PLUGGING IN FOR PERSONAL PROFIT

While preparing to write this piece for the newly formed Womens-Network on the web, I found myself in Raleigh, NC a few days after Hurricane Fran blasted through the area. I had the pleasure of reading Hal Crowther’s editorial in The Independent Weekly September 18-24, 1996 issue.

While Hal mused through the aftermath of the hurricane and its effect on the local community, he made a valid point which has a bearing on our interconnectivity here on the net.

Hal Crowther makes the point that the most vulnerable changelings are these disciples of cyberspace, the computer-generated surrogate reality, that’s so oversold and over-romanticized.

Where’s the cyberspace when we turn off the power? Vanished, if I am not mistaken -- along with the television, the huge cast of shadow-actors and the whole electronic carnival.

Now, I am a member of the "electronic carnival" and I will admit to having the belief that my day is incomplete if I haven’t checked my e-mail or posted some newsworthy tidbit on a relevant bulletin board to reach out to someone of like mind.

I admit that my business depends on this media, along with many others, such as paging and voicemail and "old-fashioned" faxes. The internet is a valuable and developing resource to any and all of us who think globally while working from a humble and comfortable keyboard in familiar surroundings.

In the world of divisionalized network marketing (my business distributes NuSkin and Interior Design Nutritional products and has for over five years), the internet is a new level of activity.

It holds the promise of reaching millions and the opportunity to increase sales and the ability to communicate quickly, on a one on one basis, with customers and distributors alike...if they are on-line.

Therein lies a tremendous frustration. If your target audience is not on-line, then all your expertise and activity on the internet is misspent. And I offer my first word of caution.

First: Determine if the internet is a valid forum for what you choose to communicate. In the business of global divisional network marketing, more is not necessarily more. The internet is a rag-tag connection of people from all walks of life. It is a tremendously level playing field for all who have access to a computer (and a decent Internet Service Provider who’s not trying to overcharge for the time spent on the internet.) Nonetheless, the internet allows people to take on different personae, some of which can be very, very phony and disinterested.

Your competition is out here as well, borrowing some of your better ideas and copying those that will work for their businesses. Your competitors don’t have to work that hard to find out about you if you provide full disclosure.

Number two: Determine how you want to use the internet as a method to promote your business or yourself. Clear communication is even more important here than elsewhere. If you, like me receive more e-mail that you choose to read, from more people than you choose to hear from, how do you differentiate between the truly valuable information, and that which is e-junkmail?

Your audience has the same problem. Junk communication is still junk communication.

If your offer is unclear to the customer, he/she won’t take advantage of it.

If your offer makes no mention of benefit to the prospect, that offer will go unheeded.

If, however, your offer is clear, concise, to the point, and professional looking, you will be taken seriously.

My advice is to use the same, "old-fashioned" techniques you learned before: to outline your communication; to draft your main theme; and to define the goal of the communication before you begin.

Number three: Be professional and be direct. The internet is no place for subtle loss leaders or disguised offers for sales, masquerading as free information. You will unnecessarily complicate both your life and your message.

Follow-up is crucial. If you are networking to explore your career options and have been given a lead, follow it. Activity does not equal accomplishment.

If prospects express an interest in your product or service, answer them promptly and then follow-up on the requested information. The same rules which apply to good sales in person, or over the phone, apply here. You will still need to provide information, overcome objections, follow up with the prospect, ask for the order, deliver a quality product, and then follow up with good customer service after the sale has closed, in order to leverage to the next opportunity to do business.

It is ever so much easier to lose people on the internet than with any other media. And you will lose them at a faster rate!

Be persistent and focused on your goal. The internet is like being in a jewelers with an unlimited line of credit. It is so easy to be seduced by those pearls of wisdom, when you were actually looking for some diamonds for practical purposes.

Be a person, a genuine, living, breathing human being. With all the hype, glitz and slick packaging here, you still need (and want) to develop relationships with people who want what you have to offer.

This brings me to perhaps the most valuable use for the internet and this particular Womens-Network. We have the distinct opportunity to develop a dynamic and productive mentoring forum at our fingertips. Reach out and ask for help; extend a hand where you are able. Each of us needs guidance in moving our personal and professional lives in the direction in which we want to go, and each of us has something very unique to offer someone else.

Two of the most valuable relationships I enjoy off-line are mentoring relationships. In both, I am viewed as the mentor by way of the assignments. However, I am often the one who receives the most from this mentoring process. In the relationship I have with a 9-year old, I find her timid exploration a valuable insight into how each of us approaches new situations. She is bright and enthusiastic and so very excited when she succeeds. That’s something I hope to always remember...the sheer joy of accomplishment.

In the second case, I have been privileged to bring along a young professional who has recently graduated from engineering college and is working in a technical sales environment, an area which I have enjoyed for over twenty years. On a poor day, I still find that I know something of value and that someone seeks my opinion. I provide a safe sounding-board for someone who does not report to me, and whose performance does not influence my bottom line. And how I learn from her recent education and training experiences! Womens-Network is a perfect opportunity to reach out and touch, truly touch, others. You may do so for personal gain, or for monetary profit, because with the internet, you are truly limited only by your imagination.

And of course, the availability of electricity.

During her professional career in the electronics sector, Ruth has sold high-ticket, high-technology goods and services to commercial and defense contractors. Her background includes work in both telecommunications and nuclear power industries. On a personal note, Ruth is active in her church, serving as a choir member as well as a facilitator for a peer counseling group for children and adolescents who have suffered a severe loss (death, parents divorce, etc.). She is Area Coordinator for ABC Quilts, an international volunteer organization which makes and distributes quilts, afghans, preemie hats and booties to abandoned newborns, and to infants and children who have been born to "at-risk" mothers.

Ruth is a partner in HEALTHWISE ASSOCIATES. Her firm develops distributors in health-related products, personal care and nutrition, as well as business services, throughout North America, Europe, and Asia.