With literally millions of people flocking to the internet wanting to find solutions for a multitude of things, becoming a solutions provider makes sense.

In addition, with the economy as shakey as it is, it’s just not good business anymore to put all your eggs in one basket. You’ve got to have multiple streams of income and be of service to more than just one specific group of people.

You want to have a menu of services, resources, tools and opportunities to help the most people and to put yourself in the least risk situation as possible.

In this video, I share some ideas on what a Solutions Provider is.

Let me know your comments and thoughts. I love hearing from you and appreciate your input.

When we share out best network marketing strategies, we all win.

Mike Dillard has Real Opinions
About Who is and Who is Not
A True Entrepreneur and Why.

I Tend to Agree

If you’re considering starting your own home based business, or already have and not much is happening, I encourage you to investigate some of  the best network marketing strategies revealed in Mike Dillard’s Traffic Formula 2.

In his FREE 36 minute video, Dillard boldly states that if you’re just an affiliate or representative of a company, you are not an entrepreneur.   His reasons are valid and when you think about it, he makes sense.  However, most home based business owners never give it a thought as they jump on the bandwagon with companies as an affiliate or representative.

So, why does Mike think that?

Because Entrepreneurs have their own businesses.

Affiliates do not.

Many new home based business owners have no clue where to start online.  Their upline or sponsor tells them to market their product.  So they set out to place ads for “best energy drink”, “best travel club membership”, “best information product”, “best legal services”, “best personal development seminars”, etc.  And that’s all they know.

Or, let’s take it a step further and say that this business owner used attraction marketing strategies to build a business and they did great.

Let’s take it a step further and say that this business owner moved his/her way up to top affiliate for the company and has thousands of dollars of income every month.  Life is grand.  He/she is living the life.

Then reality hits.  They wake up one morning to find that the company is out of business.  No warning, no clues or red flags, no rumors, just closed.  Now what do you have?

Well, unless you have a multiple streams of income, I’d say you’re out of business.

A true entrepreneur would never let that happen.  An entrepreneur has multiple streams of income and is always looking to add to their menu of services.  They are looking for ways to do things better, make things easier for people, using creative skills and developing their own products.  People recognize them as YOU, Inc. rather than AFFILIATE XYZ.

The entrepreneur is building assets for themselves.

They own their own list
They own their own products
They own their logos
They own their company name
They own their ideas

Nobody can take it away

The affiliate has no assets.

They don’t own the list of Affiliates
They don’t own the products
They don’t own the logos
They don’t own the company name
They don’t own the research
They don’t own the staff
They don’t own the equipment

It can be taken from you in a heartbeat

Further, the company for whatever reason can decide to suspend your account and association if they feel you have violated their rules and regulations at any time.   That’s the same as waiting for a pink slip.

What you want to do is become a Solutions Provider.  Be your own business.  Build your own assets.  Create wealth that nobody can take away.  Put yourself in a position to not be hurt financially if one of your programs calls it quits.  Build your own list.

Traffic Formula 2 tells you how to do that.  Be sure and catch the 36 minute FREE video.  It will help you see the bigger picture.

ANN WRITES:

Success in online network marketing can be boiled down to 5 main ingredients that combine to form what I like to simply call the “Profit Formula.”

There are hundreds and even thousands of different methods you can
use online (or off) but all of them end up falling under one of these 5 main categories.

Just like an algebra equation that balances itself out, when you put all
of these 5 ingredients together, the only possible outcome is a money-making business.

But just like with a recipe for baking a cake, you need every one of them in order to produce the results you want.

Here’s what you need to make your business work:

Traffic + Content + Conversions + List + Monetization =

A Money Making Home Business

Let’s look at each one…

1. Traffic

This is the glamorous part of online marketing. Anytime we think about making more money we naturally assume that the only sensible way to do this is to get more people to our website.

This is true to an extent – but it’s far from being the only thing you need.

Too many people are led astray in a never-ending search for the “holy grail” of traffic generation. The “silver bullet” that will solve all their problems and flood their website with more traffic than an eight lane superhighway during rush hour.

Well, in case you’re still looking, here it is:

The Secret To Getting More Traffic Than Any One Person Could
Ever Want Is To Get The Rest Of The Formula Right

The truth is, traffic generation is the easy part…

If you’re faithfully implementing the other four ingredients.

Of course that doesn’t mean traffic generation should be ignored. Nothing happens until someone sees your message!

Here is what your traffic-getting strategy should be:

If you’re just starting out, the incredible power of social media is the way to go. It’s free, it’s leveraged, it doesn’t require any complicated knowledge of search engines to get initial results, and it builds powerful relationships with prospects and customers.

Then, as soon as you can, you want to move in to paid methods as quickly as possible (while continuing to build and leverage your social media traffic streams).

Who in their right mind would ever pay for traffic when they could get it for free?

I’ll write more in another email explaining why this is.

2. Content

This is the oh-so critical “value” component of the equation that I’m always ranting and raving about. The reason this is so important is because this is the biggest part of the equation that has been missing from network marketing for decades!

This is the “uniqueness” that you and you alone provide to the world. It’s what sets you apart and gives prospects a compelling reason to do business with you over everyone else.

Your content should educate your prospects and solve their most pressing problems. And there are many different types that you can use at different stages of your marketing funnel. There are basic forms like articles, blog posts, videos, emails, etc. And there are more advanced forms ranging from webinars to ebooks to coaching to home study courses all the way to full blown in-person seminars.

The goal is to gradually progress to more and more advanced levels of content. It’s very simple:

The More Content You Create And The More Advanced
Forms Of Content You Create, The More Leads You Generate

It’s crucial that you understand this component of the formula because the people who own and control content have the most leverage. They control the traffic. They have the most joint venture opportunities. They have the biggest lists.

It’s basically like controlling the oil supply.

This is what my free report The Attraction Marketer’s Manifesto is all about. If you haven’t read it yet, it’s 45 minutes wisely spent.

3. Conversions

While value (content) attracts the audience to you, it and it alone is not enough to get most people to take action. A decent amount will, but not the majority. And not the amount you need to make a full time income.

In order to do this you have to learn how to motivate people to take action. That’s what a conversion is: Whenever any type of action takes place. To put it in more layman’s terms: You have to learn how to close.

But just so we’re not mistaken: Learning how to close doesn’t always mean having people give you their money. That is the end goal of business, but there are conversions points along every single step of your marketing funnel that require people to take action.

Believe it or not, you still have to sell the value you’re giving – even if it’s free!

If you’re struggling to make money, my greatest advice to you is to become a voracious student of copywriting. It has a dramatic impact on every single aspect of your business.

It determines whether or not people decide to…

• Read your ads
• Click on your ads
• Opt in to your email list
• Read your subject lines and open your emails
• Read past the first paragraph of your emails
• Click on the links in your emails
• Read your articles or blog posts
• Watch your videos (and continue watching them)
• Ultimately buy your product

Copywriting is basically what moves the whole process along. It makes sure that a prospect goes smoothly from point A to point Z without getting stuck or lost or distracted along the way.

4. List

Which one of these ingredients you need to focus on depends on where you’re at with your business. But the goal of all these activities is to be continually building your list of prospects.

See, building your business online really isn’t that different from doing the warm market/cold market thing after all The point is still to build your list. The difference is how you get people on the list and what you do with them after that.

In fact…

The Turning Point For A Network Marketer Comes When They Truly Begin To Learn The Science And Business Of List Building

All – I repeat ALL – successful marketers have a list.

When Mike Klingler and I launched Renegade Professional just over two months ago, we did over $1.1 million in sales in 3 days. One of the single biggest factors that allowed this to happen was the list that I had been building over the past three years online.

Big pay days never happen overnight. But if you continue to grow your list it will. I guarantee it.

For a primer course in list-building, I recommend picking up a copy of How I Built My First List . It’s an excellent resource for beginners who need more leads.

There is one overarching golden rule to always remember when it comes to list building…

The quality of the list is more important than the size. There are a few things that affect this.

• How did people get on the list? Did they come from a glowing endorsement by another marketer? Did they come from pay-per-click? Did they come from your facebook account? Were they opportunity leads that you purchased? Every traffic source produces different quality leads.

• What steps did they take before getting on your list? Have they already consumed a lot of your content before they opted in? Did they double opt in or single opt in? How much information did you require they give you to get on your list? In some cases you want to make it easy as possible to get on your list and in some cases you actually don’t. Just know that the more hoops someone jumps through the more qualified they are.

• The most important: What is your relationship with the list? Do you continue to provide them with tons of value once they get on your list? Do you relentlessly pound them with offer after offer? How often do you follow up with them?

5. Monetization

Monetization is simple: Offering products that relate to your prospects needs.

This is where your MLM fits in. Building a list comes first, not building a downline. Monetization is the fun part and it’s where you really want to start thinking outside the box. Obviously you want to generate income with your business as fast as possible.

This means asking yourself:

What Else Are My Prospects Looking For?
What Else Could I Offer Them?

Affiliate programs are the fastest and easiest way to begin selling other people’s products to earn commissions. But my biggest tip for you here is to begin developing your OWN products.

It’s much easier than you think and the benefits are beyond what you could imagine.

Having your own products (info products are the best) gives you more profits, more control, more credibility with your prospects, more lead generation power, more advertising options… and… it makes selling other things like affiliate products or your MLM a thousand times easier!

This is a major focus of our mentoring program and the results that people have already been getting are astounding.

The goal is to have automated monetization so your income isn’t dependant on you always having to work. But if you don’t have a huge list yet, a great way to begin making serious money with yours right from the get-go is by offering consultations. It’s an easier sell than most products because your prospects are desperately looking for one-on-one help (it has to be value based though and not a pitch-fest). This is how I got started and it’s one of the quickest ways that many of my students have gone from zero to $2-3k/mo in almost no time flat.

Just imagine what you could do for your business and your life with an additional two to three thousand a month. Things start to get very exciting when you can…

• Buy more money-making tools for your business
• Buy any product you need to keep learning new skills
• Expand your advertising
• Have less stress and more free time because the bills are being paid

The key to selling your own products or services is to simply be a couple steps ahead of your prospects. And believe me, you already are.

Traffic + Content + Conversions + List + Monetization =

A Money Making Home Business

That’s the profit formula. Tape it to your computer desk and never lose sight of these 5 ingredients.

If you’re not making money you’ll know it’s because you’re missing one if them.

To Your Success,

Ann Sieg

There are many opportunities for entrepreneurs to start their own business.  With the high costs associated with typical brick and mortar businesses, or the insurance and managing of staff for even small businesses such a carpet cleaning, house keeping, etc., the network marketing industry is a viable option.

Considering the network marketing industry and looking at various home base business ideas, you may find that getting started in business is not as difficult as in times past.  Today,  legitimate home based business opportunities are not only cost effective, but there’s tremendous help and resources to support your endeavor both in terms of  training platforms and individual network marketing coaching.

The icing on the cake is that you can pursue your entrepreneurial dreams, be creative as you desire, create your own products and it would allow you to run a business from your home.

It’s really more of a “lifestyle” if you will.

In this article, I will address some basics for those considering legitimate home based business opportunities and how one would get started.  This is just an overview, nothing really in depth, but you can see there will be some similiarities that one would need with a brick and mortar business.

Getting started in business isn’t complicated for the network marketer when they have a roadmap.

Here’s a list of basics:

1)  Desire, commitment and resolve
2)  A winning attitude
3)  A servant heart
4)  A product
5)  Tools that make your business go
6)  Resources to help yourself and others
7)  Website traffic
8)  A good follow up system
9)  customer service/support

DESIRE, COMMITMENT AND RESOLVE

Having a business is serious business if you plan to make money.  There are learning curves and extended hours to put into developing your ideas and getting started in business.  For the most part, it’s not hard, it just takes some time establishing your foundation and getting going.  Depending on your time, skillsets and budget, a person can be “in business” within a few days or a few weeks.  The key here is to press through any skillsets and make sure you are fully committed to seeing your business get off the ground before you jump in.

In the network marketing industry, many people “think” they want to have a business so they jump in expecting overnight success, but at the first obstacle or bump, they quit.  There was no real desire, commitment and resolve when it came to their business.

Often what people want are the results of a successful home based business, but they aren’t willing to do what it takes to achieve that.

A WINNING ATTITUDE

95% of your success will stem from your attitude and belief system.  If you think you can . . . you can.  If you think you can’t . . . you can’t.  Our thoughts dictate our success.

Entrepreneurs are a different breed of people from those  who are completely happy to work the 9-5 for someone else all their lives.   Don’t get me wrong.  All people have great worth and all people are called to their destiny in what they pursue.  However, the entrepreneur has a totally different mindset in terms of seeing the possibilities of having, and doing and being more than they ever thought possible.  Their belief system tells them they deserve more, can have more, and do what it takes to achieve that.  They are able to accomplish that with a positive, no hesitation, joyful outlook.

They look at failure not as failure, but as success because they now know what not to do.  It’s all good for them.  It really boils down to their winning attitude.  If you’re going to tackle a business, tackle the attitude, make sure it’s where it needs to be and you’ll do fine.

HAVING A SERVANT HEART

In the network marketing industry, the competition is fierce.  One way you can set yourself a part from others is to lead with serving others.  Always ask yourself, how can I help someone?  What needs does my niche have?  What are they looking for?  Then set out to help them and answer their questions.  Some call this ‘paying it forward’.  Give of yourself and your knowledge to help your fellow entrepreneur.  There’s a newer term for this kind of marketing and it’s called ATTRACTION MARKETING.

The concept is when you become a solutions provider and help people solve their problems, give them tools, resources, coaching and mentoring and help them to have what they want, you become a magnet.  People will become attracted to you in such a way that they want to follow you, be on your mailing list, buy your products and maybe even partner with you in a primary income stream and network marketing opportunity.

A PRODUCT

Of course to be in business you need a product.  Legitimate home based business opportunties will have a product.  Getting started in business with a network marketing company will be different based on the one you choose, however, any more these days, it generally doesn’t require you to stock product and turn your garage into a warehouse.   Just because you run a business from your home doesn’t mean your business has to overtake your home.

There are several home base business ideas, products and companies to pull from.  Make sure of a couple of things as you prepare your research.

1)  No overpriced product.  Product should have more value than what the consumer is being asked to pay.

2)  Company to deliver directly to the consumer.

3)  Generous commissions and leveraged payplan.

4)  Good customer service and support.

5)  Know who your upline/sponsor will be before you join and make sure you resonate with him/her.  They will be your business partner.

6)  Your product is in demand and people would be it even if it were on a shelf at the supermarket without being sold.

In network marketing, you will also have several affiliate products that you offer as part of your menu of services for which you will receive income from.  The idea of being an entrepreneur is more than just being an affiliate or representative for one company.  It’s become your own entity as a solutions provider.

TOOLS THAT MAKE YOUR BUSINESS GO

There’s just a few tools you will use on a daily basis to run a business from your home in network marketing.  My guess is you have everything except 2 or 3 items.  Weight that against starting a brick and mortar business.  Huge difference!

1)  Phone with unlimited long distance capability

2)  Computer

3)  Website software

4) Autoresponder  (This is the center where all your
leads are stored and all your automated emails are
kept and triggered for delivery to your list, 24/7/365.

5)  Video camera (video is key component in today’s marketing)

6)  Video editing software (free stuff online you can use)

You can run your business with just these.  From here, there are add ons you

RESOURCES TO HELP YOURSELF AND OTHERS

Again, you don’t need but a handful of great resources that have real content and help.  In my opinion, there’s an absolute resource when getting started in business especially, and then there are highly recommended resources.  As part of being an entrepreneur in the network marketing industry, you will become a solutions provider and will be therefore recommending these resources as well.  Make sure a resource is valuable before recommending it.

What I have found in coaching true entrepreneurs who are getting started in business in the network marketing industry, is that they have the desire, they are willing to put in the time to learn, they are certainly not afraid to implement marketing pieces, but reading a manual and trying to interupt instructions on how to do something is just not feasible for everyone.  Most people are visual learners.  What happens is that early frustration can rare it’s head and a slow down or even coming to a stop in their progression sets in.

For that reason, the absolute resource, in my opinion, is a training platform that provides video click by click, step by step instructions on how to put all their marketing pieces together and get them out on the internet.

Other resources are products that teach attraction marketing, driving traffic to websites, helping entrepreneurs know what to say to prospects, how to handle objections, utilizing pay per click strategies (paid advertising with Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc.) and so forth.  There are about a dozen on the market that are excellent, several come from Mike Dillard and Ann Sieg.  You can find them through my Resource Library on this blog.

WEBSITE TRAFFIC

Every business needs customers coming through their doors, yes?  It’s no different online and it’s no different just because you run a business from your home rather than a brick and mortar.  The difference is one is on the street corner and the other is in cyberspace.  Cyberspace is a crowded area with many stores.  How are people going to find yours (your website) and what you have to offer?

Well, just like any business, you have to advertise.  You don’t get a free pass because you’ve decided to have a home business.  But your store front is your website.  Your billboards will be your “content”.

Content is information people find that you have put out in cyberspace (on the internet) that answers the questions they were looking for.  Your content will lead them to your website and to you.

Content can be articles, videos, blogs, press releases, banner ads, paid advertising on Google, etc.  Mastering the art of driving traffic (customers), or placing the right content online, is a huge part in determining whether a little or lot of people will come by your store.

Your training platform will show you step by step how to put your content online.

A GOOD FOLLOW UP SYSTEM

When someone comes to your store and opts in to be on your customer list, you want to make sure you have a good follow up system in place.  This is where your autoresponder comes in.  You may have some free gifts or samples for them.  You may have some tips and strategies for building their own business, it depends on what your product is and what their interest is.

If, for example, your product is nutrition related, your follow up correspondence may be healthy recipes, cooking tips, vitamin information.  So, it will be tailored to your product.

If your niche is finding business developers who want to have their own network marketing business, then your follow up will include the “how to’s” of that.

But whatever you’re promoting, give them good value and information and they will want to stay on your list, listen to what you have to say and purchase your products.

GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE AND SUPPORT

This should go without saying, however, I’m always amazed when I continue to get phone calls from people who are not getting the support they need in their business.  When people contact you, return the call, answer the email.  Treat people how you want to be treated.

As you can see, there’s not a lot of differences between owing a brick and mortar store or getting started in business through a legitimate home based business opportunity.  The biggest difference is the cost and time factor which is much greater in your tradition brick and mortar.