Perks of the Trade Volume 1 Issue 1 Apr 13, 2004 =========================================================== Contents =========================================================== Quote Of The Month--Henry Ford Editorial--Glenn Beach Feature Article--"Writing Your Affiliate Business Plan"-- Glenn Beach Additional Article--"Poverty to Riches: Myth or Reality?"-- Glenn Beach Tips Q & A Advertisements General & Unsubscribe Info =========================================================== Quote of the Month "You can't build a reputation on what you're going to do." -Henry Ford =========================================================== Editorial We've all heard these phrases, and know how they relate to our affiliate businesses: belief in ourselves determination patience persistence True inspiration is more than this, though, inspiration requires a thorough knowledge of what needs to be done. In Multi-Level-Marketing, the operational word is "marketing". We are marketers. With SFI, we are given gateway websites that do the selling for us, we simply have to direct traffic to the sites. Many affiliate programs offer this. Everything we need to know to start is in our Affiliate Resource Center, and in the discussion forums. We need to advertise our gateway websites. For optimum success, we won't concentrate on sales, but on pre-sales. In other words, it's our job to get our potential customers "in the mood", wanting to buy, ready to click when they get where we want them to click. We don't need to "sell SFI" or "sell Veriuni products". It's our job to talk to the people, develop trust, share useful information that is not product-inspired. Talk about cleaning, nutritionals, coffee, knitting, money worries, online business, entrepreneurship, and bring in the specific products as additional info. Our gateways sell, we simply get the customers to the gateways in an open and receptive mindset. Write your articles as if you are talking to a friend. Invite them into your world. Pour yourself a cup of coffee, sit back and relax. With this first issue of my newsletter, I invite you into my world. Glenn Beach, editor =========================================================== Feature Article: =========================================================== Writing Your Affiliate Business Plan: Who, What, Where, When and Why? by Glenn Beach =========================================================== Here’s a typical scenario: You are deciding to start a home business and suddenly everyone you know has his nose in your business, literally. What do you tell them? And how do you answer your own questions? What should you expect from the company in terms of stability, longevity, vitality, trust, income, and so forth? First the bad news: there are no guarantees. Then the good news: there is plenty of information from which to draw your own conclusions. The internet is huge, and any good company will offer free marketing tools and training. But back to the WHY of that business plan. You’re going to be starting small, slow and boy! is there a lot to learn. What’s the point of actually sitting down and writing a business plan? You’re not Bill Gates, this isn’t Microsoft, just you in your home office a few hours a week, slowly building an online business presence, not really understanding what the heck you’ll be doing. Relax and breathe. Unlike Mt. Rushmore, your plan won’t be designed to withstand the weathering of the ages. You can expect it will change and bend with the flow of your real experiences, which will be totally yours, not identical to anyone else’s. What writing your plan will do is cause you to pause, think, dream, study and focus. The written document, whether it is one page or twelve, will give your business a framework to work within. The internet is vast and seemingly endless. It is easy to lose focus and drift away on a different whim or idea every day. Understanding where you are today, what tools you have to work with, what your goals are, and how you can best achieve them and measure your success, will help you stay on target and not waste what few hours you may be investing in your business at start-up. Whenever you feel lost or confused, you can return to what you have written. When you analyze your situation and decide to make a change, rewrite that part of the plan. Understand that it’s a living document, intended to grow with you and your business. Your business plan is your friend. Getting Started with the Business Plan First you need to study the company and its management. You need to read and learn about the products, the compensation plan and the network structure. See you next month. Just kidding. Plan on doing SOME reading each and every work day for the next few months, if not indefinitely. Keep up with the company forum entries every day; read something in the training reports every day. Your education will continue. Plan for it. When you are ready, open up a Notepad window and answer these questions: What service/products does your business provide and what needs does it fill? Who are the potential customers for your product or service and why will they purchase it from you? How will you reach your potential customers? Where will you get the financial resources to start your business? Ok. Maybe your company offers many products and services. What do you want to focus on? I suggest that, at first, you focus on one or two products and/or the affiliate opportunity. In other words, keep is simple. Once you get the hang of what you’re doing, you will KNOW when it’s time to expand. Do only what you are comfortable with, every step of the way. This is YOUR business, it’s your right and privilege to decide on your approach. Internet marketing hinges on building trust. How will you do this? Reaching customers means marketing. Your decision, once again. And again, the options should be in your company's training materials. So we’re talking developing a reading/study schedule. Here’s a possible list, once you’ve read enough to make your own decisions to answer the above questions, start writing. Your writing can be lists of words and phrases, free-form brainstorming, outlines, mind maps, whatever works for you. Just write it down, and don’t forget to save often. If your home office is inhabited by cats or small children, they have the tendency to press on random keyboard keys. Documents do occasionally just disappear. Saving avoids total disaster. 1. Study the products. 2. Read the training materials. 3. Read about commissions, bonuses, etc. 4. Study the marketing aids and strategies 5. Find out what free tools are available. 6. Visit the forums on a regular basis. Read everything about getting started. 7. Ask questions. Your final written business plan will have at least four parts: Introduction/background: history of the company and its founder, internet marketing trends, why THIS company and why NOW, and so on. Goals: I suggest you think of what you would like to be earning in two years, but mainly focus on goals for your first year. Realistic goals can be projected based on info on the company website, in newsletters, searches on the forums, and focused questions to other affiliates. Marketing plan: based on your answers to the first 3 questions above and your study of marketing aids and tools. Action plans: the specifics of what you will do on a monthly, weekly, and/or daily basis for the next year. I can’t tell you what your answers should be, because you have to decide how much money you have to invest. Only you can decide how many hours per day, week or month you can invest in your business. What products you feel most comfortable marketing, and who you decide to target as your customer base, are all decisions only you can make. If you get stuck and don’t understand a question, don’t know where to find information, or don’t know how to ASK a question, contact your sponsor or someone in your upline. If they can't help you, they should be able to send you to someonewho can. You should NEVER feel alone. Work should be FUN! Glenn Beach is a poet, writer and home business entrepreneur in Nova Scotia, Canada. Free newsletter, more articles, and business start-up info at: http://www.work-at-home-business-opportunity-canada.com =========================================================== Poverty to Riches: Myth or Reality? by Glenn Beach You CAN start with empty pockets and piles of bills and build a steady income, even wealth, via the internet. It's a long, hard road though, so it's best to prepare and take along a good map. First, a comparison to building an offline, bricks-and- mortar business, just for perspective. If you're young, you might educate yourself in your field, go to work for someone else, and build your experience, reputation and equity. Then you could take out a business start-up loan, rent a storefront, buy all the necessary equipment, tools, furniture and merchandise, buy advertising -- and wait years to work your way out of debt and make a profit. If you aren't young, have a family and all the expenses and debts that go with that,and are not making enough money working for someone else to get ahead, you don't have the same options. Night school, years of part-time education and training, with your creditors hounding you every step of the way...sound familiar? So you turn on your computer and wonder...wish...that one of those promises of quick riches could be true for you. I wouldn't go there if I were you. Here are some first steps to getting started as an internet entrepreneur: 1. Honest self-assessment: There are certain qualities necessary to being self-employed. If you can honestly say that you are self-disciplined, self-motivated, determined, self-confident, patient, persevering and maybe even a bit stubborn, you have what it takes. 2. Research: You need to spend some time researching the company, the products, and the people already working the business. Is the company solid and dependable, are the company executives accessible and responsive, are the products of high desirability and quality, and maybe most importantly, is there experienced, successful, and friendly team support? 3. Support: Surround yourself with cheerleaders, mentors, knowledge, and inspiration, both on- and offline. Your family, the company, and others who have succeeded where you are treading for the first time, should all be available to you. You should never feel that you're all alone. 4. Infrastructure: Decide what you need: computer,printer, fax, phone; whatever your chosen business requires. Create an office space that suits your lifestyle and work needs. A corner of the living room can function well if you can work while the kids are at school or if their noise doesn't bother you, but evening work may require a separate room. Don't put your office in the bedroom if you work evenings and your spouse goes to bed early. You need your family's support, not their animosity! 5. Realism: It's tempting to try a business that makes promises it can't keep. Many tell you that one person or a few make thousands of dollars a week and so can you. None of them will point out that maybe you will be one of thousands who quit before they make a cent. "Put money in your pocket today!" Yes, but will any go in tomorrow? Accept the fact that any business worth its salt can take time. Maybe you can begin making money in a couple months, or maybe a year. You have to be able to maintain life as you know it for however long it takes. Understand that it won't be a steady climb to the top from where you are today; the path will go up and down. 6. Selling someone else's product or your own: Obviously, the big money is in selling your own product. Selling for another company is a great way to get your feet wet in internet commerce, however. At first you may feel like you're floundering in an unfathomable sea of information, but at some point will come the knowledge that you're "getting it." Working for a good company will leave you knowing that you have what it takes to do it on your own, if you choose. 7. Business plan: This keeps you focused, helps you develop goals, strategies and work plans; and aids in evaluating your results. It can include contingency plans, and is never written in stone. As you learn and your business develops, the plan will evolve too. Now that you've got the road map...take that first step! Your future begins today! About the author: Glenn Beach is a poet, writer and home business entrepreneur in Nova Scotia, Canada. Free newsletter, more articles, and business start-up info at: http://www.work-at-home-business-opportunity-canada.com =========================================================== =========================================================== Tips =========================================================== As you go through your business day, remember to inhale and exhale. Inhaling is learning, absorbing, growing in some way. Exhaling is expressing, sharing, creating. Together they create balance; between stillness and movement, learning and doing, and preparation and growth. =========================================================== Classified Ads =========================================================== The One Page Business Plan: Start With a Vision, Build a Company! http://www.work-at-home-business-opportunity- canada.com/endorsements.html Top Picks in Small Business Books http://www.work-at-home-business-opportunity- canada.com/endorsements.html =========================================================== General & Unsubscribe Info =========================================================== Perks of the Trade © Copyright 2002-2004 Glenn Beach, except where indicated otherwise. All rights reserved worldwide. Reprint only with permission from copyright holder(s). All trademarks are property of their respective owners. All contents provided as is. No express or implied income claims made herein. Your business success is dependent on many factors, including your own abilities. Advertisers are solely responsible for ad content. To contact me with feedback, questions or praise, email:begle@work-at-home-business-opportunity-canada.com To subscribe OR unsubscribe, email :begle@work-at-home-business-opportunity-canada.com Please feel free to reprint articles from this newsletter as long as you give credit with a live link to my website: http://www.work-at-home-business-opportunity-canada.com =========================================================== Sincerely, Glenn Beach SFI Sponsor Perks of the Trade is an opt-in ezine available by subscription only. I neither use nor endorse the use of spam. Thank you for reading this! Please feel free to share this newsletter, or submit your own articles.