(This essay was originally published in Hackers & Painters.)

If you wanted to get rich, how would you do it? I think your best bet would be to start or join a startup. That’s been a reliable way to get rich for hundreds of years. The word “startup” dates from the 1960s, but what happens in one is very similar to the venture-backed trading voyages of the Middle Ages.

Startups usually involve technology, so much so that the phrase “high-tech startup” is almost redundant. A startup is a small company that takes on a hard technical problem.

Lots of people get rich knowing nothing more than that. You don’t have to know physics to be a good pitcher. But I think it could give you an edge to understand the underlying principles. Why do startups have to be small? Will a startup inevitably stop being a startup as it grows larger? And why do they so often work on developing new technology? Why are there so many startups selling new drugs or computer software, and none selling corn oil or laundry detergent?

Read More:    How to make Wealth

Building wealth – it’s a topic that sparks heated debate, promotes quirky “get rich quick” schemes and drives people to pursue transactions they might otherwise never consider.

 ”Three Simple Steps To Building Wealth” may seem like a misleading title, but it isn’t. While these steps are simple to understand, they’re not easy to follow.  

The Steps
Basically, building wealth boils down to this: To accumulate wealth over time, you need to do three things:

1. You need to make it. This means that before you can begin to save or invest, you need to have a long-term source of income that’s sufficient enough to have some left over after you’ve covered your necessities.
2. You need to save it. Once you have an income that’s enough to cover your basics, you need to develop a proactive savings plan. 
3. You need to invest it. Once you’ve set aside a monthly savings goal, you need to invest it prudently.

I have been blessed to work in the direct sales, MLM and affiliate marketing fields for several years now. When I slow down and take the time to study various issues within the industry, including why some prosper and why some don’t, I found myself coming back to a common theme.  Many times we see the following as part of the benefit statement for the opportunity and that is “Start your own Business”! 

Now I do not want this post to become a platform for weather or not MLM is a legitimate business opportunity. It is and there are hundreds if not thousands of examples out there operating successfully with a MLM style compensation plan in place. 

Starting your own business is a huge benefit statement to many because going back to the roots of our great country that’s what has made our economic structure so successful .  People come to America to get a new start, start their own business, become successful and live the good life!! WOW! The American dream …right? However, what I see are many direct sales and MLM companies making a mistake of promoting  it inaccurately.  The opportunity to be in business for your self is not always a true fact of the industry.  Now, before you go getting yourself all worked up and looking for my comment section let me explain.

My personal opinion on owning your own business is defined as the following: 

You create or help create your product or service to be offered

You do the research for piecing together a viable compensation plan

You front the capital to purchase re-sell rights to an existing product or service

You invest in the immediate start up and infrastructure needed to deliver said product or service.

You are the OWNER / CEO of said company .

With most Direct sales and MLM opportunities it’s just that an “opportunity”. Somebody else has already done all the work listed above. You are just coming in as a direct sales person for that product or service and will be paid a commission for sales generated.  Now …Yes it can become a functioning independent business, but you need to first establish yourself as an independent business owner offering that companies product as part of your product mix.  Make since?  IE: JBNET Marketing is an affiliate partner with 2GSM and 911 Gas Card who in essence have contracted with me to sell their services under my business name.  Yes?    

OK, Now that we have established what a business owner is or is not how does that relate to prospecting for new business into your MLM opportunity?  My main concern here is that we are cautious when presenting a benefit statement to our prospective customer or new business partner.  I want people to understand that to make money in any opportunity a sales transaction has to take place. Now if that sale comes through somebody visiting my web site and pushing the “Buy Now” button or it’s me sitting across the table and asking them to “Sign Here doesn’t matter.

We are sales people first looking to talk to people (prospects) who do not own what we sell and want to listen to our solution.  The “ownership” comes from taking charge of your  goals, putting them into a written action plan and then applying massive action to that plan!

 To your success!

Jeff Beeman

Copied in from Gareth Emberton’s Ecadomy Blog!

by Entrepreneur’s Coach Gareth Emberton on 19-Aug-10 7:59pm

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Is the telephone still your best marketing strategy?

In 1991 I started my first business. In those days I only really knew of two marketing strategies – the telephone and Yellow Pages. Whilst I can tell you a true story about how I generated a £1m per annum account with Tesco because of Yellow Pages advertising, it was the telephone which grew my company to the point where it had £££ multi-million sales per annum.

In those days there were perhaps half a dozen marketing strategies you could use but most of which were beyond the abilities of most small to medium sized businesses as the expertise wasn’t there for the average business to utilise like it is now.

In this day and age we now have a minimum of 21 strategies (listed below) and we are taught that you have to be your very own marketing guru and be an expert in each one! The question is, can you be that expert or do you want to be?

So where do you start with your marketing today…well the simplest strategy remains talking to people by picking up the telephone. That way, once you have sales you can then develop the more elaborate strategies. This is particularly interesting as recently I started another business in the construction industry and whilst I have had some particularly good results with google adwords, it has been work generated by the telephone which has had the best the conversion rates. Now that is not to say that a lead generated by electronic means cannot be converted but at some point you are going to need to speak to the prospect and whilst the cyber prospect has now decided to try and distance themselves from the sales person through e-mail, their bluff can be overcome by simply picking up the telephone.

There is however, a problem and that is the lengths to which a business owner will go to avoid picking up the telephone. But it is the basis of everything. If you have no sales system for the telephone you have no way to qualify or convert your prospects into customers. Then on top of that, if you cannot do it yourself, you have no basis on which to teach others so that you can delegate to leverage your time.

There is also something else here, in this day and age of technology there are many great ways to generate leads but ultimately the best way to convert a prospect is to build rapport on the telephone through the tonality of a voice and the opportunity to ask questions/respond to the prospect, which is something which just cannot be done using e-mail.

Here is the list of strategies you may contemplate:

1. Telemarketing
2. Website
3. E-newsletters
4. Networking: Physical
5. Networking: Social
6. Blogs
7. Testimonials
8. Qualification/Pain Questionnaires
9. Videos and DVDs
10. Books and Downloads
11. Direct Mail
12. Advertising
13. Signage
14. Strategic Alliances
15. Ask for Referrals
16. Seminars, Keynotes and Exhibitions
17. Press Releases
18. Internet Marketing (Pay Per Click & SEO)
19. Internet Affiliate Programmes
20. Magnify Your Expertise
21. Test and Measure

Gareth

If you have your own business you can register for a complimentary coaching session by emailing: success@the-entrepreneurs-coach.com and by doing so I will also send you a complimentary access to my on line business tool www.measureyourbusiness.com.

Using www.measureyourbusiness.com you will answer 100 questions in 10 key areas of your business and the results will be delivered in a 20 page bespoke report on your business.

Book your complimentary coaching session today: success@the-entrepreneurs-coach.com

Follow me on twitter at entrepreneurblg

YOUR THOUGHTS????

prospecting, patrick henry, Dani johnson, selling, seller, marketing

Successful sellers have one thing in common….the ability
to effectively propspect. Sellers who consistently generate
qualified leads will make more sales and recruit more people
to their organization.

Prospecting is where selling starts. Selling is just not
selling your product or service, it is also selling yourself
as a person of integrity and a person others would like to work with.
Prospecting is the direct contact with a person that you want to possibly
have as a client or customer or business partner.

Prospecting involves taking the time to qualify or get to know the person to discover
their needs or situation and determine whether your product or service will meet those
needs and offer a solution. Prospecting and qualifiying is a process and can take time so
do not forget about continuing to build your pipeline so you always have
a fresh stream of people to qualify and talk with.

Sellers who do not achieve the success they desire fail to keep their
pipeline full of prospects. They need to be involved in opportunities to meet others.
Chamber of Commerce events, a booth at your local county fair, joining groups online,
Social Media places such as Facebook or Twitter are all ways to meet others and
start building prospecting relationships.

The successful marketer is seeks ways to improve themselves through
personal growth and development as well as professional training and skill
development. This can be accomplished in a variety of ways attenting group
seminars or training courses, online webinars, college classes,
books and one-to-one training.

One such company, Patrick Henry International offers books, trainings and
methodologies for prospecting and selling. Visit their website at: http://www.patrickhenryinc.com
to learn more about their 4 core training programs and to get a listing of Patrick Henry Hansen\’s books.

Dani Johnson is a renowned motivational speaker and author.
She has a great story and has changed thousands of lives
through her trainings and teachings. Personal growth and
development go hand and hand with successful prospecting and
business success and DaniJohnson is one of the best. Visit
her site: www.danijohnson.com to see the free tools and resources
she offers and also check out her list of live seminars held across the country.