Sunday, November 29, 2009

Day 14

Saturday morning and I am still very encouraged by the business, in other words, I am still motivated. I am working on the numbers part of the game again today and yes, I am doing work on Saturday just because I can add to the number of people I connect with. I know it is a daily exercise that I must continue just like dieting and losing 75 pounds over this last 6 months. It is perseverance and one day at a time with same bits of progress that eventually lead to a big result.

I received an email today from my friend I had lunch with last week thanking me for the link to the herbs. She was so impressed with my weight loss and level of energy; she is considering buying the product. We shall see. Also received another email from the first person I sponsored, he finally bought some product, albeit it was a small purchase, at least it was something. He is more concerned about getting people signed up underneath him and letting me do the work.

I am happy to do so because he has an extensive mailing list and I will also make money by making him successful.

I am working on the same person to sign up his partner to get him going as well. We shall see how that pans out – I really want him to take ownership of the business side. I suppose if money starts flowing, he will have more interest.

I am about to phone my hot prospect from yesterday and see where that takes me. Hopefully, I will have another person in my downline! Well made the call, he has injured his back and wants me to call back on Monday – a delayed response perhaps – Let’s hope he will sign up!

Just sent off my 10 emails for the day and have placed more into the pipeline for tomorrow and the next day. This is the part that is crucial, to grow the list of names where you can send information and get them to view the video. I search my contacts from years ago, collect names at events, and scour membership lists for people I know. OK on with the day and completing my presentation materials. The message I sent has changed to reflect my success at weight loss and inner health. Here is what I am currently sending to my list.

Hi Dave:
I have lost 75 pounds with only a couple left to go and I am really pleased with my results. I did it by doing two things, first was to watch my intake along with regular exercise and second to take herbal supplements.

The first part was difficult to start with always being hungry for the first few days but I soon got used to it as the exercise helped me to think about other things. The second part was to make sure the inside of my body was trim and fit as well.

I am so impressed with what I have been able to achieve that I want to share this ABC newscast with you – it is the herbs I am taking. I have also decided I am going to sell these herbs as well. After you watch the video, just email me and tell me what you think.

Many thanks – and here is to health!


http://www.LifeVantage.com/vitalhealth

Day 13

I have a test session for WebEx set up for my up line so we can test the system and perhaps have people buy the package from Cisco – that would be great. I want to show it off, but it looks like he is a no show so far.

I stretched to find 10 names this morning to send emails on getting them to view the product but I took a look at those that send me emails and newsletters and started there. I got one response almost immediately with a ON NO not another MLM, those products are easier to find on the shelf. You have to get used to rejection and move on. They do want to chat with me anyway to catch up which is on the positive side of things. Ok, past that one, next in line, PLEASE!

On to work and some calls during my break time. Let’s see how it goes.
Three way calls are interesting, especially when they do not work from a new iPhone perspective! Thanks goodness for my Vonage IP phone system to get them going.
My first connection had not yet viewed the video as promised. However, he was extremely interested in talking with Jim Britt.

I will connect with him again on Saturday morning and hopefully sign him up under Shahid. Shahid, on the other hand, also had a three way call with Jim. We are putting on an evening event for his group having Jim as the speaker; this is followed by a full day event on training on the process. Shahid has already signed up with the program but did not order product or get a package for the distributorship – we are encouraging him to buy the package so that he gets full benefit from the events that are planned. Finances are always an issue with Shahid but he needs to take control and put the money in – if he likes the plan, then the money and time will come easily. I need to send him a link to the cost of the program. If he does not, then that is OK but when others sign up – they will be compressed back to my line-up.

I learn so much more each day as I go through the process of sending out the 10 emails. I got a phone call for a too busy right now with my own business but the product looks good to an email that encourages me to build trust in others. I had a 20% response rate today from my 10. And now to do some follow up lunches to cement those relationships.

Oh yes, one other one – a financial and wealth management person that will meet with me to help put a package together for managing the wealth of those that make the million dollar club. I will meet with him next week to see what we can do. I hope to convert Bruce (my CPA) to pick up this package as well so he can offer QuickBooks charts of accounts to the group. I want the total package approach to make the whole group successful.

I am thinking about advertising on Craig’s list to see who might be interested in working with our team. I think I will start using some of the social media to report on results and keep the link in the loop.

Maybe this journal should be a blog so that I can get comments going. I will also add items to the ezine article database on health issues based on the material given to me from the head office. I might as well capitalize on their knowledge and expertise.

By the way, my marketing plan is fairly simple and not very robust. I will be resurrecting my Power Marketing class materials to take advantage of the sage advice of that group (I was also an instructor for them). I feel another WebEx class coming on!

I am going to a fund raiser tonight and will be gathering business cards and connecting with people to add to my email list. As Jim said, it is the number of people you connect with so that you can hit the numbers for making your business a true success. I hope that I do not get lazy and let it go. Right now, just the fact that some people are interested is intriguing me – I will be tracking it all and figure out what the stats are to let everyone else know that this simple person can actually do this by following the guidance of Jim Britt and being consistent with connections. Oh, social media here I come! I hope I do not bite off more than I can chew.

Interesting fund raiser – silent auction items, karaoke, food that was greasy, but good company. I ended up taking home 3 of the door prizes after only buying 6 tickets. Not bad. I got 2 important business cards from conversations at the event and will email them my business info. My goal was to engage two people and share the information later (not to badger them with business at a fund raising event).

Day 12

I spent a lot of time on the phone in the morning coordinating 3 way calls while I was driving to work, as this is the best time. I will not let this new business be a part of my regular work day but treat it as a second job that I do early in the morning and late at night. I sent my 10 emails again this morning and by evening had 4 responses. None of which are interested but at least they wanted to talk to me.

I had lunch with an old colleague and she was surprised to see that I had lost 75 pounds – envious I guess. The long and short of it is, I was listening to her story about wanting to change jobs, could not stand her boss, was tired of being belittled all the time, did not make enough money elsewhere but needed a change. She also wanted to know about the Herbs I was taking – I will be sending her the link tomorrow morning – nice and easy intro to my product.

I will also be ordering supplies for the Dec 3 event to sell on the spot – I hope I get at least 10 new customers and perhaps more that will be interested in the business opportunity. We shall see, I have a couple more people in the pipeline that may turn out to be good prospects. Rome was not built in a day and I plan on getting 1 good person each month to sponsor and perhaps 1 or 2 per month that will be my customers (at a minimum). I will be working with my previous training on setting goals and going out to achieve them.

I was too tired in the evening to do more work on the business in my office, but I did work on it in my head. After all this is a mindset business.

Day 11

Got up early just so I could see if there were any responses to the emails I had posted last night. And yes there were. I got a not interested from one person, a call me in the morning from another and good input on what they thought of the product. No one was disappointed and no one thought it was a nutty idea, oh and one that wanted to talk in December. One for me – now to follow up a little later in the morning.

As I was up so early, I follow-up with emails where I had to find new email addresses and re send my message. I also sent my 10 emails this morning plus one extra. It was sure tempting to send more but then I had to sit back and think that I might be over zealous about the business. If I send too many, it will be next to impossible to follow-up with the responses.

After my morning meetings I will be making those follow up calls to further the process. It is a numbers game! I have to figure out the response ratio for both customer and distributor and the actual conversion rates.

I am not sure how many people get to the business by putting processes together that they follow every day. I am setting up a system that will allow people to really be in business for themselves – the process will include tracking like a sales person, playing the numbers, dividing the tasks into manageable portions, setting up a corporation (if they are serious about making money), setting up QuickBooks to track sales and deduct expenses, management style guide for working with your down line, guidelines for how to keep your organization under your control and so on. I will be pitching putting on a seminar to deal with the business side using tools and methodologies that will work.

Wow what a busy day – I actually talked to several people on the phone and left several messages for a follow up. More emails coming in the evening. I will take time to follow up with everyone by the end of the week as I send out 10 emails every day. At least the responses are about 50% - only a couple are interested in talking further. I had two more emails to respond to and a phone call while I was out getting my hair cut. Am tired and will deal with the solutions tomorrow. I missed the meeting tonight because of conflicts that were planned long ago.

I managed to get my hair dresser on board with the product and I will be conducting an all day event for sales on Dec 3. I will have to find out more on how to sell product at an event and how much to order. I will set her up as a preferred customer so she can make money on the product that goes through her to her customers.

Day 10

Am setting up my database today and only placing warm and hot leads into the system. The rest remain as an excel spreadsheet for now. I have one lead to follow up on that is interested and others to reconnect with to set up times to talk about the opportunity. My husband has a hair appointment today and since the products can be sold through an appointment only location, he will approach the owner and see if she wants to sell the product to her customers.

An amazing thing started to happen today as I finished sending my next 10 emails. People started calling me to learn more. I have not closed any of the calls yet – BUT – they are calling me!! Well, 2 people anyway, but it is a start.
Today I started the follow up from the first day’s emails. Easy to do – just ask politely if they would look at the presentation and give me their opinion. I then mentioned that I would be selling the product based on other feedback but would still value their opinion.

My husband really makes it difficult to do business at times. He was supposed to let the hair dresser know about the product so I could then sell when I arrived the next day. Of course he did not do it! So I guess I will have to open the subject tomorrow – nice going! I guess the work all falls to me. Might as well accept that fact and move on toward more sales. The business will only work if I apply myself and not depend on others.

I just found about a fast track – 5 distributors in 30 days – I guess I am on track with at least making people aware of the product. Let us see how it will transpire – I am determined to follow the steps and make this thing get off the ground and soar. Back to filling in my email sheet for the next few batches – just as long as I do not let the follow up portion fall through!

I will miss the meeting tomorrow night in San Jose, have other commitments this week, but from now on the meetings go into the calendar as must attend! Wait, it is next week – thank goodness I won’t miss it!

Almost right away I got a call from a long past colleague (almost 9 years ago) that would love to catch up. He left a voice mail while I was out playing tennis from 8 to 10 in the evening.

A great day ending with playing a sport I love (better than watching TV)

Day 9

More emails and tapping into my database to get email information to send out in the next few days. I need to get ahead of the curve. I am so spent a good portion of my day listening to CDs on the business and how to build it. I certainly have the passion to do so, I just need to overcome my fears of following-up. It may be that it is rejection I do not want to handle. I am going to bit the bullet and get over it – in other words, get out of my comfort zone and play the game with verve.

Day 8

More emails and a chance meeting with two friends who want me to send them the link. I talked a bit about the business and they seemed interested. Let’s see over the next few days!

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Day 7

Still sending out 10 emails a day – another hit. An old friend that had purchased several books from me in the past. He is interested but not too sure how he will integrate the business into what he is already doing. I have reached out to meet him and take it from there. He is now a hot prospect for me.

I am following up with other emails to see if people have watched the video.

Day 6

I sent out my first batch of emails (10 to be exact as this is my plan to send 10 a day). I am only sending enough so that the follow-up will not be overwhelming. I also realize that sales and information to gain customers is a numbers game. The first batch has yielded my first distributor, albeit he is not buying product or autoship but his contact list is wonderful. I will now help him gain the distributors he needs to upgrade his membership level. Part of it will be to speak to his monthly meeting group. He is now my partner in the business. Yahoo instant success on the first try – the numbers will now fall into place before I gain my next one.

Day 5

My first meeting and voila! I know several people in the audience. It was great. The group is small but growing under the guidance of my friend that brought me into the business. I am excited more than ever to get going with the right tools, right attitude and right integrity. My mailings will start tomorrow.

Day 4

I spent the day making my list of contacts and setting up a spreadsheet (which I have now converted to an Access Sales Database). I am planning on connecting with 10 people via email each day and talking to as many people as possible each day. I am not just talking to them, but listening to their story by asking questions about their situation, health and their dreams. This gives me a mental qualification radar to know whether this person would be either a good customer or a good prospect to sponsor. Either way, I get to talk to and meet many individuals this way. Still preparing to get the word out.

Day 3 (actually 6 days later)

My package is at the door when I arrive home and I rip into the box to unearth all of the contents. I want to know what the product is, what it can do for me, and how I can sell it. Whoa, not so fast – I need to make sure I have my web access and set up my title for my web page as a starting point. The email with the access code and password have also arrived so the set up should be fairly easy.

Now for the product – as part of the process of setting up your own business, it is important that you use your own products. So much ready and research to make sure it will not harm me is underway. I am completely satisfied that I like the anti-aging factor and I am starting on the product immediately.

Now for getting trained. This is the type of business that you are in for yourself but not by yourself. There is a training and meeting schedule available and I will be attending my first meeting this week. Unfortunately I missed the one over the weekend as I was travelling.

Day 2

I will need to get a better understanding of the product and how to make money. At this point, I am waiting for my Distributor package to come in the mail and I am leaving for a 5 day vacation today. I will not be able to get much done, except to think about how I can go about the business and dedicate the time it needs in order to flourish.

My Journey Day 1

Let’s start on Day 1 of my journey.


I get a call from a friend of mine that has written several books, speaks around the globe, and is a self-made millionaire. He tells me he has been searching for the ideal opportunity for over 30 years and has yet to find it. He was beginning to think that such an opportunity did not exist. He was tired from a speaking engagement and had just returned home when he got a call from an old friend.
The friend wanted him to watch a TV clip (approximately 8 minutes long) and then call him back with his endorsement. Of course, there were protests and statements that he would do it later. The friends made him promise to watch it right away and call him back with his thoughts. This is the place where the excitement began.

Now, he is calling me – a person he knew was excited about being in business for myself and needed to change the earnings in my life. All he told me was, “I finally found it” and “are you doing any network marketing these days?” My reply was, “I gave it up because it was not the right company for me” and “if you finally found it, what it was and how much would it be to get in?” I knew that my friend was already a self-made multi-millionaire from network marketing and now was my chance to join him.

That was 2 weeks ago and now I am more educated on the product and plans (still have a long way to go to be conversant) and have made the decision that this is the company that I want to be involved with. I am following the 6 principles for sales and have a daily routine for connecting with others to get them interested in the product. I am in business for myself.

Part of the process is the understanding that this is a business and I am a distributor of products. I need customers and I need sales people. I have an ingrown fear of making sales calls but email is a comfort zone. It is now time for me to move out of that comfort zone and start connecting with people. I have to let go of the fear and do what it takes to make my business a success.

Lots of thoughts are running through my head, and none of them have been translated into actions. My mind will not rest until I find myself organized and in a routine that will help my business grow and push me to success and beyond. What am I thinking? I have a great job that I love with people that are amazing to work with day in and day out. I work for one of the most dynamic companies on earth and yet there is still a longing, a dream so to speak, of having my own business, my own freedom without being tied down to a desk. I am very well educated; I have earned the highest degree from University and yet with Dr. in front of my name, comes the restlessness of the entrepreneur that controls their own destiny.

I not only want more money in my life, but I want to be able to elevate humanity in some respect. I love to give and have always used 10% of my earnings for philanthropy. What if I could increase my meager donations from $1000 per month to $10000 per month or more? I would be able to help many other people gain their independence, freedom and help those that are less fortunate in the world. But not everyone has this as part of their dream; it is just one of mine. I was so excited this year to be able to give $1000 donation to Rotary for the Paul Harris Foundation. It was been a goal for both my husband and myself to each give that amount to help promote world peace and understanding through projects that feed, clothe and help others.

Now on to what is motivating me to take on this project (business). I have a desire to be much freer than I am today. I wish to travel, to play sports (tennis, golf, cycle, swim, hike and more), and to see the world. Now I have the opportunity in hand to make those dreams come true.

I was born to a family that had little income. My father died when I was 6 years old and my mother had the burden of raising two children (my brother was 1) on her own. In those days it was difficult for women to gain employment that would pay enough to raise children and pay for day care at the same time. So we moved to San Francisco and I went to elementary school there while living with my grandmother and aunt. I had a wonderful time but we were soon to move again to Redwood City where I attended yet another school. Once again, new friends, feeling inadequate as the schooling was different and I was falling behind even though I was only in Grade 3.

Time passed and we moved back to Vancouver where I once again was enrolled in 2 or 3 new schools. Behind again and being teased and taunted for being poor and somewhat chubby. Always hiding from others to avoid being chastised, never wanting to mix, loving learning at the same time, I struggled with English (and have now written over 100 books, some of which hit best seller and was told by administration that I should opt for being a clerk or secretary as I did not have the brains for anything else. Boy were they wrong!

I was determined to be a success in school and slipped into University with no success in my first year but I plugged on and learned how to study and learn. By the time I was 24 I finally finished my Bachelor’s degree with the help of a scholarship from a community college. I taught school for a few years before attacking by MA in Education and finally at the age of 50 I started studies for my PhD. It has been my determination to be an overachiever that I have learned that you work for everything and you attack it by using small steps to get yourself to where you want to go. I ran 6 marathons just to prove that I could do it – that taught me the value of health and fitness. So this opportunity now fit into my next set of plans and goals.