars, you need to be putting out close to 2000 a day, yes I said two thousand and if you really want to build that should be closer to four or five thousand per day.  The same goes for pamphlets.  If you are approaching anyone that comes within three feet of you I would suggest preparing yourself for a lot of NOs some of which will not likely be that polite.  On top of which you’re going to need to talk to at least twenty to thirty new people every day.

Now if you were like me when I first got started I didn’t have the time for flyering cars and I know I didn’t have the confidence to walk up to perfect strangers but I did know people who were doing these things and were able to be successful in the process.   I also know that those who were doing flyers had no time for anything else and those who were talking to strangers said there were some stores they were not allowed to frequent.

I would suggest to you that you want people to come to you not the other way around.  You want to attract people to you, your products, and your business.  One thing I did hear when I first started was “your worth in the marketplace is determined by what you bring to it”.   This statement set me on a path of learning and understanding the difference between marketing and selling.  With marketing you present advice, and knowledge and you concentrate on building relationships with people and you don’t think about the sale.  What happens when you do this is that people are attracted to you.  Why?  Because you listen and because you offer solutions for their frustrations and then they come to you.

Now here’s the best part, when they come to you, they want what you have to offer.  No more tire kickers or lookie-loos.  They have a genuine desire and you have more time for your family and no one is scared off when they see you coming.

If you haven’t started attracting people to your business then you need to start now.  If you don’t know where to get started I suggest you check out my link for your free MLM videos which gives you in seven videos the start to attracting prospects to you.  Stop the chasing and start working smarter instead of harder!

Keeping Balance while at Work From Home

Mar 18
2009

You’ve made the decision to work from home (whether its in network marketing or some other business) and its a great feeling to know that your commute can be measure in tens of feet, or less, instead of tens of miles.  However, there comes a point where you realize you have to create some sort of balance between work and home.

For many its easy to become workaholics neglecting any relationships they have.  Even though there is no one supervising, those of us who choose to work from home often push harder because after all you only get out of business what you put into it. And yes having a laser-sharp focus on your chosen profession is very important its also extremely important to devote time to each of your relationships – husbands/wives, children, friends, and family members.  After all for many of us, spending more time with them was one of the reasons we decided to work at home in the first place.

Even if you’re just getting started building your home business and you’re also working a full- or part-time job you still need to make the time to keep your relationships working as well as your business.  This is not something you can put off till your business is working smoothly or you may find yourself without any relationships when you do achieve your business goals.

Alternatively you may be facing distractions at home.  Your kids figure since you’re home all the time they can come ask you to read them a story, play ball, help them with homework, etc.  Or maybe its your spouse asking you to help out with something around the house or just wanting to talk. These are all things that you definitely should be taking time to do but not when you are working.

Yes, some sacrifices may have to be made but you have to balance work and home even when, or especially when,  you work from home.

Some simple steps that may hep in achieving that balance (and keep it) are:

  • Get and Stay Organized. If you are organized it will increase your productivity which means work gets done faster and that means more time for those important relationships.
  • Stop Procrastinating. Procrastination will not only stress you out as you race to make a deadline but also it will affect the quality of the time you do devote to your relationships because you will be thinking about the deadline and not making the most of your non-work time.
  • Create a Schedule. If you set a schedulea and stick with it you will have the time and energy for both work and your relationships.  When you are working, you’re at work, and when you aren’t working, you’re at home — even if the physical location hasn’t changed.  Its a bit easier if you can allocate a workspace in your home and let friends and family know that when you are in your home office that you’re at work and you’re not to be bothered (except for emergencies of course) but if you can at least share your schedule with them then everyone knows the ground rules
  • Shut Down.  When you leave the office, close your binders, shut the laptop, shut down or log out of the computer, if you have a separate space for work close the door and turn off the lights.  Work will be there the following day when you are ready to work.  Computers especially are a temptation — to check our email, to check an online forum or store front, to check out website traffic, etc.  And don’t kid yourself into thinking “it’ll only take a sec” because a few seconds turns into an hour.  Your relationships deserve your undivided attention and you deserve your relationships.

It is inevitable that there will be work that has to be done and you have to give up that family time just as there will be time that you have to put off working to be with family.  However if you have a schedule (including some vacation days) you will be able to keep work things in their place.  Maintaining our relationships with family and friends will be an asset to your business because they will be more supportive of what you are doing.

It may be difficult to stick with these steps, but when you find that balance you’ll know its well worth it.

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