The MLM business is a tough one to be in.  I've worked with several MLM businesses over the years and and each one presented several challenges that were difficult to overcome. It became clear to me that the MLM business model was not the one that fit my personality, but for the right person MLMs are a good way to reach your business goals.  If you feel that a MLM company is right for you there are 3 key success factors that you should adopt:

1. Find an endless supply of leads
2. Get your leads to trust you
3. Find a way to turn your leads into sales

The following article delves more deeply into each one of these factors.

If you have not yet created success in MLM, then you are probably in the need of a few Multi Level Marketing tips.  Not just one because if you only needed one, then you are probably doing fairly well and you would not be reading this article.  So here are a few of the biggest MLM tips that I can give you.

The first one of these Multi Level Marketing tips that I can give you is that you need an Endless Supply Of New Leads coming into your business.  Now I am not talking about you writing a list of your friends and family.  I am talking about people coming to you that are genuinely interested in your business, either your products or becoming a partner of yours. 

This is what every single person that has had MLM success has done.  They have found a way to consistently generate new leads for their business.  This one tip is the biggest and most important for any success in Multi Level Marketing.

The second of these Multi Level Marketing tips is that you need to get these new leads to Like And Trust You.  This industry is about building relationship.  Through having other people like and trust you they will be more inclined to join your MLM business.  But if they do not trust you, they will never want to partner up with you. 

Now you do this through adding value to their lives.  People always like and trust people that they feel that they are getting value from.  Think of this, why do you go see a movie a friend told you about.  It’s because you trust their opinion.  Same goes with an MLM business. 

The third and final of these Multi Level Marketing tips is about the need for a System To Turn These Leads Into Business Partners.  This is really the whole name of the game.  If you are getting 20 new leads for your business every week, you are going to need to be able to convert these people into business partners.  Every successful person in MLM used a system to turn the leads into business partners. 

A system for walking someone through your businesses products, company, business plan, everything.  After that, you then need to follow up with them and answer their questions.  That is what a system looks like for creating MLM success. 

Understanding these Multi Level Marketing tips and applying them into your business is one of the keys to creating MLM success.  So look at you business and figure out how you actually can apply these Multi Level Marketing tips so that you do have the success that you are after.

From TyroneShum.com:

One of my favorite TV shows ever was HBO’s The Wire. The reasons why I like this show are too numerous to list but I highly recommend that if haven’t seen the show yet add it to your viewing list immediately (the show is off the air so Netflix or buying the DVDs will have to do).  One of the breakout performances on the show was that of Felicia"Snoop" Pearson. Check out sample of her work:

Obviously, the series is meant for mature audiences and may not appeal to many. But Snoop’s performance is fantastic in the series.  I did some research on Ms. Pearson and discovered that she would make an excellent subject of a Successful Failures feature.

Dead On Arrival….almost

According to her bio, Snoop was born premature weighing only 3 pounds at birth. Her chances of survival were low. Her parents were both drug addicts and were incarcerated at the time of her birth so she was raised in a foster home. If things weren’t bad enough, she was raised in one of the poorest parts Baltimore.  If you watch the Wire, which is set in Baltimore, you will understand how growing up in type of environment can impact your chances of having a successful life.  And Snoop was not immune to the affects of her environment. She worked as drug dealer at a very young age and at age 14 she was convicted of second degree murder for the shooting death of a young woman. Snoop served six years in a Maryland penitentiary for her crime. Given everything that she endured during the first twenty years of her life, it would be understandable if Snoop went the way so many people in similar circumstances have gone. It would have been easy for her to end up another statistic; doing more crimes, doing drugs, or simply another victim of streets.  But after prison Snoop decided to change things up and a chance meeting with one of the stars of the Wire led to an audition and eventually a part on the show. 

Sky’s the Limit

Snoop has expanded her success into other areas:

• She published her memoir in a book titled Grace After Midnight
• She has started a music career and has been featured on several hip hop songs and has starred in a few music videos.
• She reportedly has an album in the works.
• She runs a youth drama organization called Moving Mountains, which is aimed at stopping youth violence and keeping kids off the streets.
• She volunteers at prisons and works for anti violence as well as literacy campaigns.

5 Things You Can Learn from Felicia "Snoop" Pearson

• It’s not where you start out, its where you end up.  Life’s not fair.  For every person that’s born into a well adjusted, normal family there’s hundreds (probably thousands) that are born into similar circumstances that Snopp was.  The more able you are to let go of the past and focus on the future, the more likely you are to be successful. 
• Be open to what the Universe has in store for you.  I’m not sure if Ms. Pearson ever had any aspirations of becoming an actress or hip hop artist but when the opportunity presented itself she made the most of it. She didn’t let her past stop her. And she didn’t let the fact that she didn’t have any formal training stop her.  Seek out what you want in your life and chances are good that you will find it…if it doesn’t find you first!
• Stay true to yourself. Ms Pearson was successful in The Wire because she was essentially playing herself. She was able to take all of her experiences growing up in the streets and use them to her advantage. We are the sum total of our life’s experiences.  We can choose to use those experiences to our benefit or be victim to them and use them as an excuse for achieving our goals.  Successful people choose the former of the two. 
• Give back. It’s good karma!!
• Don’t mess with a Baltimore chick! I think this self explanatory! LOL!!
   

From Home Business magazine

For most people, recessions are times when they tend to cut back on their spending on promotions. Or perhaps they hold off on expanding their operations until ‘better’ times. But there are some who see these slow periods as opportunities to expand their businesses and their revenues. Home Business magazine’s August issue profiles 10 home based millionaires that grew their business in bad economic times as well as good ones. Here’s a list of the people they profiled and the businesses they’re in:

1. Matt Morris- Personal Coaching, Mentor, and Author
2. Melissa Evans- Mentor and Author
3. Frank Mckinney-Real Estate, Author, and Philanthro-Capitalist (??)
4. Leisa and
5.  Mark Bates- Hotel/B&B owners, Entertainment, and Inventors
6. Jordan Wirsz- Serial Entrepreneur, Author, and Motivational Speaker
7. Mario Barth-Celebrity Tattoo Artist, Manufacturer of Tattoo Supplies, E-Commerce
8. Lisa Harrington and
9. Kimberly Martinez-Decorative designs for work apparel, E-commerce
10. Robert Shrob-Publishing, Coaching, and Seminars

Common Bonds

As you read through the profiles of these millionaires you pick up on few common themes.

• Each one of them followed their passions.
• Each one took risks.
• They all decided where they wanted to be, figured out a way to get there, TOOK ACTION, and never looked back.
• They all have multiple streams of income.
• All of them came from humble backgrounds and really worked hard to get where they are today. And they still continue to work hard.
• None of them are really that much different from you or me.

Original article written by Priscilla Y. Huff.

 Interesting reading that you might have missed this week.  Read, digest, discuss.

1. Entrepreneurs’ Simple Ideas Can Mean Big Success: Think small, grow big. 
2. Optimistic entrepreneurs offer tips on besting recession:Words of wisdom for surviving a recession from some the country’s top women entrepreneurs.
3. Young entrepreneur opens her second Beauty Loft downtown: At 20 years old the owner of The Beauty Loft, Jessica Lhota , is opening her second retail store. Makes me really regret my mis-spent youth.
4. 10 unordinary tips for entrepreneur women: A great list of tips for every entrepreneur (in my opinion), My favorites: 1,3,6, 7, and10
5. Mint.com Founder Tells Entrepreneurs To Stick To The Basics:When someone can take a company from $0 to $170 million in three years, you should really want to hear what he has to say.
6. Entrepreneur sees future – on his iPhone: I have recommended creating iPhone apps as a good home business before. Its seems like the gentleman featured in this article agrees with me.

 Bonus LoLVideo:

This was the runner up for the Funny Fridays video selected this week. This is YouTube at its best.

Even if  you have been in outer space for the last 100 years or have NEVER work with any females in an office setting you still would have heard of Avon or know someone who uses, buys or sells there product.  Avon has been around for over 100 years and has help hundreds of thousands of people fulfil their dreams of owning their own business. Avon has continued to grow during times of economic hardships so it will most likely continue to do so during the current recession. If you’re interested in beauty and have a kanack for selling then this might be the right opportunity for you.  Keep reading to find out.

What They Say

The world’s largest direct seller of beauty and beauty-related products. With $10.7 billion in annual revenues in 2008 (up 8% from 2007), Avon and its approcimately 42,000 associates no serve valued customers in more than 100 countries worldwide. 

The Pitch

Avon has been committed to being the company for women since 1886, the world’s largest direct seller of beauty and beauty-related products.

Is it a product or service?

A Product- world’s largest direct seller of beauty and beauty-related products.

Is this a Franchise or an independent business opportunity?

Representatives are independent contractors, not employees of Avon Products, Inc.Representatives can earn income in two ways: by selling Avon products as a traditional Representative, or by selling and also recruiting others to do the same.

“is a multitiered compensation program that gives top-selling Representatives, known as Leadership Representatives, an enhanced career path. The program allows Representatives to obtain earnings from commissions based on sales made by the Representatives that they have recruited and trained, as well as profits derived from their own sales of Avon’s products. The program limits the number of levels on which commissions can be earned to three and continues to focus on individual product sales and service to customers by Leadership Representatives.”

The Cost

It’s a pay as you go system. You “pre-sell” their products by using their catalogue, you place orders, receive them, sell them, pay for them and repeat.

Do they offer money back guarantee?

 100 percent money-back guarantee

What Kind of Support Do They Offer

• Web-enablement tools and online training
• Avon provides training for all Representatives around the world
• Training and access to local management
• Web-enablement tools and other cutting-edge online training opportunities
• Participate in a retirement savings plan

What Others Say

Better Business Bureau

Avon is a corporate partner with the Better Business Bureau. They have a rating of A+.  The BBB has 76 compliants filed against Avon. Most of the compliants have been resolved.  Read the full report here. 

Final Say: Overall Grade A+

The products pretty much sell themselves. The only downside is that there may be other “reps” working the same customer base as you. And then it becomes, who they like better.

This review was done by guest blogger Jaime Berguido. Jaime is an assistant investigator here at the Home Business Private Eye. If  have a company or service that you would like to review and post here please email me. 

Interesting reading that you might have missed this week.  Read, digest, discuss.

1. Have you got the moxie? Do you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur? Forget startup capital, forget years of experience, forget having a huge network of contacts.  This article wants you to look deep inside of yourself and ask some pretty tough questions.
2. Finding Money For Your Business.  Not having enough money to fund your business is one of the biggest killer of the entrepreneurial dream.  This post outlines a couple of places to look for additional funding.
3. MLM Business- How to Make Money Online Selling Other Peoples’s Product. MLM’s are still very popular. And there are many legitimate MLM companies out there. The trick is knowing how to pick out the good ones. 
4. Books For Entrepreneurs. I read The Prince years ago. It might be a good time for a re-read. Never heard of the other 2. Can anyone share a few books that they think are good for entrepreneurs?
5. Your JOB (Just Over Broke) is Killing Your Spirit. This one is kind of wordy but I agree that nothing can kill your dreams of freedom and happiness quicker than a job.  That’s why its important to stay focused on your goals and take immediate and consistent ACTION towards acheiving your goals.

 Thousands of Home Businesses Are Started Every Year And Most Of Them Fail Within The First Two Years. Don’t Become Another Statistic.

After years of researching various ways to make money from home I have become convinced that the high rate of failure for home businesses has more to do with the types of busunesses people choose rather than the businesses themselves. What I mean by this is many people choose a home business for reasons like how much money they think that can make or how easy it might to run that business while maintaining their full time job. While these are valid considerations they have nothing to do with whether or not they will be successful in that business.  Every theory on being successful in life has at leadst one common theme: Build your business around your passions and success will come to you. Your passions are who you are. They help to make up your personality. So all of those people that fall for the marketing hype and go after whichever home businessses are popular for moment, are setting themselves up for failure. If you want to avoid making the same mistakes thousands of people make each year then you have to find businesses that match your passions and are suited to your personality. I can help you find those businesses. Let me you a little bit about myself.  

 Are There Any Legit Home Businesses?

A few years ago I decided that I wanted out of corporate life. It just wasn’t for me anymore.  I wanted to make a living doing something that I was passionate about, which was helping people.  But like many of the other ‘wage slaves’ I still needed a steady income to support my family. So I started looking for something that I could do part time to bring in additional income.  I’m sure you can image what I was confronted with; hundreds of sites promising to make help me GET RICH QUICK WITHOUT ANY KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, OR MONEY TO INVEST. All of this while I sat back in a beach chair and waited for the mailman to bring me checks.  I knew these were scams and  I paid little attention to them. But I was amazed at how many sites were dedicated to these types of marketing scams. What was even more amazing was the number of "legitimate, unbiased" review sites that promised to give fair and balanced information and they turned out to be another marketing ploy.  

The AHA Moment

But even staying away from the scams I still found little success with the ‘legit’ part time ventures I tried.  Things like eBay, Network Marketing products, and one on one computer coaching. I even tried being a real estate investor at the height of the real estate boom. And although I had some successes (I made some money) I never felt like a success. It was frustrating because I saw other people not as talented as myself making money doing the same things I was struggling with and I couldn’t understand why.  And then I had my AHA moment! I was still trying to do things I was not passionate about  and I did not suit my personality.  I realized that in order to be successful I had to find something that felt right to me. Something that I was so passionate about that I would do it for free. Shortly after that realization I started my blog, the Home Business Private Eye. And I stated helping people to find and start their own home businesses.  And now I ready to take it a step further. 

I’ve This Heard It All Before

Right now I’m going to stop because I can image what you might be thinking. "Yeah, Dakim, remember those hundreds of Get Rich Quick sites you mentioned earlier? Well, I’ve visited them too. And I’ve heard all of the promises that they make. And right now, you’re starting to sound alot like them!" Let me tell you what I am NOT trying to do here:

• Make you rich overnight
• Give you a secret formula that only the richest of people know
• Sell you a product, real or electronic, that you have to then turn around and sell to other people.
• Get you to join my team and then have you go out and get others to join your team. And so on, and so on.

No, what I am offering is much more simple.  I’m offering to help you find the types of business opportunities that your personality is suited for. Why is it important to find a business opportunity that matches you personality? Think about your life. I’m sure there are things that you can do well but you have no real interest in them.  It could be a sport or an activity like cooking. It could even be the job that you hate but it pays the bills.  Now really think about these activities.  Do you excel at them? The answer may very well be yes.  But I bet that it takes effort to accomplish this.  Probably more effort than you really care to give. And I also bet that you get bored or frustrated with these activities quickly.  The reason this happens is simple, they don’t suit you personally. Now there are people you may know that can do the same activities from sun up to sun down and love every minute of it.  They make it look effortless. These people are not abnormal.  Everyone has some skill or interest that they possess that they are passionate about.  The ‘secret’ to being successful is to match these interests with the ability to make money doing them. And that’s where I can help you.

The Home Business Private Eye Business Matching Service.

Like I stated before the Home Business Private Eye site is about helping people find and start their own businesses.  The site gives truly unbiased reviews of business opportunities and a host of other resources to motivate and educate a would be entrepreneur.  The Business Matching service I am introducing takes it to the next level. I have developed a questionnaire that will help me to find the type of business opportunities that match YOUR  personality and interests. And when you are truly passionate about what you are doing you have a much better chance at excelling at it. Now, you may have come across other services that seem similar to what I am offering. Let me point few unique benefits of my service:

• This is not ‘feeder’ program for a particular service or product. I am not trying to steer you to one service or another. I do not benefit financially from any of the matches I provide to you.
• This is not a computer generated match service. Just don’t match you with whatever businesses are in your zip code. I handle all of the matches personally.  So it’s an organic match
• Each match is based on your unique responses.   

And probably the best feature of this service is that I’m introducing it at a very low price,  $49.95 $25.00 (Limited Introductory Offer for the 1st 100 customers) for 5 matches.  Why only $25? Because I am trying to gauge the market demand for this service. Believe it or not, there aren’t many services like the one I offering. In fact, I couldn’t find one the does it exactly like I am doing it. If you know of one please let me know about it. I want to offer the best service that I can so I would like see if there is something that someone is offering that I am not. So until I can get a better handle on the market, I’m offering to match you for a very nominal amount. To take advantage of this great offer all you have to do is click on this link to the Questionnaire Page and fill it out.  Once I receive your questionnaire I will analyze it and begin searching my database of businesses to find your matches.  You should receive your matches in your email inbox with in 3 business days. That’s it.  The rest will be up to you.

Business Opportunity: Credit Repair 

I’m starting a new feature here on the Home Business Private Eye. I get tons of notices of new home business opportunities but I simply don’t have time to a full review for all them like the ones I done for YTB Travel, American Billing Sysytems, or Shure Pets. But some of the readers might like to know of these opportunities and may start the research themselves. Of course, I wouldn’t be me if didn’t throw in a little extra information to help you choose the right business for yourself.

Last week I recieved a press release annoucing a business opportunity revolving around repairing people’s credit. Given the current economic crisis many people find themselves in trouble financially. The balances on credit cards and other forms of consumer debt continue to grow year over year while at the same time approxmately 20% of Americans have reported being late or missing a payment altogether. This situation has led to the average credit score being lowered for many Americans. So it is safe to say that there is a market for credit repair specialists. Michael Citron of Disputesuite.com claims that his service can train someone to take advantage of the opportunity presented by this situation.

How To Make It Big in Credit Repair

From press release at PRWeb.com:

For many people, the economic situation has been a disaster. Many former auto workers, loan officers and stockbrokers are spending plenty of time on Monster.com these days looking for a new job. But for some industries, the current economy spells the biggest opportunity in decades. Some industries including the credit repair, credit services and credit restoration industries. These industries are flourishing in these turbulent times. Those who are lucky enough to be in this industry have one of the most amazing opportunities available as a home based and or self employed position. Some of these great opportunities include:

the chance to own your own business, be your own boss, and make your own decisions… the chance to make serious money, earn unlimited income, and gain financial freedom … the chance to use your skills to help people in financial distress repair their tattered credit, get back on their feet, and start living again…

There is a wave of opportunity for those in the credit service profession. The need for credit repair services in today’s economy is COLOSSAL. And it’s growing! The wave is here, and those who are taking advantage of it can make it big. Anyone who is considering entering this highly lucrative field should consider 

Is my marketing working? Do I have a massive flow of qualified leads? Is my brand powerful? Is my website fresh and exciting? Is my offer irresistible? Do I have a steady stream of referrals coming from affiliate partners?

 

Things You May Want To Consider

Even though this isn’t a full review, I wouldn’t feel right not giving you some aditional information to consider.:

• Check with local and state governments to see if there are any requirements for certification, insurance, or licenes.
• Check for a professional credit consulting organization. Consider joining them to help establish creditability.
• There is a lot of competition in this industry. There is also much money that can be made.
• The industy is filled with scams (name one that isn’t). Potential customers will have to trust you before doing business with you. 
• Many of the strategies that credit repair specialists employ are easily done by anyone, including your target market. But people still pay for the convenience of having someone else doing it  so don’t be discouraged. 
• If you are an INVESTIGATIVE personality typye then this opportunity made right up your alley. 
• Michael Citron is hosting a free webinar to sell his program.  The webinar is August 20th at 3pm EST, you can register here