This is a great question and I hope that my answer will help to shed some insight on the topic.
Following are the top ten things I recommend for all new SFI affiliates. They are, at least in my opinion, in the order of importance that I feel is best.
1) Complete their affiliate profile
I rate this as the most important first step as this gives their sponsor an excellent overview of their new affiliate. It also allows their sponsor to custom tailor their communications based on the information their affiliate provides in their profile. For example, if your affiliate states in their profile that they have strong prior online advertising experience, then you are not likely needing to teach them how and where to advertise.
2) Upload a photo to their profile
The internet takes away the essence of personalism. Without a photo, you are nothing more than words on a screen and a faceless name. By having a photo posted on your profile, both your sponsor and those who your affiliate introduces to SFI will feel more comfortable when communicating.
3) Visit their sponsor's leadership page
This is why it is so important for us as SFI leaders to maintain our leadership pages. Aside from our direct communications with our affiliates, our leadership page can provide a great level of insight for our new affiliates. This also gives our new affiliates a chance to see what contests we might be running for them and about any we advertsing co-ops we are running.
4) Whitelist both the SFI email and their sponsor's email addresses
This is very important so that they won't miss any important announcements from SFI. By whitelisting their sponsor's email address, they won't miss any direct email communications from their sponsor. However, a word of caution regarding having them whitelist your email... DO NOT break SFI's rules and use this as an opportunity to cross-solicit.
5) Complete fast track
By doing this, new affiliates are able to demonstrate to their sponsor and the world that they are serious about their SFI business. While not a guarantee, fast trackers are more likely to stay active so long as you do your part in encouraging them and providing coaching, training and guidance to help them succeed.
6) Contact their sponsor
You might wonder why I put this in here. How often do we get a sign-up notification only to do nothing? How often have we thought "I completed my welcome mailer, that is sufficient."? Or sometimes we might have a built-in mental delay mechanism wherein we let them get started and feel their way around, choosing to send our personal welcome message 48 to 72 hours after they enroll. When our new affiliates contact us first, it is another avenue whereby they are showing us that they are serious about their SFI business. It also demonstrates that they are self-motivated and are able to take initiative.
7) Get familiar with the daily task tabs
As this is where we all typically start each day with our SFI businesses, it is good to have your new affiliates get familiar with these tabs and the information each one contains.
8) Introduce themselves in the forum
The forum is an amazing resource for us. Sometimes we won't always have the answers that our affiliates are seeking. By getting comfortable with the forum, your affiliates will know that they have multiple avenues to explore when in need of answers. This is because we all his lives apart from SFI and cannot be on the site 24/7 to be able to answer their questions the moment they ask them. Given the fact also that SFI is a global opportunity, and apart from A2A, the forum is a great place for them to connect with fellow affiliates from their own country.
9) Review the Start and SFI Basics buttons
As their titles imply, these sections provide much of the essential information for the new affiliate.
10) Start the SFI LaunchPad training
Just like the Start and SFI Basics sections, this training takes your new affiliate through 30 days of essential training. In the LaunchPad, your new affiliate will learn about such things as SFI, TripleClicks and the SFI Rules for Success.
I hope that this helps you to guide your new affiliates on the path of success with their SFI business.
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