Four Words Every Home Business Owner Must Say...Part 3

Four Words Every Home Business Owner Must Say...PART 3

I CAN DO IT

So far, in Part 1, we saw how self-concept determines your destination and both are relative to a successful marketing plan. In Part 2, we saw how a simple “song” or marketing plan is easier to participate with and fun.

Now, another analogy just hit me last night. It all began with a small cluster of unexpected events…my brother and family (5 members) dropped in from their Kelowna trip. And I offered to make supper, of course, and they gladly accepted, of course, and I didn’t have enough of anything prepared to do company’s justice. In my fridge, there was a small hamburger package (enough for two people) and mozzarella cheese. Sometimes in emergencies like this I draw out an old traditional family recipe. It’s simple 5-ingredient sour cream dough that is rolled out into thin 8 inch circles topped with a filling, braided shut, rolled thin and fried in olive oil. Serve with sour cream and salsa, green onions and carrot sticks. The surprise supper was great with what was described as a gourmet treat.

I love analogies because they can take a highly complex subject and compare it to something easier to understand. In this example I was successful in preparing a good supper for several people because I had a recipe to follow that never fails.

A recipe made me think of any list of specific instructions with an end result in mind.
You take raw elements like egg, flour, salt, and create a composite wholly unlike to the elements. In the similar way, you can take a marketing plan to grow your home business and realize a dream lifestyle way beyond the words on a page.

A map is a pictorial overview of an actual landscape using labeled keys or code. You can see where you are now and where you want to be. With a business plan, you must be able to see ALL the rules to win by, offensive driving and defensive driving.

A business plan is essential to starting a business, including home-based. You need check out market research,time commitments, consultants, cash-flow projections, investment ratios, rental fees, shipping, competitors, production, sales and marketing…just to name a few.

A network marketing home business plan has the basic advantage of plugging into an established, successful company in order to help market their products and earn commissions multiple times. Get paid for monthly consumption of products you would buy anyway. This sounds great in theory.

Here are your ingredients:
BOTTOM LAYER (foundation): company, top management, manufacturing, valuable products, cutting edge advertising, shipping, accounting, service department and more.
MIDDLE LAYER (filling): personal sponsor, team training, support, marketing plan
TOP LAYER: success and financial freedom

But in reality this fails for 95% of people who try it! The top layer, the sweet, care-free, delicious topping is enjoyed by only a handful of people EVEN when the basic recipe is the same. Why? This question has bothered me for years. The company’s foundation is a prepackaged delivery. There is no need for changes here. The real variation in this recipe is the middle layer, the filling…and you can’t apply the topping if you have no filling.

So what’s wrong with the filling? It’s a $64,000 question. Here is where you find all kinds of cooks, or team leaders, using their own special flavors or strategies (sometimes tied into buying their own particular brands). Here is where you find the top “guru” chefs with experience, multi-tasking skills, and credibility in performing complicated procedures.
I can’t pretend to cook like a Julia Child, Emile Lagasee or any of the Iron Chefs.
I can only marvel at their creations of Stuffed Snapper with Orange and Lime and Manhattan Cheesecake with Flaming Apricots.
Again, I have no desire to be the expert.
I may not even know how to fry an egg (I’m new to home business) but all of the sudden I need to be able to keep up with the expert marketers! Even worse, because of the nature of duplication in this business model, I also need to go out and teach this recipe to others and then they need to do the same! It doesn’t work. Average “cooks” can’t copy and promote complicated recipes. Nor should they need to spend countless hours training.

Show me a simple, straight forward marketing plan …a recipe with 3 or 4 ingredients for the filling:
1. Phone number for an overview. Are you interested? Yes or No
2. Company’s website for more information with a 1 page overview
3. 1 – 2 – 3 Step Marketing Plan to read-and-share that covers the basics: Trends, Marketing, Action…about 30 minutes to set
4. If people want a serving of Excuses…share more side dishes of educational resources

I CAN DO IT!

More importantly, I can pass on this recipe to as many people as I wish and they can duplicate the steps. Most importantly, I can celebrate the fact that I may not be a “guru chef” with years of mastery, but I can plug into the same networking company, expand my time and knowledge by passing on a simple “recipe” and start earning multiple commissions over and over based on initial effort.
Then I’ll be able to treat my friends to a real gourmet lunch courtesy of these masters.

I’d love to hear your ideas or questions. If you wish to try the Everday Pyrahi recipe from above…send me a note.

Sincerely,
AnneMarie

PS. As an interesting note...the comparison is often made that fast food franchises can be operated by a staff of teenagers because they follow a cookie cutter system. The food may not always be “the best” but you know Hamburger XYZ in California will be exactly the same Hamburger XYZ in Toronto, Canada

Another "amazing" home business opportunity with 2% success ratio

Another “amazing” home business opportunity with 2% success ratio...why do I say that

Another "breakthrough" home business opportunity crossed my desk the other day. There are so many of these amazing “creatures” out there hoping to find a kind ear, a dazzled eye, a vision of life-long prosperity, an excited start-up with another keen home business owner.
I checked it out. It was a network marketing opportunity. The products were about wellness with good descriptions like unique, consumable, proprietary, patented, double-blind clinical studies. What was missing, in my opinion, were words like natural, whole foods, synergy. Nature cannot be patented. I was losing interest fast.

Then I read that a successful business represents 2% of this industry based on mentoring by professionals! Why would anyone consider doing this home business with such an“amazing” low odds of success?!? Unless, of course, you were already a professional network marketer. I consider myself in that league so continued reading the marketing plan. Marketing, after all, is the key to success in this business by sharing a duplication model through multiple levels.
The point here is not to try to explain the whole marketing process but some key words are: recorded calls 24/7, live corporate fly-ins, live opportunity calls, live weekly webinars, area and regional sessions and a turn-key online marketing system which consists of replicated website, company videos, multiple lead capture pages, flash overview tours, email messages, and seamless sign-ups. All of this is monitored by a full contact manager, lead management, website path tracking, integrated real-time leads, advertising co-op rotation, meta-tag control, and a full auto-responder system.
What do you think would be a main problem in the sharing this duplication model through multiple levels?
I’ve actually worked with a similar system. It produced results for professional networkers who worked with other networkers but very few results for average home business owners.
This is the main reason why we need to restructure the network marketing plan so that everyone truly has an equal level playing field from which to gain profits and prosperity.
I’d love to hear about your home business experiences…networking or not.

How Not to Let my Home Business Beat Me Up

Blog: How Not to Let my Home Business Beat Me Up?

Yesterday I spent two hours on two different calls listening to expert marketing advice from top marketers.
There is always hope that something might rub off…better sales copy, better target marketing…join a program.
So what did I learn? No business can survive without an active marketing plan to draw in customers. But marketing is a multi-layered, complex business that even the gurus have spent years in mastering.

I have a network marketing home business with the advantage of having an inbuilt marketing plan and team support. But am I able to execute the recommended plan at the same level as these experts?
I listened to this one Lead System marketing company for networkers explain its enrollment process…TEN steps with attending videos to explain each step to open up and track multiple streams of income. So let’s say you manage to struggle through this one-time process, get your domain name and set up your marketing site(s). That’s actually the easy part…Now comes the real marketing efforts which are to advertise your advertising website! How long would it take you to learn how to do these tasks: Set up a MySpace account with categories (plus other social sites web 2 marketing), build a list, create ezine solo-ads, learn Forum Marketing, write content for article and blog marketing, and learn pay per click plus several more. Each one is an extensive learning curve to do properly and requires perpetual updates to keep relevant. This is the basic principle of attraction marketing where people will find you impressive enough to want an affiliation with.
Give me a break! This system will work for a small handful of entrepreneurs. I wonder how many of those ladies with beginning questions will actually succeed in meeting these professional standards.
I’m a networker and my marketing plan must duplicate through multiple levels of average home business entrepreneurs. You can’t all be expected to be “attractively magnetizing experts.” But you can be expected to handle 3 main components time-effectively: First, pass on an educational ABC primer to explain the business model, generic, hype free, with professional slides to explain the basic concepts. Those who raise their hand for more information will receive the second step …a phone number and a simple Getting Start Right Action Plan with necessary links. Third, everyone can read-and-share a marketing overview with steps to action.

The next time I think about taking 2 hours listening to marketing gurus, I’d rather share a simple marketing plan with people looking for a real non-magnetic home business.

Home Business? Back to Basics

We are living in some exciting times in the middle of the Information Age, surrounded by countless possibilities…It's about automation, technology, sharing information where intellectual distribution is competing with physical distribution. It's about marketing information using a self-franchise system. All the tools you need are in your hands…a phone number, a website, a read and share marketing plan. You don’t need to spend endless hours studying, reading programs, taking ecourses, listening to webinars and conference calls (unless you want to)

So as an ex-teacher, here’s my cry , " I just can't take it any more!"
Let's get back to basics..the simple A B C's of how to understand any big concept, especially when looking at a home business opportunity.
Let's learn a few basic facts.
Let's apply a few strategies.
Let's see the "total" big picture or "concept map " so we know what to pay attention to and what is essential for success.
Let's review, make plans and set goals. Now you're ready to look seriously at a profitable home business.
The next few blogs will outline a basic vocabulary and structure to better understand some of the fastest growing home business trends.
FACT A
Most people live on salaries. If you work for the boss you live on a fixed income.
Traditionally, there are 4 ways to earn an income and make a living:
1. Work for the boss.
2. Start a home business with something you' ve created or service you provide.
3. Plug into a huge company, help market their product and receive multiple commissions.
4. Earn accrued interest from your investments because you're already wealthy.

How do you make your income? What are the positives and negatives of any of these ways?
How can we amalgamate more than one way? Which is the fastest way to reach Number 4, if that is something you desire?
We'll look at FACT B next time.
AnneMarie