Saturday, May 26, 2007

When to NOT Work Your Warm Market

Warm Market

Whether you are new to Network Marketing or a Veteran, one of the first things your sponsor or upline told you to do was to make a list of your friends, family and the people you know and start sharing your new business with them. This list is called your “Warm Market”.
When I started my business back in January 2005 I was told to do just that. It didn’t make sense to me at the time, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on why. Now with a little time and a lot of experience under my belt, I know why being told to work my “warm market” put a knot in the pit of my stomach.

Working your Warm Market

If you have a product or service that is of interest to those on your warm market list then it is certainly OK to share the product or service with them. Your warm market can help you to create “Buzz” surrounding your new business and what you offer. This is also an excellent way to get you into profit quickly.

I would encourage you to use your warm market for retailing your product or service. However in Network Marketing, there is a time and place for everything and attempts to prospect your warm market for your business opportunity is a mistake!

When NOT to work your Warm Market

Sharing the “Business Opportunity” part of your business with your warm market can create a situation that can leave you without friends and the brunt of family jokes.

Beware of using your warm market to prospect for your business opportunity. If you do you could set yourself up for some unexpected pitfalls in your business. Because your warm market is your first affordable choice for marketing your product or service, you want to ensure that they are comfortable calling you or having you call them when they make a retail purchase or contract for your service.

If your warm market feels like they will be “attacked” by a sales pitch each time you call or come around, you risk alienating them from your products, services and personal life. If they expect that each time you call you are going to try and “get them onboard” with your business opportunity, they will just avoid you and that will not put money in your pocket.

Stay on the invitation list of your friends and family by providing them only with your high quality product or service. They will see your success over time and the enjoyment you are experiencing and will want to be a part of it…IF they are interested. Your success through action speaks much louder than words. Get out there and Share your Passion!

Mindset is Nothing without Action!

Cherrie

How to Build a Business on a Budget

Getting a new business started can be exciting and a little scary. This can be compounded if you have limited funds, (and who doesn’t?) to expend towards marketing and advertising. If you want to earn money quickly, retailing is your best option. This is where you make your list and work your warm market.

If you are in a network marking type of business, then you know what your warm market it. You were probably told to make a list of all the friends, family and people you know when you were just getting started in your business. This is your warm market.

Make your warm market list and start to introduce your them to your product line. When they fall in love with your products they will start to share information about you and your business with their warm market and so on, and so on. Using your warm market has the potential to double your amount of “Free Advertising”.

Word of mouth is a great affordable way to advertise any product of service and its free. Make phone calls to your warm market, send them an email and share with them in person.
Depending on what type of product you are marketing, you could suggest your product line for personal use or as a gift giving item. Its possible that your product line could be used in a fund raising effort. You will want to make sure this is ok with your company first. Fund raising is an excellent avenue for retailing your product and generating income. You can quickly get your business into profit without expending a large amount of money.

Visit local shops, car washes, veterinary clinics (anywhere people mill around and wait) and inquire with the owner or manager if they would be interested in carrying your product line on consignment (where you split the profit). You can ask that they pay for the product up front for sale in their store and you’re into instant profit. Some stores will only want to pay you once the product sells which means you have inventory sitting on the shelf before it sells. Long-term income will come with repeat retail customers.

You may want to consider offering a discount for those ordering in multiples. Your buyers may opt for the discount which will round out your required order more quickly and possibly result in more sales overall.

The key to selling a large variety of products when you have limited funds to purchase stock up front is to conduct “Pre-Sales”. With pre-sales you take orders and collect the money at the time the buyer places the order. With this method you collect the cost of purchasing the product and your profit up front. You will have to actively workto sell the required minimum order in a relatively short amount of time so tht your customers don’t have to wait too long. If your customers have to wait longer than 7 to 10 days, they may not order from you again.
If your company offers a product catalog this would be a good investment when your funds are tight. Working a business on a budget is something that anyone can do and everyone should do. Get out there and Share your Passion!

Mindset is Nothing without Action!

Cherrie