Goodwill Ambassador's Forum

Drop in and say hello to our Goodwill Ambassador John Sanchez' forum. Find information on current community promotions and events.

John Sanchez

I believe because of the work I was doing here with projects like the Feature of the Week (aka Person of the Week) and the Welcome Wagon. I get a lot of enjoyment from helping people and from honouring those who work so hard to make this community the great community that it is. I will be here to assist anyone in community with questions they may have about the AdlandPro website. If I can�t answer your questions I will direct you to someone who can.

My mission is to make AdlandPro the best community on the Net; it may already be number one because I haven�t seen one better yet. In order to make AdlandPro number one and keep it at number one I will need the member�s assistance. I�m looking for people who can assist me with my projects like the AdlandPro�s Welcome Wagon, and the AdlandPro�s Happy Place. I already have some people helping me with those projects and others like the AdlandPro�s Birthday�s of the Week and the Feature of the Week, but sometimes I get behind and could use more help. This is what I need for the individual projects and why I feel these projects are good for the community:

The AdlandPro�s Happy Place: I need people that would like to post an occasional post about someone in the community who has been a blessing to them. The benefits of this project, besides the obvious one of making the individual feel good, is that it shows the new members and visitors that this community is made up of some really special people. It makes AdlandPro more inviting or enticing. It also motivates others to be active in the community because everyone likes to be recognized for their work and efforts.

The AdlandPro�s Welcome Wagon: I need a welcoming committee for this project, a group of people who will commit to inviting and welcoming the new members. This project will immediately give new members the sense that this community it like a home away from home. It will encourage them to keep coming back. We need to show the new members that they�re among friends and thus helping them to feel more relaxed and comfortable about posting in the individual forums. We need more participation in the forums and this will help. I would also be appreciate it if you would take the time to post something nice to the new members in the comments section of the AdlandPro�s Welcome Wagon Blog.

The Birthday�s Of The Week: This weekly forum wishes the members of the community a Happy Birthday on the week of their Birthday. What Kathy Martin and I need is for more members to take the time to wish those on the Birthday list a happy Birthday. I don�t know about you but it makes me feel special when someone wishes me a Happy Birthday on my Birthday. This project helps to promote a positive atmosphere here at AdlandPro so we ask for your participation in this forum and in the AdlandPro�s Birthday Blog.

The Feature Of The Week aka Person Of The Week: We need for you to continue to show support for the members who are being featured each week and we need for you to nominated individuals worthy of this honour. If you know someone who meets all the criteria for the Person of the Week then take the time to nominate them. The least you could do is take the time to vote when the poll comes out. We�ve had a better turn out than we thought we would but it could be much better. Please take the time to nominate and vote. This project also promotes a positive atmosphere in the community and makes it more attractive for the new members and the visitors.

I hope that all of you can see the benefits in participating in these projects. If you love this community and if you want to make it better than please help me to make these projects a success. Here are some tips to help make AdlandPro a better community:

1. Participate in the projects mentioned above.
    

2. Each week invite a certain amount of members to be your friend.
    

3. When inviting a new member offer to help them find their way around the community. Give them a warm welcome.
    

4. Invite your friends to join the community, give them the URL to the site. Invite those you know would contribute to the positive atmosphere at AdlandPro.
    

5. Make at least one post a day that is not asking too much. There is nothing more discouraging than posting a forum and only having a hand full of people show up. New members will not stick around if they get a small turn out. Offer to help a new member by directing traffic to their forum; you will make a good friend by doing so. New members have a small friends list and therefore get an even smaller turn out than us who have a large list of friends.
    

6. When posting be courteous. Do not use statements like, �You are stupid or ignorant if you believe that�. Statements like will get you banned from the forum and will only discourage new members from sticking around. Under no circumstances are you to use foul language; for one thing you will only appear to have no class if you do.
    

7. Do not post more than one or two links in your post unless the owner of the forum requests more than two. You have space in your signature area for more links so use it wisely. If you have a lot of links you want to advertise than sign up for a webpage like SearchEstate and place all your links there, then advertise that site in your signature space.

This article is already pretty long so I will stop here, but look for my future article where I will provide you with more ideas on how to help make AdlandPro a better place and on how to make your experience here a nicer and more productive one. Take care everyone and blessing to all of you.

 

Jim Martin

Putting Relationships Back Into Online Sales and Marketing!
********************************************

Many times when using Internet sales and marketing systems we forget we are dealing with real people who have real goals of someday being able to have a successful home based business of their own.
These people are like us, with feelings and aspirations like we do, but often in the process of smiling and dialing and "crunching the numbers" we forget that those "numbers" are REAL people!

While working with serious committed and qualified suspects/prospects, and at some point we need to expect and demand certain things from our suspects/prospects,and during the process we also need to realize that they have jobs,families, distractions and real life problems as we all do from time to time.
A little empathy for others does help folks!

Online sales and networking is a people business, and we need to be mindful of that but it is so easy to forget and that involves an attitude of compassion and concern for the prospect.

A qualified and committed prospect may miss an invitation or two or miss a conference call, and most often we are working with many busy people who while they want to break free from the "Rat Race", they
are bound to the "Rat Race", the hectic lifestyle of an affluent more progressive and prosperous society.
Many of us are or were bound to the "Rat Race" like these busy people at one time in our lives.

With that in mind, I wish to cover two major reasons why most people fail in Multi-Level Marketing:
1. Who to talk to!
2. Follow-Up
The conversational approach while not Internet sales and marketing, is one of the most highly recommended methods of locating suspects/prospects to invite to the opportunity, thus entering into the warm market portion of a marketing program. As well, leveraging online chat rooms, message boards, blogs, online messaging, Internet browsing for experienced netpreneurs, is a powerful extension of the conversational approach for the Internet. The beauty of it all, it cost nothing to use these sources.

Internet sales such as classified ads, banners, email sales... are all very cold unless one reaches out to develop a relationship. Leads are exactly the same... a number assigned to every suspect/prpspect, email address and telephone phone number.

I often listen to people talk about "Automation and "Duplication", while these concepts are nice in a "Pipe Dream" without a way to hold everything together one finds that all the automation in the world only lasts as long as the relationships that are established are built into the system.A lot of the systems are out there, no selling, no recruiting we are fully automated! Bunk...too cold!
While "Who to talk to" is the number one (#1 ) major reason people fail... in reality, even if you have a ton of suspects to talk to, unless you are establishing relationships you are wasting your time.
Remember folks,this is not rocket science and the days of doing like we use to are long gone. The Zig Zigler days are history folks,no more overcoming objections and closing the sale!
We are in the people business and one with the proper mindset when networking over the telephone you
will not be selling anything, and I mean nothing. Your job is to qualify, and invite and that is it folks!
Simple concept, now that you qualified the suspect you establish a relationship by inviting the prospect to a
conference call, or just to a four minute sizzle call then walk them through to your website or direct them there. Walla, inter-personal relationship has taken root!
In addition to all of this, in the process of building a business we often forget about the basic principles of developing inter-personal relationships... or following-up with consistency and to also be persistent.

Multi-Level Marketing often reminds me of the movie "A Beautiful Mind", where Russell Crowe is the main character John Nash. He sits down next to a beautiful woman at the bar, then proceeds to woo this raving beauty by getting straight to the point... by asking her, "You wanna have sex?" as though the interaction did not mean anything and the point of the relationship was just sex. While there is a possibility that two individuals interacting might come to the same conclusion that the "foreplay" or "romance" is in reality a a way of beating around the bush... 90%+ of the human beings on the planet would more and likely agree that the journey is as much a part of the experience as the result.

Everything on the planet has its place as everything is in it's place, however, far too often we go through the process of "recruiting" as the means to the end result, rather than enjoying or even just savoring the fantastic journey and experiencing a natural high! Of course, we are all in this business to develop that income and fire the boss, and to provide for our families and ourselves and have that successful home based business where the commute is only five seconds via high speed cable modem. However, an ole adage often touted but very seldom taken to heart is: "By helping others attain their goals, I will attain mine in the process." Let's do some soul searching folks, and pause for a moment to confirm the truthfulness of the adage.

It sounds great and wonderful with all the hype the company puts you through, but realistically it's a facade as a hook or crook to get someone into your business. Really, honestly folks how often does one in reality take a look at their business as pursuit to help others? Never! And YET, in reality the adage is indeed true, regardless of the intent. Think about this for a moment, if you decide in your minds eye that you will help others and focus on helping others attain their stated and contracted goals... well, you surprising enough will indeed attain your goals in the process. Rah, rah congratulations!! Believe me it will work, I've been there and done it folks!
A whole different mindset is key here folks when it comes to applying the adage to your thought process.

Multi-Level Marketing for many years has been branded "Relationship Marketing". Yet, I have rarely seen anyone attempting to develop inter-personal relationships at the same time they are marketing, networking or whatever label you want to place on it. They market... than they attempt to establish relationships. That's bunk folks, wrong! The key to successful and effective follow-up is putting inter-personal relationships back into marketing. We are after all are in the "People" business, mentoring and talking to real people, with real aspirations, desires and goals!

The Science of Advertising

How to GET your FREE AdlandPro advertising is discussed here. One-on-one assistance in getting your account ready to work for you.

Clay Page

Are Your Ready to Manage Trial and Error Effectively?

If not, then your advertising will be in vain.

Why do I ask this? Two fold, but the first is because when
you inquiry of those who are really successful in business,
you'll find they embrace the fact that just like learning
any other skill, learning to create success is learned
and the learning process is based on trial and error.

Fact: Without trial and error, success is elusive.

Over the past ten years I have watched thousands of people
who have tried numerous approaches to creating success from
their advertising ventures to the business opportunities
they're engage with.

Those who fail to grasp how critical it is to manage the
trial and error element of success building never achieve
a satisfying degree of success.

Take a moment and consider the meaning and influence of the
"trial and error" phase of building your success. A "trial"
means you're going to pursue numerous approaches to achieve
success, and the "error" part of the equation means that
the majority of what you try are NOT going to work as
you have planned for.

Some of these trials may bring about a satisfying degree of
success while many may led straight into out-and-out
challenges and struggles as part of your success building.

Will there be errors along the way towards greater success?

Count on it and plan for it if you're really going to enjoy
the sweetness that positive success offers.

The most important fact that one must consider, accept and
embrace, if one is too enjoy a life filled with successes,
is that trial and error can be very stressful if not
managed correctly.

To manage the trial and error phase of success building is
the ability to remain optimistic. Without optimism you'll
accept failure with ease and never advanced beyond where
you are today.

Optimism isn't about denying reality and chasing after some
totally unrealistic condition or situation, it is accepting
that the trial and error phase is a vital part of the
process that creates your success.

Planning for the trial and error phase of building your
success will better prepare you in accepting the errors
that come along as a positive part of your success building.

What does this have to do with advertising? Everything!

We've all heard that you have to test and test and test
your ad message to develop an effective advertisement.
That is what you call trial and error.

Of course all of the ad testing will add to the cost of
developing an effective advertisement and here's a proven
way to test your ad copy FIRST, before spending your
hard earned money and provides much faster results.

Watch for the Nod...

Before I ever spend a dime on advertising, I hand write the
ad copy neatly on a 4X6 index card on one side and on the
other side in the center, I will write the headline in
capital letters that I will use for the ad. Under the
headline in smaller writing I write (Flip Over to Read).

Now armed with what I call my ad card I will test the
results on my friends, waitresses or store clerks at my
local corner store.

How I approach someone who I want to test my ad is to extend
the ad card to them, the headline side towards them where
they can clearly read the headline, as I'm telling them that
I'm writing an advertisement for MY business and would
like 15 seconds of their time to just read it.

If the headline is good enough, they will reach for it
and here is what you're looking for....


The Nod! It is important to watch for the slightest
movement of their head within that first 2 or 3 seconds.


When they turn the card over, again I'm watching for that
slightest movement of their head. Those are the test
results that you CANNOT SEE when testing your ads
online, yet it is the most important factor in
determining if your ad copy is working.

Too many people will judge the success of their ad on the
final results (sales/enrolments) without testing the
emotional power of their ad copy first.

An Ohio State University study proved that a person will
make a slight nod or shaking of their head which serves as
"self-validation" that confirms how one feel about their
thoughts at that moment, and that is what you're looking
for, the head moment (nodding or shaking).

If they nod their head up and down, your ad is having a
positive reaction on their thoughts, and if there is a
sideward movement, you know that the ad is not having a
positive reaction and that one piece of knowledge is
priceless in developing powerful ad copy.

Researchers found that nodding your head up and down is,
in effect, telling yourself that you have confidence in
your own thoughts or what you're reading, and that is
the difference you're looking for in developing your ad.
Shaking your head is a sign of less confidence in your
thoughts or what you're reading.

So the best way to test the emotional influence your ad
has on people is to visual SEE it working, and you'll
be surprised at how well this works in developing ad
copy that works emotionally.

So put the power of emotional advertising to work for
your success today.... it easy and cost free!

Everything Related to Life after Retirement

Jerry Rosenbalm

Everyone wants to have a comfortable and enjoyable retirement, but without adequate planning it probably won't happen. People are living longer than ever, which is obviously good news, but that means retirement is becoming more expensive. Some people believe that they can count on Social Security and don't need to plan on their own, but this is a dangerous strategy, as it will cover only a fraction of a typical retiree's expenses, and the long-term health of the Social Security system is very much in doubt.

The first step in retirement planning is estimating how much money you'll need. A popular rule-of-thumb claims that you will only need about 70% of your pre-retirement income to maintain your lifestyle in retirement. While you will probably save some money currently being spent on work-related items (such as formal clothes and commuting), other costs go up in retirement (health care, hobbies, etc). 70% may be a useful rule of thumb, but some people find 50% is plenty while others feel they need 100%.

The second step in retirement planning is figuring out where the money you're going to need will come from. Visit the Social Security Administration site to get an estimate of how much you'll receive, and add to this any pension you'll be receiving from your employer. Unfortunately, traditional pensions and Social Security together probably won't come close to providing you with what you'll need. In addition, unless you're nearing retirement, you shouldn't count on ever seeing any of the money you've been paying into Social Security, because the future of the system is very much in doubt.

This is why it's so important to take your financial matters into your own hands. If you have a 401(k) program at work (or a 403(b) or 457), it's usually wise to contribute as much as you can. This is even more true if your employer provides some matching of your contributions. If you have no retirement plan at work, contribute to a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA. Your contributions to your 401(k) or IRA are tax-deferred, so that you don't pay any income taxes on your contributions until the money is withdrawn (usually in retirement, when your tax bracket will probably be lower).

Since tax laws are always changing and your retirement may be many years away, you should also start saving and investing on your own, outside your tax-deferred plan.

Nowadays, people are living longer so retirees are spending 30 years or more in retirement. It is important to plan ahead if you want to maintain your standard of living during that time. Investing in tax-deferred savings plans and investing in other sources can help you get to a comfortable level for retirement. Determine your current situation. Obtain the current value of regular accounts, IRAs, and company tax-deferred savings plans. Get an estimate of any company pension plan. Estimate your future Social Security benefits. This can be done more easily with a retirement calculator.

Find all the info you need to build your site and drive search engine traffic to it for free.

Peter Brown

I want to talk a bit here about the planning stages before you start to build your on-line business. Even you already have a website that might not be pulling in the buyers, you should read this.

Doing business on-line should be treated no differently than if you were looking to open a brand new store in the local mall, except this mall, the Internet, is much bigger and has a much further reach, a global reach.

Far too many people start out wrong and then spend all of their time struggling. The general principle used by most website owners is a four step plan:

1. Decide what to sell.

2. Get a website.

3. Figure out how to get traffic.

4. Try to figure out why people are not buying.

Sound familiar? The above four steps are the same steps that 90% of website owners take. Did you know that according to some internet statistics, 90% of websites don't make any real money?

Before you set out to create your website you need to set up a plan. In order to do that you need to decide which website model you are going to have. By model, I am not refering to looks or design. There are basically two different models.

1. The Commerce Model &

2. The Content Model

1.A)The Commerce model sells products, takes orders, charges credit cards and ships goods. Some might sell instant downloads or memberships, some might sell services.

Affiliate websites fall under the commerce model. These are reseller websites and there are pros and cons to them. Zero production costs and zero creation time.
Zero control over the pricing, packaging, or maybe even presentation.
You sell for a cut of the sale, a commission if you will. You will more than likely not be able to offer others a commission to resell under you and even if you do have that ability, most people would sooner be on the top tier themselves and make the same commissions as you are.

2.A) The Content model is based upon advertising. Think of it like television in North America. Free content for the viewers, paid for by advertisers. Visitors to your website come for the content, but the have to see ads from advertisers that pay to display them on your site. If your profits come from advertising, you fall into this category.

Both website models require planning in order for the owner (you), to achieve success. There are four main categories that you have to plan for.

1) Market Analysis
2) Conversion Strategy
3) Promotion Planning
4) Future Growth.

When I am working with a new client we lay out a plan based upon the categories above. Under each main category there are a number of sub-categories. The client has to work daily on the sub-categories in order to plan and achieve success. The other option they have to have someone else do it all for them. If they were to hire me as an example, I would in essence, be working full time for them to run their on-line business. There are some customers that prefer to do that, but the costs are generally fairly high.

Here is a little information to make you think:
In the brick and mortar world, conversion rates are pretty low.

2% of sales are made on the 1st contact
5% on the 2nd
10% on the 4th and
80% on the 5th to 12th contact.

They are even worse with a website. Generally, 1 in 1000 people buy on their 1st visit. You need to build a trust with website viewers. There is no smiling clerk behind the counter to welcome them and assist them with the choices. There is only your content and products. The look and functionality of the website can add or detract from this. When a new viewer has reached a new website, you have literally less than 10 seconds to grab and retain their attention.

There is one exception to the rule for websites, that is a strong third party endorsement from an already trusted party.

So in closing, planning is paramount for any on-line business venture to achieve success. But it doesn't stop there. There is daily follow through to put the plan in action. There is constant tweaking to the plan, what worked what didn't work. A few hours a day is all it really takes to become successful on-line.

There is a line you will see me use quite often;

Are You Failing to Plan Or Just Planning To Fail?