EXPERTS - EXPERTS - EXPERTS!

        I spend a lot of my time each day helping people in my business - do better.  About four hours a day actually, which is fine with me because the only thing I love more than talking to people, is helping them make money and grow their businesses.  The reason is pretty straight forward, the better they do, the better I will do in the end.

        You might ask why people turn to me for help.  To be honest, the only reason I can think of is that for the most part I have achieved in business what they are striving to achieve.  Does that make me an expert?  I will give you an unequivocal No!  By no means can I be considered an expert.  But I can tell you some marketing ideas and tips that worked for me (some of them very well) and some that have not, and by doing so you can then decide for yourself what works for you.

        One thing that people are constantly bringing to my attention during our training sessions is what some of the so-called experts are saying or telling them to do.  For obvious reasons people want to know if I think this particular method, program, or that tip will work for them.  If I have had experience in that area, I will tell them my experience, but if I have never tried what the ‘expert’ is suggesting, I tell them that also.  However, it is often possible to predict results based on past experience and by watching those marketing giants who have done well with their programs and have documented them for all of us to see.

        Can recognized experts be wrong?  Oh Yeah!  Like you wouldn’t believe.  Here’s a few rather famous quotes from some names that you’ll know, just to illustrate my point.

        That was fun, but I hope you also learned a lesson from this.  Even those who we look at as the leaders in their field, can get it very wrong.  So where does that leave the rest of us?  How do we know what is going to work and what is not?  A little common sense and some good observation will often help you avoid wasted time and effort.

       Since I have been asked on numerous occasions for what I look for in some of these programs, I humbly offer here my simple rules for deciding if a program is worth my time and money:

Rule 1. If someone is trying to sell me a marketing plan or idea rather than share them for our mutual good or profit, it is probably not something that will work.  Companies who are truly expert at marketing their products or services generally only share their knowledge and experience with those who are in a joint venture with them, such as franchise owners.  There is no reason to give away the store for $50 or even $100, when they could have offered you a place in a growing organization and profited from your work ethic.

Rule 2. If someone is telling me they have people doing phenomenally well but won’t say who they are, I stop right there.  Most people who are successful in what they are doing, don’t mind you knowing it.  The list of people you know who have done well in business is long and extensive - Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Donald Trump - we could go on for an hour here.  If the expert truly has people who are doing well with his or her program then sharing that information is only good marketing in itself.

Rule 3. Do they actually tell you what they are going to teach you?  Or do they simply imply what you are going to learn?  When I tell people about the extraordinary Active 8 marketing program, I tell them exactly what they are going to learn and how the system works, and we even give them real-live examples.  In other words, we show them the goods.  Of course we don’t show everything, that would be stupid, but we don’t ask people to take our word for it either.  We take them through one or two marketing techniques step by step and show them how it works.  Look at it this way.  If you had a choice between buying two bottles of soda, one was a brand you know you like because you have tried it, and one was completely unknown, which would you choose?  So would everyone else!

Rule 4. Does it make sense?  What is your first response or feeling to what you are being told.  Now I’m not talking about your growing enthusiasm.  Their job in their marketing piece, is to get you enthusiastic and want to spend money on their book or program.  Have you ever noticed how long those promotional pieces are you see online.  More often than not, the promo for the book is nearly as long as the book itself.  The reason for that is because their program is weak, so they have to take 30 pages to get you charged up and excited about the program so you will send them your money.  Thirty pages are not necessary.  My personal marketing piece Assignment For Success, has four short web pages to it. That’s all.  There is one other page dedicated to allowing people to sign up for my marketing newsletter, but only four addressing the actual product.  If what you are considering has more than that, than remember the old adage, "If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, then baffle them with bull....’ You get the idea.

Rule 5. Would I buy into the pitch?   When I am trying to decide if I would buy into the marketing concept, I also think to myself, if someone came up to me, either in person or via internet or snail mail with this proposal, would I buy it?  In my experience the answer is generally - no, I wouldn’t.  When someone tells me that you can put one newsletter on the net and within five days have 4,000 responses, I want to know two things.  First, how did that many people find that new and obscured page within five days, when any internet expert in the world will tell you it takes at least 72 hours or more for all the search engines to even know it exists.  And second, what were they offering in that newsletter that so many people were searching for right then.  After all, nothing comes up in a Google type search, unless someone makes a specific request. So what does this ‘expert’ marketer have that so many people are hanging on the edge of their seats minute by minute to find?  And if there are that many people looking so diligently for that product, then why aren’t a thousand others offering it too.  Because you know that success has a thousand copycats.  Always have, always will!

Rule 6: (This is a biggie with me) Do their marketing techniques need to be constantly reviewed, renewed and revised in order to keep the business coming in.  If their program consists of doing Google searches or referrals, can it be done once and last for ten years, or do those links have to be renewed weekly or monthly?  Does the business depend on you watching and redoing the same tasks over and over, week in and week out?  Do you have to constantly revisit where you have been last month and make sure it is still viable?  Because if you do, then you have just bought yourself another job, not a business.  The secret to true success has always been and will always be to: Do the job once and get paid for it a thousand times over.

Rule 7: Remember that Rules 1 - 6 apply to all marketing concepts.  Not just the books, not just the Network Marketing folks, but every marketing concept.  People who want to sell you a program that submits your website to a hundred search engines in two days.  People who want to sell you a program that has you selling marketing programs rather than real products.  People who want you to spend your time referring links to others, when you could be referring to yourself.  People who want your money before they give you a true sample of their wares.

        No Dorothy, we are not in Kansas anymore.  You need to be just as cautious about buying into advertised marketing programs as you do buying a product itself.  Don’t be too anxious, don’t be too fast to decide.  Take your time, review, revisit and reconsider.  Remember you are looking at a potential business that could and should last you a life time and return thousands of dollars to your bank account. And most importantly remember that a bad decision will waste lots of your valuable time, when you could be working on something that really does work quite well.

Until next time friends - Chaz Allen

For more information on the Active 8 marketing program, or to see our video visit:  http://www.active8products.com/DST_index.asp

ADDITIONAL MARKETING RESOURCE LINKS:

Assignment for Success Business Articles

Assignment for Success Marketing Newsletter Archive

Little Known Facts
Business Radio