Catch up on Key 1 here

Find Key 2 here

Find Key 3 here

Key 4 Be a solution provider a.k.a sign them up!

This is the key that opens the vault! Being a solution provider is just that. If you gain a new subscriber to your list who makes it clear they are interested in generic business building materials help them find the best funded proposal for them and you will make one or several affiliate sales.

If they are open to looking at your MLM or contact you to request more info then direct them straight to your business info. Don’t complicate it all with the affiliates and try and explain it all at the same time. They will DROWN in information.

With affiliates, especially when you’re new to building a list, the best way I found to build relationships is to offer a free consultation.

You can offer a completely free initial consultation to find out more about them and/or you can offer a more detailed consultation when they buy an affiliate product.

This way you are monetizing your time and not wasting it with the wrong people.

You are signing them up either as an affiliate or as a new team member

In the 7 Pieces MLM Online System you can download a complete script for your step by step consultation process that can be used with any MLM.

In the next series we’ll be looking at how to build direct to your MLM with online methods WITHOUT using affiliate marketing.

If you enjoyed this series please leave a comment or retweet it.

Catch up on Key 1 here

Find Key 2 here

Building a Relationship

This sounds so obvious but how many networkers actually do it? There is a reason that we are trained to contact our warm market or circle of influence BEFORE we venture out into the big wide world to find new people.

The reason is that we ALREADY have a relationship with our warm market so we don’t need to spend valuable time when launching our business BUILDING relationships. Makes sense right?

So when you generate MLM leads or attract prospects or just meet an interesting person in your daily life what should you?

It may be easier to cover first what you should NOT DO!

No pitching them the minute you meet them
No foaming at the mouth when they mention they are looking for something!
No rambling on and on about your life changing wonder product….

Ok I think you get the picture right?

What TO DO:

Listen to what they have to say and ask them questions AND LISTEN AGAIN to the answers

Listen some more…

Establish some common ground or build some bridges between you i.e.: you both used to live in London or New Jersey OR

You both have a new baby OR

You both just got divorced OR and the list goes on

Seek and you shall find some kind of commonality.

As we’re focussing on building MLM using affiliate marketing here let’s be specific to that. The best way to build a relationship with your affiliates is to give lots of good value with the information you provide.

That way they come to see you as someone they can trust. If they are in the right place to look for a new opportunity they will probably check out your business.

Make it easy for them to do! Don’t HIDE it like your MLM is some dirty little secret behind your affiliate marketing.

In your follow up messages integrate a little bit of information about your MLM business and working with you like I have done with my affiliate marketing system.

By the same token don’t hit them over the head with it if you want to maintain and build a large list of affiliates.

It can be as quick as that or as slow as you building a relationship for 6 months and never getting up the nerve to talk about your business. Then they come back and tell you they joined a new company. Ouch!

Top Tip: If you struggle with relationship building and talking to strangers read ‘How to make friends and influence people,’ by Dale Carnegie. I can’t say enough good things about this classic book. It’s a book to keep on your bookshelf and to keep reading again and again.

Ok so you’ve analyzed yourself and are aligned with the perfect MLM business and are ready to start attracting prospects.

It sounds a little esoteric or even mystical doesn’t it? Well let’s simplify it and look at what it really is and is not. It is the process of LEAD GENERATION.

Lead Generation is the lifeblood of building a big business and whether you do warm market networking or online list building or BOTH (recommended especially when launching) you MUST HAVE MLM LEADS!!

Doh you say. We know that Rachel. That’s why we’re trying to figure all this confusing Attraction Marketing stuff out!

Ok I hear you. Just wanted to be sure that you’re really listening!

So attraction marketing is not about being some guru leader (although there are many) It’s more about positioning your marketing content on the internet in strategic places that will attract suitable prospects to you.

When you set your marketing up right and have a compelling message it becomes scientific. If you type my name into Google at this time of writing there are 33,700 references and most of them are to me.

I think there’s an actress and maybe even a President of an orchid society too but I dominate as you can see:

Imagine all the keywords that bring up my blog and marketing pieces all over the internet. Can you see how it becomes scientific and if people search using my niche keywords they CANNOT HELP but find me! Sweet.

You can do this for your MLM Company and/or for your niche market and affiliate products. I digress though as we’ll cover Attraction Marketing direct to your MLM (without affiliate marketing in the next series)

So to summarize Key 2 you need to do ENOUGH to start being FOUND! Don’t worry you don’t need this many references to make money and generate leads. I was being found pretty much off the get go by promoting my site with ezine articles.

Add in the other millions of ways you can choose from to generate MLM leads such as blogs, using Twitter, Facebook, Hub Pages, Ezine Paid Advertising, Pay per Click etc. etc.

It is really not that complicated when you get clear on what you want to do. So Lead Generation by CREATING CONTENT and attracting prospects into YOUR MARKETING FUNNEL is the name of the game. (Not the End Game though!)

Stay tuned for Key 3 ….

So in the last blog posts we covered the basics of building the business.

Today we’re going to talk about how to build the business with affiliate marketing or funded proposals.

It’s not for everyone and that’s ok. Some people get completely distracted and overwhelmed with offering a range of products at their website or blog.

Others love to monetize the process of creating new contacts and building relationships through email and online marketing.

If you’re reading this article then the chances are that you are already using or are researching how to use affiliate marketing or a funded proposal combined with online network marketing.

If this all sounds a bit confusing then go back and read my basic posts here first: 7 Secrets of Launching MLM

So let’s say you’re fine and dandy with your warm market contact list. You’re working through it and have had a few new enrolees and customers. You’re following the training that your upline is providing and you’re EXCITED.

Then you start to look on the internet and see if there is a way for you to do some business building online. You start to opt into various marketers lists and before you know it you are MORE CONFUSED than a bee in a flower shop.

You’re hearing from Mike Dillard about the magic of Magnetic Sponsoring, Ann Sieg is emailing you about the Renegade Network Marketer (and telling you that you’re upline is basically useless) and Mike Klingler is talking about getting the technical skills you need from Renegade University or Renegade Professional!

You’re getting more and more excited about ALL THIS MONEY you are going to make but in the back of your mind you’re beginning to wonder if this was such a good idea after all! How the heck are you ever going to promote all these different things that for online affiliate marketing seem to be the ABCs?

How on earth are you ever going to find time or the focus to enrol someone in your Network Marketing business with all these other things to promote?

How are you ever going to understand all this?

How will you work with your upline in your MLM if they don’t understand this?

These are the kind of questions that I receive in my inbox and on my blackberry very often! People are so confused. The most confused of all is the new network marketer who has just ordered his pack and instead of making his candidate list and learning the basics of inviting, with his upline has instead jumped straight into Attraction Marketing with Affiliate Marketing.

I really feel for these guys. They are really up against it unless they learn the basics with a good mentor.

STOP! Let’s cover the 4 Magic Keys to building your MLM business using affiliate marketing without losing your mind, your hair and possibly even your spouse before you enrol your first team member!!

Key 1

Keep your mind on your MLM end game. Do you know what your end game is? Unless you want it to be ironically but tragically similar to the famous Samuel Beckett one-act play with just four characters, you had better get clear on it BEFORE you start building your list and trying to attract prospects to you using affiliate marketing.

Here are some questions to get you going:

Am I 100% committed to building my Network Marketing business with XYZ Company?

If yes – what are my monthly volume quotas to receive my royalty cheque?

Do I need a large customer base to qualify or can I focus mainly on recruiting?

How many hours per week have I got available to do the core fundamentals of building and maintaining my business?

Depending on which company you’re with and how you are building your business this may include things like:

Providing orientation training for new team members

Coaching and assisting them with 3 way calls and working their candidate list

Attending/Running Local Business Builder Meetings or online webinars

Attending local networking events

Following up with your prospects

Enrolling them

Plus lots more!

It’s quite a lot to do and if you only have 10-15 hours per week to work the business part-time like most people do you will need to get very clear on your daily method of operation.

If you spend your spare 2 hours trying to figure out how to install a wordpress blog you will be neglecting the very core activities that will build your cheque.

So Key 1 is to get very clear on what and how you are building your core MLM business.

If you want to use affiliate marketing as part of your overall strategy to bring prospects into your list then I recommend that you set up your OWN MARKETING FUNNEL or MLM ONLINE SYSTEM ASAP!

Don’t build someone else’s list. Build your own! Set up your marketing funnel so that your prospect becomes YOUR LEAD FIRST, not the lead of Mike Dillard, Mike Klingler or Ann Sieg. I love these guys but they have enough leads already, and plenty of money to show for their awesome efforts.

What about you? Ok so if you’re clear on wanting to use and recommend affiliate marketing products to learn how to be more effective with online marketing, and to monetize your list building whether the prospects join your MLM or NOT…

You need your own marketing funnel. You can either learn how to make one (which is very possible but takes some time and study) or you can plug into an existing one.

There are lots of Attraction Marketing Systems around on the internet. Many are completely over-hyped, over rated and will confuse the socks off you some more because you will be pitched every 3 minutes on the latest hot affiliate product.

No no no. Choose carefully because you need focus if you want to win your MLM END GAME. You also don’t want to introduce your team members to a system where they are being distracted every day by other opportunities right?

This is what happened to me when I first started to figure out how to use the internet to build my business. I was so excited BUT so distracted!

So I came up with a solution that would enable me to build my own list, generate commissions with affiliate marketing but retain my focus on building my long term residual and passive income.

You can use it too if you like. It works with any MLM – whichever one you choose. Go here for more details: MLM Online Funnel

Secret 7) Train them with 3 way calls

It is AMAZING what comes out on a good 3 way call. If you learn to do good information style 3 way calls you will enrol people into your group.

Teach your team member how to position the call so it is not intimidating. After a positive follow up to an exposure, I teach my guys to say, ‘the next step is for me to introduce you to my business partner so you can learn abit more about our team and see the kind of support network we have.’

Something like that. It’s not high pressure and it’s not SALES. It is communication and building trust. It’s a bit like an interview process.

If you get good at this your guys will trust you enough to introduce their best prospects to you. This is MLM team building heaven…

Yes some people will CALL YOU to sign up or get more info. Not usually when you start though. There is no short cut to riches. These are the fundamentals that everyone has to go through before they learn all the fancy stuff for online list building.

Study, practice and teach the 7 Secrets for Success in MLM!

It would be mega if you’d leave a comment here. I mean holy moly what does one have to do to get some feedback? Just kidding. You guys are great. It would be cool to hear what you think though.

And remember when you leave a comment you get a backlink to your blog or website which can only help you! Disqus is working now so check it out. It’s pretty cool.

If you want to set up your online marketing funnel to generate more leads online the easy way go here for more details: MLM Online Funnel

Secret 5

Keep them close

You new team member is like a young child. You wouldn’t send your child to school and not expect them to come home to tell you how their day was right?

Same thing here. Ask your team member to check in with your after their first couple of invitations. Help them to get better and don’t forget to PRAISE them for taking action.

Secret 6

Teach them to follow up professionally

Depending what skill set your team member has when they arrive you may have to teach them how to schedule appointments. Some guys don’t even use a planner when they start!

Either way teach them exactly how to follow up and what to say, and what not to say!

If you do a good invitation the follow up process has already been set up and should be smooth because the prospect knows what to expect.

As with the invitation it is very helpful to do some role-playing with them here.

I hope you’re enjoying this series of short posts revealing the 7 secrets of helping your new team member to get off to a fast start.

If this was helpful to you please share, retweet or leave a comment about your experiences with getting your new team members started.

Don’t forget to tune in for Secret 7 which will be posted very soon.

Secret 4

Prepare your new team member as if they are going into battle because they are!

Lots of emails you get from master marketers will have you believing that you can build your MLM business to 6 figures whilst you’re sending out fluffy emails to your prospects.

Whilst I am an avid addicted user of the internet to attract prospects, I know (believe me I have tried) that you MUST GET ON THE PHONE or SKYPE to talk with your prospects and team members)

You must teach them what to say and what NOT TO SAY when their family lawyer tells them they have joined an illegal pyramid scheme!

Prepare your team members with a get started training session (I do this on skype) so they are ready to go out into the big wide networking world.

Have fun with it! Keep an eye out for Secret 5 and leave a comment to let us know what you think.

Secret 3

Teach your new team members how to do a professional invitation to take a look at a ‘first exposure’ business tool. Have a simple and SHORT invitation that they can put into their own words but stick to the basic script.

Have them say it back to you. Roleplay with them. Keep it simple.

I promise you if you haven’t done this with your guys you will be HORRIFIED if you hear them inviting someone to take a look at the business. I mean this is scary stuff! Help them learn which words to use to be most effective.

Watch out for Secret 4 and if you think this can be helpful to your newbies please retweet it.

Secret 2

Have a positive attitude of expectancy. Many new team members are absolutely fine with making a list when they see it is the normal thing to do here. What else are you going to do with them? Have them invest $2000 per month in Google adwords so they don’t have to talk to anyone they know?

They will widdle in their panties with fear, both at losing money and talking to strangers. New team members don’t really like talking to strangers.

If they won’t do a list because they are wounded MLM soldiers then they will need to take massive action with networking on or offline. This works well when done consistently over a period of time but is SLOW for launching.

By the time they have a good prospect so you can train them they have forgotten why they joined! With no list they will probably need to do paid advertising to launch so they have enough leads, which is not ideal for a new team member as you want to get them into profitability asap. not further into debt!

So Secret No.2 is about giving some leadership and expecting your new people to take action to launch their business and follow your business plan.

Secret No.3 will be coming soon! Why not leave a comment with one of your best ’secrets’ for helping your new team members to launch fast without spending a fortune on MLM leads etc.

So you’ve started your new business, or you have new team members starting their new business..

It’s all trumpets and horns, bells and whistles. You’ve enrolled someone and you are EXCITED!

All your wonderful dreams of exotic trips, time freedom and your personal chef whiz come rushing back and you can FEEL it! This is it. You got a GOOD ONE this time!

This could be the one. He is excited, motivated and says he is gonna do what it takes.

A couple of days later you start to come back down to reality right? Doubts sometimes creep in. What if I should show him this way, or that way?

What about that email that Mike Dillard sent out? That’s it, maybe I should leap right in and show my new team member how to make whiz bang videos.

Then we can cut right through all that making a list nonsense, and warm contact marketing. Why bother when we could be the masters of video marketing by next week?

You’re halfway through the video session when you realize that your new team member is completely lost. He has

a) never made a video other than on a stag night in Paris (say no more)
b) doesn’t want to make videos cause he’s a bit shy and thinks he has a face for radio
c) doesn’t know what to say because he doesn’t understand the business yet AT ALL!

Ok so this may be an extreme example but you get the point right?

There is no point learning and teaching all the fancy stuff if you and your guys don’t know (or teach) the fundamentals.

The CRITICAL time with your new team member is in the first couple of days that they are getting into action.

This is make or break time. It doesn’t matter how great your videos are. If you can’t show this new guy how to get into productive activity with a step by step daily method of operation, the chances are he will be dead in the water before you can say ‘Go Diamond!’

Next time you call him he might say something like, ‘No one is interested in this deal. I have spoken to EVERYONE.’

Your face drops, your exotic trips and visions of your sleek black mercedes fly out the window and you think to yourself ‘why can’t I recruit more people like me?’

Why doesn’t he get it? Has this guy not seen the compensation plan?

I know there are thousands of ‘orphan’ distributors roaming around the internet looking for love. There are many wounded MLM soldiers who just ‘don’t have a good upline.’

There are also thousands of distributors who have a perfectly mega business plan to follow but whom don’t follow it because they think they know better.

Whichever category you might fit into this is for you. If I’ve missed your category out then I APOLOGISE and this is for you too.

By the way I’m British so please don’t send me any more emails about my weird spelling. My spelling has been approved by the Queen but not by the President of USA so don’t let that put you off!

Sometimes I use a z instead of an s so that my American readers feel more at home with me, and sometimes I don’t.

Let’s just say I am a global speller. It suits me anyway cause I’m not much of a conformist.

Ok here goes. Are you ready for the 1st Secret of Launching Your MLM Business Fast but Right?

Secret 1) Help your new team member make a 100-200 names list of their contacts. (Don’t cry and be a baby here please) Everyone who is anyone on the internet is working their ‘warm list.’

Whether you are working mostly on or offline your warm list might not be so great when you start but it gets better as you develop your skills and your network.

You can bet that Donald Trump is working his ‘warm list,’ right now. It’s called Networking.

That’s life so get over it! Successful business involves networking with other people…and you have to start somewhere to get these skills even if your warm list looks like a who’s who of X-Factor rejects.

Don’t cheat your new team member out of exposing your fabulous business to people he knows (ok he can leave great old auntie Ethel off the list seeing as she has gout and just turned 100)

If your business isn’t fabulous what the heck are you doing in it anyway?

Your computer won’t save you from a bad business model.

Stay tuned for Secret 2. It’s coming to an inbox near you very soon!

If you leave a comment it would be cool. Have you tried out Disqus yet?

Holy Moly what do I need to do round here to get a comment? (Just kidding!) You guys are great but a comment builds your online network and gets you a back link… It’s a bit like that Kevin Bacon 6 degree thing in the blogging world.