How do you choose the right MLM software for you?

Posted by admin | work at home | Friday 16 January 2009 10:50 pm

How do you choose the right MLM software for you?

With the many MLM software out there already, how do you choose the one that is right for you?

Choose a reputable vendor.

There are many fly-by-night software companies that make many claims of experience, know how and MLM software gadgetry. Unless you are willing to put your business at risk, choose a vendor that has a proven track record.

Track records are built over many years of working with Direct Selling companies, not just selling a software package a few times.

Check out at least six references. Remember that vendors will be eager to provide only their best references. You might be surprised to find a different story when you call companies not included in the reference list.

Visit the MLM software company’s office.

You not only choose the MLM software but also choose the vendor’s support services. If the vendor is not able to provide support services acceptably, what will you do when you need to change your compensation plan or add a new input field to the order entry screen?

Remember that there is only one constant among all MLM companies; they constantly change things. And your MLM software will need to be changed as well.

At the vendor’s office, meet the vendor’s people that will service you. See what kind of people they are and how long they have worked for the vendor. Be willing to pay for experience and competence. You are paying far less in the long run.

Avoid small MLM software companies.

Small software companies, to compete with larger established firms, must offer software at bargain prices. This often puts them on shaky financial ground during their most critical years.

Companies that are trying to save money by purchasing an MLM software from these small software houses find themselves virtually abandoned later on when they need assistance. The problem is that servicing one highly successful client can consume virtually all of the human resources of a small software company leaving the other clients out in the cold.

The more deadly problem is that smaller companies tend to go out of business without warning. If you value your business, stay away from the small vendors and stick to those with staying power and track records.

Buy an MLM software package that allows you to create your own reports.

Many packages force you to live only with those reports they put on the menus. Managers must resort to running large reports to answer small questions or concerns instead of small exception reports on demand. Small exception reports can be reviewed quickly and accurately.

Compare features.

MLM software is designed to handle specific business issues and often has a great deal of difficulty dealing with matters outside the original design. It’s difficult to force a software to do things it was never intended to do.

Wise computer buyers compare features and capabilities, side by side, of one package to another. Ask the vendor which features they consider are unique to their package compared to others.

Remember that you are not just buying a computer; you are buying software, expertise, emergency support services, programming services, and starting a long-term relationship.

Choose your MLM software vendor wisely. Do not be tempted to penny pinch in the computer area. If you do, you may cripple your chances for success.

The why and how to use MLM mailing lists

Posted by admin | work at home | Tuesday 13 January 2009 10:58 am

MLM mailing lists may be the cause of more heartbreaks than any other single factor in mail order. A poorly chosen list, a weak mailing and the high cost of mailing to a list can shadow the optimism of a new marketer very quickly.

That is why it is best to arm yourself with MLM mailing list knowledge before embarking on that path.

Whether or not you should use an MLM mailing list to sell your product or service depend on several things:

Is what you are offering too complex an offering to be explained in a 30-word ad?

Can you afford to mail 200 to 1,000 pieces on the chance that you would not get a single order?

Can you make a profit selling your product to only two to twenty people in a 1,000 piece mailing?

Will a re-order of your product be required? Can you make your re-orders pay for the losses you will likely get from mailing to a list?

Do you know enough to choose the right MLM mailing list for your offering?

It takes either great faith in your offering or great stupidity to mail with a list. Most MLM mailing lists that companies are offering today specialize in opportunity seekers. These are the people who are generally quite new to mail order. They are either looking for a product to sell or an offer that will get them rich in a hurry.

Most of these opportunity seekers are engaged in chain letter type schemes at some point. They use MLM mailing lists to make gains in their plans.

Most of them lose money, but enough people will try it once to make money. These dreamers are the bread and butter for a lot of MLM mailing list companies.

Unless you have a truly superior offering for these opportunity seekers and you probably do not have one, they are not really worth your time and money. Most of them are unsophisticated dabblers.

MLM mailing lists, offered by many companies, are truly an interesting way to test response to an MLM offer. Many MLM people like to write back about their successes and failures. And they will always respond to a superior product.

Specialized product-buyers’ lists can work beautifully if the offering is unique enough and worth a try for merchandise marketing.

Regardless of what kind of mailing list you use, be very careful in choosing a good list. Many are sold and resold to people making the very same offering. A waste of everyone’s money. Free MLM mailing lists are usually as good as their price indicates. Check the guarantees.

Common sense will tell you which are good for you and which are good for the company selling the MLM mailing lists. Check to see how the lists are compiled. Are they people who have already bought something by mail, or are they merely people who indicated they might want to buy something by mail?

It is recommended that you never start any campaign with a mailing list even though advertising is so much cheaper. They are proven to work more effectively.

Keep this in mind. When you are ready to try MLM mailing list, be fully prepared to lose every penny you spend in buying and mailing that list, because it certainly could happen.

How do you go about MLM lead generation?

Posted by admin | work at home | Sunday 11 January 2009 10:21 am

This is a good question to ask before you spend any money on MLM lead generation choices needed in building your MLM business.

Why would you want to go about MLM lead generation in the first place?

Over the years the MLM business has gotten a black eye because of the over hyped promises of money and freedom. Very few people have ever achieved a high level of success in any MLM business. And even fewer have ever been able to maintain the level of achievements over a period of time.

That does not make MLM companies bad. Nor does it make the opportunities they afford the average person as ways to make extra money or even as a way to drastically change your lifestyle.

MLM lead generation is the way to do it.

There are 2 big benefits of MLM lead generation:

1. It gets you away from approaching your friends and relatives. If you have been in more than one MLM business over the years you may have already approached them and used up your credibility when you were unsuccessful.

2. MLM lead generation is a duplicable way to build your business that you can pass on to your downline. Any successful network marketing business will tell you that one of the main components of success is duplication. Anyone can buy leads and work them over the phone or through the internet with the use of an autoresponder.

Now that you understand some of the benefits of buying MLM lead generation and how to market them, let us now take a look at the characteristics
of the best MLM lead generation result.

1. How many times are the leads sold? Many MLM lead companies sell their leads over and over. You will be contacting a prospect that has already been marketed to. Typically, you would want to have leads that are exclusively yours.

2. How old are the leads? Would you rather contact a prospect that has expressed an interest in the past 48 hours or in the past 48 days? Being able to strike while the iron is hot, so to speak, is a great benefit of a fresh MLM leads.

3. How many leads do you get for your money? Obviously the more MLM leads you have generated, the more leads you can buy at a time. This is especially important when you are first starting or when you are helping your downline get started.

4. What is the quality of the lead? Nothing compares to an effective MLM lead generation that contains both a phone number and email address along with a few qualifying answers to questions like “How much can you invest to get started” or “How soon do you want to get started” or When is the best time to contact you?”.

If a prospect is answering these types of questions, you are getting a much better quality lead than if you just have a name and email address.

5. What is the response rate? This will improve as your skill level at working your MLM lead generation improves. But the fresher higher quality leads will give you a better response rate even when your skill level is low.

These are some of the best MLM lead generation qualities. Be careful when choosing a place to get your leads.

Read this if you are looking for an MLM company

Posted by admin | work at home | Wednesday 7 January 2009 2:06 am

Read this if you are looking for an MLM company

The growth of the Internet and people looking to earn some extra money from home, paved the way for MLM companies to double over the last decade. With this growth in interest in network marketing, many new companies have sprung up to join the ranks of the time-tested, older MLM companies.

If you are thinking of starting a side career in MLM, or just want to see how your current company measures up, take note of the critical things to look for when choosing an MLM company.

The first thing to look for is stability. It would be best if an MLM company has been in business for 2 to 5 years. There is really something about companies that have already stood the test of time.

The longer the MLM company has been around, the more chance of it staying around. There are enough things to worry about in network marketing, such as sponsoring and advertising, without having to wonder if your company will be around next year.

Even if you were able to build the biggest downline and become the highest earner in the MLM company, it would not matter if they suddenly shut down. There are never any guarantees, but a company with a longer track record generally has more chances of longevity.

The second thing to look for is the one in charge of the company. Who is the president, and who are the directors? What is their track record? Have they spent time in the network marketing industry, or are they new to it all? What businesses have they been involved with in the past?

If you do not know the answer to these questions, call or email the company to find out. It is critical to know the answers to these questions from the outset. If you plan to spend many years with the MLM company, you would want to be dealing with people who are honest, savvy, and have integrity in and outside of the business world.

Third, is the product being marketed. Generally speaking, the more products the better. The fewer products you have, the more chance your prospects or potential customers might not be interested.

There was one MLM telecommunications company that recently went bankrupt. They basically only had a few products in the industry. Perhaps if they had added some nutritional products, they could have survived.

In addition to this, the products should be competitively priced, and somewhat unique.
Fourth, know if it is easy to start in that MLM company. Can people join online, or do they have to fill out paper forms?

Having the option to join online makes the whole process a lot easier. On the same note, having the option to join free will open up your opportunity to many more people.

Your MLM company should let people join free and allow them to market the products to earn income. Once someone has joined free, they have partially committed to the business. This makes it easier for you and your company to follow up with them, via mail or email.

Lastly, the more automated the MLM company is, the better. They should give you a personal company website that you can refer prospects to. A prospect should be able to contact you from that page.

And the MLM company should have a series of emails that follow up with your prospects.