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Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Raising Capital for your Network Marketing Company
Still Need More Money?
Can startup MLMs sell positions to fund their businesses?
Friday, February 15, 2013
Marketing and Publicity | Publish a Book
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Publish a Book for Your Network Marketing CompanyTuesday, January 22, 2013
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Monday, March 19, 2012
MLM and Money
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How much does it cost to Start a Direct Sales Company?
Payment Processing Payment TipsSaturday, February 11, 2012
Strategies for Successful MLM Companies
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| Todd Tolman |
Strategies for a Successful MLM
By Todd Tolman (Editor)
Starting
an MLM enterprise is difficult and leaves no room for mistakes. Like a
good game of Chess, each move you make should be governed by an overall
strategy, allowing you to focus your time and energy on the correct
details. Individual moves that add up to a win.
As an MLM Software
provider, we are pleased to have aligned ourselves with several
industry experts with decades of experience helping new MLM enterprises
to launch successfully. Professionals that have developed correct
strategies for new MLM companies. They can help you construct a good
game strategy, putting you in a position to succeed.
We
pleased to provide you with two great industry consultants this month,
both with similar and contrasting ideas to help you with your MLM
company strategy.
---
Strategies for a Successful MLM
Essential
Action Steps for Launching
|
 | |
| Terrel Transtrum |
Your MLM
strategic plan will serve as the roadmap for every decision you make in forming and
running a successful MLM company. It
should be completed early, with careful consideration given to each
question. Unlike a business plan (which
may be used to attract investors), the MLM strategic plan is for internal
use. Complete candor is vital. The Strategic Plan should be reflected in a “living” document
that you should revisit, review, and update at least annually.
Your Purpose, Passion, and Value Proposition
The Entrepreneurial Dream
The Strategic Vision is the first concrete step toward creating your
complete MLM strategic plan that will bring your entrepreneurial dream into
reality. When it is done right, you
create a clear picture, a template, of what your company will look like and act
like when it is fully developed. From
that point onward, everything your company and your people do moves the company
toward the vision.
Your Strategic Vision is a Commitment
It’s not enough for you to have a vision; that’s just the first
step. You have to interpret it,
communicate it, keep it alive in the minds of everyone in the company and in
the field, and keep them moving toward it.
Put it in Writing . . . a Strategic Vision Statement
A clear written statement is needed.
A written statement does two important things: It forces you to think
through not only the details of the Strategic Vision, but also how best to
communicate your vision in the clearest way, thereby creating an accurate “mind
picture” for everyone in your company.
Dynamic Yet Stable
Your Strategic Vision should be dynamic, subject to revision in response
to major changes and trends. But it
should also be stable, not reacting to day-to-day events unless they signal
some underlying shift in the company’s situation. Think of it as your company’s version of the
US Constitution – regard it with a degree of reverence, and preserve it, but be
willing to make changes in response to major shifts that affect the long-term
health of the company.
Stay True to Your Dream
Remember, your Strategic Vision is your vision and your dream. It is your North Star compass. Never lose sight of it. Keep it in view and it will keep you on
track.
Your Company Story
Remember big MLM businesses are just small MLM businesses that did many
of the right things. But they started
from the same place you did, from the beginning. They created stories that became business
legends, stories that built a following, an understanding of the spirit of the
company.
A Tale to Tell
Your story can be how you started or why you started your business or
what incident best illustrates what you and your business are all about. It’s about “the way we do things here.”
It could be a story like the one about a silversmith from Boston named
Paul Revere who made his famous Midnight Ride to Lexington to warn Samuel Adams
and John Hancock that the British are marching to arrest them. Along with William Dawes and other riders, he
warns the countryside of the British march.
He witnesses the “shot heard ‘round the world” as fighting breaks out in
Lexington.
It’s All About Inspiration
Company Stories have impact. Any
great MLM business has to have a reason for being that touches its customers,
employees, and field reps very deeply.
That’s what your Company Story is all about. It’s at the heart and soul of why you’re in
business.
Have fun with it. It will serve
as an inspiration to everyone it touches.
Not every story needs to be lengthy.
It needs to be your story; it needs to be real; and it needs to be told.
The MLM Business Plan that Will Get Funding
An MLM
business plan is a document that summarizes the operational and financial
objectives of your business. It contains
the detailed plans and budgets showing how the objectives are to be realized.
Many think that the purpose of a business plan is to secure
outside investment capital. They are
right. And the better plans make it
farther if the pictures that they paint illustrate well-researched,
knowledgeable preparation combined with an energetic visionary who has a
product or service that enough people will buy to make the business worthwhile.
Contact terrel@launchsmart.com
for a sample Table of Contents of an MLM business plan a client who was
successful in obtaining funding. It
illustrates the most common elements of a successful business plan.
Your Growth and Financial Model
Our approach to MLM forecasting growth and financial results
is a two-pronged approach. The first
prong is a behavioral modeling of expected behaviors of builders, based on our
years of observing and quantifying performance.
A good forecast takes into account past performance, but it also looks
forward with an eye on what’s different now than in the past.
But people are people, and we have learned to rely on some
of the basic behaviors in creating our MLM
growth models. The growth
modeling incorporated into our spreadsheets and software forecasting tools is
driven by such questions and assumptions as, “Out of 100 active reps in the
month of February, how many will make a business presentation?” and “Of those
making business presentations, how many will they make?” These lead to, “Of business presentations (or
home parties) conducted, how many recruits / how much in sales will result?” And so forth.
These series of “behavioral” assumptions then drive the financial
forecasts.
The second prong is the financial forecasting prong,
typically much more scientific than the unknown of the behavioral model that
attempts to answer the question, “how many people are going to get out of bed
and work the business today?”
The most commonly used financial statements used by
investors and executives in managing and planning business are the following
three:
·
Profit & Loss Statement
·
Balance Sheet
·
Cash Flow Statement
Interestingly, the one we find ourselves watching most
carefully is the cash flow statement since it is the predictor of how much cash
/ credit we need access to at any given time in the company’s growth
cycle. It’s the key to not “outgrowing
available resources” which is one of the primary causes of failure.
Marketing Strategies
Most MLM
startup companies enlist (or should enlist) the support of a marketing
firm. This firm will help develop your
company and product/service names, logos,
packaging, branding,
sales tools, advertising
strategies, websites,
etc. This firm will be one of your most
important strategic partners. You will
find that the degree to which they will be able to effectively help you will
depend upon how ready you are to help them to understand you, your products and
services, and where you want to take your company.
The basic marketing strategy workshop will apply the rigor
we introduce here. The results are well
worth the rigor. “No rigor, no results.”
- Basic MLM Business Concept
- Basic MLM Product Concept
- Branding
- Overall Market Description
- Specific Market Segment Description
- Target Market Description
- Competitive Analysis
- Unique Selling Proposition
- General Awareness Marketing
- Lead Generation Marketing Strategies
- Distributor Specific Marketing
- Product Specific Marketing Strategies
Local, National, Global Launch
Having
viewed the tremendous international
MLM success of companies such as Avon, Nikken, Amway, NuSkin, Mary Kay and Tupperware, many owners of startup
Network Marketing companies are tempted to go into international markets immediately.
The short answer is "don’t do it.”
Starting a successful Network Marketing company is a daunting and
complex task, a process that should be perfected one step at a time. For most companies, it is important to first
develop a working model in the United States or country of origin.
Mastering
the marketing plan, establishing distributor and customer service departments,
refining the support technology, etc. are best accomplished in one country,
with duplication and adaptation in foreign markets to follow once the machine
is working in the home country. In
addition, it is important to cause distributors to first focus their efforts in
one market rather than ineffectively diluting their efforts in multiple
markets. Of course, all rules have
exceptions, and if your company is a multi-billion dollar conglomerate with
worldwide retail stores or international catalog operations, the resources may
be available for a multi-country launch.
For the "small guy," the logical progression from the U.S. is
to Canada,
Europe,
Australia, Asia, Mexico, and South America.
Competitors
When working at Melaleuca, LaunchSmart™ co-founder Terrel
Transtrum tells that he learned early on that other
direct selling companies were not the competition. For Melaleuca, the competition was Proctor
& Gamble, the personal care and home products giant.
There are different types of competitors in direct selling:
- Traditional (non-direct selling) companies that sell the same or similar products and services
- Direct selling companies that sell the same or similar products and services
- Direct selling companies that offer income opportunities that will draw reps to them
As you become aware of the strengths and weaknesses of your
competitors, you will grow strong and confident. If you are keenly focused on your unique
differentiators, the primary one being your culture, you will find that the
game of growth will be challenging and fun.
As you go through the strategic planning process, don’t skip
through the SWOT analysis where you will be guided through the exercise of
identifying competitors and creating profiles from which you will learn.
Terrel
Transtrum is the co-founder of LaunchSmart, a company that supports clients
in starting and running successful network marketing and home party
companies. Accepting new clients and
offering free no-obligation MLM consulting.
terrel@launchsmart.com
---
 |
| Jay Leisner |
by Jay Leisner
Why are some network marketing and
party plan companies successful while others struggle? Are the successful
companies following specific strategies? If you follow the same strategies,
will you be successful, too?
If success was that simple, we would
all have it. The reality is that direct selling companies are complex organisms
and no two are exactly alike. This means that following all of the strategies
of another company will not produce the same results for your company.
So, what can you do to have a
successful multilevel marketing company? You must first start by following the
golden rule of direct selling.
Golden Rule of Direct SellingStrive to make your income opportunityas easy, lucrative and fun as possible.
While this golden rule is simple to
recite, it's not as simple to follow. Network marketing and party plan
companies on occasion make decisions that cause their independent
representatives to feel confused, frustrated, or angry without realizing it.
Your independent representatives are
not just your salespeople. They are also your customers. Remember to always
treat them like customers first!
Like all customers, they are free to
do business elsewhere. While you sell
products or services, you are also in the business of providing an income
opportunity. Much like a franchisor, the success of your business depends on
the efficiency and effectiveness of the systems you are asking others to
follow.
How welcome your independent representatives
and their customers feel when they interact with your company is directly
related to your longevity and your rate of growth. Successful direct selling
companies stand out from others because their culture is not only welcoming,
but also supportive, informative, and nurturing.
How well your products or services
perform is equally important.
Interestingly, the success of all
direct selling companies depends on the retention of failed independent
representatives who stay with you as customers. In other words, if you are
selling products that are purchased only by representatives who are making
money through your income opportunity, when they quit working, they will also
quit buying.
If you look carefully at the most
successful network marketing and party plan companies, you will see that a significant
percentage of representatives who have not built a downline or who are not
building their businesses any longer are still buying products from the
company.
Would you like to know more about
what you can do to have a successful network marketing or party plan company?
If so, I invite you to request a free copy of our special report – 20 Secrets
of Successful Direct Selling Companies – at http://www.sylvina.com/20-secrets.php.
For even more information, I
recommend out insightful book, Start
Here: A Guide for Starting Your Own Home
Party Plan or Network Marketing Company.
You can view the Table of Contents or obtain your copy at http://www.sylvina.com/start-here.php.
Lastly, I invite you to meet with us
at the best MLM and party plan startup conference in Las Vegas on March 8 and
9. For details on our conference, visit http://www.directsellingedge.com.
Jay Leisner is the President of Sylvina
Consulting. For 25 years, Jay has helped to launch and
grow network marketing and party plan companies. To contact Jay with your questions, call
503.244.8787 or email jay@sylvina.com.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
StartYourMLM.com is re-launching
Get ready for the re-launch of http://www.StartYourMLM.com in March 2012!
Friday, January 13, 2012
MLM Business Foundations - Essential Action Steps for Launcing your MLM company
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| Todd Tolman | Prodigix Software |
Starting
an MLM enterprise is difficult and leaves no room for mistakes. You
need to learn from those who have gone before you, veterans who have mud
on their shoes. You don't need to repeat the mistakes of other start-up
companies if you are ready to learn.
As an MLM Software
provider, we are pleased to have aligned ourselves with several
industry experts with decades of experience helping new MLM enterprises
to launch successfully. Professionals that have been there before, many
times as an independent distributor and also running successful MLM
companies. They will help you put all the steps in order, putting you in
a position to succeed.
This year topics for our newsletter will be progressive, each step preparing the next one, so you will understand the direction to go with your new company. A road map.
This month we start with MLM Business Foundations.
---
Foundations for a Successful MLM
By Terrel F Transtrum
Essential Action Steps for
Launching
|
MLM and Network Marketing and Home Party Plan
Over the
years, direct selling has primarily consisted of two distinct models: “home
party plan” and “network marketing” models.
Each has a sales force comprised of independent representatives that earn
commissions and bonuses from sales of products.
However, the key differences in the two models can be found in product
margins, sales methodologies, consumer and seller characteristics, compensation
models, and terminology.
Both types
of companies feature “multi-level compensation” (MLM) of one type or another, paying
sales representatives for sales produced as a result of managing and leading
sales representatives in various levels of the sales organization. Much like local, regional, national, and
global commissions that flow through the traditional sales organizations, these
multiple levels also exist as incentives for the small percentage of skilled,
driven, visionary leaders who get out of bed each day and get the job done.
The
differences in the two models begin to appear in differences that appear in a
spectrum of product selling methodology, ranging from a retail foundation
(where products are discounted to the seller who makes a markup plus smaller
percentages on overrides) to the other end of the spectrum which is considered
to be a “consumption” model. The
consumption model typically features an MLM compensation plan and product that is consumed on
an ongoing basis (for example, nutritional supplements) and the selling often
occurs as a one-to-one presentation.
Home party
companies are characteristically designed to support highly social gatherings,
usually of women, who share much in common as they come together to support a
friend who may be “hosting” the gathering (or “home party”) in exchange for
free products and discounts. The Direct
Selling Association (DSA) reported that in 2008, the
average home party consisted of 8 orders at an average of $54 per order, or
$432 in sales per home party. Of course,
these are averages, and some companies report home parties generating as much
as $800 to $1000 or more per party.
MLM companies
are characteristically designed to support one-to-one selling, have a higher
percentage of male representatives, and can sometimes be identified by more
complex compensation plans that sometimes appeal to
analysts and engineers. Companies
typically consider each active account worth $100 per month in sales on
average, though they often incorrectly classify all accounts as “independent
representatives,” where in fact the largest majority are customer accounts
(using the definition of customer as someone who merely purchases and consumes
products but who does not recruit other customers or builders).
Both types
of companies find themselves in safe waters when they focus their efforts on
finding and developing customers. At
first blush, this may seem obvious to the seasoned business person, but in a
business-driven direct selling model, some view the prize as being “builders”
and those who pursue their careers as recruiters who love the hunt and thrill
of finding people to “sign up.” In
reality, the prize goes to the company that focuses on delivering genuine value
to customers who value the products and services whether or not there is an
income aspect to the package.
Multilevel Marketing (Network Marketing) or Multilevel Compensation?
Multilevel
Marketing (Network Marketing or MLM) is the common name for network
marketing. We teach that multilevel
compensation is paid in network marketing and home party plan companies. Multilevel compensation is a compensation
framework through which flows percentages of sales based on pre-determined
qualifications, paid in multiple levels in the sales organization. Its appeal is found in the opportunity that
representatives have to receive compensation not only on their personal sales,
but also on the sales volumes of others in various levels of their sales
organization.
The building
block of multilevel compensation is the leverage gained by reaching wider and
deeper through the application of the management principles of selling
(prospecting, presenting, handling objections, inviting the sale, supporting
after the sale) and training (teaching others to duplicate the proven
customer-prospecting and business-building techniques).
Web Marketing and Affiliate Programs
As direct
selling companies learn more about harnessing the power of the Internet to
reach the world with their messages (product, vision, earnings, culture, etc.),
web marketing has become an integral part of direct selling. The greatest caution we extend to any who
will listen is to never forget that direct selling is person-to-person,
relationship selling, and that there simply are certain tasks that cannot be
done through electronic medium. No
electronic tool can compensate for the power of eyeball-to-eyeball expression,
personal motivation that flows from deep within when in the company of like-minded
people, and the personal, physical interaction that forges bonds of trust and
loyalty. Many accept with light hearts
that direct selling has a substantial number of “huggers,” people who hug when
they meet and greet each other at live events and meetings. And, can this be bad for business? Of course not!
The most
powerful use of the Internet we have experienced is in the ServiceQuest®
Recruit Builder System™ (RBS). This
system combines cutting-edge web marketing that funnels searches into recruits,
at the most basic level of human behavior.
Whether your company uses the Internet to advertise and build brand
awareness, to support reps with web offices, or leverages its reach to connect
with those who are looking for what you have, the Internet is the most powerful
direct selling tool second only to the live human being.
At the
fringes of direct selling can be found affiliate programs that compensate
others for referring business to an e-commerce website. Time will tell whether companies effectively
use affiliate marketing, although the evidence isn’t compelling.
180 Days or Less to MLM Startup
180 days or
less to startup? Can you really start
and run a successful direct selling company in 180 days or less? What about all those people saying you need
to build an MLM business plan and secure funding first? What about all those obstacles—the right
Network Marketing / Home Party Software, the right name, the right compensation
plan, the right legal entity and registrations, and so forth?
Yes, you
can. You can do this. And you can do it in 180 days or less. Here are the two most important reasons why
that’s so:
1.
The world
has changed dramatically in recent years and we all know it. Today, we can use online tools, information,
contacts, and services to do things much faster than was possible just a few
years ago.
2.
When you
look at the core elements of a new direct selling business, the actual tasks
involved—just the real tasks, not the thinking, training, researching, and
long-time deciding—don’t take that much time.
Technically, it takes about an hour to register a name for your business
and to become a legal entity. Setting up
a location can take a couple of hours if it’s in your home, and as little as a
few days if it’s in an office somewhere near where you live. Delaying decisions doesn’t make them any
better.
It’s true
that not all businesses can go straight from the first spark of an idea to the
full and complete execution in just 26 weeks.
But many can. On one hand, you
may not get product molds created, initial orders placed, and finished goods
delivered from an overseas vendor in this relatively small window, but on the
other hand, you just might depending on your experience and shortened learning
curves. Many cannot raise millions of
investment dollars in a few months, but then you may not need that much or you
might already have the necessary capital.
It’s also
true that the essence of a direct selling company is not only its ability to
scale and grow, but because it’s typically a cash-up-front business, much of
the growth is self-funding. We put those
two facts here because they show that the majority of new direct selling
businesses are like the one you want to start, meaning they are manageable,
focused, and ready for you to get going.
So, with
that in mind, here’s how it works! The
timetables show how you go from where you are now to operational in just 180
days. And, our hats are off to our
clients who have done it in less time while not cutting corners.
Ongoing Learning and Development
The power,
simplicity, and effectiveness of applying key business fundamentals to
successfully launching and running your direct selling company are best
experienced as experiences, in real
time, with real situations in your real world.
Necessarily, the guide must put the essence of this dynamic art of
workflow management and personal productivity into a linear format. We’ve tried organizing it in such a way as to
give you both the inspiring big picture view and a taste of immediate results
as you step along the path.
The
knowledge and learning that you gain along the way will take you to new
plateaus of confidence and accomplishment.
Each will open the door to the next level of growth, and this pattern
will continue far beyond the first recruit, the first convention, and the
exhilarating first million dollars in revenues.
We encourage (and expect) ongoing learning and development, and our
approach assumes that you have (or will make) the commitment.
In return,
our commitment back to you will be to stay in the trenches to contribute and
learn and share all that we can to help you to succeed. We find our success, our fulfillment,
and—yes, our fortunes, when you succeed.
Your Network of Trusted Advisors
As you seek
out MLM consultingresources to provide you with
advice on your business, you will likely talk with trusted advisors and friends
in your circles as well as with others who are referred to you by your friends
or whom you discover through your research and networking efforts.
You may have
an attorney, MLM consultant, or a general business
consultant that you’ve relied on for other projects and with whom you have
created a relationship of trust. We have
found that the issues in starting and running a direct selling business are
similar in many of the traditional business sense, but are unique and even
peculiar in some ways.
Pay close
attention to identifying those issues that experienced direct selling
professionals can assist with, particularly those who are dedicated to teaching
you the principles and best practices so that you can make sense of the
exciting (but sometimes unconventional) aspects of network marketing and home
party marketing.
Networking
is a powerful way to discover the sources of support that have experience
working with many direct selling companies like yours.
Terrel Transtrum is the co-founder of LaunchSmart, a company
that supports clients in starting and running successful network marketing and
home party companies. Accepting new
clients and offering free no-obligation MLM consulting. terrel@launchsmart.com
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