Now that you've joined your MLM who are you going to talk to and recruit into your program? The traditional method of marketing your MLM is to get your family and friends involved. Or, to make a list of every person you know, call them, and assess their interest over the phone. If they are interested, you meet with them and give them more information. This is known as "warm marketing", talking to the people you know about your opportunity. This is the most commonly used way of recruiting people. Why? Because it cost you nothing to talk to people about your MLM--even strangers. If used correctly, you'll find this method of marketing to be very cost effective--all you're investing is your time--not money.

Most everyone knows more people than they think. You should be able to come up with a list of at least 100 people although you probably know around 300. The other 200 names will come to you as you're driving to work or taking a shower! But, believe me, you know a lot of people. When I was asked to make a name list, I initially thought I only knew about 25 people. But, when I was shown how to sit down and properly make a name list, I came up with over 300 names and phone numbers. You will too.

Another way to generate names of people to recruit in your MLM is through national advertising. The key to being successful in a national advertising campaign is knowing where to advertise and what to say in your ads. I'll cover how to write an effective ad later in this chapter but, first I'll cover the different mediums that can be used to successfully generate leads to qualified prospects for any MLM!

A card deck or card pack, is a cellophane wrapped set of post-cards (usually 70 to 80 cards in a deck) that are mailed directly to your home or office. A card deck is a "co-op" of advertisers that have paid to be placed into the deck. Most advertisers pay around $1,800, or $18 per thousand, to have your post-card designed, printed and mailed to 100,000 prospects. This is a tremendous savings compared to mailing 100,000 post-cards on your own--which would cost in excess of $25,000! Most card deck companies will quote you in excess of $4,000 for a 1000,000 run, or what they call their "rate card" price. You'd be surprised to know that in an average card deck of 75 advertisers, over half of them are paying a lower price than the "rate card". How? Because, they negotiated for the best price. Always ask for the first time run price. Then, if the card deck responds well, tell them you'll run with them for a full year. Don't sign a contract to this effect though--you wont need to. Most card deck companies have been hurt by the rising postage and paper prices. In other words--they're hurting! Don't pay more than $15 to $18 per thousand cards. On a 100,000 run, that would mean you would pay anywhere from $1500 to $1800. In some cases, you can even pay a lower price--but, only if you run multiple times with them.

You'll find the average card deck consists of about 70 to 80 advertisers. Any more that that and you'll find that the response to your offer will be lower because, your offer gets "lost" in the deck. You should anticipate anywhere from 1/4% to a 2% response rate to your card. This depends, of course, on the following:

• How well the card is written. Free sample, etc.
• What mailing list your card is mailed to.
• Where your card is positioned in the deck; front, back or middle.
• How many other competing offers are in the same deck.
• If you have an 800 number on your ad.
• Do you have a highly demanded and consumable product or service and is it easily marketed through MLM.

Asking for money in a card deck that mails to 100,000 prospects will bring you about 25 to 75 orders. But, if you offer FREE information you should experience anywhere from 250 to 2,000 inquiries, or requests for your offer. The real advantage of offering FREE information is that you will capture the names, addresses and phone numbers of your prospects. This is important for three reasons:

• You can mail them multiple times for maximum response
• You can sell your database of names to other MLM'ers.
• You can "swap" or "trade" your database of names with other MLM'ers

In my very first experience advertising in a card deck, I received over 1900 responses! It was the first time anyone has seen my Main Order Printing Dealership. My ad had two offers on it. The first was to inquire about making money with my printing dealer program and the second was to get my "FREE" printing catalog. I had an 800 number and a picture of the dealer kit for them to see.

Note: Use photos anytime you can to increase your response rate by 10% to 25%! Once you've placed your ad in a card deck, you usually have 4 to 8 weeks before you start getting responses to our ad. Use this time to have plenty of your mailing literature or samples ready to go once your leads come flooding in. Have at least 500 of your mailing packets prepared and sitting on your shelf before your ad hits. This way, you'll be able to mail your offer within 24 hours of your prospects request. The average prospect answers 7 different ads in a card deck. I've always been of the opinion that if my offer gets to them "first", that I have a greater chance of getting them to join. Once you've mailed your prospect, use the script and methods described in Chapter 10, for proper follow-up and follow-through.

One quick note: You will receive approximately 50% of all your inquires within 45 days of your first phone call. That means if you're card is pulling 1,000 leads per 1000,000 run, you'll get around 500 calls or post-cards back in the mail during the 45 day period. Needless to say, you're going to have a difficult time mailing, calling, and following through on all 500 of those leads. What I recommend is that you and your upline or a few or your key downline share these leads. Get 10 people to call 50 each or 5 people to call 100 each. The important thing isn't that YOU call all 1,000 of your leads. Rather, that they get mailed and called within a 7 to 10 day period for maximum results!

One other trick of the trade: Get your hands on every card deck you can find. Comb through the decks and pull out every MLM or competing offer you find. Call them and offer to "swap" or trade names with them. Or, you can go a step further. Find someone you like and trust and have them run in one card deck and you run in another. Share the names of those who don't join from your deck with the names that didn't get in from his deck. This way you're paying for one ad, but getting leads from two! This can be done with multiple decks. The most I've done this with at one time was 3 different decks. I got $9,000 worth of advertising for only $4,500! Leveraging your money in this manner is essential once you have a winning card, mailing campaign, phone script and closing skills. If it works in one card deck, it will work in 20 of them! (A list of recommended card deck companies are included in the back of this book).

Sure, you can generate upwards of 1,000 leads in a 3 month period using card decks, but how many of these leads actually convert into distributors? The key to making money in MLM using card decks is finding out how much it costs to sign somebody up using them. Let's say that your card pulls a whopping 1,000 leads from a 100,000 mailing. Your cost to advertise was $1,800. You convert 3% of these leads (or 30 people) into distributors from your direct mail campaign. Cost of postage would be $320 (assuming you have a one-ounce mailing piece and the cost of a first-class stamp hasn't gone up --AGAIN!) And 1,000 mailing pieces cost you $300 to print. Your total cost for your mailing and follow-up would be $2,420. When you divide that by the number of distributors you recruited, you have a recruiting cost of $80.66 per distributor!

Although your mailing may have pulled a 3% response, you should follow-up calls to your 1,000 prospects for maximum response. Let's say you did a cracker-jack job of using the phone and called and talked to 500 people (that's assuming you have phone numbers from 800 of the 1,000 inquires and that you TALK to 500 out of the 800 you call). If you have decent follow-up skills and are knowledgeable about our company and offer any kind of assistance in getting our prospect started of quickly (free leads, post-cards, mailers, etc.), then you should expect to convert at least 5% of those 500 into distributors, or another 25 sponsored.

If you call and talk to 500 people (assuming you talk for 5 minutes each at 10 cents per minute) then you add another $250 in long-distance calls to your $2,420 cost above--you come up with a grand total of $2670! But, you sponsored another 25 through your phone efforts to raise your total sponsored through your card deck to 55 people. Or, a cost of only $48.54 per sign up! Yes, you had to spend an extra $250 on the phone, but you lowered you cost per distributor from $80.66 to $48.54, a $32.12 savings per distributor!

Now, here's the clincher to making money using card decks: How may months do your 55 people need to stay active and buy product before you make a profit? Let's say that all 55 buy at least $50 a month in product and you get a 10% commission on their purchases. 55x$50 = $2750. Using these projections your first month's commission would be $275. If you spent $2670 total in your recruiting efforts, then it would take you 10 months to make $2750 (assuming none of these 55 recruited anyone else and that they continued just to buy %50 a month in product)

The key to remember is that in MLM you make maximum dollars once you teach your downline the ropes, and find people who are willing to duplicate your efforts. Out of your 55 sponsored you should be able to find 10 to 20 who would be willing to co-op with you in the next card deck. Let's assume your deck is going to cost you another $1800. You'd need 18 people to participate at $100 each. You'd spend NOTHING, yet you have 18 people doing exactly what you did in the last card deck: receiving leads, mailing literature and following up on the phone. THIS IS THE KEY TO ROLLING OUR YOUR EFFORTS IN CARD DECK ADVERTISING! You must capitalize upon the first 55 people you sponsor and turn them into recruiting machines right along with you!

After you've successful co-oped your second deck it's time to get in two card decks at one time. You should have over 100 people in your organization by now, assuming you've properly duplicated yourself, and you're going to need more leads.

A word of caution: Card deck advertising is an easy way to generate a lot of leads. But, it is also an easy way to lose your hard earned money--and fast! I can't tell you how many people I've spoken with who thought placing their ad in a card deck would solve all their problems in MLM. They didn't realize the expense, effort and expertise that were required to make a success of card deck advertising. Before you spend a small fortune on a card deck ad, speak with your profitable upline in your MLM, and find out what camera ready ads they have used successfully in the past and where they placed these ads. If they haven't placed an ad in a card deck before, call me and I'll help advise you when and where to spend your money wisely!

Within most every card deck in the industry you'll find what I call a "bingo" card. This is a co-op card that has small classified or display ads on one card. It's kind of a "co-op within a co-op". The advantage of a "bingo" card advertising is that you can get your ad in a card deck for only a fraction of what it costs to run a full card. I run a "FREE INFORMATION." bingo card 6 times a year right now. Cost is only $65.95 (the lowest in the industry) for your 70 character ad to be printed and mailed to 100,000 prospects. Your listing should generate anywhere from 25 to 200 leads--depending upon your offer, how well your write the ad, etc. To get current advertising information call my office at 918-335-8634 or email me at: www.FreeMLMNewsletter.com and we'll rush you out current deadlines for the next available card decks.

There are other "bingo" cards that are also reputable in the industry besides mine. Some charge you a certain amount of money for a guaranteed amount of leads. Others charge you so much per lead, like 50 cents or $1.00. I recommend that you sample as many as your budget allows until you find the best bingo card that pulls for you.

Now that you know how to run a profitable card deck for yourself, what's the next step? Co-op your efforts with your downline! One of the most discouraging things you'll find in MLM is the apparent lack of "action" your downline will take when it comes to generating prospects to talk to . You'll find that over 75% of your downline will NOT take the initiative and place their own ads!

I started my own ad co-ops in self-defense. First, I couldn't efficiently handle all the leads I was getting in. Second, I was the only one in my entire organization that was sponsoring more than one person a month! I'd sign them up, and they'd haul off and do NOTHING! I had a MAJOR problem in my group--nobody was duplicating my efforts!

By organizing a card deck co-op I was able to subtly "force" my downline to make a decision; become active or do nothing. Before my ad co-ops, everyone seemed to be running in different directions doing their own "thing". Now, my top people identify themselves each month by participating in my card deck co-ops. Here's what you need to do to get yours off the ground and running successfully. If you don't have any downline and you've never run in a card deck before, I suggest one of two paths of action. Either get your upline to run with you, or try a small run of 25,000 cards to start by yourself. Check to see if anyone in your upline has run an ad in a card deck and ask these questions:

• What did the card look like?
• How many leads did it generate?
• How many people sign up?
• How long ago?
• Was the ad professionally written and was it approved by the company?
• What kind of follow-up literature and phone script was used?

Investigate and learn from their past mistakes. The reason I can write a successful ad in a card deck, regardless of what the product or service I promote, is because of my past experience. Card deck advertising is a SCIENCE. If you treat it like one, you'll find it to be very, very, profitable.

If no one in your upline has ever run in a card deck before, check with your upline and find out what kind of post-card they're using to mail. A post-card that has worked well, being mailed by itself, will work just as well when run in a card deck. Then, I recommend running a small test run of either 25,000 or 50,000 cards. Why? Because you want to test the effectiveness of your offer before you go out and spend $2,500! Instead of $2,500 you can spend around $750 to $1,000 and gain valuable information before you roll out to a larger quantity.

If you can't find a successful post-card or card deck ad, then I suggest you check with your company to see what they have. Or, have a professional copywriter develop one for you. Cost should range from $50 to $500 depending upon the quality of the writer. Most card deck companies will also write and design your card for you if you're placing an ad with them. Check with them to see if you can get any type of discount before using an outside service.

Another reason to use the card deck company is because they have a "vested interest" in seeing you succeed. If they help you write a good ad and it works well, you'll run with them again and again.

Now that you have a successful ad and you know where you're going to place it, the next thing you need to do is determine who's going to participate with you in the co-op. Before you make any kind of financial commitment to a card deck company, I suggest you get on the phone and call your downline and get as many members as possible to participate with you. What do you say? Simple. Call your downline and say, "Hey Joe, this is Robert. Listen, I'm organizing a co-op for my entire downline in the next 30 days.

The ad is going to cost $1,800 and there will be 18 shares at $100 each. From our past experience we know that each share should generate around 50 leads. What I'd like to know is if you'd want to participate?" Don't worry about collecting the money right yet. Instead, call everyone within a 3 day period and write down the names of everyone that is interested. Call those who you "know" will do it. Then, go down the list until you've sold 18 shares.

You'll be in charge of collecting the money from your downline and sending payment to the card deck company. So, be organized and give your downline a deadline one week before you need to get your ad and money to the card deck company. This will give you more time to tie up any "loose ends" that may pop-up--which they always do!

You'll also be in charge of dispersing the leads to your downline once they come to your office. The only exception is, if you can get a card deck company to give you a split run of 25,000 cards. In a 100,000 card deck that would give you 4 shares, the cost of the shares would be higher than the previous example of $100, but the advantage is that all responses go directly to your downline, not you! More on this later.

Once the leads come flooding into your office, I recommend you mail them out to your downline at least once a week. If you have 18 people in your downline and 15 leads come in one day, it doesn't make sense to send them out daily. Instead, mail them out weekly, or fax them to your downline. Make sure that your downline members know how to properly follow-up on these leads. Don't assume that they know the proper way to make the best of their leads. It's your job to TELL them. Give them a written outline of how to best follow-up on these co-op leads. If you don't, you'll find that they won't get maximum results. I've had several people in my downline who NEVER even mailed our self-mailer to their co-op leads! How did I find this out? Because, the prospects I sent to them started calling me and asking where was the information they had requested. When I looked them up in the computer and found who I sent the leads to, I called them. One person had already dropped out of my program and was using the leads for ANOTHER PROGRAM! Another wouldn't ever return my calls--so, I mailed out the literature on their behalf from my office with their ID# on them. The bottom line is, if you're in MLM, be prepared for ANYTHING!

Another reason to equip your downline with the proper follow-up and follow-through techniques is that if you don't, they will fail. And the next time you call to get them to participate in your co-op, they'll say, "That doesn't work--I already tried it and wasted $100!" Your going to get one or two who say that anyway-- so get ready. It's not our job to think for people--but, it is your job to inform them. Ultimately, it's their business. If they want to be short-sighted, you can't keep them from it.

Here's a subject that is entirely misunderstood by most new-comers to MLM--Mailing Lists. The idea seems simple. Buy a list of people from all across the country who have the same interest as you do--making money through the mail. Mail out your offer to them, get a 2% to 5% response and you're rich for life--right? To bad it doesn't work that way. But, if it did, the MLM companies wouldn't need YOU and ME! They'd just turn into a direct mail warehouse and MAIL their way to millions. The idea of making it big JUST by mailing your offer to unsuspecting prospects has been the dream of every MLM'er. Yes, it can and has been done. But, is it easily duplicable? And if it is duplicable, what is the SECRET? That's the $64,000 question. To find out how you should be using the mail with you MLM, let's take a look at some important facts.

The problem starts with the list itself. There is an estimated 260 million people living in the United States today. I've read that there are anywhere from 4 million to 6 million already involved in a MLM of some kind. How many of these are involved in more than one program is unknown. I'd estimate that at least 25% of current MLM'ers are in more than one program--that's the numbers I've compiled from talking to thousands of people for several years. The "myth" spread over the last decade is that you can use direct mail to get rich in MLM. This is true, only to a certain extent. Let me explain.

The beauty of Network Marketing, is that ANYONE can succeed--regardless of their shortcomings. If you're willing to learn about the industry, your company and you have a heartbeat, you have an equal chance of succeeding as anyone else! Right? Here's where MLM gets all messed up.

Let's use good "Ole Joe" as an example. Joe is married and has two kids that are in school and both he and his wife work full-time jobs. They run out of money by the 25th of every month (if not sooner) and they are frustrated. Joe and his wife are "looking" for a better way to live. They want to get ahead, but neither have any better job offers on the horizon and it seems that everything in the world is going up--but not their paychecks! Joe answers an ad through the mail about a MLM opportunity where he can make extra money in the evenings and on weekends. Joe needs more money, so he takes a look at the opportunity. Since Joe has no prior MLM, he's ill advised the way to make big money is to "mail" his offer to other people like himself. He then buys the literature from the company and rents a mailing list and drops his hard earned money in the mail--anticipating success is only 3 to 4 weeks away!

Sound familiar? Joe is under the illusion that he is going to be successful, although he hasn't provided any kind of "value" for his "suspects" who receive his offer. (Note: A prospect is someone who answers your ad. A "suspect" is someone who has no idea your offer is being mailed to them. You're a "suspect" every day--just look in your mailbox!) So, what happens in 3 to 4 weeks? Absolutely NOTHING! Joe becomes frustrated because he "expected" to be successful. Joe and his wife get into a fight because, he's spent money they didn't really have. End result? Joe drops out or becomes inactive. He and his wife's impression of the MLM industry is negative and they vow to NEVER get involved again!

So, how can you prevent this from happening to you? What is the proper way to use mailing lists? What should your expectations be? The first thing you should do when entertaining the idea of using a mailing list to advertise your MLM, is check with your upline and find out what kind of success of failure they've had--they have a "vested interest" in your succeeding, they will give you the best advise. Learn from their mistakes--they way you don't have to be like poor "Old Joe" and lose money you don't have.

The best mailing list you can use is your own "in-house" list. Or, those people who have responded directly to you and are specifically interested in your offer. These people are called "prospects" for you offer. This is the best list you'll ever have. I have compiled an "in-house" list of over 25,000 prospects to my various ads over the last few years. Whenever I have a program I'm interested in joining, I mail a post-card (not an entire mailing piece) to these people and generate inquiries for that particular offer. I mail my own in-house list before I rent a list from others. Why? Because I'm assured of the accuracy of the list. When I rent a list for the first time from someone, I'm "hoping" that they are telling me the truth and that their lists are up to date and the people on the list are indeed interested in making extra income.

When I decided to write this book, the first list I mailed my offer to was my own in-house list. Why? Because, if my own list didn't make a profit I knew that a rented list wouldn't either. But, if my in-house list made a profit, then it was worth "testing" other list companies to see what kind of results I'd get. Want to know the importance of keeping and maintaining your own in-house list? I sold over $1,000 from this book just by mailing 971 people who had previously responded to one of my ads! If I had rented a mailing list of 971 people I probably would of only sold $300 to $400 in books. See the difference? Keep EVERYONE who responds to your ads on your computer database. If you don't have a computer, keep them in a card file. You spent your hard earned money on that ad--it's up to you to draw the maximum amount of money from it!

When you rent a mailing list, you should first pre-qualify that list either with a phone call, post-card, or letter. Don't EVER rent a list and mail your entire MLM offer to them. If you do, don't expect more than a 1% sign-up rate from that mailing. Let's take a realistic look at doing what I call a "blind" mailing of your entire offer to a list of "suspects" versus pre-qualifying the same list.

Suppose you mailed your catalog, self-mailer, or sales letter you are provided by your company or upline to 1,000 MLM names. Your cost of postage, as of 2001, would cost you $320 (assuming it weighs 1 ounce or less). A good mailing list will cost you $80 per thousand and the marketing material you mail will cost approximately $250. That's a total cost of $650--plus your time to put the mailing together--so you tell me, what's your time worth? For this example, let's say you're like me when I first got into MLM, and I thought my time was worth $0. So, $650 production cost plus the cost of your time, which is $0 and your total cost to mail 1,000 names if $650. The question I'm always asked is, "How many people will sign up if I mail out 1,000 mailers?" that depends upon the following:

• The list used
• The quality of your mailing piece
• If your product or service is in demand
• If your product or service is guaranteed
• If your product or service is competitively priced
• If your MLM offers an irresistible commission schedule that will motivate your "suspects" to get off the couch and get after it!

Since we don't know the above variables, let's assume, for this example that you'll get a 1% response rate, or 10 people will join from your "blind" mailing. Note: 1% is the highest you should expect from this type of mailing. All too often, I speak with people who experience less than that--sometimes they experience 0% response from their mailings!

If 10 people join, you then have a recruiting cost of $65 a person. Compare that to a $80.66 cost per distribution in our card deck example. And if you called your card deck prospects the cost would be $48.54. If all 10 you recruit, by $50 worth of product and you get a 10% commission, you would make $50 from your mailing the first month. At a cost of $650 to generate your $50, you are now $600 in the hole. Don't panic, this is normal. If you are lucky enough to get 10 to join from your mailing don't expect all 10 to buy $50 worth. Many won't buy anything at all--EVER! This is where the breakdown occurs with most people who try to direct mail their MLM program. They don't go out and spend another $650 to get another 10 people and keep the cycle going. Why? Because, the average person doesn't have an extra $1300 laying around to invest in this method of marketing!

The problem is if you stop, you will surely lose, unless one of your ten goes out and duplicates your efforts. But, be honest with me, how many of the 10 you just signed up will have an extra $650 to spend knowing they will lose $600 right up front? You're right, NONE!

If you do have the money to put this kind of game plan into action, here's some advice. You are creating a system that is not easily duplicated by your downline. When you sign them up from your mailings they'll call you and ask, "What do I need to do to get started". And because all you know is to do a direct mail campaign, you'll say, "Spend $650 on a mailing list and you'll get 10 people to join". You'll probably hear a comment like this, "If I had an extra $650, I would not have joined your MLM!" Without an inexpensive and easily duplicable system, you will join a lot of people who join and never do anything because, they don't have the money! How do you take care of those in your organization who claim they don't have that much money to sponsor people the way that you do? You create an inexpensive direct mail program that they can afford. Developing a two-step post-card mailing is one alternative. Here's how.

Let's take the same 1,000 names you mailed before, but instead of mailing them you're entire offer, mail them a post-card where they can request more information about your MLM. Let's compare the costs. The cost to mail 1,000 posts-cards is, as of 2001, is $200. Your mailing list cost will still be $80. That's a $310 savings right off the bat, compared to mailing your entire offer at a cost of $650.

Okay, now you've saved $310, what kind of response should you expect to this kind of mailing? Again, it depends upon the same variables as described earlier, company content, etc. Since we can't predict these variables yet, let's assume you get a 8% response to your post-card mailing. That would mean that 80 people would call or mail your post-card back to you to get more information. (To get even a higher response to your post-card mailing I recommend giving away something for FREE. Either a sample, report or cassette tape. By doing this, you should expect about a 10% to 12% response rate).

Out of you 80 responses to your post-card mailing you should be able to convert 10% , or 8 should sign up. The cost to mail your 80 prospects including postage and your mailing piece will be around $50 (assuming you mail a single mailing piece weighing about 1 ounce of less). Add this additional $50 to your previous costs of $310 and you have a total recruiting cost of $360, or $45 per distributor! If you call your 80 prospects you should be able to pick up another 5% or 4 to 5 distributors. That would bring your total sponsored to 12, and your coat per distributor would be only $30 per distributor--the lowest cost of all your options! It's amazing to me that the least expensive method of advertising your MLM, a two-step post-card mailing, can bring you your lowest cost per recruit at $30.

Note: the above examples are just that--examples. I have experienced mailings that have done better and done worst, although I implemented the exact same techniques--you may experience the same phenomenon. Direct mail is not an exact science--as long as you're dealing with people, it never will be. But, this will give you a guideline to what you should expect and what is "acceptable" when you try to sponsor people through the mail.

As I said earlier, a two-step recruiting system is an inexpensive alternative to offer those in your downline who can't afford a $650 mailing. But, what about those who can't even afford the less expensive $360 two-step system, What can you do to help them? The least expensive method of all, is talking to people you already know, this is known as "Warm Marketing". I go into more detail in Chapter 11 about how to use this method most effectively, but for now, let me say this about "Warm Marketing"--it works!

If someone in your organization claims they don't have any money to work your MLM and because of that, they are going to dropout, ask them this question; "Is the lack of money the real reason you're thinking of quitting?" Then ask them this; "If I could show you a method that costs you absolutely nothing, expect your time, and it works, would you be willing to stick with it until you're starting to make some money?" What you've done here is you've shown your downline member that you're willing to help him/her, if they will stay with it. If money isn't the excuse, then they won't accept your offer. They may come back with something like, "Money is part of it, but I really don't have any TIME to make this thing work. Plus, I just got something in the mail about XYZ program, and the guy who mailed it to me said I can be making money in the first month--I think I'm going to try it--you should also!"

I hear these types of comments from my group(s) every week. They spend a couple hundred dollars and a few weeks and if they don't get the results they expected, they start looking elsewhere. They ride their dream on what the mailing piece and their new prospective sponsor tells them--"YOU CAN GET RICH IN OUR PROGRAM"!

There is one other inexpensive alternative that you could use that has proven effective for my organizations. That is for you to do the fulfillment for your downline on all their post-card mailings. The biggest complaint you hear today from your prospects and your downline is that they don't have any time or money to invest into a MLM program. But, by offering a low cost post-card mailing system to your downline, where they mail the post-cards, and you receive the responses and mail out the literature for them for under $100 a month. You'd have a lot of people join and participate, with little effort from your downline. Now, this kind of system works, but it works VERY SLOWLY. And it doesn't work as well as the system where YOU mail and make follow-up calls yourself!

Here's how one of my successful post-card systems works. For around $25 I supply my downline with 100 post-cards and 100 MLM names. I ship them the cards, they write their member ID# on the post card, label them and apply the postage and drop them in the mail. The responses come back to MY office and I then take the ID # from the cards, write it in the self-mailer for them, apply first class postage and drop the literature in the mail for my downline. At the end of each week I then mail all the post-cards back to the downline members so they can properly follow-up on the mailers I sent. What kind of results should you get from this type of system? Again, it depends upon your literature, your program, and how fast you follow-up. I have found that you should be able to sponsor 1 to 2 people a month from mailing 100 post-cards a month with this type of system. You could get more if you made a follow-up call after your prospect has received your mailing.

This type of system verges on what I call "MLM Welfare". The reason it works is because there are people who:

• Can't afford to spend more than $100 a month on their MLM.
• Don't have the time to implement a recruiting system properly.
• Don't have the knowledge about how to run ads and are afraid of talking to people. Unless you have this type of system they will NEVER do anything and will drop-out.

MLM is a funny business. You have people who join to make more money, but they don't have any money to invest in their business to make it work effectively. So, you find people running around trying all sorts of inexpensive things in order to make their program work. This post-card system was developed in one of my organizations because a lot of people kept saying the same thing, "It's too expensive to join your MLM and advertise!" So, an inexpensive alternative was given and over 100 people started using it.

The key to making this kind of system work is if YOU are doing the fulfillment. You need to be organized and efficient. You also need to be prepared for the "work" it is going to take to make this system run smoothly. If 100 people in your group are mailing out 100 post-cards every month, that's 10,000 cards being mailed with your return address on them. At a 10% response rate, you'd be responsible for writing ID#s in and mailing 1,000 pieces of mail every month! The $25 you collect from your downline should cover the cost of:

• 100 post cards.
• 100 mailing labels.
• 10 mailers and postage to mail them.

The time it takes you to implement such a system may or may not be covered by this $25. It depends upon how efficient you are and how many people you have helping you (wife, children, etc.). The point of this system isn't to make a lot of money on the $25. Your goal is to supply an inexpensive alternative for your downline to participate in monthly. The cost of the cards and labels are $25. The cost to mail them is $20. That's $45. Count on spending another $50 on product every month and another $5 to $10 on the phone and you have a monthly MLM budget of around $100.

1) Use "Warm Marketing" as your means of recruiting distributors into your MLM. The only cost you have here is your "time".

2) If you don't want to use "Warm Marketing" and you don't have more than $25 to $50 a month in your "MLM Budget", then I recommend that you don't expect to make a lot of money--or get out altogether.

Remember in Chapter 3, I talked about having the "wrong expectations"? If you're not willing to talk to anyone and you don't have any more than $25 to $50 a month to spend and you're EXPECTING to be making thousands a month, then I'll be completely honest with you and give you the bad news now---YOU'RE NOT GOING TO MAKE IT IN MLM!

Sure, there are people who started on a shoe-string budget and have a "rags-to-riches" story in MLM. But, when you investigate EXACTLY what made them successful, you'll find that in spite of having very little money, they worked their butts off and talked to everyone they knew!

The problem with MLM'ers today is that because it's so easy to join a MLM (cost are under $100 on an average,) and they treat it like a $100 business. They get in a MLM, they poke at it with a stick for awhile. If it moves they get excited. If it doesn't move, they get discouraged and quit. Or worst yet, they drop out of one program and join another one--on the "hope" that program #2 will be different somehow!

I know of a man who recently received his Masters Degree. It took him 5 years, 3 nights a week and several thousands of dollars to get his degree. Based on his current income it will take him 10 years to pay for his education. If he had expected to get his degree in a couple years and thought I it wouldn't take any work and wasn't going to cost him very much money, he would have quit before he even started! What kept him from quitting? Two things. One, he had a goal or dream that he wanted bad enough to endure the "pain" of getting his degree. Second, he had the self-discipline to stick with it even when he didn't feel like it. MLM is a lot like a college degree. You spend 4 years of your time and money so you can learn something that will enable you to generate an income for you and your family for the rest of your life. Are you willing to spend 2 to 4 years to get your MLM degree?

When I first got involved in MLM, I treated it like it was my printing business. What I found out is that I didn't know a lot about succeeding in MLM. Although it was hard for me, I submitted my ego and was willing to learn from those who were where I wanted to be. I found out that by trying to be "innovative" and looking for a way to make MLM "easy", I was re-inventing the wheel. What happens whey you re-invent the wheel? It cost you a lot--it takes your TIME away. Instead, I had to learn how to become a master of "duplication". I like to think of it like walking behind someone in a minefield. Sure, I can go alone, but, I'm taking a big chance! But if someone's footsteps made it through the minefield successfully, then I'd make it through too. Right? Although experience is the best teacher you find that true wisdom is when you learn from the mistakes of others!

Here's how I became financially free in MLM. I became a student of MLM and worked my BUTT OFF--AND NEVER QUIT! That's my story and that's my secret. Can you duplicate me and get the same results? Sure you can. But, WILL YOU? Are you willing to treat MLM like a million dollar business? Or, are you going to "poke" at it and if nothing happens, throw up your hands and quit?

The philosophies and techniques you'll learn by reading this book are from my own personal experiences. Any one or a combination of all of these techniques will work for you, if you work them properly. A guaranteed way to make sure they DON'T is to QUIT before they have a change of working.

Some MLM company run their own ads, generate inquiries and either give away or sell them to their distributors. These leads should be just as good as the leads you get yourself from your own advertising. But, before you jump out and buy $500 worth of leads, find out the following things:

• What ad was used to generate these leads?
• Where was the ad placed (card deck, magazine?)
• How old are the leads?
• How much do they cost?

The biggest problem most MLM companies who offer leads to their distributors have, is they run out of leads quickly. The demand outweighs the supply. Make company provided leads one segment of your advertising budget. But, don't expect to make money with a steady diet of them.

A lead-generating company provides the names, address and phone numbers of prospects who have answered their ad about making extra money. Most operate on a MLM basis. When you refer someone to them that buys leads or signs up for their monthly subscription service, you'll be paid a commission. There are many lead-generation companies on the market today. Some are better than others. I recommend that you check with your upline or your MLM company and ask them which one they are currently recommending.

The idea behind belonging to your main program and also a lead-generating program, is that you'll have a guaranteed number of leads or prospects to mail your MLM offer. The biggest misconception about these type of leads is that they are "magical names". Some people are under the impression all you have to do is mail your offer to these people and a large majority of them will join your program. Sorry to disappoint you, it wont' work that way. Just as you have to work your card deck leads and mailing list, leads you must also work the leads you get from a lead-generation program. I recommend either calling them first or mailing them your post-card to further pre-qualify these types of leads.

One of the biggest complaints I've heard form people using lead-generating companies, is that their leads are "old" or "over-worked". Yes, it is true, that in order to make a profit and pay commissions, lead-generating companies have to send the same name out to different members at the same time. This is the only way they can afford to stay in business. How many times they are sent out varies from company to company. You'll find that on an average a name of a prospect will be circulated at least 6 times before it is discarded.

Lead-generating companies work. I know, I make thousands a year in commissions and sign up several people from two of them. But, what doesn't work, is thinking that these leads are different from your own leads you generate from our own ads. They are not, they are the same. Let's make a very important point here; When someone responds to your ad in a card deck or magazine, don't be naive enough to think they haven't answered another ad in the same publication. My studies show that the average prospect answers 5 to 7 ads when they answer mine! This means they are "looking" at several companies and are keeping their options open to join the best opportunity they can get their hands on. Your job isn't just to run ads and sit back and do nothing. What you must do to be successful with any type of lead is qualify, qualify and then qualify some more. Think of the system you're learning in this book as a "filtering system" for your leads. You start with a big funnel (your ad or mailing) and your first filter are those who respond to your ad. The second filter are those who include their phone number along with their address. The third filter are those that either call you, or you are able to call them and answer their questions. The fourth filter is having them reach for their check book or credit card and join your MLM. The fifth filter is if they order product. And the sixth and last filter is if they participate in your marketing system of recruiting others into their downline.

Lead generating companies are a guaranteed way to get a set amount of leads in the hands of you and your downline every single month of the year. You don't have to mess with placing ads, all you do is call or mail these leads and get them in your filtering system. Look at it this way. What would happen to your group if everyone was calling and contacting 100 people? Your check would increase dramatically over what it is right now. If you're in a MLM right now, I'd estimate that 80% of your commission is because of 20% of your downline efforts. Right?

The biggest problem you have in MLM is getting your downline to duplicate your efforts. If you provide them with several options, like card deck co-ops, a system of mailing post-cards to various lists, a post-card recruiting system where you do the fulfillment and one or two lead-generating companies then the last excuse your downline member is going to use is, "I don't know who to mail to, or talk to". Eliminate your downlines excuse of non-activity by supplying them with several options that work. You don't need 15 different recruiting systems in order to be successful, but, 3 or 4 will be sufficient to work for every interest level represented in your downline.

One last benefit of joining a lead-generating company--you can make a second commission check. It's easy. For everyone who joins your MLM, invite them to join your lead-generating company for a guaranteed amount of prospects every month. Everyone who doesn't join your MLM because they're going to join another program, get them in your lead-generating program. They need leads, don't they? Sure they do. Turn a no, into a yes, by having your lead-generating program sitting in the wings to save the day. You'll find that about 5%-10% of your group will get in your lead program. And, you'll also find that about 10%-15% of those that say no to your main program, (if they've said no to you on the phone--not by responding to your mailing) will join you in your lead program. These are estimates from my own experience. You may get more or less, depending upon your phone skills.

There are some who refuse to entertain the idea of joining a lead program because they only want to concentrate on one program at a time. That's okay. Just ask them to send you the names and address of all the people who say no to their mail program--and you'll convert them into your lead program! Hey, if they're dumb enough to be closed minded about a great back-end program, maybe they'll be dumb enough to send you free leads every month!

Others think about getting in a lead program, but their upline discourages them. Why? For one thing, they don't want their new recruit to get distracted by joining another program. But, what they fail to see is that a lead program is a "compliment" to their main program, not a "competitor". Another reason is because they know the lead program will be easier for their prospect to succeed at, and they are afraid that they might drop out of their main program! Yes, I know people who are making more in a lead program than their main program. But, this is the exception, not a rule.

The main problem with building a huge organization in a lead program is that it's not set up to be build as a stand alone program. Over 90% of those who join a lead program do so on the intent of using those leads to build their main program--not their secondary (the lead program itself). If and when their main program flops, they drop out of your lead program at the same time. But, if they have built their lead program up to a break-even or profitable state at that time they will not drop out of your lead program. I've had a hard time maintaining a steady growth in my lead programs--so don't expect for your lead program check to be larger than your main program--unless you're promoting your lead program more than your main program. At last count, in one of my lead programs, I had over 45 MLM programs represented! And, I found that there were about 20 different "systems" that these people were using in their main program. Needless to say, we're all not on the same sheet of music--yet another challenge of the lead program.

What I do is mail out a simple letter to everyone who joins my lead organizations. I mail it out first class mail the very same day I get their application in my office. Here's what it says:

John Q, Public
1000 Main Street
Washington, DC 12345


Dear John,

As a valued member of my (X program) downline, I felt it important to share with you today a few tips that will allow you to accomplish two very important things:

1) Convert your monthly leads into active members of your main program(s).

and---

2) How to sponsor people into your (X program) organization so you get a big, fat pay-check every month--just like I do.

After being an active Subscriber and Marketer for several years now, here's a list of 5 things I've narrowed down that have made me very, very successful:

Use the "Call, Mail, Call technique" on your names you receive from (X program. Remember, the names you receive from (X program) are "generic" in nature. These people have answered an ad about making extra money from home in Network Marketing. These are not "magical" names--you can't simply mail them your offer and sit back and wait to get rich--that won't happen. Fortunately, I've developed an easy and duplicable formula you can use, that only takes a few hours a week that will almost guarantee to get 1 or 2 people a month to sign up in your programs(s).

Call every name on your list that has a phone number. Here's exactly what I say: "Hi, my name is Robert Blackman, the reason for my call today (name of person), is you recently answered one of our ads about making extra income. If you're still 'looking', what I'd like to do is mail you a free 20 page catalog on (name of opportunity)." At this time they either say one of three things: "Yes, No, or tell me more about it". If they say yes, I simply verify their address, tell them that I'll be mailing their free catalog today and estimate when they'll be receiving it in the mail. I always say: "Be looking in your mail box on Thursday for the catalog". As a rule of thumb, I use 5 business days as a good estimate. By saying this, you set your offer apart from every other piece of mail they get that day. Imagine how much your response would increase if everyone of your prospects are actually looking for your offer in their mailbox!

What if they're not home, or you get an answering machine? That's easy. Since I get 100 names a month from (X program) every month and hundreds of others from my own personal ads, I don't have the time to call everyone back and talk to them personally. Instead, I set my goal on getting through my 100 names in one weekend--usually either Friday, Saturday, or Sunday night--that's when people are most likely to be at home. If I get a "no answer", "he's not home", or an "answering machine", I simply leave the same message as before. I tell them where I got their name, who I am, what my program is and that they'll be receiving a free catalog on a certain day and to call me back if they have any questions. That's it. Does everyone call me back? No. What I've found is that when I took the time to call everyone back, I was essentially wasting my time chasing people. Instead, I practice the philosophy that if they didn't call me back they weren't interested at this time. But, if they do call me back, they I know I've got a HOT one, and I spend anywhere form 15 to 30 minutes on the phone sharing my experiences with the company and their benefits.

Mail your offer within 24 hours of making your phone call. This is imperative. If someone has answered one of (X program) ads, then they probably answered 4 or 5 others at the same time. They're looking around for what they feel comfortable with. So, it's imperative that your offer get to your prospect "first"--or at least while they're opened minded. If you're mailing out a cassette or video tape, you definitely want to tell your prospect that you're doing so--and mail it only if you feel they are serious.

Call your prospects exactly 5 business days after you've mailed them. On Monday, I'm calling everyone I mailed last Monday, and so on. The only exception to this rule is if you are mailing from the West to East coast where first class mail takes around 7 days. I'm fortunate--living where I do, first class mail "usually" only takes 5 days to either coast--you should adjust for your state accordingly.

When you get hold of your prospect say this: "Hi, (name of person), this is Robert Blackman. We spoke last week about (name of your opportunity)--remember? I sent you our free catalog last Monday and I'm just making a follow-up call to see if you've received it." If they have received your information, ask them if they've had time to read it and what did they like most about the program. Never say "do you want to join?" You only want to ask questions that prompt a "yes". If they are not at home, or you get an answering machine, leave a message like this: "Hi, (name of prospect), this is Robert Blackman. Last Monday I mailed you our free catalog on (name of opportunity). I was making a follow-up call to see if you've received it and answer any questions you might have. I encourage you to go ahead and call the 1-800# on page (X) of the catalog to get started. Or, you can call me at my office at (your phone number). I'm having great success working this program by mail and making follow-up phone calls just like this one. If you're interested, I'll share with you the same secrets that have help me make thousands of dollars a month. I look forward to hearing from you"!

If they call me back, great! If they don't, I do not call back or try to trace them down. Remember, I'm receiving over 500 fresh leads a month--the reason for my success is, I spend most of my quality time working with those who are ready to start right now.

Exception: When I first joined (X program), and they were the only leads I was receiving, I did call back everyone until I got hold of them. This little extra effort did result in 1 or 2 more sign-ups a month. And, more importantly, that's how I broke through my fear of calling people on the phone! So, if you want to spend the extra time calling people back you'll accomplish two things: 1) Your people and phone skills will improve, and 2) You might sign up an extra person or two every month!

Now that you have completed the first 3 steps, what do you do when they say "NO" because, they are going to join (or have already joined) a program besides yours? Simple. Congratulate them on their new venture (never bad-mouth another program--even if you know the program is suspect! By doing so you lose your creditability with your prospect) instead, ask them what they're going to do about getting prospect leads! This is what I call the ONE/TWO PUNCH!

I always mail my main program along with an offer for (X program). This way, I'm mailing two programs for the same postage! About 1/2 of my (X program) downline are people outside my main program(s). Plus, you'll benefit with the Fast-Start Bonus (X program) pays you the first month! Don't be pushy--just offer (X program) as an alternative to them. Many times I know I've signed someone up in (X program) because the prospect felt bad about saying NO to my main program. And because they need leads anyway, it makes sense to join!

Be the kind of person you would want your downline to be! Think about it for a minute. What if you had 100 people in your downline today who were duplicating EXACTLY what you do? Would you be happy or unhappy about this? What would your check look like? This tip is more of an overall attitude I feel has taken me to the next level in Network Marketing. I always treat people the way I would like to be treated. I'm uplifting, positive and try to help if I can. But, I'm also down in the trenches doing the work. I've called, mailed and called my (X program) leads for several years now. There were months when I signed nobody up. Then there were months when I signed up 50 people. You reap what you sow in this business. And if you help other people make money--you'll make it--automatically--I know from personal experience that this works!

I've also enclosed a sample self-mailer and post-card I'm currently using to advertise just (X program). They have both proven to be very effective in signing people up. As a bonus, if you order within the next 30 days, either the post-cards or self-mailers, I'll imprint them with your Name, Address, Phone number, and ID# at no extra charge, to help get you started!

Also, if you've just started and you want to sponsor someone into (X program) but you don't have your ID# yet, you can use your Social Security number and still receive credit for the subscription sales!

If you have any questions at all, feel free to contact me anytime. I'll be glad to help you towards a very, very profitable (X program) membership!

This letter is computer generated and fits into a #10 window envelope. You can create a similar letter for both your main program and your secondary program. The point is to get everyone in your lead program, calling and mailing their leads so they succeed. If they don't get some results in their first 90 days, look out! They may drop-out.

One other thought on lead programs. There are some in the industry who believe that they can generate a better lead for their own ads--and they are right! But, let me ask you this question. Will everyone in your downline be placing ads or doing mailings? Do you have the time to train and teach them how to do this? I have found that only 5% of my group(s) are actively placing ads and doing mailings. But, with a lead program EVERYONE can participate. So, before you throw in the towel at the lead programs, think about this--which is easier for your downline to duplicate--your way of generating leads, or letting someone else place the ads and mail them to everyone in your downline for you?

The key is to do both. Place your own ads, do your own mailings and make a lead program a part of your system.

The commission I get every month from my lead-programs pay for my Country Club Golf Membership--what will yours pay for?