Why the Most Commonly Used Network Marketing Tool Habitually Fails

By Ken Cobb

If you are just starting out in multi level marketing (MLM) or any other kind of business that heavily relies on network marketing, listen up! There is a tool that is hyped and pushed by the up line, websites selling the secrets to success, and various other venues – all with little attention to the fact that the use of this very tool dooms the majority of its users to failure. This tool is referred to as the generic lead. A lead, for the uninitiated, is any contact made by the network marketer with an individual who could become either a customer for the product being sold or a distributor for the down line being assembled. For reasons unfathomable by experienced members of the industry, start up marketers are trained to purchase or even generate generic leads time and again in an effort to create a large pool of contacts.

Yet if you truly think through the process, it becomes obvious rather quickly why the most commonly used marketing network tool habitually fails: consider the sources of the leads! For example, a vast majority of network marketing leads are generated by generic ads in popular magazines or on highly visible websites which simply ask anyone if they are interested in working from home, making a lot of money, being their own boss, and spending more time with the kids. In some cases, websites in particular will seek to appeal to those in search for ways to make the maximum amount of money with the minimum amount of effort, thus asking for folks interested in making money while they sleep, raking in a five figure income after three months, or wishing to own their own home and sports car within six months. Those who call the numbers indicated are then treated to a generic phone message that further hypes the opportunity and entices them to leave a phone number and a name while in the case of the website the visitor will be asked to leave an email address.

This information is collected, put together, and then sold quite profitably to fledgling network marketing newbies who are told by those in their up line to buy new leads. Touted as a tried and true marketing network tool, these leads cost quite a bit of money, but the new network marketer figures this is the cost of doing business and will faithfully shell out the money. In the case of down line generation, she or he will now call each and every of the numbers only to realize eventually that they are old and some of them are disconnected, that the individuals who are at those numbers may have found a difference opportunity, or if they do speak to someone who is interested in a business opportunity that the actual idea of network marketing is not what they had in mind. Those who buy email lists will experience similar responses, but they will not spend as much time on it as the ones using the phone.

The reason is clear: while the leads may be plentiful, they are also woefully unqualified. As a marketing network tool, unqualified leads will lead to habitual failure simply because they are confidence killers, overpriced, and do not yield the success to effort ratio needed to make a profit. On the flipside, the use of qualified leads, which must be generated carefully and after much research, has the potential of yielding a crop of either consumers or down line candidates which will make the time, effort and money spent on generating them worth the while.

Ken Cobb is the founder and CEO of Next Level Enterprises, LLC an industry leader in home business Internet Marketing, Consulting and CRM Solutions.

For more information: info@NextLevelEnterprises.com

Working From Home Efficiently

By Ken Cobb

If you work from home, you know that somehow you always end up with the kids’ toys under your desk. If you do not have a spare room to house your office and do not really have a desk either, you will find that working from home efficiently is even more of a challenge! While overcoming this challenge is possible with ingenuity and commitment, there are some simple steps you can take to set yourself up for success rather than failure.

• Separate the family from the business as much as possible. Have a different phone number for your business related calls, even if it is just your cell phone number. Use a different email address, even if it has to be web-based. Have a computer folder where all your subfolders and documents go. In other words, do not chance that your kids will answer the business line, or the teen who thinks she is emailing her BFF about the latest shenanigans at the home economics class in the afternoon is instead emailing to your clients.
• Be fair to family and clients. When you are committed to working, do not suddenly pack up and take the kids to the fast food burger joint – unless you are on your lunch break. Similarly, if you are ready to sit down as a family to dinner, do not suddenly get up and answer the business line. A clear separation cuts both ways and will generate a lot of goodwill from your family members who are more likely to let you do the work you need to accomplish when they know that the evenings belong to them.
• Keep an area devoted to your business. No matter how cramped for space you are, if all else fails, have a tackle box with your office supplies, computer disks, and other items you need to do your job. Take out what you need and put back what you are done with at the end of your work time.
• Taking good care of your computer is essential to working from home efficiently. Update your anti virus and spyware definitions often, run frequent sweeps, and do not download frivolous games and questionable bits and pieces of software. The danger of unwittingly inviting a Trojan virus into your computer and thus leaving your business lame in the water are too great!
• Resist the temptation of taking the business with you wherever you go. Working efficiently from home requires an understanding of boundaries, and seeing you key away at your daughter’s ballet rehearsal is not setting a good example of a boundary being observed. Instead, live in the moment and relish it: if you are at work, work with all your mind and heart; but if you are at a soccer game or ballet recital, give it your undivided attention.
• Last but not least, plan for vacations and other times away from the business. Efficiency comes from a lack of burnout, which in turn is predicated on sufficient rest in between jobs and assignments. Take time off to make the time on more efficient and qualitatively productive!

Ken Cobb is the founder and CEO of Next Level Enterprises, LLC an industry leader in home business Internet Marketing, Consulting and CRM Solutions.

For more information: info@NextLevelEnterprises.com

Why Should You Become an Entrepreneur?

By Ken Cobb

Starting your own business can be one of the best decisions you ever make. It can also be one of the most daunting. The pleasures and joys of running your own business can far exceed the small successes one might hope to experience working for another, but the stresses can be greater too. Still one can’t truly know until they are in the position of making a sale, that will directly affect their financial future, how truly freeing it can be to walk that tightrope. The future can be unlimited, which is more than can be said for most jobs.

Life as an entrepreneur is one of hard work, discipline, determination, and perseverance. But it can also be one of almost unqualified happiness. Here’s why... One of the main things that attracts many people to entrepreneurship and the founding of a home based business is the freedom to make one’s own schedule. If this sounds like something you would like to have control over, you should think about becoming an entrepreneur. It doesn’t necessarily mean less work–put that out of your mind before you ever take the first steps. People who begin their own home business with the idea that they will work fewer hours are usually very disappointed. A home business–if it is to succeed–takes more work, not less, than your previous day job. But the freedom to work your own hours is definitely there. There will be no boss telling you to be at work on time. There’s no dress code. There’s no morning commute. If the kids have to go to a doctor’s appointment or you want to go to the grocery store in the middle of the day, you’re free to do so. For many, this sense of freedom is what having a home business is all about.

Did I say freedom? Let's take it to another level! What about the control that goes hand in hand with freedom? Think about the control you will gain over your own destiny! Success or failure will be entirely in up to you. If you feel like you should be making more money, go out and get it any way you can. The only thing limiting you will be your own wit and determination. There won’t be a boss telling you that the coffers are closed, and yes, you’ve been doing a great job, but shucks, we just can’t afford to give you a raise right now. Five years from now, with the right idea and an enormous amount of work, you could be a millionaire! Is there any hope of achieving that dream at your current job?

One of the primary attractions to opening one’s own home business is the chance to take a talent or a favorite activity and turn it into a living. Do you enjoy creating web pages? Making graphic art? Making crafts? Designing T-shirts? Whatever you like to do, chances are there’s someone out there who might like to pay you for it. The chance for you to take your passions and turn it into a living is something most people would kill for but you don’t have to kill anyone, you just have to have the guts and the self confidence to go out and do it!

Ken Cobb is the founder and CEO of Next Level Enterprises, LLC an industry leader in home business Internet Marketing, Consulting and CRM Solutions.

For more information: info@NextLevelEnterprises.com