Think I’m crazy? Actually I’m awesome and smart, and so are you. What separates you from me is that I know when something smells fishy.

In network marketing there is this notion you need to sign up a TON of people yourself but the reality is that in most MLM’s you don’t have to personally recruit 150 people to make good money – it’s called duplication, the single most important thing in any MLM, period.

That’s right, I said it. When you are building a team in your MLM there will be “duds and studs”.

A dud is someone who joins the business under you excited, motivated, pumped up. They spend some time learning more detailed information and getting knowledgeable…and eventually getting out there to build the business. However…they spend a month or two “trying” (just talking to people when it’s convenient) with little to no success. They begin to ask you for help, for advice. You provide them some tips and tricks spending a couple hours of your time assisting them, great! That dud goes out re-energized, ready to take on the world…and PLOP…nothing to show for their “work”. Then they come back to you asking “why can’t I make this work?” and similar questions. This is the type of person in your organization that makes you little to NO money. They can suck out a ton of time from you but it doesn’t grow your business. This is a situation where you need to prioritize with people who ARE growing.

There are also the “studs” who take need only a small (if any) amount of help from you. These are the people that are go-getters, passionate and driven to succeed. They’ll do whatever it takes to grow their business without nagging you every week or few days.

You’re team is going to be made of both of these types of individuals BUT YOU need to dedicate time to the people who are growing your team. It’s tempting to let anyone join directly through you but can you give each person the time they might need? It’s impossible and unproductive. This does NOT make the best use of your time, unfortunately.

At some point you need to look in the mirror and say “I am looking for quality entrepreneurs – studs, not duds.” It’s OKAY to say “Get lost” (although I wouldn’t use THOSE two words) after you’ve got some basic questions answered from the prospect.

Are they afraid to invest money? WILL they put at least an hour a day towards the business? WILL they dedicate 2 years to build a team? Are they coach-able, trainable and duplicatable? WILL they follow instructions?

Please notice I said “Will” not “Can”. We all CAN do it but that doesn’t mean diddly squat. Ability verse action – keep that in mind.

So…don’t be afraid to say No. You want a strong, passionate team who is absolutely on board for themselves and your team (and their team).

I’m always looking for these people, and only these people. It doesn’t matter if I personally bring in 50 duds. If I bring in 10 studs, my business will flourish in comparison…same goes for you.

Are you a stud? Ready to do something great? Will you be a leader? You don’t have to have the experience because it’s really not hard in the right network marketing business.

….and if you’re looking for a network marketing business, tired of being burned…send me an email or use my contact form. Let’s talk – no catch or strings attached.

You should be aware that building a list is an essential to any business. Whether it’s a list of leads, prospects, clients, customers…they are part of the equation. If you haven’t started building a list, get going! Give your list tender loving care and you’ll be rewarded.

Tip 1:  Offer Free VALUABLE content, constantly. There’s a difference between offering a free eBook download and continually giving free advice, tips and ideas.

Tip 2:  Create capture or squeeze pages. One of the easiest ways to get someone’s information (name and email) is by offering something free if they just submit their information. The capture page should be related to what you’re giving away. If you’re page targets people who are looking for a work-at-home business then your free offer should be content about work-at-home subject matter.

Tip 3:  Use MANY different advertising channels. There are a vast number of ways to advertise directly and indirectly that you could do it 24/7, no joke. Some ideas are PPC, Website banner ads, Traffic Exchanges, List Builders, Forums, Classifieds, Article Submission sites and social networks.

Tip 4:  Purchase qualified leads. Of course this is an easy way but if you have a budget to spend on QUALITY leads, this may be a way to go. And, don’t just buy any leads. You could get 100 leads a day for $10 but I will bet you those leads will be garbage.

Tip 5:  Share your story. People want to follow genuine, experienced individuals. If you’ve been in internet or network marketing for 6 months, you absolutely have a story. It could be as simple as “When I started ____ and now ____.” …of course with some depth. You have to give people a reason to listen to you, and a story is a necessity to being a marketer.
I’ve kept these tips pretty generic. Have no fear, I DO plan to go into detail on these tips in coming posts so stay tuned. Better yet, subscribe via RSS or join my newsletter so you’ll find out when I make an update.

Have a wonderful day!

It’s probably safe to say that 95% of people have a grasp on life but just how many people work to progress? There’s a fine line between making things happen and progress. I continue to read on Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and other sites where people write status updates/messages. These messages are of a variety that has no end – from “eating dinner” to “Just read a book” to “Have you seen this video?”. I’m a little baffled how people really get things done towards their goals when they are doing a dozen things within the same hour.

Some time ago I watched a video by Eben Pagan and he talked about productivity a bit. Now this information wasn’t a “never before seen” discovery (although I believe he did some testing on this claim) but his point was that to be truly productive it was best to do things in time blocks. Basically, instead of spreading yourself between 4 things in a given two hours, focus on JUST 1 thing before moving to the next. He claimed it takes 20 minutes to really get into something with deep thought. If you break away from copy-writing and then try to go back, it will take 20 minutes to get into your thought process and frame of mind. If this is accurate then most people are much less productive than they could be…

Eben’s information ties directly into my “Progressive Marketing” course. Generally we all have several things going on in our lives such as family, friends, running a business, creating websites, cooking, school, work, etc.. The concept behind Progressive Marketing is to help you become more productive immediately. There are dozens of things you simply don’t need to spend as much time doing as you probably are currently.

There is a big huff in the Internet marketing world as people struggle to make their first $1000 or even $100 but it’s simply not hard to do if you’ve got the right skills, tools, resources and drive. I’m going to help you get away from that struggle – you’re going to want me to help you.

So where do you get this Progressive Marketing course? When it’s ready, you’ll find it on The Progressive Marketing website. Oh, and you’ll get Free stuff right away – it’s pretty awesome.

Talk to you soon.

~Matt

This isn’t exactly a factual percentage but 90% of internet marketers know that building a list is one of the most important things to further their business, whatever it may be. Why is list building so important? Once you have a list of people who directly receive your emails, it’s practically free to contact them about whatever product or service you want to tell them about.

Let’s look at some popular internet marketing names.

Mike Filsaime is a very successful marketer who has created countless websites that simply help build his email list. Mike believes in lead generation as a crucial part of his online business. As an 8 figure earner, he has done incredibly well for himself in a short time period, and his email lists are very big.

On a different style of marketing, Frank Kern uses his personality and creativity to draw people to himself. His unique approach has drawn very large numbers of people to his products/services even though he’s really only sold a handful of internet marketing courses. Primarily, his copy writing style is what catches people’s attention by using clever wording and phrases. His email lists are enormous for the “work” he’s out into them and some of that is due in part to the free marketing content he simply gives away.

One of the most well-known marketers is John Reese who’s proven his success over and over. His following is asbolutely HUGE – when he announced to his list about joining Facebook, he maxed out the “friends” limit of 5,000 pretty quickly. John’s list building efforts have brought him to have one of the biggest followings of any single internet marketer.

These are just three internet marketers who’ve taken list building as a focus of their business. If you follow in the footsteps of successful people, you’re more likely to succeed as they pave the path to success. Getting started is usually one of the toughest parts to list building but if you stick with it and are determined, you’ll make the best of it.

You should also check out my post about Lead Generation that I wrote several weeks ago.