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By Nick Bramble
Creating a steady income from home can be a daunting process.
Being successful from home can often take more work than your
regular 9 to 5. But, if you learn to break things down and
follow a simple forumla, your home business can give you all
the income and time freedom that you are seeking in a work
from
home business.
My successful business formula involves 5 steps. I follow
these
same five steps with every person I come into contact with.
Having a system not only makes my days more organized, but
also
it opens up more time for me to enjoy the financial rewards
that
the system creates.
Here is my simple formula:
Step 1; Collect Leads:
This is an entire article in itself (which is in the works).
For the sake of keeping this article on track, I will touch on
this only briefly. There are many ways to get leads. You can
buy leads, place ads in papers and on the net, use ad words,
submit your site to search engines, mail postcards, etc. There
are literally 100's of ways to advertise. The trick is finding
a couple of advertising techniques that you like best and that
fit your budget and then try them out. Those that bring you
the
most success can be tweaked further to give you the results
you
want. Just remember to always test each ad or lead generating
technique you use. From my own experience, I like to talk to
those that are in my business and find out what they are
doing.
They have most often been through the trial and error process
and can save you some time.
Step 2; Call Leads:
This is the step that most people have reservations about. If
you want to be successful in any home business, you must pick
up the phone. This does not mean "cold" calling people. I
never
call anybody that has not asked to hear about my home
business.
Use your lead generating techniques in step one to create
leads
that want to hear from you and then contact them. Whether you
business costs $5 or $5000 to join, people want to know that
there is a real person behind the business that they can
consult with questions. Talking to them and establishing a
rapport and trust will go a long way to making sure that the
prospect joins you in your home business. When still a
"rookie"
to making calls, it is best to have a script or outline to
follow. This is not to say that you read directly from that.
Just use it as a guide to keep you on track and in control of
the call. Most importantly in regards to calls......LISTEN.
Listen and take notes about what the prospect is telling you.
Remember, you are trying to get to know this person and
establish their trust.
Step 3; Email
It is hard to ignore this powerful tool. When collecting my
leads, I always get an email and phone number to use in step 2
and 3 of my system. Just as I do not make cold calls, I do not
send emails to those who have not asked for it. Spam
complaints
will kill your business and your rapport with people. When I
get
an email, I simply have that email address automatically
entered
into an autoresponder. My autoresponder then sends messages
every few days to keep me fresh in my prospects mind.
Autoresponders are a must have for any business. They allow
you
to stay in contact for long periods of time while doing
virtually no work. They also increase the amount of times your
prospect is exposed to you and your business. Remember this,
on
average a prospect must see your message 5 to 12 times before
joining you.
Step 4; Direct Mail Information Packet.
With all of the new email laws and email blocking systems,
direct mail is making a comeback. As I said in step 3, you
want
to expose yourself to your prospect as many times as possible.
But, if you use one method of exposure....your prospect may
begin to ignore you. Diversifying your exposure types will
keep
them interested. I must state that I do not mail information
packets to everybody. Only those that I have talked with and
that have expressed interest. Mailing the packets can become
expensive if you mail them to everyone. That said, putting the
pack together is very easy. I used the ad copy on my website
to
develop the packet. Then I throw in a business card or flyer
and
send it on its way. This also makes sure that people actually
see the content of your site. Many have seen so many websites
that they just browse them. They are more apt to sit down and
read printed text than to sit at their computer and read
through your website.
Step 5; Direct Mail Postcard.
Postcards, like direct mail, give you another way to expose
yourself to your prospects. They are fun to design and can be
sent quickly and easily. Because they are less expensive than
the direct mail packets, I send a postcard to all of my leads.
People love getting postcards. They do have the junk mail
stigma and if designed well, they can give a personal touch to
your business. I actually send a postcard campaign that sends
multiple postcards over a period of 45 - 60 days to my
prospects. I use a service that does this automatically and
even personalizes each card for me.
Always remember this, it takes on average 5 to 12 exposures to
get somebody into your business. My 5-step process actually
includes multiple exposures within each step. For example, my
emails include phone numbers to live calls and links to movies
to watch. One email can get me three or more exposures. The
key
to any business is to have a formula or process to follow.
Knowing what you are going to do each day keeps you focused
and
allows you to track how your business is doing and what may or
may not be working.
That's it! Those 5 simple steps earn me a consistent 6-figure
income from home. Your results may differ based on your
business, and your compensation plan among other things, but
this process will definitely increase your sign up rate.
About The Author: Copyright © Nick Bramble has been marketing
home business programs successfully for 8 years. He enjoys
spending time helping others learn to work from home and
realize their financial dreams. For more information on Nick
and his success, please visit: www.nickbramble.com
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