DEVELOPING A POA (PLAN OF ACTION)

Ever notice the high rate of attrition in network marketing/mlm groups? I have, and I have to wonder…WHY? I do not believe that people join programs to invest and then drop out 3, 4 or 5 months down the road. I believe they join programs because they have HOPE and DESIRE. I believe they join programs to improve their circumstances and to achieve some goals. I think the problem is 2 fold. First, most network marketers do not have a Plan of Action, and second, they do not have knowledge in marketing. In other words – they simply do not know what to do. In general those who are new to the industry quit because they are frustrated that they do not understand HOW TO BUILD their business. I believe that direct sales, network marketing and MLM (multi-level marketing) can fit into anyone's lifestyle comfortably, if they are taught to develop a POA (Plan Of Action) and then guided in training for the marketing strategies they select to use.

I have found that there are 3 keys to directing someone to build a firm foundation in a home based business that will lead them to success. The 3 keys are:

1. Developing a personalized Plan Of Action

2. Designing the Plan of Action to fit COMFORTABLY into their lifestyle

3. Implementing a structured training program to teach them how to use the POA

Mary Kay Ash taught me to plan my work and work my plan. A POA will help you to do just that. So let me show you what a POA would consist of with my 10 Steps to Designing a Personalized POA.

STEP ONE

Answer these 11 questions:

1. What is the desire of your heart? Be detailed in your answer. If money were no object what is it that you desire?

2. What are your goals. Goals are different from the desires. Goals always have a time frame to them. Where do you see yourself at certain points down the road. What is it that you would like to accomplish within certain time frames?

A. Short range goals

a. 6 months

b. 1 year

B. Mid range goals

a. 2 – 5 years

C. Long range goals

b. 5 – 10 years

3. How much time do you have to invest in your business? We all have different schedules, time constraints, commitments and responsibilities. Will you be working on a hobby basis, part time, or full time? Determine exactly how much time you can CONSISTENTLY dedicate to building your business.

4. What is the financial commitment you can COMFORTABLY afford on a monthly basis? Again, we are all different, and some have a little money to work with, some have no money to work with and some have a lot of money to work with. You can still work a home based business no matter where you fall here. If your funds are very restricted and you have nothing to work with, you need to be creative in generating some funding or be willing to put more time and effort into building with the free marketing strategies. It may just take you a little more time to build, but you can still be successful.

5. What talents do you possess? Talents are gifts you are born with, and you can use these in your business. We are all gifted with varied gifts – make yours work to your advantage.

6. What skills have you acquired? We have all acquired different skills from our work and life experiences. Write your skills down. But remember: Talents you are born with, skills you acquire. And if you are open and teachable, you can learn any skills you do not already possess.

7. What strengths do you bring to your business? We all have strengths, so mark yours down so you know what you have to work with.

8. What weak areas do you have that will need special attention to improve? Wisdom dictates that you identify the weak areas you have so you can concentrate on developing them into strengths.

9. Determine if you are a task oriented person or a people oriented person. This will help you in determining your marketing strategies so that you are working within a realm of comfort for the way you prefer to work.

10. What are your work preferences? Variety is the spice of life and we are all designed and wired differently. There are literally hundreds of ways to market a product or a service. Those marketing techniques fall into 4 categories, with many different sub divisions within each category. This is an important step. A lot of time you hear people saying that you have to step outside of your comfort zone, and that you need to stretch your people to step outside of their comfort zone. Let me just say that I do not subscribe to that train of thought for new people. For up and coming leaders – yes. But think about this: if you have a brand new person beginning a home based business with no experience at all, and you try to make them do things that are outside of their comfort zone, they will NOT be comfortable, they will NOT do the work, they will NOT make the money and therefore they drop out and quit a few months down the road. And for those that think “their way, is THE ONLY way to market”, all I can say…SERIOUSLY!!???!! That makes no sense to me. God wired us all differently. I believe it would be foolish for me to demand that everyone on my team work their business exactly the way I work mine. Some people love to work on the phone, while others cannot pick up the 1 ton receiver. Some people like to work on the computer, and some people do not even own a computer. So here are the 4 major work preferences to select from:

A. Face to Face (some call it belly to belly marketing). There are so many ways to work this, one on one, groups, party plan, hotel meetings, table and booth events, etc.

B. Phone. There are many ways to utilize phone work.

C. Computer. There are countless ways to market on the computer.

D. Communications though mailings. Direct mail marketing is a huge industry. There are many ways you can utilize mail marketing strategies.

11. And finally, what is your passion? Passion is different than desire. Maybe you have a passion for working with unwed mothers, or abused women. Perhaps you are passionate about helping animals, or you are concerned over the environment. Some people like to help victims of aids, while others like to work with seniors and still others like to work with babies. Some people want to help children in third world countries have safer drinking water. Those are just a few things that you could be passionate about. So why would that be important in determining a POA? Let me ask you this: if I could show you a way to tie your passion in with your business, how powerful would that be?

STEP TWO

Developing your schedule:

“Plan your work & work your plan” is the greatest wisdom that can be imparted to a business owner. Many of us work a home based business to gain extra time and freedom. So let’s see if we are accomplishing that. I would like you to grab a pen and paper and write down what your priorities are and list them in the order of importance to you.

Take a weekly time planner and block off all of your commitments. If you work a job, block it off. If you have to spend time traveling to your job, account for that. If you teach Sunday school, block it out. If you belong to a bowling league, block it out. Block out any time you spend cooking or doing laundry or taking care of house chores. Account for time spent with family, your significant other and any personal time you take for yourself to exercise or meditate. Block off absolutely everything you do. Now the times that are NOT blocked are the times you have to build your business. Take some colored highlighters and color code the time you have blocked. Now, hold your weekly time planner out at arms length and check the colors to see if it reflects the priorities you wrote down. 9 times out of ten, the sheet does not reflect you are living your life according to the priorities you have listed. Use the time sheet to schedule your time for building your business to the point where you can move your priorities into proper alignment with how you want to live your life. The goal is to have balance in your life so your life will run smoothly, stress free and peacefully. Check a color coded weekly time sheet each month to evaluate how you are working towards achieving balance in your life and how you are moving towards having priorities in their proper order.

STEP THREE

Setting you budget:

You will need to determine how much money you have to work with on a monthly basis so you can set up your budget. You will need to budget for your start up costs which includes your initial order and set up fees for your marketing system, your monthly order, and whatever marketing strategies you are selecting. Set your budget up according to percentages. You will not write yourself a paycheck until you reach certain goals within your budget. The first goal is to recoup your initial investment. The second goal is to have your business operating so that it is covering the monthly costs. And the third goal is to be in profit. Once in profit set aside a certain percentage to reinvest into your business so it can grow on a continual basis, and then write yourself a paycheck. As you reinvest into your business, it grows, and so do your paychecks.

STEP FOUR

Developing your first 6 month plan of action:

Determine how much money you need to generate on a monthly basis and it will help you to determine what you need to do on a monthly basis, a weekly basis and a daily basis. You can even break it down to what you need to do on an hourly basis. In order to do this, you will need to understand the numbers. This is a numbers game. You will need to monitor your closing ratio, and by the way - it will change. Practice does make perfect, and you will see your ratio improving as you consistently take action and master the art of closing. You will need to know how many leads you need to generate to achieve the number of hot prospects you need to have in order to make one sale of your product or sign one rep up for your team.

You will want to schedule your time according to your marketing strategies, which are determined by the budget you have to work with, your work preferences and your personal schedule.

STEP FIVE

Select your marketing strategies:

There are hundreds, if not thousands of ways to market a product or a service.

Select a handful, 3 -5 ways you are comfortable with – you won’t want to put all of your eggs in one basket. Your selections will be determined by the ratio of hours you can work, taking into consideration your marketing dollars in your budget and accounting for your preferences. Next, get the training to understand the strategy you have selected, practice it and master the technique.

In addition to marketing strategies, you will also want to select a marketing system to work with. There are free marketing strategies and systems, low cost marketing strategies and systems, medium cost marketing strategies and systems and high cost marketing strategies and systems.

Begin where your budget allows you comfortably, and adjust as you reinvest in your business.

Here are some examples of strategies you might select:

Live meetings

Classified Ads

Blogging

Article Marketing

Traffic Exchanges

Radio Marketing

Press Releases

Email Campaigns

Solo Ads

Table and Booth Events

Fliers

Joint Venture Partnerships

Referrals

Road Side Signs

Pay Per Click

E-zine Advertising

Banner Exchanges

Text Ads

Newspaper Ads

Phone Blasts

Cold Calling

Warm Market

Sizzle Cards

SEO Marketing

Post Cards

Posters

Social Media

IM Marketing (Skype)

Mobile Marketing

Video Marketing

And this does not even scratch the surface of the hundreds of ways to market.

STEP SIX

Educate yourself:

Educate yourself about your company, your comp plan and your products. And then be certain to concentrate on studying and mastering the marketing strategies you have selected. But be careful here, it is easy to become overwhelmed. I suggest you start with one strategy, practice it and master it and then add a second one. Do not try to swallow the whole elephant in one bite. It will overwhelm you and burn you out. Pace yourself.

STEP SEVEN

Track and Evaluate:

TRACK EVERYTHING YOU DO, so you know where to spend your time and money most effectively. There are many tracking systems on the internet, both no cost and low cost. If you are working off line, developing a local market and generating local leads, just set up a code system for yourself. For example, if you are using road side signs (some call them bandit signs) and you are using a sizzle line to send them too, just put a special code on the road side sign so you can evaluate how a certain message or ad is pulling, and then ask them to leave the code number when they leave their name and phone number. When you do your follow up call to them, ask them where they saw your sign, so you can evaluate which intersections pull the best. You can set up tracking systems for any kind of marketing you are doing, both online and offline. Evaluate and adjust on a regular basis. You will also want to track your time and efforts so you can evaluate your work and your efforts and adjust as necessary.

STEP EIGHT

Make your adjustments and formulate a one year plan of action:

Once you work a 6 month plan of action you have a base to formulate future plans from. Change what isn’t working, step up what is working.

To summarize, TRUTHFULLY answer the questions outlined in step one, and share them with your up-line business partner or mentor. This way they will be equipped to give you the best business advice when mentoring you. Once you have your questions answered from step one, develop your Plan Of Action according to your answers. Then be DISCIPLINED & COMMITTED in taking daily action to create amazing results. You create the roadmap to your own success. And remember: HE WHO MARKETS BEST – WINS!

PLAN YOUR WORK AND WORK YOUR PLAN

BE DISCIPLINED

BE COMMITTED

BE SUCCESSFUL!!!