Attraction Marketing for Customers

I've finally completed what I think is the most succinct, easy to follow system for creating a business you love - full of customers you enjoy serving without any of the FRUSTOMERS that we so often feel like we need to settle for.

Build a Better Customer is a hands-on program that guides you through the process of building a stronger business with more perfect cutomers.

In the past 6 months, I've used the strategies in this system to build sales organizations in multiple MLM companies (because recruits are my customers) as well as generate thousands of dollars in sales revenue to boot. And I'm not just talking $20 purchases here.

In fact, I'm so excited about the program, I'm giving away 2 free copies on my next live teleclass - but you have to be on the call to win:

http://www.homepartysolution.com/bettercustomer.html

There's NO replay on this call. That's how important I think it is. I KNOW it will catapault your business to new levels in the new year. Wouldn't you like it FREE? I'd love to give it to you!

Oh! And this isn't just for direct sales reps. Ths process can work for ANYONE.

Promise.

They're coming in DROVES: recruiting with Attraction Marketing

I signed my first recruit from Sarah Coventry last week. And I learned a valuable lesson with another potential recruit this week.

Don't make this about yourself.
Sara (not her real name) called me and we played phone tag for a few days until we could catch up with each other. She had called looking for more information about South Main Designs, and I wanted to answer any questions she had.

When we finally connected, she told me that she had already met with a consultant in her area, and decided against the company because it wasn't what she was looking for. In fact, she said she didn't like the jewelry.

In my 12 years of doing business, I have NEVER heard a prospect say they flat out didn't like the product.

So instead of throwing my arms up and saying goodbye, I probed a bit to see what was going on. Apparently the consultant she met with was new, only brought her 3 pieces to examine, and one of them was broken.

I wouldn't call this a great first impression.

We continued our conversation, and it became clear that she was looking for something more. And even she wasn't sure what she wanted.

She did relay to me the fact that the consultant that she talked with wanted to sign her because she only needed one mmore recruit to earn her kit free.

OUCH.

Folks, NEVER put your needs above your recruit. EVER. How would you feel if this happened to you?

Betrayed. Set-up. Cheap.

How should all your new recruits feel?

Welcomed. Like Family. Part of the Team.

See the diference?

So I encouraged her to put her pen away and think for a couple of months. By the time she got her kit and started learning about the products the best part of Holiday would be over anyway. But I did point her to resources that would HELP her, regardless of the company she chose - my free wekly ezine, "PartyOn!".

And you know what? At the end of the call, she was STILL considering joining SMD. I had exlained that while it might not have been to her tastes, the jewelry and accessories are geared toward a particular market. And if that's the market she's going to serve, then this was the kind of product she needed to sell. An if she wanted to serve a different market, she'd be better off looking at something else.

As she thought about it, she realized that her love of the product is only PART of the decision in choosing a direct sales company. Knowing your market, creating a presence, and making good business decisions all tie together.

But above all, put the needs of your clients (including potential recruits) first.

Your conscience (and they) will thank you for it!

Lessons From Sarah Coventry: Attraction Marketing Works

In the wake of last week's closure of Sarah Coventry, thousands of jewelry consultants are looking for a new home. Consultant websites are closed, and as the holiday shopping season is upon us, former style consultants for Sarah Coventry are scratching their heads, wondering what to do next.

This is why I harp on the value of having your OWN web site. Here's a company that's been around for decades (on and off). This is a company with a firm foundation and a long track record - and now Sarah Coventry is kaput.

The smart consultants have their own website, and can transition more easily to a new jewelry company without hassle.

The ones that don't? They're scrambling, suffering and wondering how to re-create their web presence and re-build their business.

The consultants with their own sites are still generating leads, and when they call those leads, are telling them that they are now with a new/better/different company.

The ones that don't are calling me.

Okay, not just me, but more importantly are they calling you?

I've had 13 Sarah Coventry Consultants call me in the last 24 hours looking for more information about South Main Designs, the jewelry company I came to after leaving Lia Sophia last month.

Why are they coming to me? Because I've used attraction marketing secrets to build a presence and grow my profile online. People come to me first because they can find me first. This is the power of attraction/gravitational marketing. They Google me, and get answers.

Plus if my company ever goes "belly up", as a consultant, I don't have JUST my consultant website to capture leads for me.

What are YOU doing to build your online presence independent of your company?
Don't let what happened to Sarah Coventry happen to you.

South Main Desgns: It's my coming out party - sort of

As I'm posting, I'm sitting in Belinda Ellsworth's Step Into Success Seminar in Novi. I'll probably regert making this post tomorrow, but nothing ventured...

I'm sitting in the front row and I'm going to be on stage after the break. I'm donating a raffle prize and I get to talk about it. It's a gift from my newest Direct Sales Company, South Main Designs.

But here's the kicker. Since this seminar is open to any company, I am seeing a LOT of people from my other direct sales companies - manyof which I can't even mention online because the companies don't "allow" us to promote them online.

Let's be clear. I am party to at least 3 different companies.

But I joined South Main Designs because I'm leaving my former jewelry company, lia sophia.

I can say that, because my last show with them just shipped and I don't expect to do any more business with them now that they'll know I'm with South Main Designs.

And I'm okay with that.

Bt I think it's funny, becuase in this crowd is a Division Manager with lia sophia, who was supposed to be my leader. And yet, she barely recognized me. But when I get on the stage and introduce my new company (I'm sure I'm the only one here - there's only 10 of us in the state), I'm going to get the look (and the kiss) of death.

She's already glared at me twice - because she knows I'm not wearing lia sophia jewelry. Tee hee.


But that's the power of attractino marketing. I've got people in this room that know me, are stopping me to say hi and telling me they love my newsletter. My goal today isn't to get great training from Belinda. My goal is to partner with Belinda on her program next year. And for $10 it was worth every penny to be here.

Tell the Ghosts BOO!

Direct Sales JUMP Start is back on the search giant Google.

And the 2 pay installment program ends this week.

What are you waiting for?

Ghosted on Google?

Here's a strange one.

I started a new blog to announce a new telecourse I'm promoting with fellow direc sales coach, Ruth Fuersten.

You can view the blog here

And I've made a few posts, with links back to the sales page for the site, which is good ettiquette and all.

Yesterday, eveything was great. We were appearing in the search engines just fine.

Today. Ghosted.

Not a link, reference or indicatin that the page, blog or anything exists on google.

The blog does in fact exist - the link above proves it, and so does the sale page. I spent the last 3 days working on both of them, and now - dust in the wind, baby.

I'm wondering what gives. Maybe my posts were TOO optimized for search engines. They certainly weren't trying to be spammy.

Who knows?

Attraction Marketing Pays Big Dividends

Mike Dillard has Black Belt Recruiting, I have my Home Party Solution.

Mike Dillard has Mark Wieser, I have Ruth Fuersten.

Through attraction marketing, I was able to connect with Ruth, an amazing direct sales trainer and business coach, who can boast a top show of nearly $6000 and promtion to leadership in less than 90 days.

Ruth and I have put the finishing touches on our newest coaching program, a 6-week telecourse designed for home party consultants that are serious about treating their direct sales business like a REAL business.

Packed with content from both Home Party Solution and How to Book, Sell and Recruit Your Way to Success, Ruth and I have created Direct Sales JUMP Start.

Direct Sales JUMP Start is a comprehensive coaching program that takes you from the ground level of your business, straight past the F.R.A.N.K. list to a full calendar bursting with recruit leads and strong sales in just 6 weeks. Our goal is simple: give you everything you need to start, run and grow your home party business like a REAL business.

Learn more today at http://www.homepartysolution.com/jumpstart

And the hits just keep on coming!

In the last month, I've doubled my recruit leads. Yep, you heard me - DOUBLED 'em - using attraction marketing strategies.

But here's the kicker - they've all been OFFLINE strategies.

What could I possibly be talking about?

This has nothing to do with Dillard, but it DOES have everything to do with Magnetic Sponsoring and a little bit to do with Black Belt Recruiting.

See, I'm getting ready to produce and star in a television program.

I hear you gasping now. That's exactly the reaction I'm getting from everyone I talk to.

Now this show ain't running on HBO or ABC or any of the big networks - not even the local networks.

And nope, it ain't runnin' on a college channel, the web or satellite.

It's good 'ol cable access.

But you know what? people don't care! It's TV man!

And now I've got people dripping off me, wantin' to participate, hang, and "rub elbows".

We haven't even started shooting yet! Argh!

But I've got hits up the wazoo to the show's website (that's under construction), and I've added 2 new recruits this month alone!

See folks, it's all about positioning yourself as an expert. How much more expert can you be than to have your own TV show?

People flock to ya, I tell ya. They really do.

Oh. and my internet prospecting has been going better, too. Three new leads just this week - which doesn't sound like a lot, but it's for a brand new company, that I only started promoting two days ago.

South Main Designs ^tm is the new kid on the home party block. And they know how to make it easy for consultants to create an online career. Three new leads can't be wrong! With only 400 reps in the country, I'm really putting Home Party Solution through the ringer on this one. I want to prove that anyone in any company can use the step-by-step process in Home Party Solution to achieve success.

So here we go!

Attraction Marketing Basics: Recruit "Above Your Station"

All over our national conference this week I kept hearing the same thing: How do I get my recruits to perform? The answer? STOP recruiting weak performers.

Ouch. Truth hurts, don't it.

See, we're coached by our "leaders" to recruit anyone with a pulse and "talk to everybody" within a 3 foot radius about our business opportunity.

But think hard on this: Would the Board of Directors at Wal-Mart just step out on the street, scoop up anyone within a 3 foot radius and ask them to become the new CEO of their organization?

Then why should you?

That's the crux of Mike Dillard and Mark Wieser's re-launch of Black Belt Recruiting. Instead of shot gunning anyone and everyone, look to bring seasoned pros into your business opportunity. And don't be afraid to recruit "above your station" as it were.

Black Belt Recruiting: Dillard set to Relaunch with Free Video Series

Magnetic Sponsoring founder, Mike Dillard, has upped the ante in Network Marketing. Tapping his friend and personal sponsor, Mark Wieser, who personally recruited over 250 reps in one year, Dillard has announce the re-launch of the Black Belt Recruiting training program. While Dillard is no stranger to the Network Marketing Community, many may be unfamiliar with the Black Belt program. Mark and Mike offer an intense, hands-on program to push sales reps out of their comfort zone and into the correct way to interview prospects for your network marketing opportunity. But the power of this program can be felt immediately in the free 60 minute video series that Dillard and Wieser put together to promote the launch.

Black Belt Recruiting digs deep. Teaching interviewing and pre-screening techniques that begin with building rapport and not "pitching" the product or the opportunity. Mark talks about "qualifying" prospects and deciding whether or not you want to work with the prospect first. If your prospect is someone you want to work with, only then do you proceed with the interview. Mark outlines 3 questions that should be asked when determining whether or not you want to add that potential prospect to your team. Once the initial screening questions are out of the way, Mark and Mike discuss the process of recruiting in greater detail.

Both Dillard and Wieser speak from experience. Dillard, a twenty-something waiter at P.F. Chang's was "discovered" by Wieser, who jumped into network marketing in his thirties, while struggling with "Corporate America". Both have developed massive downlines and trained others to replicate their success.

In an informal, Q&A style format, the introductory videos cover concepts like "Big Thinkers" and what to look for in potential recruits, the power of vision, and how to help prospects find their "Inner Why". Most importantly, however, Dillard and Wieser talk extensively about leadership mindset, presenting value first, setting standards and raising the bar, not lowering it, when prospecting. According to Wiser, "You have to convey that you're more concerned about sponsoring the right people... without dragging them.... They have to show some heart."

The program comes with a powerful guarantee. Dillard and Wiser are so convinced that their program will work that if you don't add 10 new recruits to your organization in the first month, they will refund your purchase price completely. If the videos are any indication, the content in the program will fully support that guarantee and then some. The second video tells exactly what you need to do to build your team of recruits - even if you don't know anyone and haven't recruited a soul. There are no excuses. Mark and Mike detail the power of third party credibility, means of connecting with others, and ways to build rapport.

Taking attraction marketing concepts to the next level, Black Belt Recruiting shows you the "belly to belly" approach for recruiting with ease, no matter your network marketing experience level. But this program is not for everyone. Only people serious about growing a leadership team, along with the responsibilities that entails, need apply.

Dillard and Wieser offer straightforward, free advice in this video series. It's designed as a pitch for the Black Belt Recruiting relaunch, but the content of the free videos alone are worth more than the investment in the program. For anyone serious about growing their network marketing business, these free videos are a must.

==========

Unlike other industry writers, who left direct sales to pursue speaking careers, Lisa is still in the trenches, running her direct sales business and leading her teams to success. Her book, Home Party Solution is a step-by-step method to harness the internet to boost bookings, sales and recruits. Read the first chapter free and subscribe to the weekly business boosting e-zine, "PartyOn!" at http://www.homepartysolution.com

You are a commodity: Make Yourself Scarce!

I love Seth Godin. My bookshelf is crammed full of his works (my virtual bookshelf, too). But I think today I read the best little blog post he ever wrote.

Seth talks about creating true scarcity and leveraging it appropriately. This hits at the core of what attraction marketing is all about.

You are the most important product your company has to offer. There's only one of you, and you have a limited amount of time and space to share with your clients. How do you create demand for yourself?

Scarcity.

You have built-in scarcity just because there's only so much of YOU to go around. The problem is, because there is more than one consultant in your company, many people think that there is no scarcity in direct sales. That's simply not true.

IF you're leveraging your scarcity properly.

If you're equating yourself with every other consultant in your firm, you're NOT leveraging your scarcity. You must have an advantage. There must be a substantial reason for your clients and customers to WANT to do business with you over the others in your organization. That's the first step in validating scarcity in your client's mind. The age-old trick is to keep one calendar and mark down all your personal appointments so that even if you don't have a single show on your calendar, you look busier than a bee. It's psychological, but people still use it because it works.

But it only works when people SEE your calendar.

Other methods of developing scarcity? There are plenty, and Seth offers some retail ready ideas that can be easily adapted to the network marketing arena.

1. Use the internet. I've raised this point time and again. You need to get the word out about your uniqueness and the internet is one of the fastest ways to make that happen. Use an e-zine/newsletter, a blog, or some other method for keeping in contact with your clients. Then make sure you're keeping in contact with them regularly. Friends keep in touch. Make your clients your friends. If you don't want them as friends, you probably don't want them as business associates, either. Why make life more difficult?

2. Reward Your Customers. Seth talks specifically to the "early adopters", those who take you up on your offer first. Give a gift to the first person at each party to book (and hold) a show. Reward the big spenders. Create a VIP club and spend your "advertising dollars" there. Statistics show that it's more cost-effective to keep a customer than it is to attract new ones, why not spend that money on people you already know are enjoying what you have to offer?
3. Give people a reason to talk about you. There are those in the Internet Marketing community that would say it's smart to polarize people - so that they either love you or hate you. I leave that decision to you, but I will say that it's important that they're TALKING about you. Word of mouth is the most tremendous form of promotion, but it's also hard to measure. Who cares!? get them talking about you and they'll be more likely to forget about everyone else.

Mark Joyner offers the notion that "the frame" from which a person hears about you will be a good indicator of whether or not they will become a customer. What can you do to get your customers talking about you in a positive frame, so that more people want to learn more about you, work with you, and propel your business forward?

Here's a hint: Make yourself scarce! Let testimonials and other positive commentary do the talking for you. Ultimately, the less they see of you and the more they see ABOUT you, the more in-demand you'll become.

500 business cards per month? You MUST be kidding!

I was at my monthly sales meeting last night. I almost cried.

Most of the meeting was great - the rah-rah sales stuff, and the motivational stuff are all great.

Then the top money earner in my company comes up to the podium and said the worst thing I've ever heard.

"Make it your goal to give out 500 business cards every month. You can give three to each customer and offer them a referral gift when their card is redeemed."

Are you nuts?

When I think about what this leader did to reach the top of the MLM food chain, I KNOW it didn't include passing out a million biz cards on a monthly basis.

This leader came from another Network Marketing company, where she had tons of contacts because she was a leader there for over 20 years. And she brought her team with her.

Now she sits back collecting monthly pay checks in excess of $25,000.

And she never passed out 500 business cards per month.
Making a suggestion like that is just plain irresponsible, and I was disappointed to hear her say that.

I know for a fact that my leader (her direct recruit) is placing ads in local papers. But she tells others not to bother, "you'll only waste your money."

Really? She had 4 new recruits last month.

Where's the disconnect here?

We should be doing what the real leaders are doing. Bringing on other team builders and people ready to work their businesses and be successful.

Instead, we're being handed this codswallop from our leaders.

Say one thing, do another.

That's disgusting if you ask me.

I did the math. Based on my leader's assupmtions, it would COST me $2 per potential lead I converted - plus 5.6 hours of my life.

I'm worth more than that, thanks.

500 business cards per month? You MUST be kidding!

8 Tips For Choosing A MLM, Direct Sales Or Party Plan Company

By Lisa Young

MLM, Direct Sales and Network Marketing are words that have been used interchangeably in many circles, but they are not necessarily the same thing. Most people get excited about joining a company at a meeting or during a presentation, only to have buyer's remorse a month or two later, and a shelf full of unused products to boot. As the Direct Sales industry continues to grow exponentially, how do you know if you're getting into a company that will work for you?

The promise of mining for MLM gold is to attain total financial freedom. The problem is, multi-level marketing companies are sprouting up all over the place, and there's just too many of them to keep up with, for the average extra-income opportunity seeker. Add to that the start-up costs, required inventories and training costs of some companies, it makes choosing a company a frustrating and time-consuming process. Consider the following eight points before signing on the line for any company:

Realize you are starting your own business. Regardless of what anyone's telling you, even if you only sign up "to get the discount", there are business and tax ramifications to joining any direct sales company. Make sure your recruiter is keeping you abreast of the possible financial impact of starting a new business. Be sure to find out exactly what you'll be getting in return for your initial sign-up fee. Are there product samples? sales materials? A good starter kit should have everything you need for your first month or so of business, including order forms, product samples, training guide, and anything else specific to making your transition into your new business successful.

Think about the product line. Many times, companies encourage you to become your own best customer. If you're the only one buying your products, however, you're likely to be spending more than you're making on a monthly basis. Is it a product that you would use regularly, and freely recommend to your friends? Is it more valuable or more convenient to use than similar products available elsewhere, particularly at the stores in your area? You can find just about any product under the sun being sold via MLM or Direct Sales. But can you be successful selling it in your area? Also consider delivery. What is the shipment turnaround and delivery time frame? Will it ship dire ct to consumers, or will you be required to deliver products? Will you need to keep an inventory on hand? Most Direct Sales companies adhere to the 70% rule, but that doesn't always mean you won't carry an inventory.

What do you know about the company history? Make sure the company provides you with professional sales aid materials, and that they're reasonably priced - many MLM companies rake in tremendous profits just selling brochures and/or other sales literature. A good company will provide online copies of sales materials you can print at home as well.Find out about the company's financial backing and corporate officers. Check with the Direct Selling Association to find out if the company is registered there. Members of the DSA are held to a strict code of conduct regarding enlisting new team members. Be sure to understand/know how the company keep track of all the incoming orders and when, as well as how, you'll be paid.

Understand that this is a selling proposition - you will be required to do at least some face-to-face selling - and it may require a lot of your time - especially at first. Expect to devote the first few weeks to product knowledge and business building.
"Common market" products (vitamins, wrinkle creams, candles, even food) face intense competition. They must have a unique selling point that sets them apart from anything you can buy (usually for much less) in the grocery store.

What kind of training is provided? Besides your recruiter and your manual, are there training materials available to guide you through product knowledge, recruiting, and selling aspects of your business? Is there a cost? Many companies today provide teleconferences, online training, and monthly meetings in addition to personal instruction - and good companies do it at little or no charge. Make sure you know what's available and take full advantage of it.

Consider the methods of selling: door-to-door, home parties, public seminars, by mail, or a combination of all these methods. Some companies have strict rules about methods of selling, and it's important to know what you can and can't do according to the company rules. Once you've decided on a company and product line, familiarize yourself with the marketing materials, training and acceptable sales methods.

Most companies pay based on total sales, with a bonus for hitting monthly sales goals, as well as leadership bonuses. Make sure you are familiar with what you can earn as a new start. Don't be fooled into thinking you'll be earning as much as a leader at the top of the pay scale when you first start out. That takes time - or a whole lot of selling! Plan the amount of time you'll spend in actually trying to sell the product. Know the average ticket sale per customer as well as any minimum orders, or in the case of party plan companies, the average show sales. These figures can help you determine not only where you need to improve your skills, but also approximately the amount of money you can expect to earn on average.The more presentations or sales calls you make, the more money you're going to make - but unless you make those sales calls, you won't be making any money.


Ultimately, it's up to you to decide just how much time you'll spend with your extra-income producing project. If you're looking to replace a full time income, it takes more work on the front end of the business, but over time, Direct Sales can be a lucrative way to transition out of an 8-to-5 work lifestyle. Just remember, it's up to you to do your due diligence before investing in ANY business venture - be it real estate, MLM, direct sales, or anything else!

================
Lisa Young researches marketing trends and tactics for the home party plan industry, particularly internet-based marketing strategies. Lisa has over 11 years in the Direct Sales field both as an independent consultant and trainer. Her FREE business boosting newsletter, "PartyOn!" is filled with tips, tricks and tactics for increasing booking and recruit leads, and makes a great training tool for leaders.

Network Marketing Success: Are You RICH or POOR?

When you're talking about Attraction Marketing - particularly in the Network Marketing world, mindset is everything. You have to think and act like a leader in order to become a leader and draw like-minded people toward you and your business. I was thinking about this today, and I had to share it with you. A fellow network marketer gave me a new definition of RICH and POOR:

Realize

I

Can

Have

-or-

Passing

Over

Opportunities

Regularly

Which one are you? Where is your mindset?

If you live in an abundant mindset, and realize you CAN have anything, doors of opportunity will fling open for you.

My life has been a vivid example of that statement. My husband and I live in completely different mindsets. He always says "we can't afford it." I always say "If God wants it to happen, it will." And things start to happen - Big Time!

Whenever I have a need (and even a want or two), instead of trying to figure out if I can afford it, I try to release the fear surrounding all the "what if's" and let nature take it's course. Without becoming attached to the outcome, you can be less paranoid about the results, and trust that what you want will happen in the exact moment it's supposed to.

Think of something you need desperately. Think of a real need - not a want. A show on the calendar is a need (if you want to stay in business), a new car is a want. A reliable piece of transportation is a need.

Now feel all the anxiety releasing from your mind and body over the ultimate outcome. Trust that, no matter what's going on in your life at this very moment, your ultimate outcome will happen. Feel the peace that overcomes you as you focus in on attaining what you need.

This isn't a bunch of "airy fairy" mind magic, either. What happens, is that your mind is less focused on sorting through fear, and better able to sort through opportunities and possibilities as they present themselves. You'll get a call, book a show, or make a new connection that leads to a new recruit in your Network Marketing business.

Mark Joyner devised a theory on stability that states, in essence: desperate people do desperate things. The more desperate you are, the more desperate you become. But when you focus on becoming stable, the more stability you have, the easier it is to make positive decisions with positive outcomes.

When you clear your mind of the clutter, it's easier to see the good things available to you.

On the other hand, if you live in a world of lack, you'll always see the door as half closed - and always make excuses about why you don't have the resources to take advantage of any opportunity that presents itself. Not enough money, not enough time, not enough faith, not enough courage.

A close family member always lived her life this way. Always complaining about what she didn't have, and how she couldn't afford much of anything. Constantly in a state of misery, people tended to avoid her, she lived alone, and her children even moved away. The general air of negativity weighed everyone down - and consequently she became her own self-fulfilling prophecy. I know recruits in my own network marketing team that have struggled with this mindset issue in the past, and have overcome it. Don't expect it to happen overnight, but with patience and persistence, it does happen.

Open your eyes to all the possibilities you can make not only of your network marketing/home party business but of yourself and your life as well. Live in abundance. Not some mumbo-jumbo, self-help guru kind of babble. Just realize that there's more of everything in this world than you could ever want or need. Stop worrying and start focusing. Then make a plan for getting what you need. The rest falls in place quicker than you can imagine. I know it has for me.

==========
Tired of trading hours for money, Lisa Young gave up her 8 to 5 for a direct sales career that now spans over 11 years. Unlike other industry writers, who left direct sales to pursue speaking careers, Lisa is still in the trenches, running her direct sales business and leading her teams to success. Her book, Home Party Solution, is a step-by-step method to harness the internet to boost bookings, sales and recruits. Read the first chapter free and subscribe to the monthly business boosting e-zine, "PartyOn!" at www.homepartysolution.com

Stop Overcoming Objections - and Start Building Your Business

With the grim economic outlook, some direct sales consultants are pulling out their hair trying to secure bookings and keep their calendar full. Some of the most experienced consultants are scrambling, buckling down, and "getting back to basics" in an effort to fortify their fading calendar.

But the savvy consultants are still holding a consistent book of shows, with calendars that are full and steady. As a business coach, I work with consultants with many different companies, and the successful consultants are revealing their dirty little secrets to massive success - even during the economic slump we're facing today. At first blush, these "secrets" are common sense ideas that will make you roll your eyes into the back of your head. Before you get dizzy, however, ask yourself how well you are implementing these secrets.

1. Create a schedule and stick to it. Top consultants will tell you that they work when they want to, and fill their work calendar around their life calendar. This is a critical component for any successful consultant. You need to know WHEN you want to (and are able) to work. Mark it down and do your work when you're working. By scheduling and utilizing time that is set aside to work, you'll be a million miles ahead of the consultant that prays for bookings to fill the empty white space on her calendar. When you know your next two or three available work dates at a moment's notice, people take you and your business more seriously. And if you don't have a show planned on a day you have scheduled to work? Work anyway! Practice your demo, download a teleclass, read up on product knowledge or network. Do SOMETHING to grow your business.
2. Desperation stinks. Customers and clients can smell desperation a mile away. When you need shows, and start doing "Crazy Eddie" antics to get them, people stop taking you seriously. You don't see Bill Gates jumping up and down on begging people to buy Windows. Neither should you. This is where most consultants develop their fear of "being too pushy". You should ALWAYS present the opportunity to join, host, or buy, but once a client says no, and you've answered her questions, leave it alone. I can't count the number of recruits I've signed at a later date because I was patient and didn't sit on their doorstep waiting for them to join my opportunity. Attraction marketing (aka gravitational marketing) helps you create an identity, establish yourself as an expert in your field and draws interested, like-minded people into your circle of influence. They naturally gravitate to you and, ultimately, choose to do business with you - no desperation required. Mike Dillard's Magnetic Sponsoring Book outlines this basic premise very well.
3. Touch your business daily. While you can bet that Donald Trump isn't sitting in the office every day making deals, he is touching his business in SOME way every day. Be it a public appearance, speaking engagement, television episode, or contract closing, he's busy being an entrepreneur and making sure that his delegates are tending to business in his absence. Likewise, you as a consultant need to be making contact with your business on a daily basis. Your store is essentially "closed" any day you're not working. Working doesn't mean doing parties. It means preparing hostess packets, making coaching calls, holding recruiting interviews, doing customer care and follow up. You don't have to work all day everyday, but you should make a point of doing SOMETHING connected to your business that propels you and your company forward. By the way, YOU are the CEO of your own company as an independent Direct Sales consultant. Legitimate networking, travel and mastermind groups all count as toughing your business. Organizing your desk, socializing on the phone, cleaning your stapler and vacuuming the floor do NOT count.
4. Keep in touch. Regardless of the method, hostesses, customers and recruits want (and need) to hear from us. A Hostesses number one complaint is that their consultant didn't make enough contact with them. Most coaching programs recommend ten different times to contact a hostess before, during and after a party. Customers should be contacted at least once every two months - and preferred customers at least monthly. Attraction marketing pros use ezines, conference calls, and newsletters to keep in touch, en masse, with a personal feel. These lead generating, rapport building tools are only part of the arsenal that propel the big money earners to the top of their company rankings.
5. Be "REAL" and talk to everyone. This is not exactly the same as the old-school 3-foot rule, where you would talk to anyone that would listen about your "amazing, ground floor opportunity." Rather, this is an invitation to release inhibitions and strike up conversations with anyone and everyone about anything and everything. Be friendly. People like and gravitate toward friendly. Opening channels of communication help you to discover common interests, and open doors to natural conversations about booking, sales, and recruiting. When you are likable, and easy to talk with, people enjoy your presentations more. Enjoyable presentations lead to more bookings, more sales and more recruits - without having to beg for "just one more host" at any party.

As consultants around the globe are waking up to the power of the Internet, and the potential of automating contact with their prospects, more leaders are growing into powerful, marketing savvy machines. These attraction marketing whiz-bangs are raking in recruits, selling up a storm, and breaking booking records - without ever having to overcome a single objection, because people are seeking THEM out for their expertise and professionalism. They have become the hunted, instead of the hunter. Begin implementing these five secrets today and watch your business soar. Who knows? Maybe YOU'LL be the next top achiever at your company's National Conference.

Tired of trading hours for money, Lisa Young gave up her 8 to 5 for a direct sales career that now spans over 10 years. Lisa's blog, Real Life Marketing, reveals the realities of what it takes to be successful in the eyes of your customer, using real-life examples you can learn from today. You can visit Real Life Marketing at http://lisamrobbin.blogspot.com

Unlike other industry writers, who left direct sales to pursue speaking careers, Lisa is still in the trenches, running her direct sales business and leading her teams to success. Her book, Home Party Solution is a step-by-step method to harness the Internet to boost bookings, sales and recruits. Read the first chapter free and subscribe to the monthly business boosting e-zine, "PartyOn!" at http://www.homepartysolution.com

Seth Godin's blog post on "the cure" Really tells it like it is.

We all want one - and there are few to be had.

In this case, Mike Dillard's book, Building on a Budget attempts to be a cure - or at least something more than a band-aid - for people with lots of time on their hands, but very little money.

Network marketers are looking for a cure: a cure to the grind of cold calling, genealogy lists, and small paychecks while their upline rakes in the big bucks off their backs.

Mike offers several cures. The first: Magnetic Sponsoring. A fantastic book about mindset, and how to think like an "alpha leader" while creating a name for yourself on the net.

Next: MLM Traffic Formula, the comprehensive guide to marketing yourself online, with all the tips, tricks and strategies business builders use: PR, articles, etc.

And most recently: Building on a Budget, which offers 5 different traffic building tips for the cost conscious that simply can't afford the coin for a book like MLM Traffic Formula, yet want to get their businesses rolling so that one day they CAN.

"Cures" so to speak.

But if they were really cures, why would we need more than one?

The reality is, all are just treatments. Topical applications to a personal issue.

And I'm no better. My book - heck any book - is just a treatment. There are no CURES in Network Marketing, or in any kind of marketing for that matter.

Marketing is like a supervirus, constantly mutating, creating new strains, and affecting us differently each time.

Isn't that cool?

But you've gotta love the paychecks

I've been finding fault with Mike Dillard for weeks now. His Building on a Budget book has been informative, but filled with time consuming tips that you'd need to hire a VA for just to get it all done every day.

I'm more for expediency.

But I've got to admit that his funded proposal sells. Mike's probably most noted for his MLM Traffic Formula program (which currently sells for about half price on eBay), and his Magnetic Sponsoring System. I bought Magnetic Sponsoring a couple of years ago, and I've been VERY happy with the teachings and concepts imparted within the pages. In fact, a lot of the work I do today is based on the very idea that there are "alpha" leaders and "beta" followers, and that being an alpha is far more lucrative.

But today I'm a beta, and I'm a happy beta at that.

Mike has a couple of continuity programs for his business model that pay out monthly commissions to people that refer a friend.

There's something to be said about recurring monthly income.

"Thanks" is what I'd like to say.

I didn't start writing about Mike or Magnetic or any of his other products because I wanted to get paid. But I did want to see what would happen if I DID tell people about the work.

I'm happy with the results.

I may not be the biggest fan of Building on a Budget, but ya gotta love the paycheck!

I'm Too Picky for Video

So after I read the chapter in Building on a Budget about making and uploading videos to drive traffic to my lead capture page, I started working on a video.

I found that I'm far too picky for this kind of stuff.

I watched several of the home brew videos that people post and I just don't feel like they're of the qualify I would want to present to the world. Some of them just look tacky.

I stress the importance of a complete package - don't do it half way, and don't shoot your wad for a bunch of junk. So instead of The Flip, I invested in a slightly more expensive video camera that also takes pictures and stills in HD. It's actually a great little camera, and with the extra memory card, I paid about $200 for it.

So my total's creeping up (plus this is month two of my autoresponder costs), but I've already used it to take some great pictures for my website. You'll be seeing those soon.

I'm pretty excited about the next chapter in Mike's book, press releases. I've already been using press releases, and I'm excited about the prospect of making them work even better for me.

Craigslist Power Posting Using Black Hat Techniques?

Craigslist makes a wonderful place to market your product or service. Throughout the last year, Craigslist has unfortunately dramatically cracked down on bulk posting. When this book was first written, it was much easier to bulk post on Craigslist. One could simply post an image-based ad from a Craigslist account and have the liberty to
post many ads within a short period of time.

Although posting on Craigslist requires patience and persistence, marketing on Craigslist is more valuable than ever. Why, you're wondering? Because the site gets more traffic than ever before... and because of its large usage, it can serve as a valuable place to generate leads and targeted website traffic.

This is an excerpt from the opening chapters of CraigsListPowerPosting3.0. Written by Mark Mattey, CLPP3.0 is designed to make the posting process easier. But what I continue to run up against, is the concept that Craigslist doesn't want people posting the same ads in multiple cities.

Here's what Mark has to say to that:

The goal of this report (and the PowerPosting process) is to inform you on how to post responsible,multiple ads in multiple cities. The ads will run simultaneously. Each ad will virtually look the same, but to Craigslist's computers they (the ads) will appear to be unique - therefore they will not get staff deleted.

Originally I had some moral issues with selling this information (this ebook) because of this. But I've recently come to believe that Craigslist really does not care if people post responsibly. Posting quality ads for quality products in proper sections does not hurt Craigslist. If someone is outside of your city and you sell them something they wanted that is worthwhile, what is wrong with that?

Craigslist mainly does not want spammers bulk posting garbage products all over their website. Understandable, right? So don't become one of these people, please.

Are we running into a grey area here? Is there really a moral dilemma to be had?

Right now, I'm up to 3 leads. But I'm NOT posting every day. It's too much time, and I'm still wading through CLPP3.0. But the more I read, the more I feel like I've entered a realm of "black hat" secrets that I should run SCREAMING from in the other direction.

Whenever I see something like this, I get nervous:

Another option (that I recommend) is to cut and paste junk content after your image, and HIDE it via using white text. This way it will appear unique to the computers, but to the human eye it will not appear (unless it is highlighted with the mouse).

I thought SPAM was junk that people don't want to see? How does appending junk to your post make your post NOT junk?

The more I read, the more concerned I get about Mike Dillard's recommendations. Sure Craigslist may be an orchard of leads ripe for the picking, but if you have to use black hat methods to get them, I'm not so sure I want to be associated with that. How do you teach your downline to use these same techniques and create something that works for them when the rules at Craigslist are constantly changing to keep "spammers" off the field?

ESPECIALLY when it looks like WE'RE just adding to the spam fodder.

So if you like black hat, somewhat backdoor techniques to increasing your Network Marketing Leads, grab a copy of Mike Dillard's Building on a Budget right now.

Otherwise, stay posted as I continue to "work" through this book.

Craigslist Power Posting Strikes Back!

Well, I finally got my copy of the Craigslist Power Posting package.

This guy is SO concerned about security that he keeps moving the location of the file and changing the download link location.

TALK about frustrating. I don't check my email every day, so by the time I got his message, the download link had moved - again - and again - and again!

Argh.

I finally had to threaten to report him to PayPal.

But I got the collection. And it's pretty comprehensive, so I'm taking a few days to digest it.

...before my chance to ask for a refund expires.

Mike Dillard's book recommends this guy in his "references" section. Mike references him again in the online members area.

I hope other users aren't having the same problems I did.

And Then There Were 2

So far, I've still not gotten my power posting package, and I've been a little stumped by the video- which I'll get to in a different post.

Mike Dillard's book, Building on a Budget makes it clear that he's not responsible for the recommendations for the power posting people. But this guy's had my money for nearly a month now and I STILL don't have the stupid files he's supposed to send.

He keeps saying he'll send it - then never does.

But on the bright side, my manual efforts have brought me 2 leads.

So they're in my pipeline, and we're moving forward.

On the other bright side, my funded proposals are starting to pay off, too. One of the people in my pipeline just plunked down the cash to buy Magnetic Sponsoring, Black Belt Recruiting AND MLM Traffic Formula all at the same time. That puts a few bucks in my advertising pipeline.

Thanks Renee!

Craigslist power posting isn't all it's cracked up to be

So I tried to buy this auto posting "package" online to help me with getting my ads up faster on Craigslist.

I plunked down $24, which as you know brings our grand total for this venture up over $25 ($37 if you count the entire autoresponder account for the month).

But the link the seller sent me is dead.
Totally dead.
He sent me two links with a note that he planned to update the package in the next few days and that he's send me the update.

I've heard nothing. I actually purchased the package on March 10, in anticipation of needing it for this project (you know, just in case). Well, I need it, but I apparently can't have it.

I'll keep you updated. In the meantime, I'm moving on to chapter two because posting on craigslist takes forever - and so far, not a single lead.

Oy-Vey!

Multiple Listings will scramble your brain

So I've figured out that having a craigslist account is a far better way to ensure that your listings get posted and no ghosted. All of the ads I ran from within my account were fine.
I did not have time to run ads in all 27 cities, so I only hit a few. So far, no takers, but today's the day I "Step up" to what Mike Dillard calls "power posting"

I broke down and purchased one of the autoposting programs that is recommended in Mike's book, Building on a Budget, so I'm going to spend today getting familiar with it, and seeing whether or not I have better luck with the autopilot posting program than I did doing it myself.

Now Mike Dillard says the key to success is daily posting on craigslist, so after today, unless otherwise noted, I will be posting ads daily. If something unusual happens, I'll let you know, and I'll always give you an update when I generate new leads.

The next chapter talks about videos. So that's where we're headed tomorrow.

Ghosted: Not funny

So I slaved away and got my first ad ghosted.

My very first ad! I don't even know what I did wrong, but sure enough, it was ghosted.
Poop.

So I re-posted this evening with a basic, boring ad, and wouldn't you know it, there it sits in way less than 15 minutes!

I tried to figure out why I was such a "loser" when it came to posting on CraigsList. I mean, I did everything exactly according to Mike's instructions (well except for the image part - he did say short and sweet). Building on a budget, however, makes no mention of ghosting, or the possibility that you'll lose precious time on ads that will never appear.

So I did a little bit of research, and found this link that explains some of the reasons for Craigslist ghosting, and what you can do about it. More to the point, however, it tells you exactly how to know immediately whether or not your ad will appear - without waiting the 15 minutes.

The one thing I did notice, is that if I set up an account, the steps were fewer and easier to deal with. Hmm.. Why doesn't Mike suggest setting up an account? It's fast, easy and free, and makes a ton of sense from the perspective of saving time.

I ended up deleting my fancy ad, but I've still got my "basic" ad (which was posted after I set up an account). One down,

We'll see how it goes today.

The First one is a Lu-Lu

So I completed my special report this morning so that I was ready to post the ad in Craigslist today. I'm really cutting it close because I have another appointment at 9:30 and it's 8:30 now.

So here goes. I'm including an image from the cover of my special report in the listing. It appears that ads with pictures are more successful (I only say that because a lot of them have pictures). It also appears you can say a lot with a little bit of text changing that way. I uploaded the book and the report to my web server just now.

Then I have to write the little bit of code to insert the image in the ad. By 8:48, my first ad is created, along with the image. I've opened my confirmation email, and I even created a craigslist account.

Building on a Budget offers some very specific words to use for your ad, and Mike Dillard suggests keeping is short and sweet, which is hard for me because I'm a wordy girl. But I think I did okay for my first post.

My special report is a collection of conversations with successful people in my organization, so it not only provides helpful info, it pitches my company and establishes my expertise all at the same time. Exactly what Mike talks about in Magnetic Sponsoring.

I've heard a lot about ads being "ghosted", so we'll see if that happens here. They say it takes 15 minutes for the post to appear, so we should know something in about that time frame. Just enough time for me to shower and dress for my appointment!

Ciao for now.

Forms are easy, forms are hard

In the process of building what I thought would be a simple form, I found that the more I tested it, the worse it worked.

Now, I'm not ignorant about HTML or PHP, but I'm not a genius either. I usually pull a "freebie" script from a google search to do whatever I need to do in my website, and edit it if I need to. I've always used Jack's Formmail script for my HTML form needs, but this time, I was really having difficulty making it work.

I wanted a simple little form - name, email, phone - nothing fancy. Then I wanted it to send 2 copies of the form - one to my personal email and the other to the business email I set up with the auto responder. This way I could test in real time without having to log into 2 email accounts. If it worked properly, it would also trigger the vacation message in the business account.

It didn't work because there was a problem with the "sender" address. Nothing I could do would fix the problem, and because I've already spent hours trying to "debug" this problem, I decided to do something else.

I added an autoresponder address to my email aces account. For those of you unfamiliar with email aces, they offer comprehensive auto responder solutions for a very affordable price. I've been using their services for over a year now, but I finally had to upgrade to a bigger account to handle multiple auto responders. My first expense in this project: $14.95 for 30 days.

On the bright side, I have unlimited messages that I can send to up to 10 different lists (and I'm only working on one), so I could divide that total by 9 (because I already had one account), and I get a total cost for this account at $1.67 for 30 days.

Not a bad first investment.

I really wish Mike walked people through this step in the book. An auto responder system is crucial to list-building, and when you're trying to generate 20-50 MLM leads daily, you'll need a way to keep up with them that's organized. My little "form mail" plan would have been a no-cost option, but it is difficult to manage a list that grows by 20-50 names each day that way. I think spending a few pennies a day to automate the process is a smart investment.

I haven't read MLM Traffic Formula yet, but Building on a Budget recommends that you buy that package if you want to learn more about autoresponders and the how-to of building a capture page. As I've said before, that would break our $500 budget.

So to date, let's recap our expenses:

• Domain name registrar: $0


• Domain name host: $0


• Web Page Editor: $0 (use the plain text editor on your computer!)


• Autoresponder: $14.95 (only $1.67 is for this particular project, though)

Not too shabby!
Total time invested is creeping up on 10 hours, but that's because I spent a good 7 hours trying to debug the form mail script (and chase kids in between - it's a holiday here!). If I had remembered the account upgrade sooner, I would have been MUCH happier.

Email Aces makes the sign-up form super easy. They actually have a form generator that does most of the coding work for you. Simply answer a couple of questions and then copy and paste the code into your web page. So simple I could have saved hours!

Debug: nearly 7 hours (give or take with all the "mom" duties in between)
Autoresponder: nearly 15 minutes (with plenty of time for a nap!)

So now the page is done, and it works. And the re-direct page will be functional by the end of the weekend.

The first page is just black text, white background on a blue field. I didn't do any major cosmetic surgery to this page for a reason. I wanted it up today, and I wanted to test every aspect over time. You'll be able to see all the variations - as well as what worked and what didn't work - on future posts. This first page has all the elements Mike Dillard recommends for an effective capture page - including a change in font size for the headline.

I'll add variations over time, so you can see the evolution of the site.

Creating the Capture Page

My primary company is a Spa Party Business. Our company prohibits specific advertising on the internet, as they consider it "National" advertising. So long as my ads are local, I can advertise, but as soon as an advertisement goes "National", I can jeopardize my business.

Mike Dillard suggests marketing an exclusive access item (book, report, interview, etc) as a means of generating leads. Instead of talking specifically about your opportunity, talk about the secrets to your success. This is an extension of the concepts he asserted in first his book, Magnetic Sponsoring.

This is a concept I've been telling my subscribers for months and months. Not only does it assert your authority in the mind of the potential lead, it also creates a stream of leads that may already have an MLM company affiliation, but may want to look at other options in the future. You're building a network that expands beyond the reaches of your company. There's some specific examples and verbiage that Mike includes, but you have to buy Building on a Budget in order to learn all the "top-secret" word choices.

I developed a capture page, per the specifics outlined in Dillard's book. Mike, however, doesn't go into detail on how to create the sign-up form itself, or how to process the form so that the subscriber gets immediate access to the product.

I could begin a lesson on auto responders here, but assuming you're brand new, we need to keep this as simple as possible. Something I wish Mike would have mentioned in the book's opening chapters.

So it's a good thing I'm not completely ignorant when it comes to HTML or web design. All those months as a business website builder did finally pay off! Yay!

I used a free form generator script to create the sign-up page form. I also created a rough "thank-you" page that refers successful subscribers to check their email for link details.

The link is sent via a "vacation message" set up in the email account I created to handle the traffic. Instead of saying "I'm away from the office until 2010", I just put the address for the download link.

The free report isn't live yet (I just created the page, remember!), but should be viable by the end of the weekend. Yes, this is Easter weekend, but I think I can swing it.

Mike's book says that once the capture page is up, we can start driving targeted traffic that should yield a 10% opt-in rate. Mike Dillard expects a 10-50% conversion rate, depending on the quality of the traffic sources. Based on generating 20 leads per day, we need to crank out 200 site visitors daily, which, according to page 17 of Building on a Budget, Mike says should be "easier than you think".

We shall certainly see. Considering my personal website generates about 40-50 new visitors on a weekly basis with minimal effort to drive traffic (my sig file in forums and emails mostly), I think I should be pretty capable of driving new traffic to my site with craigslist.

Mike Dillard's Instructions Are kind of Cloudy

I was probably one of the very first people to purchase Building on a Budget by Mike Dillard. About an hour before the public launch was live, I was clicking "refresh" until the order page appeared (about 15 minutes of clicking was all it took). I plunked down my $34 (that included shipping) and waited about a day an a half for the packet to arrive.

The book came via priority mail, and I was really surprised at how fast it got here. It took a LOT longer when I ordered Mike's flagship book, Magnetic Sponsoring. So eager was I, that I started to read it on the way BACK from the mailbox.

So I've read this book a couple of times now. Highlighted it, written in it, and really asked a lot of questions in the margins - I do that to help me thing about the message of the book I'm reading.

In an article I wrote about Building on a Budget, I mentioned that this book is not truly for the beginner. It assumes a lot of concepts that a newbie wouldn't know. So, for our purposes, I'm going to start at the beginning and take it chapter by chapter.

Yes, I chickened out from posting on craig's list last night. Sue me.

I got overwhelmed by all the crappy posts and realized that the better performing posts were not at all what I was prepared to put up myself, based on what Mike recommended.

So, I'm going to take a different approach, and start at the VERY beginning.

Truly, most of what you'll find in the book, you can also find in the pages of the community site - and membership is free.

But I bought the book, so I'm going to take it page by page.

Mike's writing style is very informal - not the kind of book you'd find on the New York Times Bestseller List. To that end, the spell checker was a little off, too. Nevertheless, Mike promises "to reveal the top 5 ways to build your home business for less than $500, and show you how to execute each method in step-by-step detail."

Further, Mike pushes the idea of encouraging your downline to buy the book and use it themselves. (I think I would have put that at the end of the book, myself, but whatever).

Mike's "Jumla Juice" case study is fictional, but the process is the same, regardless of your company.

The goal: create 20 new leads every day for the jumla juice company. I however will be using one of my own companies (or both, we'll see). Links to all my subject pages will be posted on my blog for your review, along with upgrades and tweaks as I go along.


So here's what's up with Chapter 1:
We need to create "a place to send that traffic and a way to turn out visitors into leads"

So we need to create a capture page, but Mike's book doesn't tell us how to do that. Instead, Mike tells us we need to buy MLM Traffic Formula - which currently retails for about $1000, which takes us clear out of our budget.

So let's create a home brew capture page, shall we?
A good capture page must have a form for your prospect to enter their data. We can use Jack's Formmail script to create a basic capture page and compose a basic web layout to put it on.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves, aren't we?
Where are we going to host this page once we've created it?

OY-VEY! We need a domain name and a web host, too! Ack!

See what I mean? Mike didn't start at the very beginning.

So task one: secure a domain and host.

I found a free domain registrar and host that offers great support and it's provided by one of the largest computer companies in the world.

Who is it?

You'll have to buy my book to find out. Home Party Solution reveals tons of free resources to build your network marketing business using the Internet.

Building on a Budget: My first experience with Craigslist.com

This blog was established primarily as a place for me to update readers on my activities using any and all of Mike Dillard's recommendations in his book Building on a Budget. The book is designed to generate dozens of network marketing leads on a daily basis using a minimal $500 investment.

As an extension of Mike's magnetic sponsoring brand, he's released a new book that's supposed to be able to help any newbie on the market.

I have my doubts about this program, but I'm willing to give it a shot, so I've invested in the book as well as most of the other recommended items in the book. This blog will detail the work I do on a daily/weekly basis to follow through on the instructions Mike supplies in the book.

Building on a Budget hinges on one daily and time consuming activity: relentless posting of ads on Craigslist.com and other similar free ad sites.

My primary concern is that most people who get into network marketing do so because they are looking to frejavascript:void(0)
Publish Poste up their time, so I'm still a little cynical about this.

Before I purchase any autolisting tools, I want to be sure I know how to post to craigslist manually. I also want a rough idea of how much time it actually takes to do it.

I know don't berate me. Even my SISTER uses craigslist, but I never have.

Until today. I'll keep you posted.