Word of mouth marketing is considered by many to be the most desired form of marketing. The trust, referrals, and overall brand building buzz that’s garnered by customers spreading the good word to prospects is worth its weight in gold. Some products, services, and experiences naturally produce chatter, but there are certainly things that any company can do to stimulate word of mouth and cash in on the buzz.

Here are five way to get your customers talking about you and your organization:

1) Ask them – the best word of mouth starts with “word of listen.” Call your customers up and ask them why they buy, why they stick around, and why they tell their friends about you. You might be a bit surprised by their answers. Hint: it’s usually not the stuff you have in your new marketing brochure. You stand a far greater chance of attracting the right customers and the right buzz if you really understand what your current customers value about doing business with you. This goes for online and social media listening as well – what are they saying in chat rooms, blog comments and on twitter?

2) Teach them – sometimes great word of mouth just happens, but sometime you’ve got to help it along. One way to do this is to make sure you are teaching your customers how to spot an ideal client, what a prospect in need might say when looking for your products, and how to properly and concisely describe how your company in different. Of course, in today’s hyper social media world you should also be teaching your happiest customers how to write reviews on Yelp, Insider Pages and CitySearch type rating sites.

3) Include them – People like to be asked what they think, it’s just human nature, but it’s also a great way to get some sound advice. Create a round table discussion group made up of select customers and charge them with advising you once a quarter or so on new marketing and business initiatives. (Reward them for this in some way as well.) This can include advising on everything from a product extension to the look and feel of your web site redesign. Members of your marketing round table will become natural ambassadors for the brand. (You can do this with simple video chat meetings – tinychat)

4) Star them – Letting a customer testimonial or success story go uncaptured or untold is downright criminal in WOM circles. Go out and get a TouchMic MityMic to record customer testimonials to your iPod or get a Flip video camera and start doing video interviews with customers to record their success stories. These “real life” bits of content are gold and turn your featured customers into talking referral billboards for your brand. Want to take this idea up a notch? Hold a customer party and film a dozen or so at one time in a great atmosphere – this alone will get your customers talking.

5) Surprise them - I like to think I saved the best for last – few things get people talking faster than surprising them. This can include doing something that was out of the blue and much appreciated to just giving them more than they bargained for. I remember a PR firm that was pitching me some business and the account rep showed up to meet with an apple pie (I’m still talking about it.) I once worked with a financial planner that hired a mobile auto detail firm to detail his customer’s cars during their annual review – that created some buzz.

Bottom line of course is that you’ve got to do good work, do something that somebody appreciates, and create an experience worth talking about, but then, prime the pump and leverage all that greatness.

Post courtesy of very popular blog Duct Tape Marketing by John Jantsch

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If you’ve spent any time on Twitter you may have seen ‘Unmarketing’.  Scott Stratten is the ‘Man’ on Social Media, Viral Marketing, & Customer Engagement.  Check out why he’s the one to follow and learn how to engage in your list not just build it!

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A great article written by ROHIT BHARGAVA & provided by http://www.openforum.com/

What made Seinfeld one of the best television shows ever? A big part of it was his ability to based an entire episode on an everyday observation.  Over the run of the show, this method gave viewers such memorable moments as double dipping (taking a bite and then redipping the chip into the dip) and Festivus (a made up holiday for the non-religious to celebrate during the “holiday season”). Seinfeld stood out because every episode gave us some central truth we already knew but never thought about.
How effective could your marketing message be if you managed to relate it to an observation like those on Seinfeld?  There was a perfect example I saw on television last week for an unlikely brand.  The ad featured a guy in a red, white and blue sweatsuit sniffing various objects happily.  It starts with obscure things like carpets and curtains – and eventually you get the sense that he’s on a cruise ship when he looks over the side and sniffs the uniform of the Captain.  At the very end, he utters just one line – “mmmm … new ship smell.” And you see the logo of Carnival Cruise Lines.
How many other cruise lines could have run the same ad?  Probably any one. Most of them have some new ships.  But this ad delivers a powerful message based on a truth that we all intuitively know (that new car smell we knew once).  The brand message: we have ships so new they still smell new.  And if you’re going cruising, of course you want a new ship.
You can see the full ad below.  After you watch it, think about what central truth your customers all know that you could focus your marketing on.  Sometimes you might find your best marketing idea inspired by a show about nothing.

Rohit is a founding member of the 360 Digital Influence group at Ogilvy, one of the largest agencies in the world. He is author of the best selling new marketing book Personality Not Included, a guide for small business on how to be more authentic, keep your customers and inspire your employees, which has been published globally in 8 languages.

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This mlm lead generation case study describes mlm lead lists and generating MLM leads using YouTube video. YouTube MLM Lead Generation is easier when you know what you’re doing.

There are many ways to generate mlm leads for your MLM or network marketing business opportunity. Some are more expensive than others. Some require more time than others. Some produce more targeted leads than others.

Regardless of how you generate your mlm leads, time and money are your main considerations.

A few months ago my old mentor called me. Randy is his name. Randy is the top distributor in a health and nutrition company. Randy burned through his warm market years ago. And since then, he’s burned through his old downline members as well. Now Randy finds himself in the same boat as most mlm distributors I know; he has no one to talk to. He has no one to prospect for his MLM business opportunity.

So Randy called me to ask about mlm leads and mlm lead generation.

Randy told me that he only wants to talk to people that know about him and his company… those that have an interest in doing what he’s doing. You could say that he’s looking for a pretty targeted lead.

Randy told me that he’s heard that a person can generate MLM leads using YouTube video. He said that he has convinced his corporate office to send a full video production team to his home. The plan is to follow he and his wife around for a few days and show his “lifestyle”. That way those people that want to do the same can contact him for more information.

That all made sense.

That conversation was 4 months ago.

A couple of days ago, I was thinking about Randy so I decided to go to YouTube and see if I could find his video. I did a search for his name and found one video. As I watched it, I found it to be a technically well produced video. Clearly his company had spent some time and money producing this video.

The video content was Randy talking about Randy. Randy and his wife described their lifestyle and how their company provided that lifestyle to them through the business opportunity.

Next I looked at the YouTube mlm video play stats. You can usually gauge the success of a video based on its play stats.

I found that Randy’s mlm video had been posted at YouTube for 2 months. In that time, the video has been viewed 195 times.

2 months.

195 views.

“Wow” I thought… “That’s a big financial investment for 195 views.”

I took a closer look at the play stats. Here is what I found:

* 6 video views originated from bing.com searches. That’s good because it sent more eyeballs to the video. At the same time, it is clear that there are not many people searching for Randy on the Internet – only 3 people a month over the past 2 months.

* 4 video views originated from a youtube search of the person. Again that’s good. But again, it’s clear that not many people are searching for Randy on the Internet.

* 20 views came from facebook. That’s one way to get the video found outside of YouTube.

* 160+ video views came from embedding the video on their company site. Again, that’s another way to get the video found outside of YouTube.

So it seems that outside of direct plays from facebook or the company website, Randy’s video was only viewed 10 times over the past 2 months. Those plays were the result of direct searches on his name.

Hmmm… so much for YouTube sending Randy a lot of new prospects like he was hoping.

Again as a reminder… mlm lead generation is all about “time” and “money”.

So what were Randy’s time and money investments in his YouTube mlm lead generation?

While I don’t have the direct numbers so I’ll make some estimates.

I’m guessing Randy spent at least 2 days preparing the scripts for the video shoots. I’m guessing another 2 days to shoot the videos. And I’m guessing another 2 days to review and edit the video with his design team.

That’s 6 days for Randy.

If his wife did the work with him, then you can double the time. Make it 12 days.

If a corporate staff member did this with Randy, add on another 6 days.

If a video producer took 2 days to shoot and 2 more days of editing, then add on another 4 days.

Now you have a potential of at least 22 days of time spent producing this video.

Now let’s take a look at the money.

Randy says his time is worth $1,000 a day. So that’s $12,000 if you include his wife’s time at the same rate. Let’s say video is $1,000/day also. And let’s say corporate is billed at the same rate. That’s 22 days at $1,000/day or $22,000 to produce the video.

$22,000 invested in producing this YouTube video.

195 views total in 2 months.

10 people found the video from direct searches for Randy.

I don’t know about your mlm organization but most distributors I know can’t afford $22,000 for a YouTube video that only produces 10 new people in 2 months time.

And that’s 10 new people that found the video. We’re assuming they’re new people and not just old acquaintances that were trying to find him.

How many people will it take to view the video before someone will seek out Randy for more information? Will 1 person out of every 100 ask Randy for more information?

If 10 new people find Randy every 2 months, then that means that it will take a total of 20 months for a total of 100 new people to view Randy’s video before someone contacts him.

20 months to generate one mlm lead at Randy’s current rate.

Wow!

If you take this information at face value, you’d have to say that Randy’s mlm lead generation method of using YouTube isn’t producing the results he’s probably looking for. And I couldn’t disagree with you. But in all fairness, Randy’s results are poor in part because – in my opinion – his team doesn’t know what they’re doing. They don’t know how to use the video or the YouTube website to get the mlm lead generation results their looking for.

Let me explain…

The use of “tags” is important when finding information on YouTube. Assigning a “tag” to a video is one method that YouTube uses to categorize videos on their website. Some people know how to use “tags”. And some don’t.

Let’s take a look at Randy’s video tag information.

Randy used 7 video tags to categorize his YouTube video.

The first Youtube video tag produced 263 search results. When I sorted thru those search results, I found Randy’s video on page 5 at position 83 in the search results. Most people won’t search thru 5 pages of videos to find Randy.

The second tag produced 448,000 search results. Those results listed videos from an industry unassociated with Randy’s industry. Randy’s video was not found in the top 100 videos of the 448,000 listed.

The third tag produced 166,000 search results. Those results listed videos from an industry unassociated with Randy’s industry. Randy’s video was not found in the top 100 videos of the 166,000 listed.

The fourth tag produced 11,400 search results. Randy’s video was not found in the top 100 videos of the 11,400 listed.

The fifth video tag produced 480,000 search results. After sorting thru pages of soft-porn video listings, I determined that Randy’s video was not found in the top 100 videos of the 480,000 listed.

The sixth video tag produced 480,000 search results. After again sorting thru pages of soft-porn video listings, I determined that Randy’s video was not found in the top 100 videos of the 480,000 listed.

The seventh video tag produced 455 search results of his product’s main ingredient. Randy’s video was not found in the top 100 videos of the 455 search results listed.

So What’s The Bottom Line?

The bottom line is that “YES”, you can generate mlm leads using YouTube mlm lead generation videos. Just understand that it will cost you a certain amount of time and money to do so. The amount you spend on each is entirely up to you. The better you get, the less you’ll spend in both time and money.

Do you want to generate your own mlm leads using YouTube?

If so, here are my top 5 tips to generating mlm leads using YouTube MLM lead generation: READ MORE

This post courtesy of http://www.mlmleads.com/

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While many people suggest you to always focus on long term goals, I say you need to focus on the short term goals first – getting positive cash flow right from the beginning.

Why you ask? To survive in this business, that’s why.

Let’s be brutally honest with ourselves, you’ll quit if you keep on getting negative cash flow right? It’s okay, no one would call a money pit a business after all.

But the problem is, you can’t avoid having negative cash flow in the beginning because of your monthly auto-ship cost. And I haven’t even mention about the additional marketing costs.

Considering that much costs involve, many people took around 3 months to break even…and maybe more.

Let’s face it. On a monthly basis, if you get 100 leads, how many people can you recruit? Probably 2 or 3. Yup, if you’re brand new, 2%-3% conversion rate is quite good already.

Assuming that your direct downline also active, after 3 months, you probably get a total of 12 downline. Now, let’s estimate that on average, each downline earn you $5 per month = $60/month. This barely covers for your monthly auto-ship. Don’t forget that you also have advertising budget to cover.

Now this is where many upline suggest you to look at the other end of the rainbow by saying that after 6 months, you’ll be making profits. Yes you might…and if you’re cool with it, it’s okay.

But are you really okay with the idea of keep losing money for 6 months straight?

I don’t know about you, but many people sure aren’t. 97% failing rate is not a joke. Most people quit after losing money for 2 months…not to mention 6 months.

That’s why I said that if you just starting out, you need to focus on the short term goal first: getting positive cash flow. If you at least break even from the beginning, I’m sure you’re smart enough to decide to continue. Am I right?

This where the concept called “Funded Proposal” comes into play. The goal of this concept is to make money upfront to cover for your auto-ship and advertising expenses while still building the residual income at the back end.

So here’s how it work…

1. Promote Generic Information Product about MLM at the Front EndThe truth is, people are more comfortable paying for information that teach them how to make money rather than joining an opportunity which they have to put the money where their mouth is. It’s just the way people are.So the smarter approach is to first promote a generic info product that teach them how to succeed with MLM. Now this will surely convert better and you make affiliate commission for each sale. This upfront commission will then cover for your expenses, resulting in positive cash flow right from the beginning.
2. Pitch About Your Opportunity at the Back EndGenerating upfront commission is not the only advantage of Funded Proposal. After they have purchased your affiliate product, they are surely more eager to join a MLM business right away. This is where you come in. By this time, your prospects are also already familiar with you and a substantial relationship has been built. If they like the product you’re recommending, trust has been established and they will likely to listen to what you have to offer.

Can you see how smart this strategy is? It’s not just about making money fast, but it also converts better.

Go back to the first case, assuming that out of 100 leads only 3 people joining, it surely ineffective to let the other 97 just go like that. After all, you’ve spent money to gather them.

While only promoting your main opportunity works as well, it surely slower and more ‘expensive’. If you can generate positive cash flow right now and also later on, why don’t you?

Post originates from Reyn Aria author of the blog Internet Network Marketing Expert Tips.  Check it out today!

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I recently wrote a post about how if you have to choose only one social media tool as a direct seller, Facebook is probably a good choice. A large majority of your target market is probably already on Facebook, and it’s a great way to reach people who may be interested in buying, hosting, or joining your direct sales business. It’s primarily a relationship-building tool, however, and not a direct marketing tool. You build relationships on Facebook so that later you have the opportunity to market more directly, once someone has opted in.

If you decide that Facebook is the tool for you, it is important that you don’t become “that girl” or “that guy” on Facebook. You know the one I mean. The one who makes every status update a pitch for her or his business. The one that everyone learns about the “hide” button in Facebook for.

So here’s my list of Annoying Facebook-ers, Direct Sales Style. Don’t be one of these!

1. The Sales Commercial – This is the direct seller who constantly subjects everyone to a steady barrage of, “My company is having a SALE!” “I’m so excited about the new catalog! Check out my website now for all the latest products.” Or perhaps, “I’m placing my order at 9:00 pm tonight. Be sure to get your orders in now so you can get your products.” Seriously, just don’t do this. People really don’t appreciate it, and will get tired of you quickly.
2. The Recruiting Commercial - Similar to the Sales Commercial, this is the person who subjects you to a steady stream of why you should join his/her team, the latest recruiting promotion the company is offering, constant invites to his/her opportunity meetings, etc. Folks, recruiting is a one on one activity that is accomplished after LISTENING. Your status update is not the place to broadcast your opportunity to the world. If you really want to recruit people through social media, build relationships and find people that actually need what you have to offer. Then share your opportunity privately, in a way that meets the needs of the prospect.
3. The Hosting Commercial - This is the one where you just roll your eyes as they say things like, “I’m giving away $500 in free jewelry this month. Want some?” or “I have 5 slots for 5 lucky ladies to host a party with me. Contact me to book your date!” Honestly…this really doesn’t work. Maybe once in a very blue moon someone will take pity on you and book a show. But you’ll be much better off building relationships and TALKING to people. Repeat after me…”Broadcasting doesn’t work in social media!”
4. The Shameless Self-Promoter - This is the person that constantly tells you how much product they’ve sold at their last party, how many people they’ve just recruited, all the awards they’ve won through their company, etc. While once in a while sharing your excitement about something is fine, doing this all the time gets old really quick.
5. The Noisy Player - You’ve played Farmtown, Bejeweled Blitz, or whatever the latest and greatest Facebook game or Quiz is, and you’ve released it into the news feeds of every single person connected to you. Folks…people don’t CARE. All this does is clutter up the news feeds of folks that don’t want to see your scores. And annoying people really isn’t great for business.
6. All Business Broadcaster – These are the folks that never share anything personal through Facebook. You have no idea who they are, but only know what they sell. Folks, this is called SOCIAL media for a reason. If you’re not willing to let people get to know you on a more personal level, then perhaps social media isn’t for you. (That’s not to say you have to share EVERYTHING. Just intersperse the business with some personal, to help people know, like, and trust you.)

If you’re going to use Facebook to help build your business, invest some time to learn how to do it properly. That way, the contacts you build on Facebook may actually benefit your business. Why not sign up for my newsletter? I provide lots of tips on how to use social media to build your business.

Post provided by Jennifer Fong author of Helping You Achieve Success in Direct Sales and Social Media.  Jennifer Fong helps direct sellers leverage the power of social media marketing to increase sales and recruiting, and provide superior customer service.

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posted by hellomynameisscott

Emerson once suggested, “Make yourself necessary to the world, and mankind will give you bread.”
Bread meaning support and livelihood.
Bread meaning money and financial reward.
Bread meaning nourishment and sustenance.
Dee-licious.
Unfortunately, as profound as that quotation is, there’s never been much of a how-to on the topic.
Until now.
Here’s a list of nine strategies for making yourself necessary to the world:
1. Be essential. Whenever there’s a technology-related problem in my family, my Dad is the go-to guy. Not because he’s a computer engineer. Not because he can fix everything. But because he’s a master problem solver. See, as a veteran CEO, the thought process he undertakes to approach challenges – organizational, electrical or interpersonal – revolve around logical, linear thinking.
Not everyone in our family can do that. And that’s what makes my dad necessary to the world: We’d be screwed without him. To whom is your unique thought-process essential?
2. Be inescapable, inevitable and unavoidable. In Jeffrey Gitomer’s Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, he revealed the genius behind sales legend John Patterson: “Rather than just trying to sell the concept of a cash register, Patterson create the demand for a receipt.”
Cool. Because that way, Patterson didn’t have to sell. Every consumer who made a purchase and demanded a receipt made the sales pitch FOR him. All Patterson had to do was supply the cash registers. (And then ring one of his own!) He was necessary to the world. How could you make it impossible for people to NOT do business with you?
3. Be the cure, the answer and the shortcut. Halfway through Pulp Fiction, mob hit men John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson run into a BIG problem: They accidentally shoot their key witness, Marvin, in the face. Naturally, the backseat of their car is a bit messy.
In a panic, they call their boss, Marsellis Wallis, for help. And his response is, “You ain’t got no problems. I’m on it. Go back in there, chill those guys out and wait for The Wolf, who should be coming directly. Feel better?”
Upon hearing who was on the case, Samuel L. Jackson replies, “You’re sending The Wolf? Shoot. That’s all you had to say!” Twenty minutes later, Harvey Keitel shows up to their house dressed in a tuxedo, rings the doorbell and says, “HELLO, my name is Mr. Wolf. I solve problems.”
Now that’s what I call being necessary to the world. Maintaining such a positive reputation that when people hear the mere mention of your name, a wave of calm comes over their soul. What are you the shortcut for?
4. Become a possiblitarian. Norman Vincent Peale coined this term in his book, The Tough-Minded Optimist, which I recently bought for three bucks at a book fair in Brisbane.
“With a possiblitarian, you get the idea that he actually enjoys problems. That life would be dull without them,” he wrote. “And when the gloom artists sit around, taking dismal views, they wonder why they never saw the possibilities in the first place.”
Your challenge, according to Peale, is to walk around the problems mentally and prayerfully and see what you see. He contends that you will never see a problem that doesn’t have a soft spot if you just keep on poking.
I totally agree. It’s about facing problems artfully and loving them enough to convert them into something beautiful. It’s about asking people this question:If, overnight, a miracle occurred, and you woke up tomorrow morning and the problem was solved – what would be the first thing you would notice?
5. Become noticeable in your absence. Not only do you want people to notice when you’re away, you want people to miss you, too. To wonder: (1) Where you’ve gone, (2) Why you’ve left, and (3) When you’re coming back. And not in that stalker, micro-manager, Big Brother kind of way. But from a baby-I-love-you-so-please-don’t-go kind of way.
It’s like driving cross-country with so many boxes in the back seat that your rear view mirror becomes useless. And what happens is, you still look in the mirror out of habit, but because it’s blocked, you suddenly realize how often you actually use it.
Ever happen to you? That’s being noticeable in your absence. Compelling customers to look in the rearview mirrors of their daily lives and think, “Damn it! I wish Steve was here.” Who misses you when you’re gone?
6. Develop signature and singular capabilities. After finishing a marketing workshop in Great Falls, Montana, my client took me by Fritz’s Auto Repair Shop. Now, for some reason, I kept hearing about this place from all the locals.
When we arrived, I asked my client, “What makes Fritz’s so popular?” He smiled and said, “Well, just look around. What do you notice about the cars in lot?” And then it hit me: They were all Cadillacs. Every last one of them. From ’56 Coupe de Villes to ’71 El Doradoes. Apparently, Fritz actually worked on the Cadillac assembly lines for twenty years. Then he spent the next five years as a contract consultant for Cadillac.
Eventually, he retied and opened his own shop in Montana. And the promise he’s made to his customers for the past twenty years is: “Fritz will fix any problem, any model, any year – as long as it’s a Cadillac.” He has a three-month waiting list and does ZERO marketing. Customers drive in from hundreds of miles away just to have Fritz work on their Caddillacs. Why? Because he’s The Only. And that’s what makes him necessary to the world.What are you the world heavyweight champion of?
7. Plug your expertise into strategy needs. Which means you have to be a resource. An expert. An advisor. Not a salesperson. Not an employee. Not a consultant. A Thought Leader who anchors her expertise in that which is timeless. That’s how you get invited to strategy tables. When you demonstrate that it’s not about what you do, it’s about the effect of what you do. Do you solve problems that are real, expensive, urgent and pervasive?
8. Position yourself as an unconditional servant of truth. Interface Construction is one of the largest minority-owned firms in my hometown of St. Louis. During their 30-year anniversary celebration in 2008, I had the honor of meeting their president and founder, Sam Hutchinson.
Now, the question I asked him was, “Sam, after thirty years of profitable growth – what’s Interface’s secret?” And his response floored me. Certainly not the kind of insight I expected to hear from a construction guy. He said, “Scott, our job is to respond to the demands of truth.” Whoa. I thought he was going to spout some construction cliche like, “Measure twice – cut once.” No wonder their company is so successful. Have you decided to become a servant of truth?
9. Position yourself as the only path to fulfillment. Position your expertise in such a way that your fans wouldn’t DARE go into the marketplace without your opinion. That way, they wouldn’t make a move without consulting you first. Now, this can happen if you aren’t selfish with your knowledge. Because if you share your expertise generously, people will recognize it, became addicted to it and eventually depend on you for it.
That’s called mindshare, and it eclipses the value of marketshare. Suggestions: Courageously step forth and make your natural talents available. To put LOTS of samples out there. Not just a few pieces of chicken on toothpicks – we’re talking free Happy Meals for EVERYBODY. Also, regularly let people know the different ways they can use you. This will crate a need for what you have to uniquely offer. That will make you necessary to the world. What makes you The Only?
REMEMBER: Your mission to make yourself, your business and your value desirable, needable and wantable to the point of absolute necessity.
LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How will you make yourself necessary to the world?
LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “29 Pieces of Simple, Easy Advice That Will Change Your Business Forever,” send an email to me, and I’ll send you the list for free!
* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Coach, Entrepreneur
scott@hellomynameisscott.com

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