Affiliate since: 05/02/2013, Power Rank: 592

Which is better and why? Promoting SFI and TripleClicks locally and more personally...or globally via the Internet?

They both have advantages, and it depends a little on your personality and situation. Personally, when I started, I did not work on my "warm market" at all, because most people in my area have a very negative attitude about negative marketing. They don't even listen, because they think it is a scam! That's changed a little since I've started making some money and can show them that, but I started mostly online.

There are lots of ways to promote SFI locally, however, without targeting people you know. You can set up local seminars (either at your home, local community center, library, or even hotel lobbies, as you grow your local reputation). Just make sure you practice your speech or conversation ahead of time and anticipate questions, so you can answer questions as completely and naturally as possible.

For TC sales and ECA referrals, find out what your friends and family shop for regularly, and find a local store willing to sell those items on TC with local pickup. It's a win-win situation for everyone!

I think it's important to focus on a specific niche when targeting potential SFI affiliates, though, and (most of the time) it is easier to target a specific niche online. There are forums and hang-out places that will reach more people in your specific audience this way. That's how I started, and it's worked well for me.
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Which is better and why? Promoting SFI and TripleClicks locally and more personally...or globally via the Internet?

They both have advantages, and it depends a little on your personality and situation. Personally, when I started, I did not work on my "warm market" at all, because most people in my area have a very negative attitude about negative marketing. They don't even listen, because they think it is a scam! That's changed a little since I've started making some money
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Affiliate since: 05/02/2013, Power Rank: 592

"How do I come up with good content for my weekly newsletters to my team?"

This is an excellent question. It is very important to keep regular contact with your team, even affiliates that are inactive. However, it's important that you keep the content useful for them!

SFI is full of information, just look at the Training section on the black ribbon menu.
https://www.sfimg.com/Training/

You can make a series of emails focusing on generating TC sales and sponsoring affiliates. Follow that up with SFI Rules of Success - these are twenty very important rules to follow to build your successful business.

Check out the "Getting Started Training" section for your newer affiliates, or affiliates who haven't successfully gotten started yet with the SFI opportunity.

Then there are the reports from the "Must-Read Expert Reports" section. This section has HUNDREDS of helpful articles covering general home-business, essential tips & hints for your business, network building tips, internet marketing tips, start up tips, finance and money advice, sales writing & communication, customer service and complaints, advertising sales and marketing, recruiting & prospecting, and offline marketing.

There are Training sections for Gift Card guides and referring ECAs. Use these to educate your team about these topics. There are half a dozen "Affiliate Tips" available with further information for you to use.

The Internet Income Archive is full of 90 lessons written by George Little. Some of the information is a bit outdated, but a lot of the information is very helpful for understanding how the internet and marketing work. There is also the new Internet Income Course 2.0, which is more current, and contains a lot of great information.

There are a number of articles under "Ask Gery" which are the most common questions Gery (the president and founder of SFI) has received.

There is a tremendous amount of information available on the SFI website you can use for your weekly Team Mail. However, some of the best ideas *I* have seen have been on the forum or asked in the ASK SC community. These are great places to get even more ideas of current concern to SFI affiliates.

With all of these resources, it is important to cite where you get the information. Doing this keeps things ethical, and also gives your team members a chance to explore the source site for further information. Win-win for everyone!
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"How do I come up with good content for my weekly newsletters to my team?"

This is an excellent question. It is very important to keep regular contact with your team, even affiliates that are inactive. However, it's important that you keep the content useful for them!

SFI is full of information, just look at the Training section on the black ribbon menu.
https://www.sfimg.com/Training/

You can make a series of emails focusing on generating TC sales
...more

Affiliate since: 05/02/2013, Power Rank: 592

It is very important to communicate with your new affiliates about getting on the Fast-Track. This gives them the opportunity to earn 10% more matching VP shares for their entire time with SFI.

You can read more about other Fast-Track benefits here:
https://www.sfimg.com/FT

There are five Getting Started actions required to become a Fast-Track Member.

1 Valid, confirmed e-mail address
2 Whitelisting of SFI to ensure e-mail delivery
3 Completed Affiliate Profile
4 Account photo uploaded
5 "Ready to go" commitment to sponsor

In addition to these simple steps, the only requirement is $20 in sales or purchases. The New Member Pack is perfect for this. You get 200 MRP (Member Reward Points), 50 TCredits, and 10 EZ Express tokens - a $61.90 value for only $20! In addition to all this, they will receive 30 free entries in the Daily Crown drawing, plus 3 CSAs added to their team. Finally, in addition to the 250 bonus VP for becoming a Fast-Tracker, they also receive 500 VP for their purchase. This is the best deal on TC.

In addition to all the benefits your team member receives, you will earn Direct Commission or Co-Sponsor Commissions on their purchase. Maybe more importantly, it gives your new affiliate a chance to check out TripleClicks and try the auctions and games.

Often, new affiliates get wrapped up in the SFI site and do not understand how TC sales generate our commission income. This gives them a chance to focus on TC and what it has to offer, so they can better promote the sales aspect of their business.

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It is very important to communicate with your new affiliates about getting on the Fast-Track. This gives them the opportunity to earn 10% more matching VP shares for their entire time with SFI.

You can read more about other Fast-Track benefits here:
https://www.sfimg.com/FT

There are five Getting Started actions required to become a Fast-Track Member.

1 Valid, confirmed e-mail address
2 Whitelisting of SFI to ensure e-mail delivery
3 Completed
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Affiliate since: 05/02/2013, Power Rank: 592

If you are not good at approaching people face to face, what are some tips to improve in this area?

Practice, practice, practice! You will be asked the same questions often, so it's important to have the answer "planned" out and rehearsed, so you can sound natural.

In my experience, it is important that you don't sound like you're trying to sell them something. People don't like to be "sold" something. Tell them how SFI has helped you, what you do (advertising, etc), and that it was a great opportunity for you.

Naturally, some people will be curious about it. Those are the people who you can go into more details with, and invite them to check it out.

It's important to anticipate the questions they will ask, compose a natural-sounding answer that's as complete as possible, and practice those answers a loud so you are comfortable with the conversation.
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If you are not good at approaching people face to face, what are some tips to improve in this area?

Practice, practice, practice! You will be asked the same questions often, so it's important to have the answer "planned" out and rehearsed, so you can sound natural.

In my experience, it is important that you don't sound like you're trying to sell them something. People don't like to be "sold" something. Tell them how SFI has helped you, what you do (advertising,
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Affiliate since: 05/02/2013, Power Rank: 592

What are the best ways to track my ads to know which are providing the best results?

This is an excellent question. It is necessary to track your ads in order to see which are producing the best results. When you know which ads work the best for you, you have the opportunity to tweak them, a little at a time, and continually make them better and more effective.

SFI has excellent tools available for this. When you use Key Codes with your gateways, you can track how many hits each ad is getting.

From the SFI Support:
How Can I track my advertising? How do I use key codes?

You can (and should) use Key Codes in all your advertising. You choose your own Key Codes and append it to the end of your SFI ID number within your Gateway links (for example: http://www.sfi1.biz/SFIID.123 or http://www.sfi4.com/SFIID.123/FREE). Our system will automatically capture your Key Codes when someone joins SFI or becomes a TC Member through one of your Gateway links with a Key Code attached. You'll then see your Key Codes referred to within incoming PSA and PRM Notifications and also in the "KC" column within your Genealogy, providing you immediate feedback on the effectiveness of your ads. In other words, by embedding different Key Codes into your various advertising efforts, you can easily and quickly identify where your results are coming from--which ad sources are pulling, and which ad sources are not.

As an example, let's say that you run a particular SFI ad in a popular blog and on an offline flyer. You refer your prospective affiliates to your FREE Gateway on both ads, but you use different Key Codes for each source, so you'll be able to tell which one is bringing you better results:

Blog: http://www.sfi4.com/SFIID.100/FREE
Flyer: http://www.sfi4.com/SFIID.200/FREE

As your PSAs join SFI through these two ad links, you can quickly determine by the Key Code references in new affiliate notifications and your Genealogy which source is working better.


Make sure you KEEP TRACK of what key codes are assigned to each ad. You can use a simple spreadsheet program to do this. You can also see how many hits each ad is producing through the Hit Tracking feature. Both the Hit Tracking and Key Code info is under "Power Tools" on the black ribbon menu. Be sure to check your Hit Tracking on Saturdays and record them, because the hit counters are re-set Saturday night for the following week.

You asked an excellent question, but I am going to go a little further. What do you do with this information? Of course, it is good to know which ads are producing results for you, so you can continue to use them. And to know which ads are not producing any results - so you can stop wasting your time with them!

However, a key lesson here is to take this information and use it to make your ads BETTER. You can take your best ads and do split-testing. Use the original ad, and a very similar ad that has been tweaked a little. Does the new ad do better? Pick the better of them, and tweak it again. This way, you are continually improving your ads, and you will be able to attract QUALITY affiliates who are more interested in joining your team and building a viable business.
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What are the best ways to track my ads to know which are providing the best results?

This is an excellent question. It is necessary to track your ads in order to see which are producing the best results. When you know which ads work the best for you, you have the opportunity to tweak them, a little at a time, and continually make them better and more effective.

SFI has excellent tools available for this. When you use Key Codes with your gateways, you can track how many hits
...more

Affiliate since: 05/02/2013, Power Rank: 592

What's the biggest turn-off that I should avoid talking about to prospects for SFI?

This is a great question! Many will argue with me, but I think it's important to be upfront about SFI and how it works. However:

- You should always avoid misleading information. Don't tell your prospects that SFI is easy, fast money. It's not. It is a business, and it takes time for a business to grow into a money-making machine.

It is also not easy. Most people join SFI without any previous marketing experience. We all have to learn how it works, and there is a steep learning curve. SFI is unique, because it provides so much free training. The catch - and there IS a catch - is that you have to spend your time learning. If you don't, you won't get very far!

- Don't exaggerate the SFI experience. Don't tell someone they will be rich in a year. SFI may not require monetary investment, but it DOES require an investment of time and energy, if you really want to build a lasting income. And while it's possible to build your business with very little financial investment, it will take longer that way.

- Don't offer rewards for signing up. Most people who sign up will only do so for the rewards, with no interest in SFI and the opportunity presented to them. (Although, you can offer valuable information, such as an ebook or webinar, in exchange for joining your email list. This is a good way to sort through and find people who would legitimately be interested.)

- Don't be negative. SFI is, in theory, simple. However, finding the diamonds takes a lot of digging, sifting, and sorting! Even if your business isn't growing as fast as you'd like, make sure to keep your ads and your attitude positive.


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What's the biggest turn-off that I should avoid talking about to prospects for SFI?

This is a great question! Many will argue with me, but I think it's important to be upfront about SFI and how it works. However:

- You should always avoid misleading information. Don't tell your prospects that SFI is easy, fast money. It's not. It is a business, and it takes time for a business to grow into a money-making machine.

It is also not easy. Most people join SFI without
...more

Affiliate since: 05/02/2013, Power Rank: 592

Is there such a thing as helping your affiliates TOO much?

Yes, there is.

There are two ways to help your affiliates. The right way and the wrong way.

You need to guide them and teach them how to do things for themselves. If they are asking questions, then you are on the right track! You want to teach them to duplicate what you're doing.

The important thing to remember is that you teach THEM to do it, and you are not doing it for them. It will not do either of you any good if you just do things for them.

Giving them something (PSAs, TCredits, gift certificates) as an incentive will create dependence. You don't want them to depend on you - you want them to learn to do it themselves. Use these things as rewards instead. Reward them for learning something new and putting it into practice. Reward them for tangible results.

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Is there such a thing as helping your affiliates TOO much?

Yes, there is.

There are two ways to help your affiliates. The right way and the wrong way.

You need to guide them and teach them how to do things for themselves. If they are asking questions, then you are on the right track! You want to teach them to duplicate what you're doing.

The important thing to remember is that you teach THEM to do it, and you are not doing it for them. It will not do
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Affiliate since: 05/02/2013, Power Rank: 592

What is the most effective way to communicate with your team?

Anything that works!

Are you referring to your team as a group, or on an individual basis? If you are contacting your whole team (or subgroups within your team), you can use the TeamMail or PSA/CSA Mailer. You can use the search filters to narrow down the group you want to contact.

For individuals, it depends. Different people are comfortable and familiar with different methods of communication. It is best to give them a number of options to contact you.

Often, if they fill out their profile, you can find the best way to contact them in their answers.

I always have my email, Facebook, and Skype contact information in all communication with my team. There are lots of other communication platforms, however, and if someone asks if you are another platform, it's always good to try to contact them that way, even if it means learning something new for you. :)

Most of my active team communicates via email or Facebook. Facebook is easier for real-time conversations, and it is nice that your chats are always saved for future reference. Most people seem to be on Facebook these days, and I always look up active affiliates to see if I can find them there. Often, I have more luck getting an initial response out of affiliates that way.
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What is the most effective way to communicate with your team?

Anything that works!

Are you referring to your team as a group, or on an individual basis? If you are contacting your whole team (or subgroups within your team), you can use the TeamMail or PSA/CSA Mailer. You can use the search filters to narrow down the group you want to contact.

For individuals, it depends. Different people are comfortable and familiar with different methods of communication. It is
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Affiliate since: 05/02/2013, Power Rank: 592

First of all, one of the things that makes me proud to be an SFI affiliate is that I am working towards achieving a great goal. My main earning goal with SFI is to make enough money to put my kids through college. I have twins in fifth grade, so I have about seven years. My business is growing, and I will continue to build it. As a single mom who has always struggled (financially), SFI is my plan for my kids can go to college without burdening them with a decade of debt.

Second, SFI is a powerful tool to help others. There are so many people in this world who do not have enough. If you read the forums, your a2a stream, and Ask SC answers, you will continually hear that the way to success is making your TEAM successful. You only succeed when THEY succeed. This is an excellent business strategy.

But think of the personal side of it, too. There are people all over the world who can better their lives with SFI. Yes, their success is my success. But even more fulfilling than that is knowing that I can help people, whether it is my neighbor struggling with her handicapped child, a business man in Nigeria, or a housewife in Mongolia.

The fact that I can help change someone's life for the better, and they can pay it forward and help someone else ... that is what makes me proud to be an SFI affiliate.
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First of all, one of the things that makes me proud to be an SFI affiliate is that I am working towards achieving a great goal. My main earning goal with SFI is to make enough money to put my kids through college. I have twins in fifth grade, so I have about seven years. My business is growing, and I will continue to build it. As a single mom who has always struggled (financially), SFI is my plan for my kids can go to college without burdening them with a decade of debt.

Second, SFI is
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Affiliate since: 05/02/2013, Power Rank: 592

I want to start a newsletter for my team of affiliates. Which topics should I focus on?

The best place to start would be the "Getting Started with your SFI Business" under the Training menu. Then, move on to Gery's Rules of Success. If you devote one or two newsletters on each rule, that will last you a while.

Once you have worked your way through the Rules of Success, there is a tremendous amount of training material under the Training menu. Look at the Affiliate Tips, the Internet Income Course, Power Tips, and Must-Read Expert Reports.

These can all be found in the Training section: https://www.sfimg.com/Training/

It is important to continually give your team practical tips as well as motivation and inspiration. Teach them how to advertise. Give them ideas that will get them thinking of things that will work for THEM in their own environment.

Ultimately, it is important to teach them about the program, and then teach them how to duplicate. Sometimes this is copying what you do. For others, teaching them the basics can give them the tools they need to find new and better pathways to success.

Keep communicating with your team, both via team newsletters and through personal contact. Communication is one of the keys to success, and effective leaders always employ it!
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I want to start a newsletter for my team of affiliates. Which topics should I focus on?

The best place to start would be the "Getting Started with your SFI Business" under the Training menu. Then, move on to Gery's Rules of Success. If you devote one or two newsletters on each rule, that will last you a while.

Once you have worked your way through the Rules of Success, there is a tremendous amount of training material under the Training menu. Look at the Affiliate
...more