Affiliate since: 04/14/2014, Power Rank: 99999999

Hi Alma

The best habit is to develop a committed and consistent work ethic. Treat your business like a business.

Develop a daily/weekly/monthly schedule based on your strategic plans for growth.

Your daily schedule would include:

- your SFI To Do list
- reviewing forum/latest news
- respond to any team member enquiries
- at least one hour of advertising and promotion - classifieds, traffic exchange/safelists, social media

Weekly

- update your website/blog - more often if possible but at least weekly
- send out an informative team newsletter

Monthly

- review your (and your teams) previous month's performance paying attention to what worked well
- set some goals to work towards

Ongoing

- look for new opportunities and methods to grow your business
- learn something new - there is ALWAYS something you can learn to increase your skills
- network - socialise - connect with people in general

This list is not complete or exhaustive, but is a minimum outline of a schedule to begin building a good work ethic and habit. You can build on this further as you go along and develop your skills, then add items to your schedule.

The key is consistency, persistency and patience.
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Hi Alma

The best habit is to develop a committed and consistent work ethic. Treat your business like a business.

Develop a daily/weekly/monthly schedule based on your strategic plans for growth.

Your daily schedule would include:

- your SFI To Do list
- reviewing forum/latest news
- respond to any team member enquiries
- at least one hour of advertising and promotion - classifieds, traffic exchange/safelists, social media

Weekly

-
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Affiliate since: 04/14/2014, Power Rank: 99999999

Hi Darla,

Great question, as I think the team communication aspect of SFI worries many new beginners. It did worry me at first, I just had no idea how to send or construct newsletters, or what I was expected to write about.

The best way to learn is to just get started and practise. As soon as you have somebody in your downline, take the first step and head over to your Genealogy and send a TeamMail to say Hi and introduce yourself.

You can learn a lot by reading the communications you receive from SFI and your sponsor/co-sponsor, or from general emails and letters you receive in everyday life.

I think what worries most people about team communication falls into these general areas:

1. Spelling, grammar, punctuation
2. How to construct the letter and develop a template - take letter to mean newsletter, personal email, ecard, whatever you are writing
3. Mind your language
4. Ideas for what to write about

1. Spelling, grammar, punctuation
Write your letter in a good word-processor program, and be sure to use the proofing tools, which will check these for you. You can set the language you want it to use - many may prefer to use US English.
If you are not English-speaking yourself, you can use a translator program first, then copy and paste the result into the word-processor to check it further.
If you have someone around you whom you believe to be more experienced at writing, you could ask them to check it over for you too. You could even use the SFI Forum for this, it´s good to get feedback from people interested and experienced in the program, and your examples will also help others here who may be facing a similar difficulty.

2. How to construct the letter and develop a template - take letter to mean newsletter, personal email, ecard, whatever you are writing
Begin with your title and address.
Your title should give a short indication of what you are going to help with, e.g.
- Easy steps to... e.g. achieve EA
- Want to... e.g. increase your sales/commissions?
- How to... e.g. bid in auctions and win!

Give a friendly address
"Hi/Dear ~FIRSTNAME~¨ - using this code anywhere in the letter will insert the first name of the recipient if you are sending TeamMail or PSA/CSA mailer. This works in the title too, so I usually begin my title with this so the recipient knows it is from someone they know, and not a spam or junk mail, and it feels more familiar.

Begin the body of your letter with a brief description of what you are going to talk about and why.
Then write the main body of your letter.
Set this out clearly in short paragraphs.
Simple sentences and bullet-point lists are easier to read than long blocks of text.

It is a good idea to use the ´Sandwich Method´, particularly if you are giving feedback to your team or any individual. This means to begin with something very positive, such as ¨It´s great that you... (e.g. achieved EA)¨ or ¨I´m pleased to see that you... (e.g. have been logging in and doing your tasks every day)¨.
Then go on to deliver your message, which may be to build and develop further ideas, or suggest easier ways of doing something.
Finish with another positive message, e.g. ¨Keep up the great work. I´m excited to be following your progress¨.

Invite the recipient to email you if they have any further questions or need help.
Sign off with your name, your position at SFI, and email address.

3. Mind your language
It´s important to remember that your team are your equals, even though you may have more experience of the SFI program. You are their mentor, not their employer or boss.
Your team members will only work at the pace they are comfortable with, and will generally respond better to motivational suggestion rather than demanding, so it is better to use phrases like ¨You may wish to consider...,¨ rather than ¨You must...¨
Focus on what is in their best interests in their progress with SFI, not your own. For example, do not insist they set up a Standing Order, but suggest to them why they may wish to consider setting up a SO, what is the benefit for them?

4. Ideas for what to write about
There is never a shortage of topics you can communicate with your team about.
You can discuss:
- Guidance for getting started - think about what you needed to know when you first started
- How to build a team - how to recruit, how to keep them motivated
- Latest news and developments - you don´t need to repeat the SFI Weekly News, as your team should be reading this anyway, but you could remind them to read it and discuss your own thoughts, experiences and tips
- Posts in the forum and topics in Ask SC - if you see a particular item of interest you can discuss this in a newsletter, linking to the item and adding your own experience
- Develop a training series, in a number of weekly instalments perhaps, referencing related SFI Training resources
- If you have a particular success, share this with your team and describe how you achieved it and how they could duplicate it
- If a team member asks you for advice on how to do something, respond to them personally and also share that question and answer with your entire team, as if one person asks it, you can be sure others will benefit from it too

----------

To save time for the future, create a folder on your computer (or online storage like Google Drive) and keep a 'bank' of documents you can use again in the future, adapting them as necessary.

You can find lots of Sample Messages here
https://www.sfimg.com/PopUp/sampleMessages
which you can copy and adapt to your needs.

If your upline sends you a TeamMail that you find helpful, copy and paste this to a document and adapt as necessary.

Keep a spreadsheet or list of helpful Forum and Ask SC posts that you may refer to often - these can also be bookmarked within SFI now.

Written communication is a vital skill to develop if your intention is to run your own online business. There are so many articles on the internet to help you learn. When you think about it, in this digital age, we probably use as much written communication as we do verbal and face-to-face.

Notice what appeals to you when you are browsing the internet:
- What catches your attention?
- What makes you want to read more?
- What puts you off reading (so you don´t make the same mistake)?

It does get easier, and practise makes perfect.

Best wishes!
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Hi Darla,

Great question, as I think the team communication aspect of SFI worries many new beginners. It did worry me at first, I just had no idea how to send or construct newsletters, or what I was expected to write about.

The best way to learn is to just get started and practise. As soon as you have somebody in your downline, take the first step and head over to your Genealogy and send a TeamMail to say Hi and introduce yourself.

You can learn a lot by reading the
...more

Affiliate since: 04/14/2014, Power Rank: 99999999

Drip marketing is when you regularly 'drip' information to prospective and current clients/customers.

Sending out an advertisement for a product or service only once is unlikely to have much of an effect, if any at all, on sales, but when people see advertisements many times, the message will at some point 'stick' in their minds or grab their attention. It gives a better impression, even on a subconscious level, of permanence or continuity of a product, service or brand.

I first heard of 'the trickle effect', as it was known by, many years ago when I had my bricks-and-mortar business. The internet was still in it's infancy for marketing purposes, so most marketing was offline. At that time, I was advised that prospects for my particular business, private tuition for children, needed to see my adverts on average 7 times before 'making the call'.

So, I would send leaflets out with the local newspaper, drop leaflets through house doors, display posters in community centres and schools, ask schools to distribute leaflets, hold charity events which led to being featured in local newspaper. I even held prize draws in the town's schools where the winner would win a year's free tuition. Then of course there was word-of-mouth, this of course was the best one, as it was given by parents and teachers who had already seen the benefits to the children of my classes.

By the time I received a telephone call, my new customer would often say "Well, I got this leaflet a few months ago, and I saw your article in the paper. I've been meaning to call but forgot until my friend mentioned today that her son comes to your classes". It was not just one advert that led to them making a call, it was the 'trickle effect' , the drip, drip, drip of several encounters with my brand.

Now we have the internet, the same principle applies, and we have more opportunities with online methods of marketing, however it is even more important to use the drip marketing strategy because there is a lot more competition with customers being exposed to many more adverts every day.
Some online methods are:
- social media marketing
- classified ads
- PPC
- your own website, SEO optimised so it can be found in google searches
- and by far the best method, by building an email list, by offering perhaps a free business report, or a free TC Gift Card, so you know that your subscribers are interested in whatever you are offering, whether it be a work-at-home business, or online shopping or auctions.
- your Genealogy, even your inactive downline, can all be exposed to your drip marketing, by sending regular newsletters out, maybe they are not ready for the opportunity when they first sign up, but perhaps will notice and take action a few months along the line.

Your Genealogy and email lists are 'captive audiences' where you can contact the same people on several, or many, occasions.

There are many more methods available, for both online and offline promotion, in SFI's Marketing Center:
https://www.sfimg.com/Resources/MarketingCenter

Your advertising should also follow a DRIP strategy, where the acronym DRIP stands for:
D - Differentiate - how does your product or service compare with others, how is it better?
R - Reinforce your brand message
I - Inform or make people aware of your brand
P - Persuade your audience to behave in a particular way, e.g. signup to be an affiliate, buy products at TripleClicks or take part in auctions or games

The more often people see your adverts, the more places your adverts are seen, the higher your chance of recruitment and sales.

Remember - many drips fill a bucket, and even an ocean!

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Drip marketing is when you regularly 'drip' information to prospective and current clients/customers.

Sending out an advertisement for a product or service only once is unlikely to have much of an effect, if any at all, on sales, but when people see advertisements many times, the message will at some point 'stick' in their minds or grab their attention. It gives a better impression, even on a subconscious level, of permanence or continuity of a product, service or brand.

I first
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Affiliate since: 04/14/2014, Power Rank: 99999999

It is good that they have some access to a computer, even if limited. However, they will need to plan their computer time as to get the best productive use from it.

It is possible to access SFI/TC from other devices, e.g. smartphone, tablet, etc. as well as accessing social media to place ads. However, on a practical level, I think that use will be restrictive. Personally, I have used my smartphone to do my daily tasks when I've been away from home and away from a computer, but this was just for short periods of time. It would not have been sufficient for getting the full use, like copying and pasting ads/gateways where I tend to have multiple tabs and documents open on my computer. Also, reading a lot of training and learning more about the program would have been difficult on a device like a smartphone.

Use of an internet cafe would be helpful, if you have a schedule planned out and you can get the best opportunities from your time allowed. Have your documents, such as your welcome message you send to your new team members, and ads copy, saved to an online storage or flash drive so you can access them from any computer.

While it is more difficult to run an online business like SFI without a desktop or laptop computer, it is not impossible, however it will certainly test the commitment of someone who really wants to build an online business.

Goal setting is important, and perhaps the first goal they should set is to acquire a computer of their own. Building commissions through promoting TC products, building a team, and perhaps trying to win one of the laptops in the Pricebenders auctions are all options to consider in reaching for this goal.

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It is good that they have some access to a computer, even if limited. However, they will need to plan their computer time as to get the best productive use from it.

It is possible to access SFI/TC from other devices, e.g. smartphone, tablet, etc. as well as accessing social media to place ads. However, on a practical level, I think that use will be restrictive. Personally, I have used my smartphone to do my daily tasks when I've been away from home and away from a computer, but this was
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Affiliate since: 04/14/2014, Power Rank: 99999999

This is where your personal knowledge about people you know, or targeted marketing, will come in useful.

For example, for the NFL games, do you know people who are football fans, particularly American Football? You could tell them about this Fantasy NFL game at TripleClicks where they can win TCredits they can use to buy real products. Also, look for Facebook groups which are aimed at American Football fans.

Do you know people who are a fountain of all sorts of general knowledge, they like doing quizzes, crosswords, going to pub quizzes, etc. Then tell them about Knockout Trivia.

Post about the games on Twitter and Facebook using hashtags like #NFL #quiz to reach a wider audience.

If you have your own TripleClicks website or blog, do a post about top tips to win the game.

Just a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing.
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This is where your personal knowledge about people you know, or targeted marketing, will come in useful.

For example, for the NFL games, do you know people who are football fans, particularly American Football? You could tell them about this Fantasy NFL game at TripleClicks where they can win TCredits they can use to buy real products. Also, look for Facebook groups which are aimed at American Football fans.

Do you know people who are a fountain of all sorts of general knowledge,
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Affiliate since: 04/14/2014, Power Rank: 99999999

Your sponsor is only one of the many help channels available to you at SFI.
However, your sponsor is not responsible for the success, or the failure, of your SFI business.

If you do have an awesome sponsor, that's fantastic. They will be happy to help and guide you, especially in the early days, while you are still finding your way around. They may even make a difference as to whether you actually get started with SFI or not, by reducing initial overwhelm with a clear and simple-to-follow welcome message. However once you get started, your goal should be to find your own way around the SFI website, because you need to learn to be an awesome sponsor too.

You can find probably 99% of any answers you need by using:
- the Forum
https://www.sfimg.com/forum/
- Ask SC
https://www.sfimg.com/Home?tab=ask_sc
- the SFI Sitemap
https://www.sfimg.com/Reference/Sitemap
- the menu bar across the SFI website
- the Search bar at top of SFI website

I advise anyone to make full use of the forum as early as possible, because they will often get a much quicker response, due to different time zones (they may be working while I am sleeping), and when they are wanting more creative ideas, rather than prescribed answers, they will get a more varied range of answers in the forum.

Bear in mind also, that your sponsor may be quite new to SFI themselves, and they may not have the answer immediately, although they should be willing to help you find out, as much to help themselves learn as to help you too.

You should aim to build a mutually supportive relationship with your sponsor. Chat with them, share your ideas, let them know how you're getting along, congratulate each other on achievements. That's much nicer than only contacting them with problems or issues.

An awesome sponsor may help to keep you motivated, but someone who is really committed to building their SFI business should not really need that. You need to focus on your own reasons for joining SFI, and your own goals.

There are many SFI Team Leaders, myself included, who began without any active sponsor at all. It may have meant a slightly slower start, but a motivated individual will start regardless. It is equally possible to reach the top ranks of SFI without any sponsor, as with an awesome sponsor.

An active and helpful sponsor is certainly a great asset, but the lack of one should not be an excuse to quit or fail.

Also, bear in mind that even an active sponsor is not a mind-reader, and does not know exactly what you know or don't know, even if they are monitoring your activity as closely as they possibly can. If you have a question, and you can't find the answer, it is your responsibility to take the initiative and ask!

If you have a question that is not or cannot be addressed in the forum, and you do not have an active sponsor, you also have access to:
- your co-sponsor
- your upline
- a2a friends
- SFI Support team

An awesome sponsor should encourage their team to find the answers for themselves, rather than become dependent on them. Remember the saying "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach him how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime".

Ultimately, only you are responsible for the success of your SFI business.
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Your sponsor is only one of the many help channels available to you at SFI.
However, your sponsor is not responsible for the success, or the failure, of your SFI business.

If you do have an awesome sponsor, that's fantastic. They will be happy to help and guide you, especially in the early days, while you are still finding your way around. They may even make a difference as to whether you actually get started with SFI or not, by reducing initial overwhelm with a clear and simple-to-follow
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Affiliate since: 04/14/2014, Power Rank: 99999999

Hi Phyllida,

You can be effective recruiting affiliates face to face and one on one by being interested in other people, conversing about their life and finding out what is important to them.

For instance, a mum who wants to stay home with the children but is feeling pressured to go to work may be interested in learning how to work from home.

Someone who is perhaps confined to the home through disability may be interested in learning more about how an internet business could give them something meaningful to do, and lead to an income.

Someone may mention that they spend a lot of time online, and heard they could make money, but don´t know how.

Someone who is worried that their job is insecure, doesn´t pay enough, or they are tired of commuting may be interested in your opportunity.

Someone may already be working online, and SFI could add to their business, increasing their streams of income.

Someone may have a physical store, or already sell online, and want to increase their sales. An ECA store would be ideal for them.

Listen for what they need, then lead them towards the solution to fix that need.

Try not to oversell. Don´t give too much information that may overwhelm them. Leave them curious.

Have some business cards ready, with your contact details.

Continue to be interested in them rather than the business. They will appreciate that and are more inclined to be interested in and like you as a person, which will lead them to look you and your business up at a convenient time for them.
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Hi Phyllida,

You can be effective recruiting affiliates face to face and one on one by being interested in other people, conversing about their life and finding out what is important to them.

For instance, a mum who wants to stay home with the children but is feeling pressured to go to work may be interested in learning how to work from home.

Someone who is perhaps confined to the home through disability may be interested in learning more about how an internet business
...more

Affiliate since: 04/14/2014, Power Rank: 99999999

Hi Andjela,

Did you read Launchpad Day 5 - Borderless Is Beautiful?

If not, or if you would like to remind yourself, here it is:
https://www.sfimg.com/LaunchPad/Day5

No matter where anybody comes from, they can be successful in SFI.

All the tools are here, every page can be translated using the Translate tool at the bottom of the page.

Members can connect with people from their country if they need extra help in their own language.

The forum has a section for the member´s own country.

We can even communicate with speakers of other languages by using the translation tools, such as Google Translate, to write or reply to emails.

To confine yourself to recruiting only from your own country is to limit yourself, and your business.

It takes no extra work to reach the whole world than to reach only your own country.

Go for it!
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Hi Andjela,

Did you read Launchpad Day 5 - Borderless Is Beautiful?

If not, or if you would like to remind yourself, here it is:
https://www.sfimg.com/LaunchPad/Day5

No matter where anybody comes from, they can be successful in SFI.

All the tools are here, every page can be translated using the Translate tool at the bottom of the page.

Members can connect with people from their country if they need extra help in their own language.

The
...more

Affiliate since: 04/14/2014, Power Rank: 99999999

I would suggest the best use for MRPs is to re-invest them in your business. This really reduces your own personal costs in building your business.

With a relatively small amount, you can use them for purchasing a few TCredits to enable you to achieve EA rank or higher.

With a larger amount, you can use them for purchasing further business resources, like S-Builders, PSAs, Prestige/Custom Domains.

Or you can save them for the longer-term, and aim to buy something like an iPad, from the MRP Rewards section at TripleClicks, to make your business more mobile, so you can operate it from anywhere, even the beach! :)

By bidding in Double-MRP auctions, and playing Double-MRP Knockout Trivia, I never see a 'loss' as a loss, as they are all adding to my MRP profits, so helping my business.

See it as re-investing your profits, something all the best entrepreneurs do.

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I would suggest the best use for MRPs is to re-invest them in your business. This really reduces your own personal costs in building your business.

With a relatively small amount, you can use them for purchasing a few TCredits to enable you to achieve EA rank or higher.

With a larger amount, you can use them for purchasing further business resources, like S-Builders, PSAs, Prestige/Custom Domains.

Or you can save them for the longer-term, and aim to buy something
...more

Affiliate since: 04/14/2014, Power Rank: 99999999

Hi Augustine,

Communicating with your downline is addressed very clearly in Launchpad Day 17 - Communication is HUGE, which you can find here:
https://www.sfimg.com/LaunchPad/Day17

This shows you all the ways SFI has made it easy for you to communicate with your downline. I don´t need to repeat anything from there, I can´t explain it any better than SFI already does.

Further to this, it is important to focus on relationship-building, which can be enhanced by using social media, e.g. a Facebook page, your own blog including easy-to-follow training videos you can make and publish on your Youtube channel.

Overall, make yourself accessible to your downline.

Ensure they have your personal email address, and be sure to be responsive to them when they contact you.

If they communicate in a different language, find easy free tools online to help you, such as Google Translate. Let them know, in their own language if necessary, there is a Translate button at the bottom of every page of SFI and TripleClicks.


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Hi Augustine,

Communicating with your downline is addressed very clearly in Launchpad Day 17 - Communication is HUGE, which you can find here:
https://www.sfimg.com/LaunchPad/Day17

This shows you all the ways SFI has made it easy for you to communicate with your downline. I don´t need to repeat anything from there, I can´t explain it any better than SFI already does.

Further to this, it is important to focus on relationship-building, which can be enhanced by
...more