In my former company a big emphasis was put on setting goals. Every executive and manager had to set goals on different levels such as department, team and individual level, and this was done following the S.M.A.R.T. method (more on this later).

When I started in the network marketing business I was very surprised to see that many people had no idea about goal setting and how to do it the right way. Most people who contact me and people who join my team do not really take the time to set their goals for their business. I have some people tell me things like “but Anne, my goal is to make money”.

When you are working from home and especially when you are starting an internet business, whether on your own or as a distributor of a MLM or any network marketing company, it is critical to set goals properly. Why? Because first, if you don’t set precise goals you’re never going to achieve anything. And then, if you set your goals the wrong way this will prevent you from designing a good plan to achieve those goals and without a good plan it is very difficult to be successful. This is true for any business by the way.

Here is the method I was using with success in the corporate world and that I would recommend for any network marketing business: set S.M.A.R.T. goals.

S. = Specific

Making money can definitely NOT be a goal, because it is not specific. A specific goal would be to buy a house in a particular area, to pay for your kid’s education, to travel to Europe, to provide for retirement, these are just examples.

M. = Measurable

It must be possible to measure a goal, ie it should always be quantifiable. You might want to make $1,000, generate 25 leads, sign up 50 people in your business, and so on.

A. = Attainable

Your goals have to be realistic so that you can achieve them. Being a newbie in the network marketing industry and setting a goal to make $10,000 your first month is definitely NOT realistic hence not attainable. Another example: generating 100 leads per day might not be achievable if you know that the top producer in your business generates 50.

R. = Relevant

The goals you set must be directly linked to your business and must make sense. It may be more difficult to find simple examples here, but let’s say that you are setting goals for a MLM business with a particular company, and you set a goal of developing your own product; well this might be a great idea but is not relevant to your business.

T. = Time-bound

You will always achieve a goal within a time frame so never forget this element. Make $1,000 per week, generate 5 leads per day the first month, sign up 3 people per week, reach a six-figure income within a year, buy a house 2 years from now, and so on.

Once your goals are “S.M.A.R.T. proof”, you can safely move to the next step, which is building a solid business plan.

If you want to become a modern internet marketer, it is critical that you learn more about attraction network marketing, what it is, how you can benefit from it and how you can apply it to your business.

What is attraction network marketing?

It is a powerful strategy based on attracting people to you instead of chasing after them. It is based on networking. Many people contend business networking is a more cost-effective method for lead generation and sales than advertising or public relations efforts, because it is a low-cost activity that involves more personal commitment than money.

Now, most people don’t really know how to network because they have been taught to pitch their product or business opportunity. Networking is primarily meeting like-minded people with common interests; it is about building interpersonal relationships. People in a relationship tend to influence each other, share their thoughts and feelings, and engage in activities together. Because of this interdependence, most things that change or impact one member of the relationship will have some level of impact on the other member. A successful relationship is when you give before you take, and it is built over time.

Attraction network marketing is about providing value to others, establishing a true relationship with your prospects, and this might take some time. It is the first step for creating a customer or a business partner.

For more details see this article on MLM attraction marketing.

Why and how will you benefit from using this strategy?

Using attraction marketing will allow you to brand yourself as a leader and to establish trust and credibility with your prospects. You will be able to give them exactly what they are looking for, to generate more qualified leads, convert them better and thus make more sales.

Your business will also be more profitable because your advertising and marketing costs to acquire new customers or prospects who join your business will often be much lower than with traditional marketing techniques.

How can you apply attraction network marketing to your business?

Many marketers get stuck and are never able to take their businesses to the next level and achieve the results they are looking for. The reason is because they fail to master the skills of online marketing. If you are looking to master attraction network marketing here are 3 basic principles you should apply.

#1 Focus

There are a lot of marketing techniques available and it can be overwhelming, but be aware that you cannot master everything. Diluting your efforts will only lead you to fail. Pick one strategy, stick to it until you master it and can teach it to others. This is how you will stand from the crowd and position yourself as someone of value in the eyes of your prospects and your peers.

#2 Learn To Provide Value

Providing value to your prospects means giving them the information that will help them solve their problems and build their business. Your first step will be to do some market research in order to target your market and know your prospects. Your second step will be to think about what kind of information you can provide them in order to appear valuable to them. Then, you need to have your own attraction marketing blueprint and use the right attraction marketing system.

#3 Don’t Quit

Attraction network marketing is about positioning yourself as an authority and provide value to others. It takes time and as any other skills you are not going to master it overnight. Often, if you are just getting started, it might take several months before you sign up your first prospect to your business opportunity. What matters is developing a positive mindset and being persistent.

Understanding, learning and applying attraction network marketing will allow you to take your business to the next level and really achieve massive success in the network marketing industry.

Once you have made yours the concept of MLM attraction marketing, you need to set up your personal attraction marketing blueprint. A blueprint is simply a detailed plan, so it has to do with strategy and planning. It is about carefully defining your own game plan to become attractive to others. You should focus on your personal strengths and not only copy paste what other people are doing.

First of all, there are 3 main principles to keep in mind when creating your blueprint; make sure you respect them and you will be successful in attracting people to you:

-         never ever pitch your business opportunity on the first contact (it would be like asking to get married on the first date…not a great idea indeed)

-         First give before you can expect to receive, if your goal is to achieve long-term success.

-         Establish deep and interpersonal relationships between you and your prospects.

Then, the first step for your attraction marketing blueprint is to know your market and identify what are the most common frustrations of your target market. It is critical for you to determine what type of people you want to attract to do business with you.

The second step is to define how you are going to position yourself and bring appropriate solutions to your prospects’ problems. You need to offer support in the areas less obvious than what everyone else does, create your own area of expertise. Developing a magnetic personality is easier than you think when you take the dollar sign off your forehead and start to truly focus on helping people and make it your primary goal to alleviate their pains.

The third step is to take action and implement what you learn in order to build credibility and trust. There are a lot of useful resources you can get inspiration from, among them Brad Weinman’s Attraction Marketing Blueprint™ e-book, a step-by-step guide to help you maximize your growth and profits in your online business, and for more advanced marketing strategies, Mike Dillard’s MLM Traffic Formula 2.0, that should help you define your exact and personalized attraction marketing blueprint.

Once you have embraced the concept of MLM attraction marketing, you will want to find the right marketing system for your network marketing business.

There are a lot of different systems on the market, so you need to know how to make a choice and what are the criteria you should look for. I wrote another post, How To Choose The Right MLM Lead Generation And Marketing System For Your Business, where I discuss the 3 basic principles behind an attraction marketing system and the 4 questions you should ask yourself when evaluating such a system.

The purpose of the present post is to focus on doing a short review of 3 of the most well-known MLM attraction marketing systems, and help you in the process of making an informed decision.

• Renegade Network Marketer by Ann Sieg

This attraction marketing system is about avoiding the common mistakes that network marketers make and that causes them to fail. It is about un-learning all the outdated methods such as cold calling or pitching your product or company to family and friends, and instead learning cutting-edge techniques and strategies top marketers are using to build their MLM businesses. It is about positioning yourself in order to attract prospects to you.

The system offers a training program with a step-by-step blueprint that shows you how to setup a marketing pipeline that feeds you and your organization with a constant flow of qualified prospects.

The foundation of the system is a 143 page in-depth, how-to manual that details the exact formula Ann Sieg used to build her downline in her primary business and profit from multiple streams of income.

• 7 Figure Networker by Jonathan Budd

The system is based on the idea that there are 3 reasons why people achieve success: Technology, Systems, and Training ; and there are 3 steps that every top marketer are following to build their business: Lead Generation, Personal Branding, and a Self-funded proposal.

The core of the 7 Figure Networker system is marketing and lead generation, and the system enables you to build your own list of prospects, brand yourself, make money from multiple income streams, and establish interpersonal relationships within a community of networkers and MLM business owners.

7 Figure Networker is a built-in system you can plug into, and you will learn how to market online through video tutorials, as well as weekly trainings and masterminds.

• MLM Lead System Pro by Norbert Orlewicz and Brian Fanale

This is a fully branded, customizable, lead generation and attraction marketing system that combines attraction marketing, affiliate marketing, cashflow programs and traditional MLM.

MLM Lead System Pro will allow you to target the right prospects, to really customize your landing pages to make them unique and stand out in the market place, to brand you as the leader, build your list, and include sales funnels to create multiple sources of income.

It is also a built-in system you can plug into, with a focus on education: you will learn how to market online through video tutorials and recorded webinars as well as weekly webinars from industry top earners and marketing experts.

All 3 systems are bringing a lot of value to the MLM industry and enable network marketers to get massive results. They are similarly priced and all three give you the possibility of test driving them, so make sure you do.

The MLM industry is currently operating a big shift and we hear a lot about attraction marketing and how you should apply it to your MLM business in the internet age.

What is it actually and what is the difference between attraction marketing and other forms of marketing?

Attraction marketing is a marketing strategy designed to attract prospects and turn them into buyers, without having to sell them on a product or service. The focus is on creating interpersonal relationships and building trust. Think of your favorite garment store; you would hate being chased after by the salesperson, you want to have a good shopping experience, you want to make your own decision, and the salesperson is here only to answer your questions and help you. And if your experience is good, maybe you don’t buy today, but you will be attracted by the store, and you will come back.

Now, start thinking what happens if we apply this to MLM.

The traditional marketing and advertising techniques in MLM start with prospecting, cold calling, talking to family and friends, as well as buying leads. With these methods, you have to pitch your product or business opportunity, you must convince your prospects, and you might have a hard time overcoming their objections, because most people hate being sold and the more they are sold the more resistance they will develop. This is probably why so many people are struggling and why the failure rate in the MLM industry is still so high.

What you want to do is attract prospects to you by thinking and acting as a leader and not as a salesperson. This does not mean that sales is eliminated from the process, but the difference with common MLM techniques is that your prospect is pre-sold because you did not chase after him but he was attracted to you instead.

MLM attraction marketing is all about attracting qualified MLM leads and prospects by making their experience with you enjoyable, by branding yourself, by positioning yourself as a leader, by listening to your prospects and offering solutions to their concerns, by establishing a relationship and building trust with them, and empowering them to do the same.

Attraction marketing is actually a very up-to-date, professional, still natural and fun way to grow a home based MLM business. Of course, it takes time and education to make it work. You need to have access to a solid MLM system and a good training to support your efforts. There are a lot of resources on MLM attraction marketing, you can learn strategies with online videos, blogs, training programs.

Attraction marketing is highly powerful and you will be in a position to achieve great results, building your own list and growing your downline. You will also be amazed how many quality people you will attract to do business with you.

Go To The Full Article on MLM Attraction marketing.

About every other day I receive an email about the last best pre-launch MLM opportunity, the deal of the decade. More and more new MLM companies advertise a pre-launch phase to attract their first distributors and it seems to be the brand new pandemic in the network marketing world.

Whether you are currently looking for a MLM company to join or you are involved in one of those pre launch opportunities, keep on reading because this might open your eyes.

Here are the top 3 points that you should consider with respect to a brand new or pre-launch MLM company:

1.  There is a 90% chance that a new company will be out of business within its first two years:

As I wrote in a previous post, The Four Main Reasons For Failure in Network Marketing, the #1 reason why people fail in their MLM business is because they get involved in the wrong company. And one key variable to evaluate a company is how long it has been in business.

It is important to know that only 10% of new companies ever make it to their 24th month before going out of business. And if a company is less than 5 years old, statistically the company is still at great risk of going out of business. You need to understand that partnering with a MLM company younger than 2 years old is exactly like putting your money on a high-risk volatile stock.

You should also watch out for new divisions of existing companies and evaluate them by the same time standards as any new MLM company. The reason why the parent company decided to launch a product or service under a new company rather than with its already existing company is often because they want to protect the existing company in case the new division would fail.

The other possibility is you find an existing company which previously did not use network marketing as its distribution model and is now doing so. Again, past experience does not matter. Many successful companies have gone bankrupt when they decided to try to use network marketing in their new endeavor.

As far as pre-launches are concerned, it is important to recognize that on occasion, a fledgling business will use a pre-launch as a way of raising much needed funds to fund the opening of the business. And those funds are in such case provided by unsuspecting new distributors attracted by hype and false promises.

What happens when the company doesn’t raise enough capital to sustain the business? It crashes and burns, and the new distributors lose their investment. My advice is you should never pay money to partner with any company who has not yet officially opened for business.

2. You would have a very hard time building a downline:

First, MLM brand new companies and especially pre-launches attract all kinds of tire-kickers, definitely not the best quality MLM prospects. Some people I know join a new network marketing company every other month. They are not really serious about building a MLM business, and are permanently looking for some get-rich-quick scheme or easy path to wealth. You definitely don’t want this type of people in your downline.

Then, sudden or constant changes by the pre-launch or new company’s management, for example with the products or the compensation plan, is not a good sign. These so called product enhancements, compensation plan adjustements or improvements are a proof that they are still experimenting and that their business model is not strong enough. This should be a red flag. Your downline would also probably consider quitting because they feel the business is not on the right track. After all, everyone is looking for some security and stability.

3. You could lose your biggest asset: your reputation:

If you join a company in its start-up phase, you have to be prepared for the risk of losing your investment, your customer base, your business. But much worse, your reputation could also be permanently damaged. And people will be less inclined to follow you into another business opportunity if the last one you recommended crashed and burned.

So ask yourself if you really want to risk damaging your reputation on a highly volatile startup just to make some money. Remember your name is your biggest asset, and make sure you don’t make it a liability.

As a general rule, until a company has proven itself by staying in business for 24 months, they should still be considered high-risk. Starting a business is not easy, and unless you have a real solid experience with different MLM companies already, I would not recommend you join a new  MLM company, and especially not in a pre launch phase. There are enough reputable companies out there for you to build a successful MLM business without taking any greater risks.

Do you belong to the 98% of network marketers who are trying to attract people with no experience to their business? Are you experiencing poor results and a high attrition rate in your organization?

One of the most common mistakes made in network marketing is to try to target everyone. Very often you might hear that “Everyone is a prospect”, but this could not be further from the truth. What happens when you try to target too wide of an audience with your network marketing strategies? Well, no one really feels that they are special, that you connect with them or that they can connect with your product or service, and that you are answering their questions and addressing their specific concerns. Moreover, you will lose your focus because it is impossible to have one central focus when targeting a wide range of people.

Go watch this video first: How to get qualified, targeted MLM Leads & Prospects

Your market is the target at which you aim all your marketing efforts. The market you are trying to reach are people with common characteristics that set them apart as a group. The more you know about a target market, the more precisely you can develop your marketing strategy.

What you should definitely NOT do:

- targeting friends & family: they are NOT targeted prospects, they do not care about your business opportunity, they have no prior marketing experience and you are basically loosing your time.

- prospecting complete strangers: they are not looking to start their own business, and if they are open to the idea, chances are they are actually only looking for a J.O.B.!

What do you have to do then?

You really need a more targeted niche of people with which to work on. When you know what your target market is, you will be able to get into their minds, think the way that they think and you will know how to properly market to them. You will know how to answer their main question: “what’s in it for me?”.

Your #1 target market includes 2 groups of people:

1. Current network marketers, already involved in another opportunity. They are either having success, which is good for you because if they join you they can be successful within your team, or they are struggling to make money, and you have a solution for them: they can use your system to learn how to market and build their business.

2. Former network marketers who want to come back to the industry

Your #2 target market includes people actively seeking information about getting started in the industry: you have a solution for them: they can join your business, be mentored by you and use your system to learn how to market and build their business.

When you approach this target market, keep in mind that anyone who has shown an interest in a home-based business opportunity has one burning question: “what’s in it for me?”. People are not asking themselves if your product or your business opportunity is great, they are asking themselves how it can benefit them, what they can get from it. I think we actually always make our decisions on this basis, and different people will be seeking different benefits.

This is a very important point that you need to understand about marketing to people who want to start their business; you are not trying to sell your business opportunity and convince your prospect of how great it is. Instead, what you want to do is answering the questions of your prospects, meet their needs and show them that your business opportunity can benefit them in some way. Again, you must show them what’s in it for them.

Then, ask yourself this question: are the marketing and prospecting methods you are currently using the best, the most professional and the most effective they can be in order to bring your target market into your business?

Is everything you do in your lead generation focused on showing prospects how it can benefit them and how it is going to work for them?

When you take these proper steps and formulate a marketing strategy that is centered on your target market, you will be successful. You will see that your prospects are people who are actually interested in your business opportunity and you will make more sales and higher profits.

One of the main reasons why people fail in the MLM and network marketing industry is because they are left on their own and don’t have a system to build and grow their business. It is essential to keep in mind that the most successful business models rest upon very strong systems.

In the network marketing industry, you can have the best product in the world, along with the best compensation plan, if you don’t have a system to market your product efficiently, you will never make a dime. And that’s actually why 95% of network marketers make no more than $10 a week.

Now there are many different systems out there and everyone of them claims to be the best. So how do you choose and what are the criteria you should look for in a good MLM lead generation and marketing system?

First, it is important to understand that there are 3 basic principles behind a MLM lead and marketing system that top earners follow to build their businesses online. And the right system for your MLM business must enable you to apply these 3 principles:

1. Build your own list of targeted prospects: marketing a replicated website will never work out for you because you would not be branding yourself and you would be building someone else’s list. The lead generation system that you use must allow you to generate your own leads through proper marketing strategies.

2. Build a relationship with that list: you do business with people and people will only buy from you if they like you and trust you. That’s why it is essential to build a relationship with your list. This is usually possible if the system you use has integrated autoresponder series. This way you can give your list access to free marketing training, tips, so that you provide people value and have them like and trust you.

3. Monetize your list: the system should enable you to make money through different good affiliate programs, so that you can start making money off the 95% of networkers who will say no to your MLM business by giving them what they want…the principle behind this is that your long-term money is in your list.

So when you do your research and are evaluating different systems, you should ask yourself those 4 questions and the answer to each one of them should be positive:

- Is this system CUSTOMIZABLE? You must be able to design your own personalized capture pages, this without having any particular technical skills. The customization enables you to brand yourself as the leader people want to follow and generate your own leads.

- Is this system AUTOMATED? The system should feature built-in sales pages, email autoresponder series, as well as tracking and split testing technology. The automation will save you valuable time.

- Is the system EASY TO USE? You should have access to a comprehensive library of video and audio tutorials to set up the system, as well as technical support for your system. This way, you don’t have to take care of technical issues.

- Does the system include a hands-on MARKETING TRAINING? Make sure the system you choose features a complete marketing training center, with weekly live and recorded training sessions and webinars. It is best when the weekly training sessions are done by top producers willing to share their success secrets with you. This way, you can have access to cutting-edge marketing techniques and you learn how to market the way all industry leaders do.

Click here for more internet marketing training videos

What Is Ardyss?

Ardyss was created by a Mexican family who was involved in the garments production and decided to start a business in the wellness industry. Ardyss started as a factory and company back in 1991. Today Ardyss International is a leading company in the health and wellness industry and is doing business in Mexico, the United States, Canada, Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Puerto Rico, with more than 40 distribution centers worldwide.

The company has an ongoing product research and development staff of engineers and doctors, and offers a wide range of products: reshaping products for women and men; nutrition products such as le’vive Juice, an organic juice that concentrates the power of the world’s top five anti-oxydant producing fruits; high-quality skin care products; and the well-know BodyMagic, a reshaping system for both men and women.

Ardyss products are solid in that they are affordable for the average person and they provide quick and visible results to the consumer.

Is Ardyss a Good MLM Business Opportunity?

It is in 2007 that Ardyss International relocated their corporate headquarters to Las Vegas, Nevada and changed from a direct sales to a network marketing business model. This change opened the door for people to join the Ardyss MLM opportunity and allowed them to build their own business working from home.

The start-up costs to join Ardyss are low, $30 to join to a $299 PowerPack (data from the Ardyss website from year 2008). The compensation plan is typical of any MLM company. You can have a look at it here.

It is quite solid and Ardyss has laid the ground work within this compensation plan to allow its distributors to make back their initial investment very quickly and build a profitable business.

Even though Ardyss International can be seen as an old company that has been around for almost twenty years, it is still a ground-floor opportunity for anyone interested in growing a solid home-based business.

However…

It is important to join a good company, but this is not enough, and if you do want to make money in Ardyss, realize that your ability to create a successful organization is completely independent of the company that you join. I am convinced that success in MLM has much more to do with who you are and become as a person.

Too many distributors in MLM are still struggling and failing because they don’t realize they have to learn real marketing skills. If you want to have success with Ardyss, you’ll have to learn how to build your business like the top producers in this industry, how to leverage the power of the internet. If you learn how to master Attraction Marketing, you will succeed with your Ardyss business.

For more information, go to the comprehensive Ardyss Review now and visit my Solutions For Your Ardyss Business website, you’ll have an opportunity to receive free internet marketing training videos.

There are tens of thousands of people who start in the network marketing industry each month. If you are one of them, it is important for you to really understand what you should look for and what mistakes you should avoid.

I would say that there are 4 main reasons for failure in network marketing.

1. Getting involved in the wrong company

Most people who want to use the same marketing system that I am using to build my business first tell me about the company they are involved in and ask me if I think they made the right choice. They are completely right, because they know that choosing the wrong company will highly jeopardize their chances of success.

What’s a wrong company? There are different variables here, but the main ones are the products, the management, the compensation plan, how many years the company has been in business and its financial strength.

There are companies who have strong, effective products but whose management is poor and finances are bad. They have a higher chance to go out of business. Some companies have a good financial strength, a good management, but the products are not competitive or effective, or the compensation plan is lousy, and the distributors will then go through a lot of struggles and most probably leave the company within the first one to two years.

Then, if a company is less than 5 years old, statistically the company is still at great risk of going out of business. On the contrary, if the company is over 25 years old and financially strong, the company should stay around but the momentum phase may be so advanced that the opportunity is not as great as it once was.

2. Having the wrong upline

Even when distributors find a good company, it is nearly impossible for them to build a successful network marketing business without an upline offering weekly training and support. Without training and support, new distributors are left on their own and there is a 95% chance that they will fail.

3. Not having any system

Most people I talk to are very excited about getting started. They don’t always realize that they will not make it on their own, though. And in this industry, even very determined individuals will usually fail within their first year if they don’t have a system that will save them money and effort and help them leverage time.

4. Not developing persistence and being committed

A vast majority of the people who want to start a network marketing business are actually looking for some kind of get-rich-quick scheme, and want to take the easy road. It’s hard to find people with the determination and persistence necessary to build any business. And lack of persistence is the number one reason for failure in MLM. Quitters don’t succeed. And without a strong commitment, even the best company, upline, or system will not be able to help you.

If you are persistent and ready to do what it takes, if you can find a good company, with a strong marketing system and a personal mentor, you will dramatically increase your chances of success in the network marketing industry.