If you want to multiply the results you get from your business then consider combining two ideas that work well on their own but offer more than twice the results when brought together.  A network marketing internet business can take the best of both ideas and blend them to get a real impressive return.  The network marketing side has the structure for setting up the organization and the products while the internet marketing side offers an almost unlimited audience for your successful pitch.

As you know, network or MLM marketing has been around in its present form since around the end World War II.  There were actually some companies which utilized different aspects of the multilevel idea but it wasn’t really expanded till the economic growth period of the 1950’s.  The idea is really quite simple, one person is at the top of the structure and he or she brings in other people and teaches them the business.  Part of the training involves showing the new recruits how to go out get more new people.  Of course, there needs to be a product or service that is the actual selling point of the business but in reality it is this ability to expand your sales force which makes you the money.

The real multiplier effect of this program is the fact that you get a commission on any money that people in your down line make for several layers.  This means you get a percentage of the proceeds from the person you sponsor in and then the people they sponsor and the people these newbies sponsor; out to several layers.  The number of layers you make money on really depends on the program.

The biggest problem with network marketing is finding new people to bring in.  You are always going to have a certain amount of attrition no matter what:  people move away, lose interest, or retire.  Because of this the successful marketer needs to constantly be on the lookout for people to add to their down line.  This is the where the beauty of the internet comes in.

There are over one and a half billion people online now and the number is growing by millions every week.  These people represent a huge pool of potential down liners for you. The way you could utilize this would be to reach people who are looking to make extra money or start a secondary business.  You can then educate these people on the positive aspects of the business and bring them into your fold.

Of course, you would have to be sure that the local country laws allow for MLM but most of them do.  Imagine, you have a business which you can market to over a billion people.  You ought to be able to make that work.

The first question when you get ready to implement this marketing plan is to decide on which autoresponder company you will use. There are several good ones online but it is very important to choose one with some tract history. You want to be sure the company will be around so you don’t spend all this time building a sequential autoresponder software program, and collect a large number of names and addresses, just to have the information go away when the company shuts down. You should also choose a partner business that has a lot of options for collecting and manipulating the information you will obtain.

One of the big questions is how you will have your visitors opt-in to your email autoresponder. That is, how will you actually get the people who visit your site to provide the information you require. The best way to do this is to offer something in return. For example, they could sign up for a free newsletter, free report series, or online course. You will provide this information by email so it only makes sense that your potential customers would need to provide their address and contact information.

The next question is where to put the signup form. You can use a banner add and try to write compelling copy which would inspire them to want to get your offering but most people will probably not spend the time to look around your site for a signup. You can also use text links such as, “Click here for more information,” but it is easy for your visitor to read right over these. The best way is to hover the signup form over the web site after the visitor has been on the site for a given length of time. You can set this time limit from one second up to 30 seconds. If you have compelling copy in your landing page then you would want to hold off on splashing the signup for several seconds so the reader can get a feel for the value you offer. If they spend 15 or 20 seconds reading your copy, and like what they read, then they are more likely to want to learn more by giving you the autoresponder lead information. If, on the other hand, most readers only spend a few seconds on your site then you would want to offer the signup for right away to try to capture the information.

Autoresponders, also know as automatic responders, are a great way to continue to get your sales and marketing information in front of your customers over and over until they feel comfortable enough to buy from you.

One of the best methods for business opportunity lead generation is to offer some small item in order to get the potential customer’s contact information. You see this all the time on the web, you will land on a site and they offer you a free 7 day course, or a free 47 page ebook but in order to get them you must enter your email address. Then starting the next day, or maybe even that same day, you start to receive email messages with a little bit of information and a lot of selling. You have become a lead by giving away your email address. This is actually a tactic borrowed from the direct mail marketing industry. Many direct mail offerings make no money, the goal is to break even but to generate a list of names, then the real money is made by continuing to mail to the list of names who already responded. These are very hot leads because they have already committed some money to the program and once a person puts a little money down he is very likely to continue to do the same thing.

Actually there have been a lot of direct mail marketing tricks and tactics applied to online business opportunity leads generation. Another method is to offer a very enticing intro to a possible business but leave some mystery as to what the business is. You would be amazed at how many people can’t stand to leave a mystery alone and will do anything to find out what the answer is. This includes giving you their name and address in exchange for information on the business plan.

If you are planning to buy a home business opportunity lead list then be careful where the names actually came from and how they were collected. There are several levels of names and only the top levels are worth dealing with. The worst list is just a general list of names and addresses that have been collected from who knows where. They could be lifted out of a phone book for all you know. The chances of these people being interested in your product or service are about zero.

The next level of leads are people that have responded to some call for more information. These people could have applied for information on about any subject. So, although they are at least actually looking for something, the chance that it is a business opportunity are very slim. The third level is people who have actually bought something online or through the mail and their names have been generated through this process. These people are willing to put money up but they may not be at all interested in your business.

The top group of business opportunity leads are people who have shown a willingness to find out more about your type of business opportunity. This is a very warm lead because they are interested in your subject but they may be only tire kickers looking for some free information. The hottest list is people who have actually purchased business opportunity literature or programs before. These customers are interested in business opportunities and they are willing to pay money to get the information or knowledge they desire. Now it is just up to you to go out and sell them on why your program is the best.

It really is not worth your time at all to go after a business opportunity lead from a general list. You will get some converts but you will get a lot of rejections. You are better off actually going after the higher quality lead. They are a little harder to get but it is well worth it when you look at conversion rates.

]]> http://www.onlinechristianbusinessopps.com/generating-business-opportunity-leads/feed/ 1 http://www.onlinechristianbusinessopps.com/online-business-marketing/ http://www.onlinechristianbusinessopps.com/online-business-marketing/#comments Mon, 14 Dec 2009 12:26:26 +0000 Andy http://www.onlinechristianbusinessopps.com/?p=156 There is no doubt that the internet has changed how we deliver our message to the consumer. Internet marketing for online business ventures is new in one respect but in another it is the same as it always has been. Most people make the mistake of thinking that marketing an online business is a completely new game requiring a completely new skill set in order to accomplish the ultimate goal which is to sell something to a consumer and thus make more money for the internet business venture.

This is really not true. In fact, if you think the internet offers a completely new way to do business then you really don’t understand what an online marketing business opportunity really is. You still have all the basics of running a business whether it is a mom and pop gas station or a multi-billion dollar corporation. You must have a customer base with a need, or a perceived need, and you must have some way of satisfying that need for the customer that he or she views as a reasonable deal. Doing business on the internet has not changed that at all.

The key to understanding online business marketing is to start with the premise I just mentioned. You must have a customer base which is looking for some solution. It could be a way to make money online, it could be information for a health issue, it could be the latest song or the most up to date fashions. It doesn’t matter what, as long as there is a need of some type. Now that is not to say that you can’t create that perceived need. This happens all the time in advertising whether online or off. You see this a lot in big national campaigns that are geared toward making people realize they had a problem when before they didn’t even know they were lacking something.

But an internet online marketing advertising business will not do this any differently than a business that is based in the brick and mortar world. The fundamentals are exactly the same.

The thing to remember about the internet is it is just a medium that we use to get to our goals. Nothing more. It does not represent a fundamental change in the business structure. It is not a new way of doing commerce. All the web offers is another vehicle for reaching the customer either before the need is perceived or after he is looking for a solution. There have been billions of dollars wasted on ill conceived business plans because this fundamental truth was not realized. People thought that the web was something different than an advertising business. Internet marketing online is nothing more that a very targeted and very effective way to reach individual customers which we have never had before. In that respect it is revolutionary but this does not change our business fundamentals in the least.

Understanding these truths

1. you still need a customer
2. you still need the customer to have a desire
3. you still need to have a solution for the customer
4. you need a way to deliver that solution

allows us to approach an online marketing business with our eyes open. The only thing the web offers is a very effective way to accomplish number four.

If you have been following this blog you know that I believe Christian fundamentals are important to running a successful business.  If you lie, you are going to get caught.  If you cheat your customers, the word will get around and you will no longer have any customers.  If you sell shoddy products, people will stop buying from you.  If you don’t follow through with the service you promised, people will find out and you will lose business.  Can you follow these bad business practices and steal from your customers for a while?  Sure, but this is not a long term business model.  I am in business for the long haul and you should be too.

A long time ago a very successful internet businessman said you should always over deliver.  Always give more for a buck than what you advertised.  In the long run this costs you absolutely nothing because whatever small amount of money is required to provide this over delivering will be more than made up for in repeat business and word of mouth advertising.  This is an example of doing what is right, because it is the right thing to do, and also building up your business at the same time.

If you are looking for a Christian Business Opportunity Online then be sure you are giving your cusotmers more than their money worth.  There are a lot of models that can be used for a Christian online business.  But remember, you are in business to make money sure but your first duty in business as in life is to glorify God.  The money will be worth absolutely nothing if you trade gold for lies and scams.  Whether you offer a product or a service be sure and offer more than is asked for.

This does not mean you have to go bankrupt in you business by giving to others.  Let me give you an example.  Let’s say you sell tents.  When someone purchases a tent from you give them a copy of a small publication that pertains to camping to increase the enjoyment of their experience.  Maybe a small cook book of campfire treats or a book of bible stories that could be told around the fire at night.  Do it as a thank you for their business.  Don’t advertise it because then it seems like sales tactic.  Just give it away as a thank you gift.  It will have profound effects on your business.  And even if it doesn’t, you made someone happy and that is worth a lot.

No matter what your business, stick your Christian tenets and build for the future.  What is it worth to gain the world and lose your soul?  You homework is to start looking for online business opportunities and determine how you can turn them into Christian online business opportunities.

The most important ingredient to any Christian home business is you must find a problem and solve it for people. It can be any kind of problem but the reality is that is what every business, including every online Christian business, is built around. Look at any business and the whole point of that commercial enterprise is to solve a problem for the customers. A restaurant solves the problem of hunger in its clientele. The restaurant also, probably more importantly, solve a problem of boredom. If people only wanted to satiate their hunger they could go to a store and buy a few ingredients to make their own meal. But they don’t and instead they go to a restaurant to eat and more importantly share in the atmosphere. The main problem solved is not hunger but boredom. If you own a restaurant that is a key point to remember.

What can this teach us about how do Christians build a business? The first step to a successful Christian home based business is to find the problem you will solve. One way is to contact Christian business and find out what problems they are solving. You can also find Christian in business who want to make friends and ask them what problems they solve.

Here is a little homework. Go get your copy of the local yellow pages. Pick out 10 different pages and look at the businesses listed in the ads. Write down the business and next to it write down what problems are being solved. As we saw above with the restaurant example it could very well be that more than one problem is being solved. After you have done this for a while you start thinking in the terms of problem solving and you naturally start answering the question how to start a Christian business.

Another source for problem solving ideas is a Christian business directory or a Christian online business directory. Both of these list legitimate Christian businesses and you can do the same exercise to find out what solutions are being offered.

Once you have a problem to solve you must offer good value to your customers. Some people view Christian home businesses in a negative light because they expect more from us than the average business person. They expect we will be more honest and give freer value. Since this is the expectation, this is how we must do business. This is the way I want to do business anyway and I am sure it is the same with you. We are not put on this earth to take advantage of anyone. We are here to spread the Good Word and to find our relationship with our creator.

An internet business is a great way for Christians to make money. Christians blogging for money are solving the problem of a lack of information. By providing information to their readers they are fulfilling the need for knowledge that so many people have. Starting a Christian home based business is not difficult but it does take work and most people really don’t want to do that.

One procedure that works great is to offer your site visitors a free report based on the subject of your website. In order to get the free report the visitor needs to give you their email address. With this address, you can now start sending them informational articles about what you have to offer and keeping in touch with them so you remember who you are. The whole goal of the free report is to build a list of people who you can market to in the future. This method has helped countless Christian entrepreneur to build a success Long Term business on the web.

The key to making this process work is to get the word out about your free report. See MLM email leads for more information on how to do this. You can advertise on line or offline to spread the word about the report you are offering. You can contact a Christian business directory or many to find other websites similar to yours. Ask if you can offer your free report to their readers in exchange for allowing them the same Christian Business opportunity on your site. Building relationships like this can be very beneficial to each of the participants.

If you have a report you would like to offer to the readers here, contact me and we will see if we can trade traffic. The whole key to a successful on line business is getting customers. You want them to visit initially and then you want to keep them for a long time in order to continue to market your quality products to them. Again I must stress this is not spamming it is offering value to your customers. Using email can be an effective Christian Home Based Business strategy.

What exactly is a blog? Blog is the widely used term that refers to web log. This is just an internet program that allows you to easily add content to your website. It is like a journal online instead of in a notebook. Many people are saying that a blog is the best business to start online. The start up costs can be little or absolutely zero depending on the options you choose, so it is a great way to test out a Christian home business idea. This site you are visiting is a blog.

Blogging is great for getting information out to potential customers easily and quickly. All you do is write a few paragraphs and hit publish. The information is now posted to the web. The search engines also really like blogs because the content is usually changed daily or at least a few times a week. Many Christian business opportunities are promoted on blogs. There are also some really good blogs regarding how to make cash online.

With a blog you no longer have a one way dialogue with your customers. Since blogs have a comment section it is much easier for your customers to ask you questions. You can also use the blog to ask your viewer what type of products or services they would be interested in buying. As I have said before, when starting a Christian home based business you must understand what the customer wants in order to be successful. With a blog they can literally spell out exactly what information or product they are looking for.

So how do you start a blog to promote your Christian based business? If you don’t have a web site now I would suggest you start a free blog at wordpress.com or blogger.com. These blogs are absolutely free to set up and run and they are a great way to get your feet wet on the web (get it? Webfeet. Small joke). Who said a Christian home business couldn’t be fun?

Another option if you have a webhost account is to load a wordpress.org blog onto your server and use that platform. These are very similar to WordPress.com blogs but you have to pay for the hosting and they are more difficult to set up. If you are just starting out try a free blog and see how you like it. Start blogging and get comfortable with posting on the web. We will be discussing all aspects of using a blog for an online business as we go along.

Keep visiting here to learn more about how to build a Christian home based business on the web.  You can also visit one of my other blogs at Great MLM Leads.  I am using this blog to show people how to find leads  for their MLM home based business.

You either have an online Christian business or you want to start one.  Our goal at the Online Christian Business Opportunity blog is to help you become successful with your current web business or the new one you want to start.  We offer you cutting edge tools and tips to give you the information you need to build an online business whether you want a few extra dollars a month or a full time income.

Today we are looking at the most basic question you must answer for your business.  It is a question that all of your online business building activities will be focused on.  If you don’t get this answer right your chances of success are almost zero.  What’s the question?

What problem does your web business solve for your customers?

If you can’t answer this question with a short, to the point answer then you are in trouble.  Let’s review how a business works.  You (the business owner) provides a service or a product to your customers.  Why are your customers looking for what you have to sell?  Because they have a problem and they are willing to pay for a solution.  You solve the problem and that customer pays you for making their life easier.  It’s that simple.

That’s all there is to business in the big picture.  Your audience has a problem and they are willing to pay you to solve that problem.  You offer a solution and that solution brings value to your customers because they no longer have to deal with the problem.  They pay you because you have helped them out.  Now granted there are many more parts to a business (and we will help you with those as we go along) but, if you don’t know what solution your customers are looking for you will not succeed.

Let’s look at some examples. A grocery store:  the customer is hungry and the grocer provides food.  The shopper buys the food because is fulfills a need.  A gas station:  the customer needs gas to drive the car and the station sells that gas.  Problem-no gasoline, solution-sell gasoline.  An online Christian book store:  the customer wants to experience stories about the Love of Jesus and the store owner solves that problem by offering a selection of books which fulfill that want.

This is how all businesses work.  Can you name a business that doesn’t?  The whole key to a successful business is to find a customer base hungry for a solution, let them know you have the solution, and then charge them to receive the solution.  If you give value to your customers they will be happy to give you money in return. It is a win-win solution.

So now I have THE question for you.  What problem do you solve for your customers?  What is it you provide that will fulfill a need in the marketplace? 

Is the answer to this question on the tip of your tongue? Is the answer ready to jump off or do you have to stop and think about it?  This is the most important question you can answer to make your business successful.  If you can’t answer this question without thinking then you must stop right now and fill out the blanks in the following statement:

I give my customers _____________________ and I get _______________ in return.

Maybe you think you solve many problems.  If that is your answer then you must distill it down to a statement like the one above.  The internet is so big you can’t be everything to everyone.  The people who are finding success (and there are millions of people making money online) are focusing on small niches and their problems.  The successful online entrepreneurs are becoming experts at solving one particular problem and they are building massive lists of customers by doing so. 

Right now stop and list all the solutions you think you provide and then see what is the common thread in all of them.  If there is not a theme that runs through all the solutions then pick one problem to solve and become the expert in that.  Become the Go To person when someone has that problem.

The knowledge of what solution you offer is the basis for everything you do in your business.  You must understand what problem you are solving in order to be effective.  Otherwise everything you do is just a shot in the dark.

The solution you offer will drive your advertising because the key to advertising is to show the customer that it is in their best interest to do business with you.  It also will drive your product selection.  How can you know what to offer for sale if you don’t know what your customers are hungry for?  Lastly, the solution determines how you will interact with your customers.  If you are a local house painter you will interact face to face, if you are selling books online you will interact through your web page.

Get this part right and your chances of success are great.  Lose sight of this important factor and you will just be blowing in the wind.

If you want to make money online, you must provide a solution for a big enough group of people who will pay you.  Everything else is a waste of time and money.

Today’s post is about a very necessary part of the marketing strategy for your business.  I am talking about your USP or unique selling proposition.  This is what sets you apart from all your competitors and gives your customers a reason to do business with you.  I will explain the USP by looking at the revolutionary path that Jesus gives us.

Jesus gives us a way to eternal life with our loving Father.  Before our savior walked among men, the idea of eternal life was unheard of.  No one else talked about the possibility of living in heaven for eternity.  This is Jesus’ USP or unique selling proposition.  He gave us hope of life with the Father in a state of happiness and joy that would last for ever more.  No one else had ever given mankind this type of promise.

A USP or unique selling proposition is a term that is critical to the success of any business in a competitive market place.  The idea was first developed by Rosser Reese a marketer working for Ted Bates & Co.  Reese stated that an effective USP has three parts and each is necessary to the success of the business.

1. A business must make a proposition to the customer.  The proposition can not just be a bunch of empty promises about how good the product is it must make a direct statement.  It is an agreement that if the customer buys the product, they will receive a specific benefit.  Jesus’s agreement with us is that through Him we can reach life with the Father.

2. The proposition must be unique.  That is, it must be a proposition that the competition either can’t or does not make.  The USP is usually something that sets your product apart from all the other competitors but not always.  Sometimes a USP is developed by stressing a part of your business that everyone else does but does not talk about.  In the case of Jesus, His USP is unique because He is the only path to everlasting life.

3. The proposition must be so powerful and exciting that it will pull new customers to your business to buy your product.  Your USP must be viewed by the customer as something they must have if they are going to be satisfied with the type of product you are selling.  What could be more powerful than a promise of redemption bought with the blood of Jesus?

As you can see Jesus has a very powerful and enticing USP.  He is offering a path back to our most basic goal which is being with our Father through eternity.

Now let’s look at an example of using a USP in business.  Suppose you have an online Christian bookstore.  If you do a search on Google for Christian bookstores you get 1,270,000 results.  It is hard to stand out in this crowd.  But if you search for “Christian stories for teens” you get only 437 search results.  It would be very easy to get your bookstore ranked against 437 competing pages.

If your unique selling proposition is that you specialize in Christian stories for teens then people will go to you when they are looking for stories of faith that their teens can relate to.  You have made the proposition that your customers will find these types of stories on your web page.  The key would be to set up one page for this USP and then set up other pages to target other USPs like stories about miracles, stories about overcoming obstacles, or stories about the effects of prayer.  You would have a unique selling proposition for each type of book.

The internet is a wonderful tool that we are still learning to use effectively to market our businesses.  A big key to success is to find niches which are small parts of the market to target.  A strong USP makes this much easier.

 I hope you found this information useful.  Our prayers are with you.