Affiliate since: 04/08/2013, Power Rank: 99999999

Dear Milica,

The two ways of making your advertising more effective I'd like to discuss here are:

a) addressing your ad to the right group of people,
b) structuring your ad according to the media you are using;

and that's easier than it sounds.

As for a) addressing your ad to the right group of people.
Since I don't know what kind of advertising your are using (paid or free), let me address this question from the point of view of a person who uses free advertising only, including traffic exchanges, credit based safelists, text ad exchanges, and forums.

As you can probably see, the first three I mentioned above ARE NOT good places to advertise money making opportunities (although they can still yield a few affiliates). Why? Simply because people there - on traffic exchanges, safelists, text-ad exchanges - are there to FIND affiliates/customers for their businesses, not to look for another opportunity. So most probably they will just fly past your add only to get their credits (we can change that a bit, read on), although theoretically they are also opportunity seekers.

Forums, on the other hand, can be a good source of fresh affiliates if used well. First of all, these must be forums revolving around "making money on the internet". If you use that phrase plus "forum" in Google, you may find lots of them to join. There you have like-minded people who are discussing opportunities on the web and who are also looking to make more money or to start making money. Sign up for one or two of them, start posting, but do not advertise in your posts. You place your ads in your signature - that's a part of the post that is always displayed and contains information from/about you. You just make a nice one-, two-liner with your SFI link embedded, and each time you make a post, people will always see your signature.

If you participate in the forum, post your stories, reply to other people's posts, you'll get noticed and your signature link will get clicked, but that needs time. However, the affiliates that will come will be the most targeted affiliates you can have for free since they will come from a money-making forum with a money-making mindset.

Now, lets go to point b) structuring your ad according to the media you are using.

We have discussed forums above, and you know that the best place to put your ad is your signature. I have also mentioned that we can improve our situation at traffic exchanges, safelists, and text ad exchanges by selecting our ads properly.

The keyword here is SPLASH-PAGE. https://www.sfimg.com/Resources/OppSplashPage
The most common error people make and kill their advertising is that they put URLs to their sign-up pages in traffic exchanges and other programs. As I mentioned above, people at traffic exchanges and other programs like that are not there to look for opportunities. What's more, they need to look at your page as long as the timer in the program is set. Sometimes 6 seconds, and they proceed to the next website, and nobody will bother to fill in the sign-up form. The splash page, on the other hand, may attract their attention and they will click it. Make sure, that you make the link in the splash-page open a new browser window. People at traffic exchanges simply hate when you drive them out of their surfing session. If a new window/tab opens, they will have a chance to look at it when they finish their surfing session.

Summing up - use splash-pages and make sure the link opens a new browser tab/window.

These two simple steps should increase your advertising power. At the same time, please remember to use all possible channels offered by a program, e.g. text links and banners on a traffic exchange, etc.

So much about making your ads more effective on free sites. I hope you and everybody reading it will find the information helpful.
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Dear Milica,

The two ways of making your advertising more effective I'd like to discuss here are:

a) addressing your ad to the right group of people,
b) structuring your ad according to the media you are using;

and that's easier than it sounds.

As for a) addressing your ad to the right group of people.
Since I don't know what kind of advertising your are using (paid or free), let me address this question from the point of view of a person who
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Affiliate since: 04/08/2013, Power Rank: 99999999

The simplest answer to your question is: as many as you think fit and you feel comfortable with. Why so?

Many people will say that you need X hour a week in order to be successful, where X may assume many values. The question is: what are you going to do during those hours? Do you have a plan?

Look at a regular job, for example: 40 hours a week. Except being a manual worker, have you seen anybody REALLY busy for 40 hours a week? I doubt it. There's much unproductive time involved very often, and people just sit in the office, trying to look busy.

The same here. Let's say, you decide to devote 20 hours a week for SFI (4 a day, plus a few minutes to do the TO-DO LIST tasks at the weekend). My question is: what are you going to do during those four hours each day? TO-DO LIST, OK, then what? Browsing TC products, OK. Then what? Writing and sending a team-mail? That's it! That's as much as you need. Does it fill 4 full hours? I doubt...

You don't need hours to "work" with SFI, and anybody saying otherwise does not know what he/she is talking about. Just staring at your SFI scoreboard or genealogy screen is not work. You're better off devoting more time to recruitment if you are going to use free advertising, because this is much more time consuming, like clicking the links in safe-list e-mails or websites in traffic exchanges.

If you however automate you work, i.e. get 1500 VPs standing order to keep your EA rank, pay somebody else to recruit for you (as I do), write your series of letters to your affiliates beforehand, etc. then it's just minutes you'll be spending at SFI website. As much as is needed for TO-DO LIST and responding to possible questions of your affiliates.

So forget long hours. I've been only three months here, but I'm not spending more here than 5 - 10 hours a week (including leadership tasks of all kinds).
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The simplest answer to your question is: as many as you think fit and you feel comfortable with. Why so?

Many people will say that you need X hour a week in order to be successful, where X may assume many values. The question is: what are you going to do during those hours? Do you have a plan?

Look at a regular job, for example: 40 hours a week. Except being a manual worker, have you seen anybody REALLY busy for 40 hours a week? I doubt it. There's much unproductive time involved
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Affiliate since: 04/08/2013, Power Rank: 99999999

Well, there's no secret to it. Everything is difficicult before it becomes easy :)

Seriously speaking, my answer would be like this:

1. Build your downline
2. Build your downline
3. Build your downline

If you follow these 3 easy steps, your advancement in ranks will be only a matter of time.

Why, do you think, the 3 basic steps involve recruitment of 5 ACTIVE affiliates? Simply because when they become EA2, you're awarded 100 VPs for each of them. That's 500 VPs in total.

Standing Ordert = 1500 VPs (sales)
5 x 1 TCredits = 510 VPs (sales)
TO-DO LIST = 497 VPs (action)
5 x EA2 PSAs = 500 VPs (action)
3 TCredits spend on any auction = 3 VPs (action)
=================================================
Total = 2010 Sales + 1000 Action = 3000 VPs = BTL (the 10 Sales VPs are disregarded for qualification)

Plus, of course, you can participate in all possible SFI contests, write Ask SC answers and hope to get some extra Action VPs this way, too.

And, of course, any advancement in ranks by your PSAs also contributes to your Action VP bottom line.

I haven't found anything easier yet.
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Well, there's no secret to it. Everything is difficicult before it becomes easy :)

Seriously speaking, my answer would be like this:

1. Build your downline
2. Build your downline
3. Build your downline

If you follow these 3 easy steps, your advancement in ranks will be only a matter of time.

Why, do you think, the 3 basic steps involve recruitment of 5 ACTIVE affiliates? Simply because when they become EA2, you're awarded 100 VPs for each of them.
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Affiliate since: 04/08/2013, Power Rank: 99999999

"Convince" implies some kind of pressure and people don't like to be pressed. Also, please remember that your Affiliates come from all over the world, have different budgets on hands (if any) and different expectations. The majority of them are shooting stars - logging once or twice until their account expire. Some other try to get by blinded by the worst curse word in the world: "free" and they will not spend a single penny still dreaming of riches... sad truth.

Simply speaking, DON'T try to convince anybody to anything here. Just set up THE example to follow. Have a Standing Order yourself and keep it, inform your downline about your results as they arrive and stress in each letter that the earnings came after you invested money, not the other way round. Present everything you use to your Affiliates and - again - discuss the (positive) results. Tell them about the tools you use and how this adds to your bottom line. Communicating all this, always stress the importance of your Standing Order as the first and the most important tool that helps you keep the EA2 (or higher) rank and earn. Repeat all the time that without reaching EA2 there are no earnings here, but never tell them to buy/set up a Standing Order. After some time, some of them WILL understand and WILL follow. Others not. But those who WILL follow, WILL start building their teams on a similar principle and add to your bottom line significantly each month.

There's a saying concerning writing fiction that works perfectly as a leadership tool, too: "don't tell, show!". Create an irresistible picture of having a Standing Order in the minds of your Affiliates and you won't have to convince anybody to anything. They'll follow willingly themselves.
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"Convince" implies some kind of pressure and people don't like to be pressed. Also, please remember that your Affiliates come from all over the world, have different budgets on hands (if any) and different expectations. The majority of them are shooting stars - logging once or twice until their account expire. Some other try to get by blinded by the worst curse word in the world: "free" and they will not spend a single penny still dreaming of riches... sad truth.

Simply
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Affiliate since: 04/08/2013, Power Rank: 99999999

As the general in the movie "Buffalo Soldiers" said: "the best soldiers come from dirt". And there is nothing derogatory in this phrase. It simply says that the less people have, the more willing they are to sacrifice to achieve more. I keep my fingers crossed for you to encourage those people to work with SFI and make their future better.

Of all the marketing tools to use, I'd first suggest all graphical aids that may help you build your presentation. If I understand you right, you're going to promote SFI offline to those youngsters, so a good PowerPoint presentation may be your most efficient and effective method.

Also the SFI X-Cards can come in handy here and if you can afford to spend some money, small merchandise like stickers or buttons can be helpful, too. If you manage to get those young people interested and if they join SFI, distribute the buttons to them, and tell them to get their SFI X-Cards. Whenever somebody asks them about the button, they can give out a card and perhaps get a new affiliate also this way.

Apart from that, a good training is a must here and I would start with the compensation plan (not a marketing tool, but can be used as such), explaining at the same time, however, that the results do not come overnight... Young people are geared towards almost immediate effects and the fact that SFI is a long term commitment can work as a deterrent here. But if you can back the compensation plan with YOUR results, you may get them really hooked.

One more thing to close, and as strange as it may seem, please do that: watch and have your prospective affiliates watch "The Secret" movie, and then present SFI. It will be easier for you to explain to those young people that their actions today create their future, and the long term commitment to SFI may be easier to overcome then.

I wish you all the luck and success with your endeavor.
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As the general in the movie "Buffalo Soldiers" said: "the best soldiers come from dirt". And there is nothing derogatory in this phrase. It simply says that the less people have, the more willing they are to sacrifice to achieve more. I keep my fingers crossed for you to encourage those people to work with SFI and make their future better.

Of all the marketing tools to use, I'd first suggest all graphical aids that may help you build your presentation. If I understand
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Affiliate since: 04/08/2013, Power Rank: 99999999

Recruiting is an essential part of our work with SFI in terms of time, usually. My first advice, however, would be to buy PSAs even if you have a modest budget and lots of time on hand. Your downline will then grow automatically and you will have more time to learn more ins and outs of operating your SFI business, being a great leader, maybe registering as an ECA or recruiting some from your neighborhood.

As I said, your downline will grow automatically, you'll use the duplication techniques described here and then you'll see that your downline grows wider and deeper and your bottom line looks better and better with each month.

During that time, you might try some "warm marketing" and study other online and offline marketing/advertising methods described in the training section so well and try them one by one or in various combinations until you find your own "sweet spot" to get good Affiliates from.
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Recruiting is an essential part of our work with SFI in terms of time, usually. My first advice, however, would be to buy PSAs even if you have a modest budget and lots of time on hand. Your downline will then grow automatically and you will have more time to learn more ins and outs of operating your SFI business, being a great leader, maybe registering as an ECA or recruiting some from your neighborhood.

As I said, your downline will grow automatically, you'll use the duplication techniques
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Affiliate since: 04/08/2013, Power Rank: 99999999

Wow, Steve, your question made quite a stirr here as you can judge by the number of replies.

In fact saying anything new here is rather hard now, so I'd like to refer to a few things that are repeated the most often.

To be a superstar you need a crowd of followers, right? And these followers will be your PSAs and CSAs. But how do you make them follow you, anyway? They will if you follow these three simple rules:

1. Honesty is the best policy - while communicating with your downline members, be honest if you point out at your own achievements, i.e. don't exaggerate, and also tell people how much time, work, effort, money was needed to achieve this or that goal. Remind them that they may reach different results, depending on their commitment.

2. Lead by the example - if you recommed anything within SFI or SFI-related you MUST be a member of it. If you insist that your affiliates set up a Standing Order for 1500 VP, you must have one yourself (the TC badge reflects your SO status). If you say - socialize via A2A platform, you MUST be a meember of A2A, etc. If there is no badge to display the status, simply explain that you use this or that, it works for you, and you recommend using it.

3. Educate - that's the hardest part of all, because you will hardly ever get any response to your mailings. But do prepare a series of training letters to your affiliates, based on what you have already learned and share that knowledge with your downline members. Or simply communicate with them on a current basis if you wish. Respond to e-mails asking you for help or explanation.

I don't know how much time you have scheduled for SFI on your agenda, but as far as my experience goes 2 hours a day should be enough.

And one more thing before I go - don't expect results too quickly. Some people here needed years to reach their current position. If you find a shorter way, be so kind and let me know :)
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Wow, Steve, your question made quite a stirr here as you can judge by the number of replies.

In fact saying anything new here is rather hard now, so I'd like to refer to a few things that are repeated the most often.

To be a superstar you need a crowd of followers, right? And these followers will be your PSAs and CSAs. But how do you make them follow you, anyway? They will if you follow these three simple rules:

1. Honesty is the best policy - while communicating
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Affiliate since: 04/08/2013, Power Rank: 99999999

Dear Damien,

As far as I can see you've got a lot of answers to your question and you can easily apply the information included in them. Still, although I haven't read all of them, there seems to be one thing missing in those that I have read:

YOUR COUNTRY LEADER!

We may not always be lucky enough to join under an active Sponsor/Co-sponsor and our upline need not have to be the most helpful either. However, making A2A friends with your Country Leader may be far more rewarding. His/her being the leader means that the person is active at SFI, most probably they now some interesting ins and outs, and they have certainly tried a few methods or ways to work with SFI.

To find your Country Leader easily, go to your SCOREBOARD, then click "See Power Rank Leaderboard" in the Power Rank section, and then select "Country" from the drop-box over the second column of photos.

I think he/she will be more than glad to help her fellow country man.
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Dear Damien,

As far as I can see you've got a lot of answers to your question and you can easily apply the information included in them. Still, although I haven't read all of them, there seems to be one thing missing in those that I have read:

YOUR COUNTRY LEADER!

We may not always be lucky enough to join under an active Sponsor/Co-sponsor and our upline need not have to be the most helpful either. However, making A2A friends with your Country Leader may be far more
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Affiliate since: 04/08/2013, Power Rank: 99999999

I can answer this question in just four words: "Automation, Duplication, Patience, Honesty". What I mean is that our task here is to build a team of active affiliates who will then build their teams of active affiliates, etc. That's duplication.

As soon as you understand that your main sources of income are commissions and VP Match (and not how much you buy or sell or how many VP you produce yourself), you will want to automate the task of recruiting new Affiliates instead of wasting time clicking links on traffic exchanges or safelists. Here's where automation comes into play. Simply look at all those ECAs who offer you automatic downline building. For a fee suitable to your wallet you can have anything between a dozen and a hundred PSAs each month.

Now, we come back to duplication, i.e. training your affiliates doing the same. Here's where many people fail because of lack of patience and honesty.

Since a vast majority of SFI Members expect quick if not rapid results, they are not patient enough to build their downlines, to communicate with their Affiliates, to build relationships in short and very often it is enough just to write to your new Affiliate "Hi, I'm here to help...". People lack the patience to create their own series of training letters, they lack patience to DEVELOP their SFI business step by step. So patience is a trait you need here.

Last but not least - honesty. You simply CAN'T expect (or even order) your Affiliates to do things, to buy items or - in general - to follow the path that you are not following yourself. I've been there many times as an affiliate - my upline would "suggest" that I buy this or that, pay a yearly membership fee or spend my money in any other way, but when I looked at their profiles it became clear that they did not perform the action themselves so why should I? On the other hand, if you write in your training letter that item X, book Y, membership Z might be a good starting point to increase the Affiliate's earnings and the Affiliates see that you did the same that you suggest, they MIGHT follow you adding to your commissions volume and building your VP stack.

Automation, Duplication, Patience and Honesty is all that is required to be successful here and that's what I learned here :)
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I can answer this question in just four words: "Automation, Duplication, Patience, Honesty". What I mean is that our task here is to build a team of active affiliates who will then build their teams of active affiliates, etc. That's duplication.

As soon as you understand that your main sources of income are commissions and VP Match (and not how much you buy or sell or how many VP you produce yourself), you will want to automate the task of recruiting new Affiliates instead of
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Affiliate since: 04/08/2013, Power Rank: 99999999

My answer: Automate.

I mean: buy any coop you can afford and have new PSAs pour in in the largest number possible. Out of every "batch" you'll get there MIGHT be one person who will be really committed to succeed with SFI. Therefore, observe your downline, offer your support to everyone with no exception, but watch who the real movers are. After a month or two you'll spot the leader(s). Start working with them. Offer more support, discuss some more advanced methods of dealing with SFI, show how you build your downlines (via automation). Simply duplicate your actions via your PSA leader(s).

With time (and it requires quite a bit of it) out of hundreds of sign-ups you'll build a team of a few high quality Affiliates who will follow your footsteps in building their teams. And if you are persistent and patient enough - after a few more years - out of thousands of sign-ups you'll build a team of a few dozen leaders who'll "take care" of your future :)

Just remember - it won't happen overnight. See how long Stone Evans (the creator of Plug-In Profit Sites) has been present with SFI.
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My answer: Automate.

I mean: buy any coop you can afford and have new PSAs pour in in the largest number possible. Out of every "batch" you'll get there MIGHT be one person who will be really committed to succeed with SFI. Therefore, observe your downline, offer your support to everyone with no exception, but watch who the real movers are. After a month or two you'll spot the leader(s). Start working with them. Offer more support, discuss some more advanced methods of dealing
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