Does this sound familiar?

You have always dreamed of running your own home based business.

After searching and researching work at home opportunities, you have found the one with a good business plan and a great product.

Even before receiving your inventory, you are spreading the word about your wonderful new business venture.

You have studied the information, perhaps even memorized it and tell everyone all the details and virtues of your product.

You are not making sales.

How can this be? What are you doing wrong? What is the key to making this work?

Well, there is a key to making sales and that key is to simply stop selling.

Start over again and introduce yourself first. People will want to get to know you before they will be interested in your business or product. Create an irresistible attraction to you and you will never have to sell again.

These are some qualities you will want to develop and nurture.

1. Have integrity in everything that you do and with everyone that you approach or contact. Above anything else, integrity is a virtue you should strive for continuously in your daily life, for yourself, with your family, friends, business partners and customers. Not only will you earn respect, but you will help people to feel at ease.

2. Always be considerate, trustworthy and have a fun attitude. People are naturally drawn to fun people, people with charisma and charm. Some of us have natural charisma, some of us do not, but it is a simple trait to develop. Bring a fun attitude to all your interactions and remember to share your gift. Give everyone your smile.

3. Listen. Stop talking and truly listen to the person speaking. Listen without thinking of a response. Repeat something you have heard back to them, followed by a question or solution. Knowing you are truly listening to their questions or concerns will deepen your customers trust and appreciation.

4. Strive to be dependable, organized and willing to take that extra step. Word of mouth will spread about you when you develop these traits. This the best free advertising you can get for yourself and your business. Whenever someone finds a reliable source they will readily share the information and you have created a win-win situation for yourself and your customer. Keep current with any new products or services provided by the company and share this news with your customer base via email, flyers or a newsletter. Offer a discount on new products and reward both your first time customers and the loyal users of your products and services.

5. Stay inspired, believe in yourself and the company you have chosen. Never stop reading or listening to something inspirational and then pass it on to your family, friends and customers. Gently share your perceptions with others. Offer something of value and interest to your contacts. Not every interaction need be business or sales oriented.

Now that you have some ideas and steps to follow, take the necessary time to rethink your approach. Set some goals, take daily action and be disciplined and determined with your business. Take responsibility for your actions, never give up and remember, whether you think you can or cannot do this, you are right.

Article by:

Karen Singer, a diamond team leader, runs a fun, successful home business. Passionately committed to her customers, she enjoys coaching others to success. To learn more about Karen and her business go to: www.network-from-home.com

One of the most frequent questions I am asked is “how can I advertise for free?” I have never supported methods such as free classifieds. Nobody reads this. If you look, thousands of folks come and post an ad and never read a thing.

I am a very strong supporter of article writing. Article writing allows you to determine exactly what keywords you are targeting and to get very targeted visitors to your site.

I would rather see someone write 3 articles per week versus placing 100 free classified ads in a week.

If you sell children’s toys or children’s books, write parenting articles. Those who read the articles are the very people who are buying toys. If you sell dietary supplements, write health and wellness articles. Again, those who read your articles are going to be people looking for the very product you offer. If you sell make up and skin care, write articles about fashion and beauty.

Who do you want to visit your site? You want potential customers and potential new sales distributors to visit your site. So, how can you make sure that those coming to your site want what you are offering? Write about the topics that relate to what you are selling. Those who search for your articles or find your articles through a keyword search are interested in what you are offering. Parents need toys. When you write about parenting, your audience is the very people who just might buy from you.

Choose a few keywords or keyword phrases that your potential customers might be searching for. Now write about them. Become an expert writer in your field. Write articles that solve every potential problem or question someone might ask you.

Article writing is the best method of free advertising I’ve ever found. Try it. See if you don’t see increased hits to your website that I hope will lead to sales for you.

Article by:

Audrey Okaneko has been working at home since 1983. She can be reached at audreyoka@cox.net or visited at www.scrapping-made-simple.com

- Don't fear! This will get their attention.     By: Chaele McMillan

Article by:

Chaele McMillan is a home based business owner. She owns The Perfect Image (www.theperfectimage.us) Need help with ads? Contact her at paulandchaele3@earthlink.net

Author Michelle Dunn, in her new book “Become the Squeaky Wheel,” explains how you can avoid scaring customers away and keep them coming back. First, find out what your competition is doing, do they have a credit policy? If they do, what is included? What does their credit application look like? How many forms do new customers have to fill out? Do they have good paying customers? Look online, a lot of business website will have their credit applications available online. You can create your own credit application or use one of the samples found in “Become the Squeaky Wheel”. Look at credit applications other business owners are using, are they more than one page? Try to keep your application one page; a half page is even better. The easier you make it for your potential customer, the better your chances that they will fill out the paperwork right there and hand it over. How many times have you taken paperwork from somewhere and then never returned it? Doing this will help you to obtain more credit approved customers.

“I am amazed at how much “stuff” people will jam onto their credit applications and new account forms. This alone can scare a potential customer away, especially if they can go down the road and fill out one easy form and have their product or service.” Explains Dunn. There are a few basic questions you want to ask, and you need a signature if you will be pulling a credit report. There are also some things you cannot ask such as marital status, unless the account will be a joint account. Also applicants do not have to tell you if they receive income from welfare, child support, or alimony. You cannot discriminate against applicants on the basis of sex, marital status, race, color, religion, national origin and/or age, I suggest having your forms printed with a carbon copy that you can rip off and give the customer when they leave. If you have printed your payment terms and conditions on the bottom of your credit applications, this helps you later if the account is ever past due. The customer has a signed copy of the terms and conditions and so do you, this will stand up in court.

The main reason you want to use a credit application as part of your policy is to gather the credit information that you can check to decide if you want to extend credit. You will also use the credit application to help you collect money if the account ever becomes past due. On your credit application you will want to have a statement such as:

“The undersigned herby agrees that should a credit account be opened, and in the event of default in the payment of any amount due, and if such account is submitted to a collection authority, to pay an additional charge equal to the cost of collection including court costs.”

“The undersigned individual who is either a principal of the credit applicant of a sole proprietorship of the credit applicant, recognizing that his or her individual credit history may be a factor in the evaluation of the credit history of the applicant, hereby consents to and authorizes the use of a consumer credit report on the undersigned by the above named business credit grantor, from time to time as may be needed, in the credit evaluation process.”

OR

“My signature indicates that I understand and agree to comply fully with the terms and conditions enumerated in this credit application.” (You would want to use this if you have included your credit terms on the application).

“My signature certifies that everything I have states in the application is correct to the best of my knowledge.”

Consumers get distracted by long forms, especially ones that ask for to much information or are full of legal jargon or long technical terms. Keep your form, short and to the point. Keep the language easy to understand and in laymen terms and watch your customer base grow with good paying customers. Use your credit policy to help your business make more money and grow. The more credit approved happy customers you have, the more they tell others about your business.

Things to look for when checking Credit:

• Have they paid their bills on time?
• What is their outstanding debt?
• How long is their credit history?
• Have they applied for new credit recently and often?
• What types of “credit” accounts do they currently have and how many?
• How long have they been at their residence?
• How long have they been at their job?
• Do they have a good banking history?

Extending credit works in your favor in many ways, and also shows a customer who has been credit approved that you have faith in them and appreciate their business. It also increases customer loyalty. Taking a financial risk for your customers demonstrates that you trust them and are willing to accommodate them.

A credit policy also indicates your business is financially stable. A business in danger of going under does not give its customers the option of paying at a later date. A Struggling business demands payments immediately.

Credit policies increase sales for another reason, some customers are unable to pay for a product or service in its entirety. If a customer has the option to pay for items in monthly installments, they will be more inclined to make purchases which do not fall within their current budgets. Extending credit also has downfalls such as your business could lose interest that you could have earned, even if you put it into a low interest savings account. You can’t take advantage of purchase discounts from your vendors if the funds are not immediately available or they are paying on terms.

You may lack the capital to produce the next job, and may be forced to declines profitable deals from good payers.

Some reasons for extending credit are to meet or beat the competition. If your competitors are extending credit you may want to offer the same. It may be more convenient for your customers to be billed for your product or service. Extending credit may also increase sales; you can use extending credit as a way to establish new accounts.

Article by:

Michelle Dunn has written 5 books in her Collecting Money Series. In addition to writing and marketing her books, Michelle moderates and runs Credit & Collections.com and is writing The Ultimate Book of Credit & Collections for Entrepreneur Press. Excerpts of this article are taken from Michelle Dunn’s book, “Become the Squeaky Wheel, a Credit & Collections Guide for Everyone” available at www.michelledunn.com www.amazon.com and www.credit-and-collections.com

- Making the Sale When the Customer Won't Buy     By: Kara Kelso

Ever had a party online or offline, and had guests say "I love that item, but I can't afford it right now", or "It's so hard to decide, I want all of this!". This is a perfect time to sell all those items to your customer without them having to pay a dime.

If you aren't using this idea already, make sure to put it into action immediately. Have a gift registry form ready to point those customers to should they want extra items they simply can not buy right now.

What they do is fill out their information, special dates (Birthdays, Anniversary, etc), and the products they want. Then, they fill out names and contact information of relatives and friends they know they will be receiving gifts from. You contact the relatives, stating where you received their information and what's on the wish list you hold. Ask them if they would like a reminder before the special date, and which item they will be purchasing.

Simple eh? It's a win-win situation for everyone! You make the extra sale, the gift-giver knows they are buying a gift the other person wants (no guess work or wandering around a mall!), and the one receiving the gift is getting exactly what they wanted but couldn't afford.

This idea works easily both online and offline. Keep several forms handy if you are offline, so you can pass them out at parties or events (Pre-made forms available with the Direct Sales Success Kit). Online you will want to set up a page with an automatic form for your guest to fill out. For an example of an online form, visit:
http://www.soy-wax-candles.com/gift-registry.html

Article by:

About the Authors: Kara Kelso & Anita DeFrank are two busy wahms, and the owners of Direct Sales Helpers. For more Direct Sales Success Tips, visit: www.directsaleshelpers.com/newsletter.html

Find out first if it's a good time to be calling them. People
do not like to be disrupted while they are having
dinner with their family or they are in the middle of helping
with the homework! Start with asking some important
questions. Asking questions will determine what a person's
values are and what's important to them. This makes it
easier to help them.

Before calling someone try not to assume that this is going to
be right for them. Listen for a positive, friendly attitude, and
the willingness to answer some questions. This is an interview
so take charge!

This isn't time for a lot of social chat at this time because
this first call is actually a disqualifying call. After all, this
may not be the right timing for this person so being able
to quickly find this out saves time.

This call should take about 15 to 20 minutes and maybe
even less depending on how long it takes to disqualify.
In some cases the call is over in a few minutes.

Always remember who has the gold! Network Marketing
isn't for everyone. Can anyone do it? Of course......but is
this the right time to make a commitment?

Always say who's calling and where you are calling from.
And that you are calling them back because they
inquired about working from home on the Internet.

Why did they respond to this particular online ad?

What are they looking for?

What do they do now?

Do they work full time, part time?

What sort of interest do they have? What is important to
them? What sort of action have they taken so far to get
where they want to go? How long have they been looking?
What action are they willing to take in the near future?
When are they ready to get started?

Have they been laid off? (If someone has been laid off and has
no income at all this may be the first indication to you that the
timing may not be right for them to start a business. Finding
this out is important because some people may not be in a
financial position to start a business.

Some people are always looking for something for nothing too.
Let them know right away that this is a REAL business
and it's not free. If they are looking for something like
that they are most likely not very business oriented and do
not understand what it takes to build a substantial long
term business.

Some may not even have enough money to put food on the table,
so you need to find out where they're at. Keep in mind this is
a business and any legitimate business venture of value will have
some start up costs. I've read about many very successful people
in this industry who were in desperate situations when they started
their Network Marketing business. They had a very strong desire for
success in this business and they did it on a shoe string,
so it IS possible for some that are determined enough.)

What sort of background do they have?

We've got survey forms that people fill out on our site, so
we go through the questions they checked as follows:

"It says here, Mary, that you're looking for a home based business,
is that correct?"

"It also says that you have experience in Network Marketing, is that
correct?" It also says you have Internet marketing experience.

"Mary, which companies have you been with or are with now?

"What do or did you like about that company?"

"What do or did you dislike?"

"Mary, why are you looking for another company
at this time?"

"When you first joined your company why did you join?"

"It says here that you would have 5 to 6 hours a day to devote to your
home based business, is that correct?"

"It says here Mary, that you have such and such for start up cost for
your business, is that correct?" "Ok great, we can discuss that more
later, right now the purpose of this call is to determine if you fit
the profile we're looking for and from what I've determined so far
about you Mary you fit our profile so our next step is to see if
we fit yours. Does it sound so far like we're on the same
page Mary?

We may also say something like this........

1. Our ability to determine what a person is really interested in and
if this is the right time for them in their lives to start a home based
network marketing business.

2. We're professionals and we believe that follow up is very crucial
for all of us."

"We realize this is a very important decision for you. It's not our job
to convince or talk you into something. It's our job to find out if the
timing is right for you and to get you all the information necessary
so that you can make an informed decision. We're looking for highly
motivated, self starting, positive people that are coachable and willing to
commit to follow our training systems. We show people how to build
their own successful home based Internet network marketing business."
( Really get across to them the seriousness of this business. Be
very confident and show posture because you know that you have
something of value to share with them)

"Mary does this sound like something you would be interested in
hearing more about?"

Note: (If you are new it's very important to get your belief level high by
attending all conference call trainings or trainings in your area if there
are any, reading books on MLM, study your product information,
go to your company events. If you do not feel comfortable making calls in the
beginning make a few with your upline until you feel more comfortable
and always have someone in training on your calls. What we do
is have others on our team listening in in training and we let Mr. or
Ms. Prospect know this. We take turns being on each others calls
in training.

I'm the sort of person that jumps right in and does things. I made a lot
of mistakes in the beginning and still do. I have learned a lot from
listening to my upline mentors! Believe me the calls get easier and
easier as your belief gets stronger and stronger by doing the above
things I mentioned! ) You won't really know how to do it until you.....
Just DO it!

If they start to ask what it is or who you are with, always tell them the
company you're with! You are extremely proud to be representing
your company and the Network Marketing industry, so this is not a
problem for you to say so but you need to let them know that you do not
have time at this point to go into all the details because you have a
lot of calls to make tonight. Say to them...."This call is just to
determine if you fit the profile we're looking for and if you do
we will direct you to an online presentation so you can decide
if this is right for you, does that make sense to you?"

If someone gets really irate, hey you don't have to work with them
do you? They just disqualified themselves, didn't they?

Remember this is your interview and you have the gold! They
may not fit the profile you're looking for if they are showing
you they are not even interested in answering your questions.

"Mary, I'm going to send you all the information right online."

When will you have the time to look at this information?"

If they say 30 minutes or whatever note that and then immediately
make an appointment to get back to them to go over the information.

On this second call have your upline with you to do the call so you
will be in training this time.

We immediately go into the back office of our marketing site,
look up their name and send them the online presentation
right from the site. When they review it we receive an email
back letting us know when they reviewed it. They also receive
an email thanking them for taking action and letting them
know they are just the kind of person we'd love to work with!

Go from there with the second call with the upline. When
they have decided there's a fit direct them to the next step
to becoming a distributor, get them in the loop with the
other team members right away and get them started
with the same system!

Always Expect Success!
Sue

Article by:

Copyright © 2003 by Sue Seward. All Rights Reserved. Sue is an entrepreneur, business owner, wife and mom and has been earning an income for over eight years from home building relationships networking on the Internet. She's a published writer, speaker, and publishes two online marketing newsletters and is a passionate follower of Christ. To find out more visit www.eCommerceHomeBiz.com