With all of that raw commerce and entertainment, one thing I remember quite clearly, and often, is a chant that permeated every visit.  It turns out to be one of my first lessons in marketing, and it came from a very unlikely source.

Wandering among the throng, there were several “independent operators” who hauled loads of  almost anything saleable, approaching buyers with lines like “need a watch?” and “Tube socks here.”  Some were shy, others brazen, but one tall black man had his whole act together.  Over his shoulders was a load of bright white cloth, and in both hands he hand he held aloft a full-size draw-string heavy-duty brand-new laundry bag.

With a gleaming smile he called out, over and over, the one line which still shapes my copywriting: “You KNOW you NEED a LAUNDRY BAG!”

The line is pure music.  It is direct, and speaks to a hungry crowd. It asks a question, but it’s a command which makes you think. Every time I heard him, I wondered, “Do I? Could I use one of those?”  and then realized that he was selling those things all day long because everyone else was wondering if they needed a bag, too!

The experience stuck with me, and yesterday I remembered it as I was writing headlines for some new ads.  You KNOW you NEED a NEW BUSINESS!

Funded proposals are used in online attraction marketing systems, but they have been around longer than the Internet.

A funded proposal is a small item which is sold as a “leader” in many sales businesses.  In retail businesses, the funded proposal is often referred to as a “loss leader,” which is  something being sold at an attractively low price, for a small profit, or sometimes even being sold for below its wholesale cost.

Funded proposals and sales leaders are used to attract customers to a business and to qualify them as customers.  The object is to increase a company’s customer base, and allow further marketing with the goal of having the customer buy more profitable items in the future.

An example of employing an off-line funded proposal is a high-quality, framed art print which was offered in art gallery for thirty-seven dollars.  Prices of other original art in the gallery start at six hundred dollars and go up into the thousands.  Many people visit the gallery to “browse” and some of them buy the small framed print.

The small sales pay much of the gallery’s expenses, and give the buyers a comfort level with the business.  They return as “customers” instead of “browsers,” and many upgrade to buy thousands of dollars of art over the next months and years.

Online network marketers use a funded proposals in a similar way. A marketer who has a program costing hundreds or thousands of dollars, may first introduces his leads to a capture page which offers an attractively priced e-book.  Those who buy the e-book experience the quality level of the network marketer’s offerings. They also become part the marketer’s email-list, and receive information about other products and the primary business.

The small sales help pay for the online marketer’s operating expenses, and build his customer base.  The customers get a chance to become acquainted with the marketer, and they go on to buy more products or join the primary business.

Funded proposals are valuable tools for any business.  Using them consistently will help build customers and profits.

Network marketers can find a pre-made funded proposal marketing system at PrimaryBusinesses.Net

Most MLM companies do NOT have a “sales funnel” and their reps are suffering from the lack of having one, whether they realize it or not.  The whole idea of a sales funnel is to maximize the value of each new customer.  By making a purchase, the customer enters a pre-determined program of offers and enticements which eventually lead to multiple sales.

It is a well known fact in retail that about 80% of a store’s sales come from about 20% of its customers.  Repeat customers are like gold!  But if there is not a sales funnel in place, the merchant stands to lose those repeat sales.

For example, if company has only one product, and a customer buys it, there is a limited profit.  Even if the customer repeatedly buys the same product (like a consumable, or a subscription) over and over for a period of years, there is still only a finite amount of profit which can be attached to that customer’s account.

However, if there is a sales funnel in place, the customer’s potential profitability can be multiplied by the number of offerings which are contained in the funnel.  For example:  a sales funnel for buying a car can include several items, such as the ability to customize the order in multiple ways at the time of purchase.  But that is only the start of the funnel.  Over the next months and years, the customer is  exposed to offers for insurance, hotel and airfare discounts, a travel club, a buyers club, extended warranty offers,  special service offers, and eventually an offer for another brand new car.

As consumers, we have all been involved in sales funnels.  Often our participation is completely voluntary, and we see the offers as valuable choices which we want and are glad to have available to us.

Knowing how funnels work, it is easy to see that we, as MLM reps, can increase our sales potential by simply keeping in mind what other products and services our customers might value, and constructing a program to contact the customers with those offers in a periodic and friendly fashion.

But funnels can also work for MLM reps in their prospecting efforts, too.  PrimaryBusinesses.net has constructed a sales funnel for MLM prospecting.  It is a simple variety of offers related to teaching business owners how to be better marketers.  The offers are presented in a helpful way, so that prospects can see the value of using tools and information products to help increase their own businesses.