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•Tom "Big Al" Schreiter
•Robert Butwin •Rod Cook •Jeffery Combs •Jerry
"DRhino" Clark •Greg Arnold •Artemis Limpert •Robert
Blackman •Dr Zonnya •Ellie Drake
- Contributing Editors
Back
“137
or less ways
to get your new distributor off to a powerful and effective start when money is tight”
By Tom "Big Al"
Schreiter
What do you do when your
downline distributor can't afford to purchase products, sales aids, or
training materials?
What do you do when your
prospect says that he cannot afford to join your business?
You ask questions.
Here is the conversation I
had with an unmotivated, broke, and
afraid-to-take-personal-responsibility downline distributor.
Big Al: You should at
least invest $100 a month ($25 a week) in your business for products,
sales aids, training materials, promotions, etc. Are you willing to do
that?
Distributor: Nope. I
certainly can't do that. I don't have any money. Once I pay my bills,
there’s nothing left. Can't I just collect a few bonus checks first,
and THEN build a business?
Big Al: Life doesn't
work that way. So let's look at your present situation. You've worked
ten years for the same company. You are an adult. And, you are telling
me you haven't managed to save $100 total in all those years of work?
Are you telling me you haven't had the business skill or ability to
save a total of $10 a year? That’s only one week's work on a paper
route.
Distributor: Yep. The
situation is very grim. But, all my money goes to paying bills. If I
had a few extra dollars every month, I would invest it in my business,
honest!
Big Al: How much do
you pay for cable TV?
Distributor: About $40
a month. But, I could never give that up. That’s our only form of
entertainment.
Big Al: Do you ever
eat out? Or, do you always cook your meals?
Distributor: We eat
dinner out about twice a week. I know it’s expensive, but sometimes
we’re just so-o-o-o tired when we come home from work. That’s about
$50 a week, but we do deserve a break now and then. And yes, I buy
lunch two or three times a week too, but I consider it a good break
from the boredom of the office.
Big Al: Do you smoke
or drink?
Distributor: My
cigarettes are $3 a pack, and I smoke a pack a day, but hey, I'm
addicted. I can't do anything about that. You don’t expect me to give
up smoking to build a business, do you? And don't get on me about my
drinking. It's the only way I can unwind after a tough day.
Big Al: What about
weekends? Are they free? Could you take on a few odd jobs to have a
little extra money to build your business?
Distributor: Yeah, of
course I have weekends off, but I have a lot of chores and duties
around the house. It's the only time of the week I can catch up and
get a bit of rest, and maybe get in a game of golf.
Big Al: Golf? Do you
pay for green fees and clubs and drinks?
Distributor: I'm not
putting away my golf clubs just to build a business. Golf takes only
three or four hours of my week anyway.
Big Al: So what plan
do you have to free up $25 a week to build your networking business?
Distributor: That's
what I'm asking you. You have to tell me what I can do to get my
business going. Nothing has worked so far. So what are YOU going to do
about it, Mr. Sponsor?
Commentary: None needed.
So this distributor is
unmotivated. His desire for golf and cigarettes is greater than his
desire to build a part-time business.
Who is at fault?
Is it me? Maybe I didn’t
give a good presentation. Maybe I didn’t communicate the real value of
a part-time business. Maybe I didn’t use enough “word pictures” to
describe the final rewards of a part-time business.
Or maybe the distributor is
at fault. Possibly he just doesn’t care much about his future.
But if your distributor is
serious about building a part-time business, what can you suggest to
raise the money needed to get started?
Well, read on.
How to raise money for your
sponsoring campaigns
Here is what you can do to
raise $1000 in the next 30 to 60 days to properly start your network
marketing sponsoring campaign without having to borrow money.
1.
Write down every penny you spend for a week.
In any given year, most people “fritter” away $5,000 or more and have
no idea where the money went. If you practice writing down everything
you spend money on, you’ll likely spend less or at least identify
“wasted money” and redirect it to your home business plan.
2.
Some financial planners say we can save up
to $600 per year by simply putting the household’s spare change into a
cookie jar every night. If that holds true for your family, after 60
days you’ll have $100 for your home business!
3.
Are you over-withholding on your paycheck?
If you get huge refunds at tax time, you may be able to free up $100
to $200 per month for every exemption you’re not claiming at work.
You’ll have to talk to your tax preparer and/or human resources
officer at work to find out for yourself. This may be a way to get
some extra cash.
4.
Are you eating out too much? A family of 4
may eat out a couple times per week and spend 30 dollars at a time (or
more). Could you plan ahead and cut back, saving $30 per week? In 60
days that would be $250 for your home business.
5.
Can you bring a bag lunch to school or work?
It’s not a problem to “brown-bag it” to save money. You may find that
the fewer processed carbohydrates you eat in the way of french fries,
white bread, buns, and sugary drinks will save you considerable cash
and reduce your waistline at the same time. Maybe this suggestion will
make you money just by helping you look more athletic, suave or
professional (at least I’m hoping that works for me one day!). Instead
of buying expensive vending machine drinks, take a six-pack of your
favorite soda to the office and stash it for when you’re thirsty.
Substitute a generic drink to save more money if you can find one that
tastes good. You could be saving several dollars per day this way.
6.
Cut your own grass instead of hiring it out
until your network marketing time is worth more than the gardener’s
hourly fee.
7.
Television is eating you alive! So cut out
this money destroyer! Here are the problems:
It makes you a brain-dead passive couch potato, too lazy to get off
your rump and do things you need to do in your life. Inactivity costs
you money even if you’re watching free television.
One person I know had an interesting way of breaking the habit. When
he was a young man 20 years ago and realized his salary would never be
sufficient, he decided to start a home-based business in the evenings
to supplement his income. But what about the family television time,
he wondered? They decided that for every half hour of TV they watched,
they’d put 25 cents per person into a piggy bank to donate to charity
(Make that $2.50 per person per half hour today!). Once they started
that rule, they found very little television to watch.
Who knows? If you’re a big TV addict, maybe you can finance your
$1,000 this way if you pay your piggy bank faithfully! The point is,
if you’re a slave to television, you’ll never devote time to your
business anyway.
8.
Stop renting videos! How many times have you
simply wasted money on trashy videos or got so many you couldn’t watch
them all? If you have to watch a new video, go to the library and
check them out for free or borrow part of a friend’s collection if you
don’t mind being a mind-numbed passive couch potato.
9.
Cut the cable! You want another $50 to $100
in 30 to 60 days? Maybe you should cut off the cable television. How
much money has it put in your pocket lately? How much has it taken
out of your pocket though?
10.
Whatever you do, don’t make up for the lack
of television by going to the movies. In fact, until your business is
up and running well, don’t go to the movies at all! Get a free video
from a friend or the library and have your soda and popcorn at home.
11.
Stop going golfing unless you’re out in a
cow pasture somewhere where it’s free. This is just another money
waster until your business is running well. I’m sure you’re tempted to
think, “But I could find new prospects here.” Yes, you can if you have
a business to tell them about or are legitimately prospecting. But for
now you have zero, zip, zilch, nothing. You are just getting started.
Instead, get your business going first so that you have a story to
tell your golfing buddies.
12.
Reduce shopping time for clothes, etc. In
fact, while you’re in this rapid cash accumulation phase, stop looking
at catalogs of “want to have” items and stop “window shopping.” It
will just tempt you to spend the money you’ve managed to save so far.
Before you buy something new while you’re trying to fund your
business, ask yourself:
Do I really need it? Will this truly help me reach my dream?
And if the answer is “Yes” ... then can I pay for it with cash? Could
I get it somewhere else cheaper? Have I considered auctions, flea
markets and other sources?
Have I waited for 24 hours to see if the “need” suddenly wasn’t so
great?
Is there a less expensive alternative I could use?
13.
If you really need the start-up cash fast,
hold a yard sale or a garage sale. Or, take your junk - I mean
antiques - or whatever you think you can sell to the flea market. If
you don’t have the time to spend the whole weekend at a booth in the
flea market, find someone who already has a booth and is selling
similar items. Offer to sell him what you have so he can resell it.
You can meet him during the week and never have to return to the flea
market yourself. Of course you would make more cash selling the items
yourself, but you might have personal time restraints.
And who knows? Maybe the flea market seller might ask you why you are
selling these items. That could be a good opportunity to tell him
about your opportunity.
An alternative to the flea markets with potentially higher returns for
some household items is using a consignment shop.
And don’t forget Ebay! Millions participate in this giant
Internet auction. Your junk might just be somebody’s treasure.
What could you sell?
- How about that second or third TV? How about that
second or
third VCR? How about that second or third radio?
- How about those expensive power tools you’ve
never learned
how to use that you bought from that infomercial?
- How about that old air conditioner sitting in the
garage
that still works?
- How about that old lawnmower you replaced last
season?
- How about the kids’ old bikes they never ride
anymore?
- How about the kids’ video games they’re too
“mature” to play
with anymore?
- How about the paperback books you’ve accumulated
over the
years? (At the very least, trade your old paperbacks for
something you haven’t read if you’re a reading fanatic!)
- How about the kids’ assortment of stuffed
animals, toys,
infants’ clothes, and other outgrown accouterments of
childhood which no longer appeal to them?
- Maybe you could sell the transmitter and receiver
system you
used to use to hear your baby snore?
- How about any old appliance that still works?
- How about selling that exercise machine that is like new
because you never used it?
- How about selling that extra computer junk you
have lying
around but never use?
There’s bound to be
something you can sell! I didn’t even mention selling your old shoes,
old suits and party dresses that have somehow shrunk with age!
If you really need to bite
the bullet to free up money right now and every month thereafter,
here’s a radical suggestion. Remember you asked for it.
Sell one or both of your
cars to pay them off completely. Then buy a cheap functional car you
can pay off all at once. Use your monthly payments, which you now no
longer owe, to:
1.
Keep your functional car running and
2.
To fund your new business.
Of course, don’t use your
car to try to impress people in that situation unless your grandma
gives you her Mercedes for free.
If you’re really desperate,
you could sell your house and move into something smaller that would
free up more money too. Of course your spouse might threaten to
seriously harm you and that would make it hard to operate your
home-based business!
But you get the idea ...
these concepts can free up monthly cash flow that you can then use in
your business!
What if none of these
suggestions apply
to you and you are penniless?
It would be better to get a
part-time job at a burger place, learn their system and work there for
a few months than to go into debt.
Remember, creating a viable
home business that lasts a lifetime won’t happen overnight. Better to
discipline yourself for a few extra months working a part-time job
than to go deeper into debt.
No, this isn’t the glamorous
approach of going to an opportunity meeting and leaping from rags to
riches in a few weeks.
This is the decidedly
unglamorous approach that can save you from racking up credit card
bills you’ll take years to repay by trying to emulate the glamorous
approach of faking it until you make it!
Want more ideas?
Okay, here they are . . .
1.
Plan to resell some or all of your product
purchases at retail the first few months to recover your capital plus
earn retail profits.
2.
Have your paycheck from work deposited
directly into your account to avoid the temptation of walking around
with lots of cash that disappears.
3.
If your spouse is more likely to be the
saver in the family - give the checkbook to your spouse!
Still need another idea for
some quick cash?
Okay, here’s one that may
work. Run a small inexpensive classified ad or distribute a flyer that
reads:
Spring Cleaning Any Time Of Year!
Will
clean out rooms, closets, basements, attics
and garages and leave your room in immaculate
condition and haul off the junk too for $20 plus landfill fee!
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Lots of people could do this as a small business perpetually, but it
does soon get tiresome. Basically you’re going to go to a messy room
of some sort, clean out all the junk and leave the room looking nice.
You’ll use their vacuum cleaner to tidy up, and you’ll straighten up
everything before you go. Then you’ll haul off the trash.
You’re probably thinking:
“For $20 I’d go broke doing
all that!”
Would you be surprised to
know that you could probably do this service for free
and still make money?
Here’s how:
Once you leave with a
truckload of junk, you don’t go straight to the landfill.
Instead, you take all the
metals and plastics to the recycling center (or you accumulate a
truckload and take it all at once). Collect your fee.
You take old lamps, fixable
furniture, and anything potentially collectible like old games,
baseball cards, etc., to the antique dealers who give you the best
prices. If you’re not sure what is collectible nowadays, the answer is
almost anything. Take a trip to the antique stores in town. Collect
your fee.
You take clothes to a
not-for-profit secondhand store or consignment shop. Or you give them
to some charity for a tax receipt. Collect your fee.
You may be able to take other
things like used golf clubs, athletic gear, fishing rods, guns, etc.
to pawn shops or secondhand stores that will pay or let you trade for
what you need there. Collect your fee.
Old washers, dryers and other
appliances may be sold for parts to people who specialize in fixing
these things. Collect your fee.
Salvage toys, games, etc.,
that are no longer used for the secondhand shops.
Salvage as much stuff as you
can and sell it to the appropriate buyers. Collect your fees.
What’s left you can take to
the landfill. Because you never know until you sort through things at
home just how much you can salvage, you collect the full
landfill fee. If it’s $27 for one pickup truckload, you might have
collected $27 from three different clients. That’s a total of $81 – an
instant profit of $54.
Obviously if other people in
town copy your idea and you find out that you’re only making one trip
to the junkyard for every few homes, you may take a chance and say,
“$20 per room with free delivery to the landfill – we’ll waive the $27
landfill fee!” That’s up to you of course, but you do have some
flexibility.
And the $27 you collected
from some homes where you didn’t go straight to the landfill isn’t all
profit. You still had to drive around town disposing of the goods to
various buyers. You are still paying a landfill fee of some sorts.
Note: If you don’t charge
something for your service, people will be suspicious and
likely not call you. They’ll be afraid you’re casing the joint for a
future robbery or something. Or they’ll figure that salvaging
everything is so profitable you should pay them for the
favor of rooting through their garbage. You don’t want your customers
having either perception because neither is true!
Let’s say that for every
house you serve you get a $20 fee, a $27 landfill fee, and you make
another $25 on average from the salvage. (Maybe you’ll make $100 or
more depending on the “finds” you make but let’s be conservative.)
That’s $72 per trip for a few hours’ work.
You do four jobs per week or
$288. You make two trips to the landfill ($54). Driving around to
deliver all the other stuff takes another $30. You’ve got over $200 to
reinvest in your business. In a month you’ll have your $1000. Maybe
lots more. If you save the proceeds and roll it into your networking
business, these profits aren’t taxable because you’re going to devote
them to future business expenses.
If you can develop a good
rapport with the people you’re working for, you might even be able to
sell them some of your network marketing services or products for
extra profits.
Now, what are you going to do
about this?
Your new distributor or
prospect says,
“I just can’t afford to get
started.”
What are you going to do?
Here are your choices.
1.
Walk away. You make the decision that this
person doesn’t deserve the benefits of a part-time business income.
2.
Tell the person to figure it out on his own.
Tell the person to get back with you when things are better.
3.
Re-sell the person on the benefits of a
part-time business income. Tell the person how it will change his
life. Show the pictures and stories of what a part-time business
income can do.
4.
Tell the person to read this
newsletter. Then help the person get started to accumulate the
money needed to get his business started. It will be easier for the
person to take these steps with your help.
How to break out of the mold of
old habits and rituals.
I find that the easiest way
of changing people’s habits and beliefs is with . . . stories.
I often get tired of people
saying:
“Oh, that can’t be done.”
“We don’t do it that way
around here.”
“That will never work.”
“Don’t re-invent the wheel.”
“We could never do that.”
So, to counteract these
negative crowds, I use as many stories as I can to open their minds to
other possibilities.
You probably have your
favorite stories. Maybe you tell the often-used story of the lady who
cuts off the end of her ham before baking. Or possibly you refer to
famous inventors and how they overcame their critics.
Well, here is one of my
favorite stories you can use:
Start with a cage containing five apes. In the cage, hang a banana on
a string and put stairs under it. Before long, an ape will go to the
stairs and start to climb towards the banana. As soon as he touches
the stairs, spray all of the apes with cold water.
After
a while, another ape makes an attempt with the same result – all
the apes are sprayed with cold water.
Turn
off the cold water.
Later, if another ape tries to climb the stairs, the other apes will
try to prevent it, even though no water sprays them.
Now,
remove one ape from the cage and replace it with a new ape.
The
new ape sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs. To his horror,
all of the other apes attack him.
After another attempt and attack, the ape knows that if he tries to
climb the stairs, he will be assaulted.
Next, remove another of the original five apes and replace it with a
new ape.
The
new ape goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous new ape takes
part in the punishment with enthusiasm.
Again, replace a third original ape with a new one. The new one makes
it to the stairs and is attacked as well.
Two
of the four apes that beat him have no idea why they were not
permitted to climb the stairs, or why they are participating in the
beating of the newest ape.
After replacing the fourth and fifth original apes, all the original
apes that were sprayed with cold water have been replaced.
Nevertheless, no ape ever again approaches the stairs. Why not?
“Because that’s the way it’s
always been around here!”
It’s a matter of perspective .
. .
and how you can create it.
Texas and Oklahoma are bitter
college football rivals. There’s no middle ground.
One day a Texas football fan
was driving through Oklahoma on his way to another state. (Texas
football fans never drive to Oklahoma, they only drive through
Oklahoma to get somewhere else.) The Texas football fan stops at an
Oklahoma gas station to refuel.
A little girl walks by and
suddenly is attacked by a vicious pit bull. The dog tears her dress
and grabs her arm. The Texas football fan sees the screaming little
girl and runs to her rescue. He grabs the pit bull and struggles
valiantly. The dog tears into his flesh. Blood streams from his arm
and leg. Finally, in a desperate move, the Texas football fan gets the
upper hand and kills the pit bull.
A reporter for the Oklahoma
Times Newspaper watches the drama unfold. After the pit bull is dead
he approaches the Texas football fan and says:
“Wow! What a hero! This will
make great headlines in tomorrow’s paper. Let me take your picture and
ask a few questions.”
The Texas football fan wipes
the blood off his arm and leg and has his picture taken. The reporter
says:
“We’ll put a great headline
and story under your picture in tomorrow’s paper. Maybe, the headline
could read, ‘Hero Saves Little Girl.’ By the way, where are you from?”
The hero answers:
“From Texas.”
The reporter thought for a
moment and replied:
“Well, since you’re from
Texas I guess we could change the headline to read: ‘Man Rescues
Child.’ I can kind of overlook that you’re from Texas, but tell me,
you at least root for the Oklahoma football team, don’t you?”
The Texan replied:
“No. To tell you the truth, I
am an avid Texas football fan.”
The reporter left to write up
the story. The Texan decided to stay around for a day so he could read
his headline and story in the next morning’s paper.
The next morning, the Texas
football fan picks up the Oklahoma Times Newspaper and on the front
page was the headline:
“Man Kills Family Pet!”
It’s a matter of
perspective. Not everyone looks at opportunities and events the same
way. While you may think you are offering a tremendous opportunity to
a prospect, the prospect may see the presentation as a thinly veiled
attempt to take his money.
Empathy: Identification with
and understanding of another’s feelings, situation, and motives.
Would you like to increase
your closing percentage? Use empathy.
Would you like to increase
your group’s motivation? Use empathy.
Would you like to understand
why people respond the way they do? Use empathy.
Great network marketing leaders
don’t sell, they understand.
When giving a presentation,
they try to present the opportunity from the prospect’s
point-of-view. If the prospect has experienced a bad situation with
high-pressure salesmen, the leader gives advice and options. If the
prospect is worried about his daily living expenses, the leader
emphasizes the possibility of immediate part-time income. If the
prospect is afraid of what his friends will say, the leader shows how
the prospect can market to strangers.
To understand how effective
empathy can be, imagine if a salesman used empathy to understand your
point of view.
Let’s say you were a
prospect for a network marketing opportunity. You sincerely want a
part-time income, but also want quality time with your family. Compare
the following two presentations:
Presentation #1.
“You’ll just love this
network marketing opportunity. You get to go to rallies, trainings,
opportunity meetings, conventions, and presentations in prospects’
homes and our weekly idea session. I’ve been in this opportunity for
over a year now and I can’t think of anything else. I’m doing this
business 24 hours a day. You’ll love it too. It will become an
obsession.”
Presentation #2.
“You’ll just love this
network marketing opportunity. It only takes a few hours of quality
time per week. We have many successful leaders who set aside six hours
a week for presentations and group building. This leaves them plenty
of time to enjoy their family, friends and other activities. Network
marketing is great because you can set your own hours.”
Since your goal was
part-time income and quality time, which presentation would appeal to
you? It’s easy to see that Presentation #2 had empathy while
Presentation #1 only showed self-interest.
Empathy works for recruiting
presentations, but it works even better when trying to develop network
marketing leaders. Let’s say you want to develop Mary into your next
superstar leader.
Why not find out a little
about Mary’s background?
- Is she conservative or liberal?
- Does she want to earn big money fast, or is she
willing to
build long-term?
- Does she want an aggressive upline sponsor and an
aggressive
promotional campaign?
- What’s happening with her personal life?
- Is her job fulfilling or boring?
In other words, find out
what Mary really wants and help her achieve it. When the upline leader
and the potential leader operate on the same frequency with the same
goals and strategies, magic happens. That’s why some network marketing
leaders can develop leaders and inspire loyalty while other network
marketing leaders never seem to get anyone beyond a dependent
distributor level.
It’s just like the Oklahoma
Times newspaper reporter. He saw things completely different. Succeed
in network marketing by seeing things through other people’s eyes.
Can You Recruit 100 People in
One Week?
After a break during one of
my Power Marketing Workshops, I asked how many people in the room
could recruit 100 people in the coming week. There were about 60
people in the room and not one person raised his hand.
I then pulled out my
checkbook and pen, and asked:
“How many people in this room
could recruit 100 people in the coming week if you had a check made
out in your name for $50,000 just waiting for you?”
This time about half of the
people in the room quickly raised their hands. What changed?
It wasn’t money motivation
or any incentive that changed their minds because they hadn’t received
the money yet.
The only thing that changed
was this:
They changed their minds from
thinking “I can’t” to thinking “I can.”
And changing your mind doesn’t cost a cent.
Tom
Big Al Schreiter is the author of the Fortune Now Newsletter, a
generic training resource for professional network marketing leaders.
If you’d like to read some free back issues, go to
http://www.fortunenow.com or get the current issue free by calling
281-280-9800.
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