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SET IT AND FORGET IT: AUTORESPONDERS

How would you like to have 100 percent automatic marketing? While a truly 100 percent hands-off system is a fantasy, I can tell you that achieving a 98 percent automated marketing system is not, when you use something called autoresponders. An autoresponder is the Internet’s equivalent of a fax-back system on steroids…lots and lots of steroids. All your prospects do is fill out a form on your web site or send a blank e-mail to a special address, and presto, your autoresponder system will send an e-mail out to them on autopilot. The system is completely hands-off for you once you program the autoresponder with your e-mail messages. (For an example of a down and dirty autoresponder sign-up form in action, visit www.InstantMLMSalesLetters.com and go about three-quarters of the way down the page. You’ll see how I give away samples of my site for free when people simply enter a name and e-mail address.)

Now here’s where it gets exciting and why I consider autoresponders one of my secret weapons. You can have the same autoresponder system set up to send your prospects a series of e-mails and messages, completely on autopilot and on a schedule you determine. You can send them e-mails for a week, or one a day for a year, or one a month, whatever you want to happen. This sequencing feature is what makes autoresponders extremely powerful. You only have to do the work once to set up the autoresponder messages and then they’ll go out forever, until you pull the plug. I’ve tested many third-party autoresponder systems and highly recommend www.AutoresponderProspecting.com to get you started. It’s very inexpensive and very easy to set up.

So exactly how should you add autoresponders into your network marketing business? I recommend you build three main autoresponder lists:

1.Prospects and leads. With this autoresponder, you can constantly communicate with your prospects and educate them about network marketing and your opportunity.

2.Customers. You should use this list to keep in touch with your existing customers and build a relationship on autopilot. Educate them on how to best use your product or service. Ask them for testimonials and questions. Encourage referrals. And even let them know about other things they can purchase from you.

3.Downline. Do you have a certain amount of training and education you want everyone in your team to get? Then use an autoresponder to help out. Not only can you make sure important information gets to each new team member, but you can also send out broadcast e- mails on a regular basis to remind your downline of conference calls, announcements, and other important events.

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Over time, I have received many questions about e-mail prospecting, how to get past the spam filters, how to use autoresponders, and more. So if you want answers to any of those questions and step-by-step training on how to use autoresponders, plus a sequence of letters completely written for you, visit www.InstantMLMEmails.com for more details.

I’ve made tens of thousands of dollars using autoresponders in my business. Not a week goes by where I don’t make money from something loaded into my autoresponder. It’s a beautiful thing! All of the sorting, prospecting, and selling is done by my autoresponder, not me. Thanks to technology, the e- mails look like they are coming directly from me and are even personalized with the first name of the recipient.

With that having been said, do not be overwhelmed by the idea of creating a massive amount of messages. Even though some of my autoresponder sequences send messages for over a year, I certainly didn’t start that way. I added a new message every week, or once a month. If you do the same, before you know it you’ll have a great autoresponder making you sales and appointments month in, month out.

Here’s an important tip: Most people ask for only a name and e-mail address when creating autoresponder sign-up forms for their web site. This is a huge mistake—and one I used to make. With spam filters proliferating and the government slowly getting more and more involved in regulating e-mail, you should be capturing your prospect’s complete contact information. That includes address, phone number, fax number, and the like. If you’re putting all your eggs into one basket, you’re going to be in big trouble with e-mail delivery problems down the road. I’m slowly collecting full contact information for all of my prospects now, and you should, too.

THE INTERNET GOES OFF-LINE:

POSTCARD PROSPECTING

Okay, so in a chapter about Internet methods, why am I talking about using postcards in your business? Simple. Thanks to the Internet you can now use inexpensive, effective direct mail in your business and never have to touch a postcard or lick a stamp. Using the United Status Postal Service, you can now send dirt-cheap postcards right from your home computer (visit www.USPS.com/netpost for details). The only catch is that the recipient has to be in the United States, although I predict that will change in the future. With e-mail not being as reliable as it used to be and with spam on the rise, your mailbox is less overflowing than it ever has been. In fact, I just read a study showing direct-mail response rates at an all-time high. So what are you waiting for?

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You should use postcards for the same three groups of people I mentioned in the preceding section. In addition to those groups, here are a few more ideas to get your mind going.

•Send a thank-you to new customers.

•Send a postcard for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Halloween, and so forth.

•Promote a special discount your company might be running on joining your business or buying products.

•Announce a new product.

•Ask for testimonials.

•Wish people a happy birthday.

•Send out a monthly postcard newsletter.

•Remind your downline of their goals with pictures of cars, exotic locations, and so on.

Use your imagination and you can come up with many different postcard ideas. Simply decide what the end result is (phone call, visit to web site, e-mail to your autoresponder, or others), and then work backwards. The more creative you get, the more fun you and your recipients will have. And if you’re using these postcards with a cold list of prospects, this is a wonderful way to have them raise their hands and contact you once you get them interested.

If you’re serious about cutting through your prospects’ clutter and really catching their attention, I highly recommend adding postcards to your business. I invite you to stop by my www.PostcardProspecting.com web site to get more details on using postcards in your network marketing business.

YOU’RE THE EXPERT:

WRITING YOUR OWN PRODUCT

This method—writing your own information product—is one that many of the network marketing gurus use to build their downline on the back end. They’ll sell you generic training tapes, books, or CDs on the front end, and then on the back end, they’ll invite you to join their team.

It works. Why? Because you look up to them as the expert since they made themselves published authors. And people are always attracted to the leaders and experts. So how can you leverage being The Expert? Easy. Create your own information product. Although you can make CDs, tapes, books, binders, manuals, and more, the easiest, quickest way to publish your own product is by creating an e-book. Simply put, it’s just like a regular book, except

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when people buy it or pick up a free copy, they download it and read it on their computers.

But what should you write about? That depends on your goal. If you want your e-book to bring you new prospects, I would pick a niche and write an e-book about how to earn extra money for that niche. For example, my background is as a professional theater performer and director. So if I wanted to recruit other theater professionals, I could easily write an e-book called Attention Actors! 5 Proven Ways You Can Earn a Second Paycheck—Without Waiting Tables or Even Leaving Your House!

Or, if I wanted to sell a health product that would help people avoid cancer (or any other ailment your product or service helps to relieve), then I could write an e-book on The #1 Way to Live a Cancer-Free Life! For a longdistance service: How to Save 36% on Your Long-Distance Bill Every Single Month—100% Legally!

Got the idea? Your goal should be to write to one specific group of peo- ple—a certain niche or occupation. Provide them with useful information that speaks to them. And throughout your e-book, gradually make the case for why your product or opportunity is the only one that solves their problems.

Relax, this is a lot easier than it sounds. In fact, even if you can’t write, can’t type, or flunked high school English class, you can quickly and easily write your own e-book in as little time as seven days. A friend of mine, Jim Edwards, has an excellent web site that helps you create your new e-book in just one week. If you want to be considered an expert on a topic, I highly recommend www.OneWeekeBook.com. Or, if you want someone to ghostwrite your e-book, visit www.eLance.com to hire a writer for a few hundred bucks.

Regardless of which method you choose, the moment you publish your own e-book, you almost instantly become an expert on whatever topic you write about. And that newfound celebrity can create a flood of profits for your business.

THAT TIME OF THE MONTH:

PUBLISH A NEWSLETTER OR E-ZINE

The next few Internet methods are going to be short and sweet, but don’t discount them. They are just as potent and profit-producing as anything else I’ve taught you so far! And this method—publishing your own newsletter—is no exception.

You can publish either via direct mail or online. You can use the same USPS service I recommended earlier to send full newsletters, in addition to just postcards, or you can publish online. If you go the online route, I highly recommend you still collect full contact information when people sign up for