New Profession

Guidelines for starting a network marketing business.

jacobwh — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 19:56:18 +0000

1. Look for a product that has true market value. Many products have no market relevance outside of their distributors. Working with such companies will be limiting, and disappointing as you realize that the product has no relevance outside of the business opportunity. If you feel 100% comfortable marketing the product and never recruiting, than you have likely found a product that has true market value.
2. Understand that being successful in MLM is difficult. The success rate of any independent career is low. However, MLM recruiters often portray their MLM as being overly simple. Oversimplifying the MLM business is a common practice for recruiting new associates. The new associate then is confused and frustrated when the business does not proceed as they had originally imagined. Following this realization the associate quits and write off MLM as a scam. Realize now that an MLM business is going to take alot of work, especially if you have never owned a business or sold products before. You will be required to find your own customers, and”’ convince them of the value of your product.
3. Be wary of upfront costs. Many business have upfront costs of inventory and new business material, however an MLM business is not a retail store and should not require you to store or stock products to sale. Although there is some value in trying and using the product yourself you should not be required to do so. Do not allow yourself to be pushed into committing ridiculous amounts of time and money into your business and told that not doing so will completely undermine any potential for success. On the same hand realize that investing no time and no money in your business will surely result in failure.
4. Find a like-minded and successful mentor. The less experience you have, the more important this is. People make money with MLM with a variety of different techniques, so it is important that you find the method you are most comfortable with. Finding someone you know and can trust as someone with your best interest at heart is very important. Also knowing that your mentor is truly successful and not just posing as successful to recruit you is very essential.
5. Check with the better business bureau. Check the bbb.org for complaints about the company or potential scams. Realize that large companies will have complaints but you should understand the nature of the complaints.
6. Have a plan. Before committing to the business have a business plan read to execute to start making money soon. Marketing solely to your friends and family is not a good plan for success. A marketing plan should include a plan for acquiring new prospects, and converting them to customers.

I, Jacob Hiller am the author of this article, Guidelines for starting a network marketing business, and I release its content under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 and later.

Pre-paid Legal as an Independent Career

jacobwh — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 18:15:33 +0000

Summary:

Pre-paid Legal can be excellent opportunity for an independent career. A great product and compensation plan combined with the clout of a publicly traded company and many well known and respected supporter can help counter the stigma of being involved in a network marketing company. A strong product makes this opportunity function independent of the recruiting potential. As with any independent career finding the right mentors who are willing to truly invest in your success.

Prepaid Legal Services Inc. Highlights

Pros

A product that has value outside of a business opportunity.
Publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange
Over $100 dollar commission on a $30 sale.
True residual from customers.
In business for over 30 years.
Direct sales or network marketing.
State of the art tools and training.

Cons

Pre-Paid Legal associates are known to exaggerate how easy it is to market the company product.
Pre-Paid Legal has been under legal scrutiny for allegedly fudging numbers on financial records to make the company appear more sound.
Whereas in other countries the “pre-paid” concept is accepted, their is still skepticism in the US.

Product Info

Watch this company overview of the product.

Pre-Paid Legal Services Inc. provides legal plans for individuals and businesses, as well as Identity Theft Protection. This may not seem exciting at first, however, the true dream is to equalize the justice system. Pre-Paid Legal plans allow member to have unlimited access to legal advice as well as other benefits such as:

1. Free will preparation
2. Free court defense
3. Free defense in traffic violations
4. Unlimited consultations - Business advice, legal advice etc.. (over the phone)
5. Access to AV rated law firms in each state
6. Legal letters written on your behalf
7. Identity theft restoration services

Business Overview

Watch the company business overview.

Watch the Pre-Paid Legal recruiting video.

Commission Overview

Pre-Paid Legal Services Inc. markets their legal and identity theft protection program via the direct sales and network marketing structure. The company and it’s representatives recruit and organize direct selling efforts in exchange for upfront and residual commissions. Pre-Paid Legal Services Inc. pays an advance commission on service plans - one year worth of monthly membership commissions are paid upfront. Canceled memberships are simply removed from the next paycheck (PPLSI will not reach back into your personal account). After the first year a percentage of each membership is paid to you as a residual commission. Independent representatives also earn additional commissions by recruiting other associates and training them in direct sales. Commissions for recruited associates are earned on “overides” or bonuses given to the recruiting representative for sales earned by recruited assoicates.

Want more information?

Interested in considering Prepaid Legal Services Inc. as a part time of full time career? Let us put you in contact with a qualified mentor. Fill out the form below, and we will have a representative contact you.

I, Jacob Hiller, am the author of this article, Pre-paid Legal as an Independent Career, and I release its content under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 and later.

How to market videos.

jacobwh — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 04:01:32 +0000

Homebased Call Center

jacobwh — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 01:54:37 +0000

If you are looking to get serious about doing home based telesales you need a way to call people systematically. Efficiency is about streamlining as much of the process as possible. I run a one man call center out of my home office. I will show you what programs you need to quickly make a “power dialing system out of your home office. Before we get started, watch this video to get an idea of how my system works.

The CRM is probably the most important element to streamlining your system, but I am not going to talk about that here. This part is devoted only to setting up your homebased calling center. For more info on a contact management system made for the home based business industry please see the video below.

Here are the pieces of software that you will need. First of all if you have a CRM that will allow you to power dial or “click to dial” you won’t need this software. Lighthouse CRM is already equipped with built in click-to-dial with Skype. If you don’t have that built in or your internet is too slow for Skype, these tools will help you set that up. It is a little more complicated but I can walk you through it here.

Mobile Tools 3.0

This tool will allow you to use Bluetooth to dial to your phone. If you don’t have bluetooth you will need to get the right type of connection to connect your mobile phone to your laptop.

Macro Express

This program is extremely useful. It will record any movement of your mouse keyboard etc and allow you to put that action to a press of a button. I use it for many other things that I want to automate.

You will also need to have your leads in EXCEL or some like format.

Once you have installed the programs you are pretty much ready to rock. Here is the code I use for the Macro, which is essentially what does all the grunt work for you.

Create a new macro and copy and paste this into the editor. Edit the mouse cursor location by clicking on the “mouse move screen” section. Move your mouse to the “hang up” part of mobile phone tools and press “ctr + space”. This will record the new location. You will want to put your mobile tools box in the same place each time so that you don’t have to keep changing it.

I also use this code for any number I want to click and dial out.

> D:500>

To make this work you have to highlight (I just double click to highlight) then press whatever macro you have associated with it.

Once you have this all up you are ready to start power dialing. This make dialing leads much easier and faster.

It is also possible to automate this through your crm depending on what time of system that you use. If you have questions don’t hesitate to contact me.

Here is a demo of Lighthouse CRM.

IBO Tools: Tools for independent business owners - home based telesales

jacobwh — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 21:47:31 +0000

If you are an IBO looking for tools to magnify your business efforts you have come to the right place. the more interested prospects you can speak with the more money you are going to make. Mastering phone sales and follow up can help you leverage your efforts. I personally use the phone to average 8k in home based business opportunity sales per week. I am only able to do that because I have a system in place that allows me to work smarter and not harder. and IBO (independent business owner) or home based business professional who is not currently using a script or outline of some sort would receive an enormous benefit from doing so. It was until I used a very effective script (that I still use) that I was able to start bringing in alot of money. Anyone new to the industry should also give themselves some time to fail and get a feel for the sales process. In the video below I explain the system that I use to generate a healthy income from telesales.

Click Here for more information on using Lighthouse CRM

I am glad to help you set up a system so that you can start earning additional revenue with telesales. Any successful IBO knows that a system must be in place.

Setting up a website fast and free… Step by step walk through..

jacobwh — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 19:58:47 +0000

When you are developing a website you want a system that is easy to use but allows you the flexibility to build the type of website that you want. I have used many website platforms and I completely endorse Wordpress as the best system available. It has the ease of use for a beginner and at the same time unlimited potential. Here are some benefits of Wordpress. This site was built with Wordpress.

Have a website setup in 5 minutes.

Once you have learned how the Wordpress system works you can launch new sites/

products in under 5 minutes. Of course you will want to do more than just

make the site live, but you can get the basics ready and professional looking

very quickly.

Free templates available for design

Wordpress has thousands of templates available for people to use and alter as

they wish. You can typically find a deisng to work with right out of the box.

More advanced users can create completely custom sites, so you don’t have

to worry about scaling the site and customizing. Wordpress is very very

scalable.

SEO benefits of a blog (tag/ping/rss/subscribers, comments etc..) and it can be adapted to look like a professional website.

Wordpress automatically created tags (keywords) that you select. Then when

you add content to your site it send the information to other sites like

Technorati. This gives your site more exposure without you even doing

anything extra. It also provides additional back links so your site begins

to rank better with the search engines.

Easy to use content management system - no code required.

A built in content management system CMS. Of coursse there is a learning

curve, however this learning curve is shorter than any other system. It is

basically a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). If you use microsoft

word you can do this.

Plugin System - Very easy to use plugins to make discussion forums, auto responders, and practically any other high level functionality you could want. Once you know the system simple point and click will have it up and running.

Once you know the system simple point and click will have it up and

running. I have plugins available that take away any “bloggy” elements of

the site.

Open Source - This means that advanced users are creating additional plugins, themes etc. that are FREE to the public.

Wordpress has a huge following so there are all types of plugins, and themes that you can use for

your own business. It is also flexible enough that you don’t have to worry

about having a carbon copy site of someone else. You can customize to any

extent.

Easier SEO - Making correct tags and search engine friendly elements.

I also provide plugins that make the whole SEO process easier. Inserting the

right on page and off page elements is made very easier. This can be

intimidating to a beginner. Learning these techniques is essential to being

correctly indexed by the search engines. Wordpress makes that easier.

With any system that will be powerful and versatile enough to sustain a real online business there will be a learning curve. I believe that Wordpress offers all the tools to create a powerful online business, yet the lowest possible learning curve. The website training on this website are based on Wordpress. I will provide many plugins that make it more powerful. I have a selection of Wordpress plugins that do wonders for SEO. I have a selection of Wordpress plugins that make Wordpress just like a regular website. I have a selection of plugins that aid in viral marketing and email campaigns.

Choosing a host and getting started with Wordpress and your business.

You need a host. Period. You can’t get around it unless you want someones ad placed all over your site. This is a huge red flag for any visitors of your site. I recommend a host that has the following.

Unlimited Free Tech Support: It is wonderful to have someone to help you with the techy stuff, and not have to pay extra for it.
C- Panel: C-Panel allows you to have a graphical tool box for some very useful functions. I will show you how to use C-Panel to create a website in 5 minutes. How to manage emails etc. C- Panel is a must!
Clean email servers. make sure that the email servers they use are going to deliver your emails. Some servers are more laxed with their regulations. This may be an advantage to some email abusers but the whole server end up taking a hit in email deliverability.

I recommend that below Host. I have used them for years and they have free unlimited tech support, C-Panel, clean email servers and many other very useful tools.

Click here to get your host.

Once you have your host up you are ready to get make your site live. This is step one. The video below walks you through step by step getting your website live. Don’t worry, we have not submitted it to the search engines yet. First we make the site live and setup up your site with a professional look and how you are going to make money. Then we begin marketing.

CRM for network marketers and independent professionals.

jacobwh — Sun, 18 May 2008 04:27:19 +0000

Finally, a long overdue tool available to business professionals. Lighthouse CRM is the most streamlined tool available for independent professional to easily and simply keep track their entire sales pipeline: past, present, and future. Large successful business understand the necessity of making the follow up and follow-through process quick and effective, so why shouldn’t every home based business owner or network marketer have a system in place? Unfortunately up to now no system has really been created for network marketers by network marketers. The only tools available on the market are hand-me-down systems tailored to larger organizations. In effect they do not meet the needs of network marketers and home based business owners. Here is a list of functionality.

To start your trial click here

Built in website or easy website integration: Use our built in website system to market any product or service, or easily integrate Lighthouse into your current website so that every contact interested in your product is automatically put in your system and followed up with.
Easy to configure auto responder and campaign series: Begin email marketing professionally and easy with a very simple to use email campaign system.
Built in out-bound and in-bound email: Receive emails within the system and know immediately if an email is from a current prospect or a new prospect. Easily add contacts from incoming emails or schedule tasks with contacts.
Email Merge (personalized emails) and email templates: Tired of writing an email over and over again or having to go back through and personalize an email? Save templates on-the-fly and include personalized fields that automatically personalize the entire email!
Click-to-Dial: Save time by using build in click to dial to dial out to prospects.
Sales “Pipeline” System: This “rapid-fire” mode takes all your follow ups and allows you one interface to go through them systematically. Make the call, take notes or send emails, schedule follow ups and then one click brings up the next prospect.
Web based yet application drive: Lighthouse is a web based application, however it is built to load the data once and operate like an application for the majority of functions. This means much much less loading time.
Intuitive Relationship Based Interface: Lighthouse CRM knows the information you want to see. Ex. clicking on an email from a contact already in your system will automatically bring their information up on the right panel so you can see if you already have an appointment scheduled or what kind of activity history you have with that individual. No need to open up and load another page. Essential data is centralized!
Dashboard: The Dashboard give you a birds-eye-view of the entire activity of your business. Stop guessing about what is happening in your business. Knowledge is power!
Build in leads sources: (coming soon) We are working and testing the best lead sources so you can buy profitable leads and have them automatically imported into your system.
Intuitive task system: When scheduling follow-ups you do not have to go to a separate page to check on availability on certain days. We have thought of everything to eliminate every possible extra step.
$4.95 Trial: Not sure if Lighthouse CRM is what you are looking for? Try it for 15 days for only $4.95 dollar! If you are not completely convinced that Lighthouse CRM will make your business easier and more profitable simply cancel the account. Each month after your trial is only $25.00 which includes hosting your website, auto-responders, click-to-dial, and the entire Lighthouse system! After your payment you will be directed to the business system to begin using it immediately.

To start your trial click here

This system was built in collaboration with very successful marketers, in order to streamline the processes that were most important in making more money for their business.