In this issue:

In My Experience
I have titled this little piece "Think Bottled Water" because for the entire time I have reviewed home based business opportunities, it never occurred to me how simple it really is to find the right work from home business opportunity.

Network Marketing: What You Need To Know
A little on the art of "growing your downline." In the world of MLM's the more people you know the better.

Review of the Month: Macromark, Inc.
This is the only list broker I will currently recommend. I have been working with Steven Koons at Macromark, Inc. for over a year and he has proven himself to be completely tuned into my needs.

Marketing On The Internet: Google Adwords
Interested in getting to the top of Google with your new website? Believe it or not you can buy your way there.

What's New at Home Biz Critic
An update from the world of RedesigningHomeBizCritic.com!

In My Experience Think Bottled Water I have titled this little piece Think Bottled Water because for the entire time I have reviewed home based business opportunities, it never occurred to me how simple it really is to find the right work from home business opportunity. My good friend, Gene Fair, was kind enough when we were talking about Send Out Cards as a business opportunity to turn the light bulb on in my head. Bottled water is an idea that was so simple that it was pure genius. You are looking for a business opportunity you can be passionate about that mimics bottled water. Yes, I want you to Think Bottled Water. I have talked a lot in past issues about the questions you need to ask any networking opportunity, MLM, or affiliate program before you hand over your hard earned cash and join. Review the December 2005 Home Biz Critic newsletter archived at the site if you need to touch bases with those 21 points again. I have talked a lot about finding your passion and working opportunities only if you have a passion for them and will use the product, and I stand behind those sentiments. However, I have never addressed what makes a really great opportunity a great opportunity. And, for those of you that need a reminder here we go. I am going to use Send Out Cards as an example because it is one of the few MLM opportunities that fulfills all my criteria for a legitimate business that will make you long term money. It is my pick as the company to watch this year as it will be the largest greeting card company in the world before long. Again, Think Bottled Water. The product must have universal appeal. Here is where many opportunities will fail you. Many will appeal to people for only a certain time in their life or not at all. The product must not be a fad. This means that it must have longevity in the marketplace. I keep my eye on all the latest trends in the nutraceutical markets and I wonder how long those distributors will ride the wave till it collapses. Nothing wrong with good money for the short term, but I would have a long term plan B in place. The product must be affordable. It’s easy to get someone to start on great nutraceuticals or great skin care lines, but sustaining the costs may be problem for the customer if they aren’t devoted to the product. When another expense comes up, you may not get a repeat sale. Repeat sales are critical to long term income. The product must be affordable by saving not only money, but time as well. Time is priceless and you never get it back. The product must work in all geographic locations and for all economic classes. This means that every man, woman and child of any age, any place in the world can find value in your product, purchase it or receive it. Your product must have little or no competition. Send Out Cards is in a class by itself. You may be a person who has the time and the money to still shop for your cards and enjoy doing so. Nothing wrong with that at all, but lots of us are strapped for time and money, but we still want to stay in touch with people and remember our most important relationships. Send Out Cards is an organized system for doing so, and while it may not have the creativity of going to the store to select a card, the color of the envelope, the stamp, etc., it does have the ability to let you remember someone which is why most of us send out cards and postcards anyway. The system must be easy to use. A very famous marketer said a good system, must be brain dead easy to use. I have a friend that is in a travel company and in a recent email to me she expressed her frustration with how difficult the system was for her to learn. Can you imagine, if this is the case, how difficult is will be for you to teach it to others? The opportunity must focus on customers. Customers are the life blood of any business. Providing a great product, recruiting customers, and servicing those customers must be the key behind the corporate philosophy. If you join a MLM that pushes recruiting distributors at the expense of recruiting customers, you are going to end up with people in your downline who don’t want to work. That will not only frustrate you, but it will eat away at your time. In my experience, customers with Send Out Cards often convert to distributors. You didn’t have to sell them. The system is so easy to use people fall in love with it and with you. The product and the system delivering the product must be something any person or any business can use. This is different than bullet number one. Having mass appeal and getting someone to use the product and the system will require a little work on your part. You may have to demo the system for them or send them a gift account to introduce them to the product. If you are gifting people this has to be affordable for you. The product must be one that can be personalized and customized. The product must be one where you can make money by selling the product to other people who want referrals. The product must expand good will in the world. I know many of you that are solely focused on money will laugh at me here, but your intention to better the welfare of another human being must be front and center if you are to have long term abundance in anything you choose to do. Nothing is worth your integrity. That’s about it. If you want to make money, have fun, and draw the right people into your business organization you must Think Bottled Water. Many of you may think that bottled water isn’t the most exciting product in the world, but it meets all the criteria for an excellent business opportunity.

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I am so fortunate to be surrounded by brilliant people. Ideas are the most valuable property on the planet, so when I got the chance to listen to some of the best network marketers in the business share with me how they have grown their businesses into huge successes, I sat up and took notice.

Recently, I got to listen in on a conference call with a two women who are very quietly and very consistently growing their organizations and their downlines into huge, self sustaining groups of leaders. When one of them mentioned that she had 86,000 customers in her downline, I knew that what she had to say would be very important to the readers of this newsletter. The conference call was divided into two parts with each conference leader focusing on one aspect of the two components that make any network marketing business successful. One leader focused on growing your distributor base and the other leader focused on growing your customer base.

Let’s review.

For Distributors

• Look only for leaders. Find leaders by searching the web for legitimate MLM opportunities, and contact only those that have unique websites. Leaders in other MLM opportunities know the ropes, understand growing their downline, and are self sufficient. If they bite on your opportunity at a later date, they will work hard to be successful increasing your success.

• Never try to recruit another network marketer to your opportunity. Let your product seduce them.

• Offer them a product that they can use in their business. Once you have secured their contact information send, them a sample of your product if you can, and then follow up to discover their level of interest. Continue to follow up.

• Repeat this process daily for whatever time you can devote to your home based business opportunity, even if it is only for half an hour. Because so many of you have phone reluctance, it is important to prioritize making these contacts and following up with them. Use a contact manager system.

• If you can’t follow up with them, don’t contact them, as you are wasting your time and money.

• Be available to them if they contact you. Return emails and telephone calls promptly.

For Customers

• Choose a category of customer that has interest for you and that will use your product. I currently seek out marketing firms, advertising firms and public relations firms for example. I focus my energies on people that use my service and have a related interest. Scattering my energies would be time consuming and more expensive. I can often customize campaigns that fit every prospect in a select category by focusing on one select group at a time.

• Offer them a product that they can use in their business. Once you have secured their contact information, send them as sample product if you can, and then follow up to discover their level of interest. Continue to follow up.

• Repeat this process daily for whatever time you can devote to your home based business opportunity, even if it is for only a half an hour. Because so many of you have phone reluctance, it is important to prioritize making these contacts and following up with them. Use a contact manager system.

• If you can’t follow up with them, don’t contact them, as you are wasting your time and money.

• Be available to them if they contact you. Return emails and telephone calls promptly.

Remember, building a business requires effort. So, many people contact me and want a get rich quick scheme that doesn’t require any work. Let me say, I haven’t found one, but if you are willing to make a daily effort on your behalf to contact the right people and follow up with them, and if you have a top notch product, you will grow both of these vital components of your business. Script out what you are going to say and practice it until it becomes flawless. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes and get hit with the occasional hang up call or I’m not interested. This is a numbers game and with a consistent effort applied to your business your success is guaranteed. The only alternative is working for someone else doing these things for them.

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Review of the month

Macromark, Inc.

This is the only list broker I will currently recommend. I have been working with Steven Koons at Macromark, Inc. for over a year and he has proven himself to be completely tuned into my needs. It is both his professionalism and his desire to assist me to grow my business in a way that works for me, and in my timeframes that speaks volumes about the corporate culture at Macromark, Inc. This is not a company that hypes what they do, or that pushes you into doing business with them. I have had consistent and responsive follow up to all of my questions and they have proven themselves to be a world class list company.

What makes Macromark, Inc. unique is the fact that they have a true focus on the home business/opportunity seeker in their client mix. Since most of you reading Home Biz Critic are home based business opportunity seekers, it is always nice to have a credible resource like Macromark, Inc. in your back pocket.

Macromark, Inc. opened the doors for business back in 1985 with two lists! From those humble beginning, Macromark, Inc. has grown into an industry leader with multiple areas of expertise. This twenty year track record speaks highly of the company’s longevity and the fact that they are, as their site states, a "true boutique list company." David Klein is the current CEO and President.

Here is a powerful statement. "Our highly experienced team of brokers and managers represent more than 250 clients in almost every category of the list market, every product, and every mailer from Astrology to Zoology."

One of the reasons that Macromark will continue to be successful is the fact that their professionals have an average of 12 years experience with list, alternative media, and electronic marketing. They have excellent customer service and are devoted to helping you be successful.

Please feel free to contact Steven Koons. That call may be just the jump start you need to grow your business. He will share the story of Macromark, Inc. with you personally. Here’s his contact information.

Steven Koons
List Broker
Macromark, Inc
845-230-6375
Direct Phone # 414-486-7798
Fax # 414-294-0384
www.macromark.com

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