Affiliate since: 06/29/2000, Power Rank: 1

1) When you focus your team on acheiving specific results they will naturally take additional actions. Momentum!

2) If the contest is based on building the team and the awards also relate to the same then everyone wins. Leverage!

3) Contests can also encourage communication between your team leaders and their groups (your group). Duplication!

You want momentum, leverage and duplication in your group so you can have:

1) Income Freedom

2) Time Freedom

3) Location Freedom
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1) When you focus your team on acheiving specific results they will naturally take additional actions. Momentum!

2) If the contest is based on building the team and the awards also relate to the same then everyone wins. Leverage!

3) Contests can also encourage communication between your team leaders and their groups (your group). Duplication!

You want momentum, leverage and duplication in your group so you can have:

1) Income Freedom

2) Time
...more

Affiliate since: 06/29/2000, Power Rank: 1

Always remember that "features tell, but benefits sell" when communicating with prospects about the SFI business. The majority of us actually make our decisions based on emotions (how we feel) and not our logic and reason (what we think). My point is that most prospects will become confused with a lot of facts and figures and the confused mind always says no. I would strongly recommend you simply use your personal story to gain the curiosity of your friends and family. Also, you need to get them to take a look so remember to stress benefits and NOT features.

Bonus suggestion: Use the Feel, Felt and Found technique when communicating with prospects...

1) I know how you "feel"...

2) I "felt" the same way...

3) What I "found" was...

Notice that this time proven strategy is based on addressing emotions!
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Always remember that "features tell, but benefits sell" when communicating with prospects about the SFI business. The majority of us actually make our decisions based on emotions (how we feel) and not our logic and reason (what we think). My point is that most prospects will become confused with a lot of facts and figures and the confused mind always says no. I would strongly recommend you simply use your personal story to gain the curiosity of your friends and family. Also, you need to
...more

Affiliate since: 06/29/2000, Power Rank: 1

If your objective with SFI is to build a team, based on duplication, to gain the following benefits:

1) Income Freedom

2) Time Freedom

3) Location Freedom

I would strongly recommend you let the SFI system do it's job. The SFI "START", "SFI BASICS" and most importably the "LAUNCHPAD" training will do the heavy lifting for you! Focus on the 80/20 rule. Learn to build your own lead systems, be there for your team and let the SFI training system help your Affiliates to fully understand SFI.
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If your objective with SFI is to build a team, based on duplication, to gain the following benefits:

1) Income Freedom

2) Time Freedom

3) Location Freedom

I would strongly recommend you let the SFI system do it's job. The SFI "START", "SFI BASICS" and most importably the "LAUNCHPAD" training will do the heavy lifting for you! Focus on the 80/20 rule. Learn to build your own lead systems, be there for your team and let the SFI
...more

Affiliate since: 06/29/2000, Power Rank: 1

I would encourage you to be very, very careful when providing incentives to your team. After 30 years of experience with 20+ of those being full-time I strongly recommend that incentives be linked to "business building" activities. If you want Income, Time and Location Freedom then you want to build a team based on Affiliates taking results oriented actions. For example you might reward Affiliates for their sponsoring or sales results. Do NOT simply give away TCredits for being a part of the program in some way.
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I would encourage you to be very, very careful when providing incentives to your team. After 30 years of experience with 20+ of those being full-time I strongly recommend that incentives be linked to "business building" activities. If you want Income, Time and Location Freedom then you want to build a team based on Affiliates taking results oriented actions. For example you might reward Affiliates for their sponsoring or sales results. Do NOT simply give away TCredits for being a part of
...more

Affiliate since: 06/29/2000, Power Rank: 1

The least expensive is NOT the "best" way to build your personal SFI Website in my opinion. However, let's cover the "least expensive" and then what I would consider the "best" way to build a personal SFI Website.

The least expensive way to establish a professional presence on the internet is to use one of the FREE blog services like:

WordPress.com (notice that the .com extension is used for the HOSTED version of WordPress)
Blogger.com
Tumblr.com

All three of the recommended services have excellent systems in place and will allow you to get up and running quickly in a professional manner. As a matter of fact, SFI uses WordPress.com for it's Official News Blog (news.sfimg.com) so that's an impressive testimonial all by itself.

I would consider the "best" way to build your personal SFI Website to be with the FREE self-hosted version of WordPress.

WordPress.org (notice that the .org extension is used for the SELF-HOSTED version of WordPress)

Unlike the above "least expensive" recommendation my "best" recommendation would require:

1) The purchase of a domain name (annual cost).

2) The purchase of a hosting service (monthly cost).

3) Optionally the purchase of a professionally programed "theme" for your WordPress site (one-time cost). A theme that uses "child" themes is a BIG plus. I strongly recommend a theme that has been optimized for SEO and is responsive to ALL devices that may access your site (Responsive Design is IMPORTANT). Also, I can't stress enough how SEO friendly a WordPress site can be with the right theme. I regularly see pages indexed by Google in just minutes after being published. Impressive!

4) Optionally the purchase of professionally programed "plug-ins" to add value-adding features to your WordPress site (one-time cost per plug-in).

I would also like to stress that there are tens of thousands of FREE plug-ins and themes for the self-installed version of WordPress. However, I've found that the professionally programmed/supported plug-ins and themes have a better pay-back in results.

If you go with the "best" recommendation then you have total control over all aspects of your site like setting up a forum, taking surveys or setting up highly customized forms just to name a few. You can add all the features you want! You have total control!

Remember to use the 80/20 rule and do not over complicate your site. Stay focused with one central theme per website. Use a/b split testing to improve your site. Focus on benefits!

BONUS RECOMMENDATION: Use three separate services, if possible, for your domain name, email service and website hosting. You want to avoid having a single point of failure. It just makes business sense!
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The least expensive is NOT the "best" way to build your personal SFI Website in my opinion. However, let's cover the "least expensive" and then what I would consider the "best" way to build a personal SFI Website.

The least expensive way to establish a professional presence on the internet is to use one of the FREE blog services like:

WordPress.com (notice that the .com extension is used for the HOSTED version of WordPress)
Blogger.com
Tumblr.com

All
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Affiliate since: 06/29/2000, Power Rank: 1

I would focus on learning to build my own advertising system based on text ads. The idea is that you use small inexpensive text ads to drive leads back to your SFI gateway page. A more advanced version would be to drive the leads back to a small website that you own and build your own list. This would enable you to market SFI to your list as much as you desire. Also, with your own list you can make special offers and better track your results.

If you "bootstrap" your business with $100 per month into a small ad system you'll learn everything you need to know to manage much larger amounts. Building a lead system is the most important skill you can develop!
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I would focus on learning to build my own advertising system based on text ads. The idea is that you use small inexpensive text ads to drive leads back to your SFI gateway page. A more advanced version would be to drive the leads back to a small website that you own and build your own list. This would enable you to market SFI to your list as much as you desire. Also, with your own list you can make special offers and better track your results.

If you "bootstrap" your business
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Affiliate since: 06/29/2000, Power Rank: 1

The first thing you need to clarify is "What benefits do you want from your SFI business?". After you've answered that question then it's easier to pick one of the 3 popular items. Since the question requires me to pick one item I'm going to go with S-Builder. The reason I would pick S-Builder is that the benefits I'm "personally" looking for are:

1) Income Freedom

2) Time Freedom

3) Location Freedom

My preference has been to "focus" on building a network of Affiliates to achieve 1 to 3. Of the 3 popular items mentioned the one that "directly" helps to build a network of Affiliates is the advertising Co-op called S-Builder.
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The first thing you need to clarify is "What benefits do you want from your SFI business?". After you've answered that question then it's easier to pick one of the 3 popular items. Since the question requires me to pick one item I'm going to go with S-Builder. The reason I would pick S-Builder is that the benefits I'm "personally" looking for are:

1) Income Freedom

2) Time Freedom

3) Location Freedom

My preference has been to "focus"
...more

Affiliate since: 06/29/2000, Power Rank: 1

For the sake of clarity I'm going to assume most Affiliates want to become a Team Leader for one or all of the following reasons:

1) Income Freedom

2) Time Freedom

3) Location Freedom

If your objective is to build a business that gives you all three of these freedoms then I strongly recommend you focus on building a team of Affiliates to become a Team Leader (TL). If you use the 80/20 rule and put your resources into building your own lead system then you'll find yourself advancing through the TL ranks in a matter of months. Soon your TLs will find their own TLs and your organization will start to grow in ways you never imagined. It's a magical process that'll keep you up at nights!
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For the sake of clarity I'm going to assume most Affiliates want to become a Team Leader for one or all of the following reasons:

1) Income Freedom

2) Time Freedom

3) Location Freedom

If your objective is to build a business that gives you all three of these freedoms then I strongly recommend you focus on building a team of Affiliates to become a Team Leader (TL). If you use the 80/20 rule and put your resources into building your own lead system then you'll
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Affiliate since: 06/29/2000, Power Rank: 1

All relationships are unique so this is a challenging question! The best I can do is speak from personal experience in that my spouse was not that supportive when I started my business many years ago. Here's what worked for me:

1) We discussed me being able to devote a set amount of time to the business.

2) We discussed me being able to invest a certain amount of money into the business.

3) I then made a decision to convince my spouse with "results" as she's something of a visual person

4) I made inquires into what I would need to focus on to produce "results" which for me turned out to be lead generation.

5) I took massive action, used leverage and was profitable in a few months. She was now 50% convinced!

6) As my successes and income increased I shared them with my spouse with lots of excitement. She became 75% convinced!

7) One day I announced that my spouse could quit her job and be an at-home Mom if she desired. She was now 100% convinced!

I would say that at first all we have are words, but if we focus on massive action we can then allow the results to do the convincing.
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All relationships are unique so this is a challenging question! The best I can do is speak from personal experience in that my spouse was not that supportive when I started my business many years ago. Here's what worked for me:

1) We discussed me being able to devote a set amount of time to the business.

2) We discussed me being able to invest a certain amount of money into the business.

3) I then made a decision to convince my spouse with "results" as she's
...more

Affiliate since: 06/29/2000, Power Rank: 1

The first thing you need to clarify is "What benefits do they want from their SFI business?". If they're looking for the any or all of the following benefits then building a network of Affiliates should be their focus:

1) Income Freedom

2) Time Freedom

3) Location Freedom

If your Affiliates are looking for the above benefits then let them know that SFI's S-Builder is a tool for reaching those objectives.