This page was updated on January 29, 2001
The Downline Online 21-day
SFI Promotion Course
DAY 4
In February 1999 I was a guest lecturer on Internet Network Marketing at the MultiLevel
Marketing International Association Annual Conference. It was packed with owners of
network marketing companies and VERY successful distributors (I met an unassuming
gentleman who makes $325,000... a MONTH!).
There were a couple of amazing things that happened there.
First, when I told companies about our SFI system, they BEGGED ME to use it with their
company. When I told distributors about our SFI system, the BEGGED ME to join their
downline.
They were all STUNNED by the results we were getting... and that was when we were just
getting STARTED!
##### Today's Lesson - The Power Newsgroup Strategy #####
Internet newsgroups are like watercoolers at an office, where everyone gathers and
chats about some topic. Except that you don't have to be there LIVE to chat. Imagine
having a bulletin board at the watercooler, and instead of talking, you walk up to the
board, read the messages, write a reply if you like and post it for others to read.
That's all a newsgroup is.
There are THOUSANDS of newsgroups, for almost every topic imaginable.
Some newsgroups like advertising. Some newsgroups are nothing but advertising. Some
newsgroups will rip your head off if you advertise.
I want to tell you the best ways to use newsgroups to bring in new affiliates.
SFI has a VERY strict policy about newsgroups (due to the illegal activity of a few
Affiliates some months ago). You can't use an SFI URL in any posting to a newsgroup... but
that's okay, there are ways around that.
*** How do you find newsgroups? ***
Lately, almost all web browsers also have newsgroup browsers. AOL has it's own
newsgroup browser in the Internet area.
Consult the Help for your browser software or AOL to access newsgroups.
*** What newsgroups do I go to ***
Since there are so many, you want to narrow the field to the ones that are relevant for
finding Affiliates.
Your newsgroup software can let you make a list of just the newsgroups you want to
follow, so you don't have to see any others
Here's a list of the newsgroups I've been involved with (posted to, lurked, etc.):
af.annonces alt.ads alt.ad alt.alt alt.america.online alt.anything alt.bbs.ads
alt.bbs.internet alt.biz.misc alt.business alt.business.accountability
alt.business.career-opportunities.executives alt.business.consulting
alt.business.franchise alt.business.home alt.business.home.pc alt.business.misc
alt.business.multi-level alt.business.multi-level alt.business.multi-level.exceltel
alt.business.offshore alt.business.seminars alt.ccds alt.consumers.free-stuff
alt.e-mail.lists alt.ezines alt.internet.commerce alt.internet.services alt.make.money
alt.make.money.fast alt.market alt.misc alt.online-service alt.publish.books alt.writing
alt.writing.scams alt.zines aol.buy.and.sell aol.commerce.general aol.commerce.misc-ads
aol.commerce.mlm.announce aol.commerce.mlm.discussion aol.misc ba.market.misc
bit.mailing-list.cni bit.mailing-list.net biz.comp.misc biz.general biz.marketplace
biz.marketplace.discussion biz.marketplace.international
biz.marketplace.internationalbiz.marketplace.non-computer biz.marketplace.services
biz.marketplace.services.non-computer biz.misc biz.mlm biz.newgroup biz.next.newprod
biz.univel.misc bizbiz.americast can.atlantic.biz can.com.misc clari.biz.features
clari.biz.misc comp.publish.electron compuserve.announce git.club.entrepreneur
git.mgt.club.entrepreneur iae.markt market.internet.free marketplace.services.non-computer
misc.biz misc.business misc.business.credit misc.entrepreneur misc.entrepreneurs
misc.for.sale misc.foresale misc.forsale misc.for-sale misc.forsale.misc
misc.forsale.other misc.fosale misc.job.offered misc.jobs misc.misc misc.miscbiz.comp
misc.writing muc.lists.new-lists news:nz.biz.misc news:ott.business.ads sri.market
*** Finding other newsgroups ***
You can search for other newsgroups based on topics that tend to get discussed in them.
One way is to go to http://deja.com and you'll see a place to search for discussion
topics.
If you find anything interesting, add it to your list in your newsgroup reader.
*** Now what? ***
LURK! "Lurking" mean looking at the postings in the newsgroups without
participating.
You want to lurk to find out what the "netiquitte" is, what kind of behavior
is allowed and what isn't (whether you can post a blatent ad or not).
You can lurk for an hour or a couple days. Whatever it takes until you feel confident
about whether it's okay to place an ad or not.
*** If you CAN post an ad ***
Once you know you can place an ad in a newsgroup, do it... but do this first:
Change your return address or Reply To address to the address of the autoresponder you
set up!
Why? Because return addresses in newsgroups are "harvested" and spammed like
crazy!
When you use your autoresponder address, the people who grab your name from a newsgroup
and mail to you will get your ad in return!
*** If you can't post an ad ***
Participate. If there's a conversation you want to get in on, do it. Enjoy it.
If it's relevant, tell sommeone about SFI (without mentioning it by name and ask if you
can email them privately about it.
And "sneak" an ad in with every newsgroup posting you make!
Remember to have a "sig file" that points people to your the autoresponder
you set up today, which will poin to your SFI site. Make sure the sig file has some
BENEFITS in it! Reasons that the person reading your message will want to go to the site.
Something that they'll WANT and will go to your SFI site to get it!
Later when you learn about gateway pages, you can point people to there as well.
Look at the samples if you forgot what some of those look like.
http://downlineonline.com/members/sample.htm
##### Today's ACTION Plan - FREE #####
*** OPTION 1 - Get into the groups ***
Find the relevant newsgroups and start lurking!
Once your comfy in the group, in a day or a week, start posting using the strategy I
described.
*** OPTION 2 - Set up your autoresponder ***
If you signed up for a free autoresponder, you should have gotten confirmation and set
up instructions by now.
If you have, go set up your autoresponder with the following options (not all free
autoresponders let you change all of these options):
Reply to address: your email address if you want to get the replies in your regular
emailbox, or your FREE email address (hotmail, juno, etc.) if you don't.
Subject/Text: use the headlines and ads from the samples on the DO site. Personalize
the autoresponder text by signing it like a letter and adding contact phone number and SFI
website addres at the bottom of the autoresponder text.
Multiple responses: Some of the freebies let you send more than one response to
whomever emails your autoresponder. I DO NOT recommend using this feature!!!! Why? Imagine
this:
Today, you post an ad on thousands of FFA pages and use your autoresponder as the email
address. Hundreds of people get your SFI ad automatically and will get the ad again in a
day, or two or a week. Then, five days from now you post to the FFA pages again, and again
THESE SAME SITES get your autoresponder ad, and are set up to get the ad AGAIN in a few
days. Now, they're getting the same ad MULTIPLE TIMES -- nothing screams JUNK mail than
getting the same ad multiple times in a short time period.
IF you set up an account at 6fi.zzn.com, you can make a "fake-autoresponder."
Here's how. Go to your account, Select OPTIONS on the left hand menu. Select VACATION on
the top menu. Set the vacation dates from today to some day in 2002! Fill out the text
field with your autoresponder message. Then, when someone mails to your 6fi.zzn.com
account, you'll still get the email in your Inbox, but they'll automatically get your
response back!
*** STEP 2 - Test the autoresponder ***
Send a piece of email to your autoresponder's address and see if you get the response
sent back.
NOTICE: Some free autoresponder services take up to A DAY to send their responses back.
*** OPTION 3 - Keep doing what you've been doing ***
I'll try not to repeat this, but don't stop doing what you were doing yesterday (or the
day before, or the day before)... Keep placing ads.
##### What's up for tomorrow #####
1) How to take the most EFFECTIVE action for success.
2) Where you can mail to THOUSANDS of people who are looking for something like SFI...
FREE!
Be well,
Steven
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